Are you having problems looking at those gadgets, called plotters, instruments, radar, AIS etc etc.
Now we have been at sea for amost two weeks and I have found myself looking at that stupid little feature called ETA. It calculates the speed of the boat and instantly gives us an expected time of arrival.
With a motor boat I can see that feature work well, but on a sailboat? One moment, that is on a way up a wave it tells me we will be in St Lucia in 45 days-18hrs-3,5 minutes, then we surf down the wave and the wind gets hold of us, we will be in St Lucia in 6 days-3hrs-43 minutes. So there I am staring at that stupid figure, wishing it was true. Relax man! Look at the sea! Let's be philosophical!
OK, let's think deep, real deep. - If I start a journey and the GPS tells me we have 4 days left, so we travel with the wind´, but as we get closer to the target the wind drops, our speed drops and the GPS keeps saying 4 days left to target. Finally we are one meter from the target and we are so slow it still takes 4 days to get there. With this in mind, do we travel in space or in time? Think about that.
Maybe that's the secret to prolong life itself, move slower and slower.
My beloved Ellinor looks at me with a tyred look, for once we are both up at the same time, and for once the kids are playing by themselfe.
We are sitting in the cockpit (the Balcony) and wach the sea pass by. It is a good day for sailing, our nutshell moves along with more than 7 knots and the sea has not built up to its potential yet. We are quite, and it feels good. Then Ellinor thinks aloud: - This is what it must be like , to be in a retriet.
- Yeah! I reply, I read that when you are in one where you are not allowed to speak you go through different stages of anxiety.
You start also to be grossed about your mates, small things, like the way somebody breathes can become a major problem for you...
Then suddenly the moment is broken by a LEGO tower that is torned down by somebody.
- A tower, why a tower? Let's think about that, deep Yeah I'm coming! You did what in the head?!!
The Atlantic Award for best food
Erika 8 years old is such a smart negotiator! A few days ago I made my own recipe called the Pacific soup. I wrote about it before, it contains sweet potatoes, onion, tomato sauce and coconut milk. Without bragging to much there has been a great demand that this soup should be repeated. I've been saying, well yes in the future I might do it again. We have a lot of other fun stuff to eat.
What Erika does then is to present me a medal she has made herself, there it says : Golden Award to Daddy for the best soup!
Now it hangs there in the kitchen, and of course, when the award was presented a request was made... Did I say no? I did not.