So today is the last full day of our Pacific crossing. I have to say that it has been different to what I expected, not better or worse, just definitely different.
I was worried that I would be bored, and there have been whole tracts of time where I have been immeasurably bored but this has actually been acceptable, much to my surprise.
I expected to feel sea sick, and I have done but to a much lesser degree than I was worried about. I certainly didn’t expect to have so many minor ailments and suspect that these, to a degree, were symptomatic of me stressing about the crossing. I certainly hadn’t really given any thought about how constantly interrupted sleep would make me feel. I knew I would be tired, but the exhaustion on some days was something else.
The weather has not been what I expected. It has certainly been a lot less humid, (until the last couple of days – it is now exceptionally hot and humid) which was very welcome, although I was surprised by the number of grey days, especially in the first half of the journey. The seas have been far more uncomfortable and rolly, and both Mike and I have found this extremely tiring.
I didn’t expect to have marine life forms strewn all over the boat. Today I even found fish scales on the bimini (although no actual fish – it must have bounced off and landed elsewhere). I didn’t expect the sightings of live marine life to stop so abruptly half way across, and am extremely relieved that we were not relying on catching fish on the way otherwise we would be extremely hungry by now.
Wearing clothes again will take a bit of getting used to though. For 19 days I have gone without a stitch of clothing which has certainly minimized the washing pile down to just bed linen and towels. The only time I put anything on was in the evenings when sitting watching TV with the air conditioning on. When the temperature gets down to 75 degrees both Mike and I feel the cold!
I will certainly enjoy sharing a bed with Mike again, as for some reason, I have missed his snoring, and I’m sure he has missed mine (yeah, right!). For the whole crossing we have seen surprisingly little of each other, as we slept at different times of the day and night. Some days we felt like we were the proverbial ‘ships that passed in the night’.
I was extremely nervous of many things associated with the crossing. Now that it is almost complete, I am sort of disappointed that we didn’t have any crises to deal with. I had hoped that I would feel elated at having to deal with the raw elements, but the fact that we were given nothing to test us as such, means that feeling is somewhat reduced. Still, I have done something which most people will never do, and Jeannius is one of only a handful of boats in the rally that is being crewed double handed, so maybe I should be proud of myself after all. Maybe I am that Superwoman!!
And I have to say that Mike deserves a medal for being so sympathetic to my occasional bouts of feebleness and I deserve one for agreeing to live (for now) on a floating money pit!
At long last, when I head off to bed and ask the question that I have asked every day, “are we nearly there yet?” this time, when Mike says “yes”, I believe him.
Our position is: 09 deg 44 min S, 138 deg 11 min W
Distance so far: 5521 nautical miles
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