Day off today, the wind picked up even more than yesterday and the waves were too big to safely launch the dinghy.
I tried to spend this time to rest but it was difficult, I was tossed around in my bunk. Every time we have big seas and I am on the sailboat, I get seasick. This was true today; I got a headache and felt nauseated.
So I spent most of my day trying to sleep and walking up the stair to the deck to get some fresh air.
Ben
This morning on deck I put on my swim gear for the last time. I can see the shore, the buildings and Queens Beach where I will make landfall. The last piece of equipment are my fins, I wrote on them a message in memory of my close friend Gino. I slowly slide in the … Continued
Before I worked on this project I was no stranger to filming ocean expeditions. I have been a part of teams that explored newly discovered coral reefs at the mouth of the Amazon, conducted the first manned submersible dives in Antarctica, and hunted the depths of the Humboldt current looking for cannibal squids. Despite all … Continued
As we got closer to Hawaii, a plane form the US Coast Guard flew toward us, circled the boat twice, then went back to where it came from and disappeared at the horizon. They probably had been following us for a while and conducted a customary fly by surveillance. We waited for a call on … Continued
Another 487 nautical mile to land. Although quite far when you think about it, land feels very close these days, with an increasing amount of albatrosses, petrels and whales around us. And, now that we escaped the ferocious gales in the North, you might even spot a pair of tropical birds on these more Southern … Continued
Each day of The Swim the crew cast a net off the side of the boat, not in the hopes of catching fish but to collect microplastics. When plastic enters our oceans, it doesn’t break down but rather breaks up into smaller fragments from the combination of exposure to the sun and waves. They’re a … Continued
Education, spreading awareness and collecting scientific data, sounds like 3 things completely related. And they are. But, as I experienced during The Swim when you want to reach the three of them at the same time, there are some difficulties or at least some differences to keep in mind. Focused on plastic pollution in the … Continued
My attitude towards plastic has drastically shifted during my time on The Swim. I joined the expedition not knowing much about ocean plastic aside from rumors that there’s a great Pacific garbage patch somewhere. Every Captain and mate laughed and told me that they had never seen a “plastic patch” crossing the Pacific or other … Continued
For the past few days, our focus has been on collecting samples and data, doing observation and progressing toward Hawaii. We still encountered squalls and had to change sails back and forth. Those squalls brought with them winds and rain with such intensity that it felt like the rain was horizontal and painful when it … Continued
Today is one of my saddest days ever. Gino, one of my closest friends died. I met him through this project 7 years ago when he asked me if he could meet me on a beach in Alabama to take some footage of my training. Like many others, Gino volunteered his time and expertise, he … Continued
Day 174-175 In the first two days, we experienced big swells coming from a huge low pressure system north of us that had travelled hundreds of miles to get to our location. But that didn’t affect us much. However, we frequently had to make sail changes because of squalls. They were coming and passing bringing … Continued
It has been 100 days since we left Yokohama the last time, this means that we have been at sea and not been on land for that long. It is a little odd to me because it doesn’t seem that long. I have lost all references of time, every day looks the same. There is … Continued
On day 169, we passed the dateline it was on November 19, and the following day it was still November 19th, we lived the same day twice. I spend my days at the helm, from sunrise to sunset. All day long I can only skim the surface of the ocean since I don’t swim and … Continued
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Praying for you Ben
Dear Ben – about your motion sickness…do the motion sickness wrist
bands not work for you? If you don’t have any, and could arrange several pairs to reach you when you have your next drop off/pick up point, I can recommend them highly. I have gotten amazing relief from vertigo, nausea during chemotherapy and use them when I sail as well as fly. They work by applying pressure to the Nei-Kuan point on your wrists. I hope you get some rest and respite from the big seas. My grandsons and I check on you each and every morning. Blessings, Gail A.
Aloha Ben, I’m not a doctor but I understand and have experienced the misery of your sea-sicknes in the open ocean. Another possible solution is a prescription med called phenergan. It’s an anti-nausea medication usually given to chemo therapy patients but it works really well for motion sickness, too.
Just want you to know I’ve been following you and your awesome team from the start and send warm aloha from Kona to each of you. Feel better and may you have fair winds, smooth seas and favorable currents. You are helping to save our oceans, earth and humanity! No matter how rough it gets out there, please know in your heart that people really care what you are doing for all of us. Mahalo nui loa and kia haha, Jane
Hey Ben, I have been following your blog everyday now, it has sort of become a part of my routione and my day does not finish without reading it.
Saying that you are an inspiration would be an understatment. You are way more than that. The way you are moving forward with your journey, with your decision to swim the pacific ocean gives me the strenght to move forward with my decisions and goals in life. It makes me think that its okay to feel nauseated sometimes or take a day off or to even take a step back sometimes when the situations are not right. You have taught to me keep moving foward and have hope that the next day will be better. I had always known this things but seeing you practicing all of this everyday on your blog makes me beileve in it.
You journey has changed the prespective of how I look at my goals now and I would like to thank you for that 🙂 .