Mother Nature

It is a cold August morning in the North Atlantic Ocean on the way around Iceland towards Reykjavik. I woke up at 3:30 am, tired after a long day in Húsavik but struggling out of bed. The silence is striking between us, only the sounds of sailing gear and boots which slowly clothes the entire guard. It is a calm watch, no wind and no sails up, but a cold sea breeze against our cheeks.

I was lookout this morning, standing in front of the boat and looking out over the sea. It can be meditative and calming but it can also extremly freezing. On the other hand our watch force is a happy group of people which brightens up every hard day at sea. Today is Sunday which means egg and bacon or pancakes for breakfast which ended our watch in a great way.

After watch most of us go to sleep again for a few hours until lunch and then do some homework or chill in the lounge until next watch. Not only is the breakfast different from other days, also our schedule is different from other days since we have a meeting al together with the command. Opinions about what has been good during the week and what can be better for the next week.

After the meeting our evening watch starts and we are still going for engine so we don't much to do this watch either, not more than be fascinated by the amazing nature. We've seen long rolling green hills but also huge mountains with snow and small waterfalls. We've also been on a kind of whale safari since we've seen many and different types of whales.

The time is floating by now at sea and soon we will arrive at Reykjavik which everyone is in need of since our sleep is affected by the guard duty. I would say this sea leg has been nice and look forward to our next sea leg towards Belfast.

Ebba Palm