Race 7 - Day 17
Crew Diary - Race 7 Day 17
22 February

Family and friends know me as quite a result-oriented person. The past year, I have been trying to find more balance by also consciously focusing on - and enjoying the process. And by allowing that process to be more flexible; by diving a bit more into the unknown. Our journey to Ha Long Bay proves to be the perfect opportunity to put this into practice.

For me, that means internalizing a new perspective: that we control how we react to whatever happens around us - and not much else. If we are faced with a “wind-challenged area” (as we call it on Perseverance), we will find new ways to move while also appreciating the chances a slower pace offers. When we motored through the doldrums, we took the opportunity for a teambuilding firehose shower while spotting sharks, whales, and other wildlife around us. I couldn’t be more thankful to build these memories with the most amazing crew imaginable.

So now, I find myself fixating less and less on the number of days until we arrive at our next destination and the number of points we will be bringing in. And more and more, I am learning to enjoy our capability to persevere as individuals and communities by consciously responding to whatever happens in the here and now. At the moment that is stormy weather in our ocean sprint - characterized by small white fluffy clouds of death according to our wonderful crew mate Hamish. It’s a future memory in the making that I’ll revisit many, many times - and another milestone in an adventure that blurs my perceived distinction between process and outcome.

Sonja