And so we wait while the east wind blows
Another anchor day chalked up on the wall and goodness-knows how many hours of snoozing and reading and thinking. I spent a bit of time with the British Sign Language Dictionary too though really could do with another person to practice with – my animal crew of stuffed toys don’t quite get it.
My favourite times, as always, were spent on deck in the cool breeze looking out for life on the waves. We are not being boshed so much as bobbed at the moment; the seastate and weather today would have been perfect surfing conditions if I wanted to go back to Japan. It was tempting just to surf with it for the enjoyment factor and then the sensible voice in me reminded me just how precious logged miles are at the moment and thought better of it.
Lee’s forecast goes to the 9th with easterlies all the way, leaving me wondering if we shall ever make it past the 165th parallel. I had a similar bit of looping on the Indian Ocean, trying to get past the 90 degrees East ridge, and ended up passing the same 60 miles three times. Well, this time I am going to better that and this degree of longitude (163-4E) will be at least five times graced by Happy Socks’s fine lines.
So for now patience is progress. And tomorrow I think some boat pancakes might help with that – they normally do. Just the act of doing something different to lying down feels good and that is what counts. The simplest top goals of this leg are to row and rest as much possible – staying as happy as possible too. It’s all about making the most of opportunities and openings – when the time is right, we go with it. And if it’s not, then in time it will be.
One of the quotes outside on my safety rail is from Winnie the Pooh: ‘Rivers know there is no hurry: we shall get there some day’.
And so for now, the aim is to stay happy, nourished and sane while we wait for our good friend the Westerly to return. I am pretty zen about it all – there’s no other way to be really. Not until the food runs out and I go properly loopy – then I might not be so patient.
Until next time,
She-of-the-cabin and the good ship Happy Socks x
Sarah, you never cease to amaze me. I am so proud and privileged to call you a friend. We could all learn from your patience, resilience, fortitude and all those other big words which describe you
Following you daily with love, hugs and prayers xxxxx
amazing what you find if you google 165th parallel! 1886 declaration between GB & German Empire over spheres of influence over the Western Pacific http://bit.ly/11kjDQq seems you are in a controversial space Ms O. Hope your bobbling is soon converted to scooting Eastwards…that bike will be getting rusty soon:)
A splendid time to do some nude yoga…
Hi Sarah..
About signing… It would be very beneficial to view your signing through a mirror instead of watching your hands. That would vastly improve your ability to READ what was being signed to you. All the best to you on your efforts. 🙂
Hi Sarah
I so look forward to your daily reports. You make me happy by your infectious positive attitude….
Well done, you are an inspiration not just for the feat that you are tackling..
Wishing you many many westerlys!!!
xx
Hello Sarah
Good to hear your latest reports but saddenned you are not goiung in the way that you had hoped, there is a reason just don’t know what it is. Hope you enjoyed the pancakes anyway.
No matter what you just continue to inspire so many folks.
Take care for now
Love
C & K
All the best wishes for courage and patience.
For a minute I got confused by calling the longitude “parallel” as the longitutional lines converge at the poles and therefore are not parallel contrary to the lines of the latitudes which are parallel. There must be some historical reason I am unaware of for calling the converging longitudes “parallels”.
May you have Westerly winds soon and for myself I wish Southerly winds as I am cycling North on the North Sea Cycle Route.
I recently read a now-deceased Australian psychologist Clare Weeks on her approach to dealing with nervous illness which helped many folk in her lifetime. It’s useful in my work, certainly. It was geared to de-panicking the nervous system and getting it out of red-alert state so that fear of the fret and anxiety didn’t continually compound the condition, allowing the organism to help itself recover. It offered what I think is a far-reaching and brilliantly simple approach which reminds me of your situation, though your capacity to float in Happy Socks is legend! However for going with things as they are and reducing the inevitable fret when you’re drifting in the wrong direction her four clear and memorable stages may offer a little giggle and recognition. Acknowledge – face fully, don’t resist, Accept – welcome what’s not acceptable, make friends with it, Float – just pass on gently by without attending to it too much, (I thought that particularly apt given that floating is what you are doing, so float mentally in a floating boat!) and Let Time Pass – that the brain loses interest as repetitive fret patterns are gently adjusted. I like it anyway. Maybe a birdy flannel handy for drying feathers and a few drops of fresh water for a birdy refreshing bath? Love to you! Pam
Hi Sarah
Hang in there.
The ocean looks good and is always changing.
Just imagine having to sit in a paddock and watch grass
grow for the same amount of time that you are going to be out there.
That would sent anyone loopy
Whats the words to the song
Dont Worry
Be happy.
———–?
Stay safe
From sunny queensland
Boat pancakes eh? I think you could start a nautical culinary phenomenon. Happy Socks Cook Book perhaps! Happy relaxing Sarah, and may the wind behave itself ere long…
James
Boat pancakes eh? I sense a culinary phenomenon. Happy Socks Cook Book perhaps: Jamie Oliver eat your heart out!
Happy relaxing Sarah, and may the wind behave itself ere long…
james
Hi Sarah I have the perfect song for you I wont yell it at you but I’ll write it in full and at 6pm wherever we are in the world on Saturday we can stand out side and sing it “Row Row your boat gently down the ocean Merilly merrily Merrily Sarah has a dream” Okay hopefully I havent upset anyones Patent or script writers See you tommorrow at 6 pm our time God Bless Lesley
If you ever get so bored, try this: Draw an object on paper (two dimensional, of course), mentally force it into three dimensions, ….then rotate it 90 or 180 degrees and see what it looks like on another side. It is an exercise I’ve used for years to keep my few remaining brain cells in good shape. It also clears the mind of stress.
Just thinking of ya’, out there, on that crowded boat, with you, yourself and Sarah.
Cheers,
~ray~
Hello Sarah,being a Bermudian now living in Scotland,your comments on petrels reminded me of the inspirational story of the Bermuda Sea Petrels that were considered extinct after setllers wiped them out in the 1600s.Miraculously a few were discovered in the 1900s and conservationist Dr DavidWingate slowly brought their population back.Good reading when anchored.
http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/features0709/globalwarming.html
Good luck!
Read your blog almost every day and starting to feel guilty now when I miss one 🙂 Your posts always make me smile. You know it really would be faster to sail accross!
Four more weeks at work for us and then we are all heading north to start cleaning, emptying, fixing and personalising our good ship for it’s voyage south. Can’t wait to join you out there, but very glad we have room for a freezer full of meat and a bilge full of hard core long lasting vegetables… god bless carrots and butternut squash 🙂
Lots of love and fair westerlies,
from Clare, James, Jon and Colette.