The winds have picked up with spillages and flying objects becoming a part of daily life on Endeavour III. Yesterdays catch of the day made for challenging food prep against the boats heel and rolling swell, but the prize of homemade fish and chips made it all worth it. Kevin and Imara’s ‘Dorado trois fois’, cooked with three different seasonings, salt and pepper, Cajun and batter. The piece de la resistance was homemade tartare sauce, a potent combination of gherkins, capers and mayonnaise. Washed down with what little 0.0 beer remained in our cans after a particularly bad heel.
At 34 degrees West, it was time to get our citizen scientist hats on and sample the seas ph, temperature and salinity for the Sea Labs project. With our coffee filter and 5Ls of sampled water, Tash and I carefully sieved for microplastics, wondering all the while why we didn’t study marine biology instead.
Before setting sail, I had very little concept of what it was going to be like on the open ocean. Movies will have you believe it’s a constant nightmarish storm with 10m waves and howling bitter winds. Never did I imagine being in a shorts and t-shirt, with clear sunny skies and a 0.0 beer in hand. And let’s not forget the stars at night, which with no light pollution are nothing shy of spectacular. It’s hard not to feel like a tiny little spot in existence, and even crazier to think that most of the earths surface is just like this.
The enveloping existential crisis is humbling, but sometimes you need to be brought back to modern reality. The latest season of Love is Blind provided the perfect antidote tucked away in captain Kevins cabin.
Tomorrow is my birthday, and I look forward to turning 28 smack in the middle of the Atlantic! It’ll certainly be a day I’ll never forget.
Imara - 27th November
We have covered 183 miles in the last 24 hours.
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