I wanted to share with you how I experience life on the boat and live in the water and why they are different for me. I reflected on those differences on day 49, here was my blog entry.
My perspective of the ocean is totally different from the deck of the boat or in the water. In the water my entire body experiences the ocean, I don’t feel the gravity. If I am standing, seating, lying face down or up, I feel the same pressure all over, even if I am upside down, my blood does not rush to my head. The water envelopes me uniformly.
On the boat I am the victim of the forces of the ocean, I indirectly experience its motion. The boat transfers its force and I am being thrown, sometimes with violence, against the hard surface of the boat. Each violent blow reminds me that I don’t belong there. From the boat deck, I am limited to what I see on the surface of the water.
But in the water I am moving with the ocean and experiencing its true motion, I become a part of it. I have a 360-degree view, I feel it, I taste it, and share the same space with the creatures that inhabit it.
I have a unique view of the ocean because of the unique situation I am in; when I spot a floating piece of plastic from the deck boat, it seems out of place, but it is a distress call each time I pass one when I swim. And this happens many times throughout my day!
Ben
3 thoughts on “[DAY 62] My perspective of the ocean”-
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Thank you Ben for so faithfully blogging and updating. We think you are amazing swimming so far inspite of stuff and weather that gets in the way. I would so agree being in the ocean is maybe nearly therapeutic as opposed to being on it or under it. But the plastic thing is so so huge – our family (our whanau counting grand kids) are all trying so hard to use glass or paper or cloth bags and it is all thanks to you. We so pray you can keep on keeping on all the way to SAN Fran.
Hi Ben,
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Thankyou so much for your comment. I agreed to the aforementioned comment. I know what you mean,since I swim in Open Waters. You so much longer! I hope,you can continue. Go on bravely!
We go on to avoid plastic!
Blessings Brigitte
Greetings from Thailand. Have been following your trek since the start but would love to hear more about the technical aspects of activities on-board. I see by your tracker that you are back in port in Japan. Realized you were having issues with your zodiac or kayak from earlier discussions; but, would love to see some kind of technical status so we can have an idea when you’ll be able to shove off again. Also, the daily dose of spotting whales, fish and birds everyday isn’t really doing it for me. Would love to see more discussion from your first mate or captain regarding some of the issues they deal with when trying to navigate to the earlier waypoint each day. I’m certain that’s a whole story all in its own. Looking at the trace on the tracker, it looks like it’s not as easy as it looks. Especially if you are sailing and not using an inboard to get to the start point each day… Regarding chow, are you guys eating beans, rice, and peanut butter every day or does your steward have the resources on board to be at least a little creative when it comes to dinner. And, what kinds of things are breaking on board to keep your mechanic occupied. Is the hardware generally holding up or is the mechanic constantly having to fix stuff. I believe by integrating some of these topics into your daily diary would help enhance the blog or make it more “engaging”. Hope you all get underway again soon. Weather is only going to get worse as fall approaches. Safe passage all!