Hello everybody!
Today’s blog is written by me – Rhian! AKA Dr Deckhand. Did you know every boat needs a scientist on board? Well SV Sea Dragon is showing you how it’s done!
We are somehow already at Day 6 into our Atlantic crossing, and we have finally discovered this mystical type of sailing people kept talking about: downwind sailing. It is glorious! Sea Dragon is showing us all just how great a boat she is, and wow does she look good with her gennaker up. As I sat down to write this I heard cheers from up on deck. The dream team of Justin at the helm and Ziggy on the spinnaker sheet just hit 12.3 knots! All while soaking in some much needed Sun, shining across the big beautiful blue. There is something so calming about looking out at the ocean, and seeing nothing else around you for miles and miles. Sure, we see the occasional mast in the distance of our fellow ARC sailors every now and then, but most of our day we just watch the water. I’d recommend everyone goes out and does that for a few hours, it’s good for the soul. Trust me, I’m a scientist.
Not only are we sailing well, but the crew have really settled into life on board. Terry magicked up a Thanksgiving feast last night, which put several people into a happy food coma. Today Ed cooked us the most joyous Spanish omelette and somehow made peas taste heavenly. First Mate Phoebe served up mouthwatering papaya with salt and lime. Yum. Can you tell I like food?
Much to the delight of the crew, Mike caught a fish last night! We nearly caught two, but only Mike was strong enough to reel his catch all the way in. We forgave Skipper Dan though for his attempt at fishing. It was a Mahi Mahi and apparently it was delicious, according to the fish eaters on board. We’ve seen plenty of flying fish and dolphins too, all serving a lovely reminder of how we are not alone on this journey across the water.
On a personal note, I am still in absolute awe of my fellow staff and the crew. I feel so incredibly privileged to be on SV Sea Dragon, and to be able to say this is my job right now. How awesome is that?! We get to take people across the seas and provide them with a truly special journey of discovery and self reflection. Where else would you get a mix of people, shove them all in a confined space, then make them work shifts, cook for each other and somehow come together to sail a 72ft boat! That is the beauty of Panexplore. Very honored to be sailing alongside the incredible staff Skipper Dan, First Mate Phoebe and Deckhand Sarah. All of whom are phenomenal sailors and just truly wonderful humans. Keep an eye on them and their future adventures, I’m sure they’re going to be epic. Plus huge shout out to everyone working behind the scenes making this whole show happen.
But for now, we are all cheering that we overtook a catamaran (sorry Ingrid) and it is time for me to return to my science! Making lots of notes while we collect data for the SeaLabs Project. A huge citizen science project whereby sailors get to contribute to ocean research as they cross the Atlantic. Go look up the project set up by Ambiente Europeo, and watch the data from ARC crews come online, ready to share with the world. I will talk about them more soon.
Much love all!
Rhian
