We left Capo Verde this morning

After the morning meeting everyone helped to leave the port and hoist sail. When you started to feel the sea moving underneath your feet, most of us that wasn’t on watch snook down to sleep and prepare for two weeks of constant movement.

This was our first leg with our new watch and watch leaders. Last leg my watch, portside, had 8-12. Beside cleaning the toilets, it was really great. So, it was weird being woken up at 3:40. My whole body said no. My bed said no, don’t leave. But I put on my warmest clothes and prepared for a cold, dark and harsh night without my bed. We started our watch with climbing up to the top of the mast. We do this to really get comfortable in the rigg. Even though it was dark you could see how the water hit the boat. 35 meters above my bed at four in the morning. I have mixed feeling standing there. I love climbing, I love sailing, but I also love my bed and normal sleeping schedules. I thought about my bed back home in Sweden while I waited for my friends to climb down. A king size bed with six pillows and a cloud like blanket. Then I thought about my bed here at Gunilla. An 80x20 cm plastic matrass paired with one pillow. I miss my king size bed, but I have never in my entered life been so thankful for my king size bed as I am for my plastic mattress.

I climbed down the rigg while hearing the clock ringing two times, 5 o’clock, time for oatmeal. I like oatmeal in Sweden, but I love oatmeal on Gunilla. That’s the beauty here. You appreciate everything so much more here than you do when you are home. Forget mindfulness exercises and yoga. If you want to appreciate every movement of your life sail across the Atlantic. Today we got raisins to the oatmeal, I am still smiling.

Lotten

Portwatch