It has been some time since I crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a 50-foot Catamaran Sailboat with 4 strangers.
I spent some time writing and thinking. I never got back to those thoughts and drawings I had, thought it may be worth it to look back on them through a different lens.
This is 20 minutes of video to get a better idea of what I was seeing, doing, and hearing — feel free to play Pirates of the Caribbean music in the background to make it feel less boring.
Let’s look at how my thoughts and perspective shifted in times of isolation:
SOUTHWARD PORTION TO CANARY ISLANDS
11/08/23:
My day mostly consists of dishes, dishes, dishes, cleaning, helping carry things, & helping at the helm ….
the importance of channeling that anger into something more powerful…
caught a tuna…
Sketches from learning to steer the boat (from almost zero):
11/10/23:
I like that I write like this because if anyone else tries to read it, they won’t be able to …
I am dreaming a lot on the boat & sleeping a lot as well …
I feel like we’re in Interstellar this trip, kinda feels like traveling in a spaceship through space, conserving resources…
I need to know when not to agree with others…
We did see dolphins today, they followed us for an hour
How do I push through the waves of emotion & improve the world & my condition? Day by day, hour by hour, second by second…
We docked in Lanzarote
11/14/23:
scrub both hulls of the catamaran…
the belief that I am capable is absolutely necessary…
the search never ends though…
Paolo taught me that a moon is growing if it is illuminated from the west if it is illuminated from the East it is shrinking
11/15/23:
I read the most fascinating chapter on atoms & how they are literally everything we look at, even empty space…
atoms went through stars and millions of stars and organisms before assembling themselves into us
11/17/23:
I feel like a dishwasher with a personality…
a positive attitude & enjoy the sht moments is the key to how you see life
11/21/23:
I stayed silent for 1 hour of the shift & reflected reflected on things, I found that: “remaining aware of things is important..
Being in the dark of the ocean with nothing but your thoughts can be scary, you start hearing/seeing things that are not actually there
I saw floating heads looking back at me in the waves, and heard a party of people happening inside of the boat when everyone was asleep.
11/22/23:
Shift was from 03 to 06 am …
I saw a huge area of illumination to my right, it glowed randomly and beautifully in a white flash of spots…
how deep the ocean really is…
I was engulfed by the sail and almost got pulled into the water NEVER STAND BETWEEN THE WIND & A LOOSE SAIL
11/23/23:
06-09 shift…
I took the time to memorize the NATO Alphabet…
our captain got hit in the face by a flying fish across the face while in the front of the boat
being in the moment is so important to me, everyone’s always thinking of the future…
The past is for the depressed, the future is for the worried, the present is for the optimist…
I truly am on a random boat, in the middle of the sea, with 4 strangers
IN CABO VERDE
11/24/23:
I woke up to everyone yelling…
the side of my room almost got pierced by another boat
11/25/23:
explored the island with Paolo
people only make $150 per month here, when kids graduate school they have few options
2 WEEK CROSSING
11/26/23:
all the glamour I have imagined in sailing the world is overblown, it is a lot of little things & expensive repairs
11/27/23:
The ocean is so vast…
Days have an interesting pace, the daydreaming is intense, since I don’t have anywhere to go …
Fixed a sail..
We caught a huge dorado
11/28/23:
Got woken by another piece of the code D breaking at 2 am (type of sail)…
the ocean is so deep, not knowing what is under me at all times fascinates me, it is 3,338 m or 10,000 feet deep on average
11/29/23:
the sky and clouds are incredible and are exactly as they are meant to be seen…
there’s ocean as far as I can see… just feels endless no matter how hard you try to look ahead
11/30/23:
05-12 shift…
(Paolo) spoke to me about how Magellan (first to cross the Atlantic) crossed the sea on heavy 30m boats with 40 crew, they could only sail leeward and hat to wait days for good wind…
We are now in the middle of the ocean, where the North American Plate, the European Plate, & the African Plate separate… 25,000 miles long continuous system of ocean ridges
no matter how big the wave, the ocean keeps going
12/1/23:
I looked across the ocean & found that the curvature of the earth, though strange as a concept had become clearer to me. The human eye in the ocean, can see up to 2.9 miles due to the horizon limit caused by earth’s curvature
straight when isolated, circular when perfectly connected…
All around us, 360 degrees, there is endless ocean
12/2/23:
couldn’t sleep well from the waves hitting the sides of the boat, the lightning was also waking me up
12/3/23:
as we were pulling the sail out, the captain got flipped (back-flipped) by a rope connected to a sail
12/4/23:
I realized that I love problems I can find solutions for…
I’m not running anymore
12/5/23:
Be direct. Be present.
12/7/23:
listened to Magellan’s story crossing the ocean…
St Elmo’s Fire, electrical discharge caused by ionization of water, seen as a sign by St. Erasmus as a good omen of sailing…
When Magellan saw 6 foot tall people he thought they were giants i.e. land of the Big Feet “Patagonia”
There was torture and betrayal on their boats…
they would eat rats to avoid scurvy (from Vitamin C deficiency), as the rats had stores of Vitamin C, while all along, a tbsp of lemon juice would have done the job
funny that the rich do it (crossing oceans) for fun what was torture for Magellan before
12/8/23:
I am ready to close things off though, it;s been interesting and an accomplishment
TheWhyLab 