Race 11 - Day 13
Crew Diary - Race 11 Day 13
20 May
Celebrations on board
Hello Dear friends and family,
Here I am again, this time on Leg 7. That’s a kind of a circumnavigation around North America. We started in Seattle and are now about 200 miles west of Mexico, heading south toward Panama. We do not see land and for more than a week, we haven’t seen any other boats. 360 degrees - just water. Sometimes deep blue, sometimes grey, melting with the horizon.
Life on board is structured into three shifts (watches), three four-hour shifts during the day, and four three-hour shifts during the night. We are either on deck, sleeping, or on support watch. That means we stand by in case more people are needed on deck. Otherwise, doing household stuff like cooking, cleaning, and keeping the log book every hour.
In this rhythm, sometimes I forget which weekday it is, or I wake up and cannot make out it if it is morning or afternoon… But when the smell of bacon comes from the galley (kitchen) we know it is Sunday. It seems to be a treat for the meat-eating crew, and that is basically the highlight of the week for certain.
Other celebrations are, of course, when a crew member has a birthday. We bake a cake, and each time the birthday kid comes on deck or to the galley, the team sings Happy Birthday.. this is in all mother tongues of the crew. So we hear it in English, French, Korean, and German.
Other holidays like the recent Mother's Day are not celebrated. Even so, there are quite a few mothers, and even a grandma on board. So the lovely message to all the mothers from Franklin was well received. Thank you so much!
Having decided to not buy an internet or phone package (opting to live a digital detox), I am now regretting a bit - that I will not see your wishes. That will probably come next week when the crew will sing Happy Birthday to me. But you all should know that I am - with my heart and soul - with you. Once back from this extraordinary adventure, there will be time to celebrate!
Ahoi and love from the deep blue,
Bea