Race 9 - Day 17
Crew Diary - Race 9 Day 17: Qingdao to Seattle
09 April

Has it been seventeen days? Whether it's a quest, a homecoming, or a commute, travel invites reflection on time and its passing. You may have read Toni's blog about the the carefully scheduled rationing of our meals and daily sundries, which deplete noticeably each day. Javier's recent post describes the palettes and visual perspectives we cycle through, and how their particular subtleties color our moods and frames of mind.

Our lives at sea are divided into five watch periods—three each night and two each day—most directly impacting the way we perceive the progress of this living yacht as we cycle through work and rest, pushing ever closer towards the finish line.

The wind is wild tonight—weather is notoriously disinterested in keeping a predictable schedule. I'm typing in relative comfort around 2:30 AM as my watch mates endure true wind speeds of thirty knots on a cold and starry night, under a full mainsail and the Yankee 2. We take turns rotating through a schedule of working duties, blog posts included, and that rotation further divides each watch into tasks that support our life on board. In a few minutes I'll be called to take the helm.

In Prufrock, T.S. Eliot measured time in coffee spoons—and assured that there will be time for a million decisions and indecisions. I knew that idleness in a past life; it is foreign to me now. Our time at sea is, must be, more purposeful and focused. We scrub toilets, we check our safety equipment, we empty our bilges, we make hourly log entries, and we are forever rousing one another from rest, donning and doffing layers of clothing. We do this work together, and in the togetherness find consolation and comfort in a measurable progress on a precarious edge of the world.

Andy Farnum