“Why are we in the Roaring Forties?” Was the question I poised to our crew this morning. An answer was not terribly forthcoming, yet several responses piqued our interest. Zina responded, “Sailing around the world is my goal, and the Roaring Forties is in the way.” Then George, after great pondering and reflection noted: “To avoid council tax, they can’t find me here.” It is great to see our worlders in awe and wonder of this majestic ocean…
On the other end of the spectrum, we had some slightly different reflections: “Because it is there,” from Mike, and a pursuit of elation and "euphoria" in one of earth’s last remote wildernesses came from Jackie and Sue. One resounding reaction was that to be perfectly honest, none of us are quite sure why we find ourselves here. There is no doubt that the edge-seeking nature of sailing in the Roaring Forties plays a role, but is it enough to outweigh the elemental hardships of being at sea: freezing cold, wet nights and fatigue? Each person on this boat has chosen to forego the comforts of being able to pee at ease, cook on a stove that doesn’t move, sleep in a bed that doesn’t throw you around, to be in continual elemental struggle, in pursuit of brief moments of euphoric excitement. Most of our crew have been waiting on this leg for over five years as they booked before the pandemic, yet we struggle articulating our impetus to be here. Mike’s comment intrigues me most: because it is there. Humans are drawn to new places. The first landing of man on the moon wasn’t necessary, the chaps mainly bounced around, planted flags and collected a few rocks; basically, an elaborate game of capture the flag. Yet the symbolism of humans landing on another world made Apollo special. I guess this leg provides an avenue for us to keep validating our own personal coupons of explorative spirit, there is no need for any of us to be down here, yet here we are bouncing around in the Roaring Forties playing our own elaborate game, next we’ll be collecting rocks I guess...
Laura, Dan and the Big Blue team x