Is this actually day three? The slow slow pace of these doldrums and the sleep confusion brought on by the watch patterns are messing with the body clock for the uninitiated and regulars alike. Each daybreak brings out the toxic sun and rivers of sweat stream down our sticky sunburnt torsos. I have been reassured: as a newbie legger, nothing we’ve faced so far has been that hot, or that wavy, or that wild and absolutely nothing compared to what we’ll soon face on the 33 days crossing the Pacific.
Speaking of wild, the real unpolished, earthy me has truly emerged. Essex tan on my fingers from the many packs of cheese curlz consumed on board, matted fly away hair and the promise of a big zit erupting next to my right eye. Long gone is my coronavirus induced meticulous hand sanitising. But it is the smell in general below deck of boiled broccoli and beans which has made sleep difficult… Hmm I really should have bought that glade air freshener from the mega mall in Subic.
All that pales in comparison to the simply stunning sunsets, pink and purple, with the fabled ‘blink and you miss them’ blue green flashes that accompany first or last peek of the sun just over or just below the horizon. Ever since a child, I have never been able to get over the ever changing beautiful blue shades of the water, and this voyage has proven no exception.
From a light, mirror like blue glass at sunrise or sunset to deep ultramarine blues at the sun’s zenith, it is endlessly spellbinding and a lifetime’s worth of study.
The still zen and gentle rocking of the boat as we glide gently along is occasionally punctuated by Donna’s tales of leopard print clad nuns at her convent school days, Frankie’s excitable recitations of Keen and Peele quotes, and my choice selection of a few Mandarin pick up lines that he and Yadi have been teaching me such as ‘Lai wo de chin bao’ or ‘come to my castle’. And with the arrival of our 20th crew member, the aforementioned migratory swallow, brings an account of Chris’s marvelous menagerie of pets he had growing up. Several variants of lizard, tarantulas, and pythons, essentially anything frightening. I jokingly suggest wringing the swallow’s neck.
Emma and Lisa have done a stellar job of victualing leading to grub being served up far outstripping the fare of even the most extravagant Filipino restaurants. I am still waiting for the world’s most expensive weight loss programme to begin showing results... but they haven’t materialised yet. As of this morning, Emma and Chris set about teaching our fellow Canadians on board, Bertrand and Guy, about the disgusting and uniquely British ‘treat’ of marmite who unknowingly overspread giant quantities of it on freshly baked bread for the rest of the crew. Bertrand quickly corrected by spreading a single drop on a thick wedge of bread and butter.
As we start to make headway again against all the odds of the still ocean, and of course, the course correction, changing sails, trying and testing each one in the deviously mercurial wind, it’s here that I realise the strengths of the amazing team of talented and resilient individuals that I am proud and extremely lucky to be a part of. Yeah.. so like, bring it on.