Race 10 - Day 26
Crew Diary - Race 10 Day 26
22 April

Reflections, four months after my race finished

I must say, never did I think I could find a feeling similar to being in the middle of the ocean while being on land. Yet, last week, as you [Mark Hagan, RTW] were freezing your ass on deck, or perhaps cuddling with your sails, I found myself in a surreal position in the middle of an Eastern Ontario field. A brief moment when it felt like I was in the middle of the ocean staring at 6,000 stars, a full moon and the glow of bioluminescent waves.

So, there I was, standing next to a smelly pile of manure, looking at a complete solar eclipse. A spectacle of nature like no others! I wish you all could have seen it from your first-class seats on board the PSP Express. As the moon crawled over the sun, the birds stopped singing, the temperature went down to 7 Celsius. Darkness engulfed the land. It was as if time had stopped. At that time, as I was staring into the heart of our solar system, there was only me and the red blazing halo crowning the moon.

Within only a couple of minutes, the moon retracted, and like a second sunrise my surroundings were awakening again. As darkness retreated, I was left contemplating the forces of nature, wishing I was standing on the high side, holding on to the shrouds, wind in my face and staring into the ocean and the stars. My point is, go out there with your watch tonight, stare into the night’s sky and conscientiously take a moment to appreciate where you are and the profound beauty of the world around you, because next thing you know, you’ll be in a field standing next to a pile of manure…

As Lottie said it so well one day when we were talking about going back home: “it all sounds a bit boring.” In some ways she was right.

Alex Martin (PSP Logistics, Legs 1-3)