It’s hard to describe as sometimes a day feels like a week and a week feels like a day.
Even though our days are strictly managed with a business calendar on smart phones, with alarms going off every hour, time still seems to evade us. I’m much more in touch with the cycles of the moon, the stars, and the sun, then I am with the faint glowing blue displays on our clocks. Here’s my best attempt at describing average life on board:
02:00am I awake after a 4-hour sleep shift where I have already woken up 3 or 4 times due to either the crashing of a wave on the boat or the itchiness caused by healing salt sores. Most often I’m interrupting a dream where I’m back on land and when I realize I’m on the boat it takes some extra willpower to put on my underwear and wet pants. I could easily sleep for another 12 hours but instead I find the strength to wiggle through the stern hatch and relieve the two who are finishing their 4-hour row shift. It’s dark outside and the stars are shining. Since the GPS navigation display in the cockpit is broken due to water damage, I will spend the next four hours following a starpath to keep a somewhat consistent heading.
03:00am I’m tempted to look at what time it is but know that there is still a long way to go until I can rest again. I resist and attempt to find a happy place. I’ve taken to listing the names of all the people I know and thanking them in my head. It feels great and sometimes brings tears.
03:30am I ask Pat if he’s up for making tea and some food. This means I will have to pull the 3000lb boat through the water by myself while he cooks. I’m okay with that, as some warm tea and food will lift my spirits and energy to make the next 2½ hours more feasible.
05:30am After listening to a book on tape or podcast while meditating on breathing and almost losing consciousness as I row, the sun finally begins to light up the sky. This last half hour makes the whole shift worth it, although it sometimes seems to last for an eternity too long.
06:00am Finally time to sleep for the next 2 hours.
08:00am Awake to see that Adam is cooking breakfast and I’m still on this boat rowing across the Atlantic Ocean???!! @#@$$!! The sleep has helped and I will soon warm up my brain and muscles and feel good for the coming day.
08:30am Just as tensions are high on the boat, some creature from the Ocean visits us – a Portuguese Man-o-War – or some large fish with a purpley blue stripe on it.
09:00am <yawnnnn> I’m too tired to finish writing this. To be continued…