Final 24 Hours at Sea – By 1st Mate Phoebe Rogers
I can’t believe I’m actually typing this right now but we have officially made it into the final 24 hours of our ARC Rally passage across the Atlantic Ocean! It’s day 16 at sea and by the time we tie our lines onto the pontoon at Rodney Bay tomorrow, it will have been 17 total days of crossing an ocean.
Some highlights of the last few days include a bake-off between the skipper and first-mate taking turns playing the “domestic goddess” in the galley. Skipper Dan wins for the most amount of delicious bread loaves baked on passage. Ed also treated us to a heavenly lemon drizzle cake. Justin has more than earned creative license in the galley and has gone off-piste to make us comfort-food burritos for lunch. Rob and Tim continue to provide endless entertainment on deck, making everyone smile and giggle with their lovable bestie dynamic. Russ is the MC of the good vibes and has been locking down the positivity and presence on deck. Mike has been catching us bountiful Mahi-Mahi, Ziggy has been marathoning on the helm, Terry and his Downwind String Band (composed of Russ, Rob, and Terry) have been absolutely spoiling us with harmonies and acoustic tunes everyday around lunch time. Rhian has been keeping us purposeful with diligent water samples each day and all the guests have enjoyed getting involved. Sarah cooked us all a heart-warming breakfast today reminding us of what comforts await us onshore. Buck has kept us all enthralled with his unbelievable stories from a life spent abroad. Geoff has been the MVP of always supporting his watch crew and making hot drinks for the next watch to come up, treating us all to reflective and thought-provoking night watch conversations. And Ed has been locking it down as a watch-leader for his YachtMaster Ocean qualifying passage, taking more and more responsibility on deck! We’ve been absolutely treated to some amazing night watches under this most recent supermoon to boot! As you can see this crew is STACKED and this team has been consistently bringing so much to the table, I’m so impressed.
As I sit here now, the crew is gathered around the saloon table and reflections are being passed around with a mixture of emotions, all varying from relief to melancholy, from reluctance to excitement to getting back to the creature comforts of life on shore. I, for one, am feeling the poignant twinge of nostalgia, wondering what will happen to these deep connections, these life-long friendships and memories formed over 17 days at sea onboard SV Sea Dragon together. The crew we are now, the people we are, are not the same people who slipped lines in Gran Canaria. We said as much when we left the dock, forecasting how our minds, our sense of time, our tolerance for tight spaces, and our appreciation (or exasperation) for copious amounts of beans and vegetarian sources of protein would change over the course of this passage. Some profound revelations have already been shared with us; husbands vowing that after being part of this watch system they want to cook more at home, folks that have seen how a vegetarian diet can actually make them feel cleaner and healthier, people reflecting on how they’d like to incorporate slower living and more presence into their daily lives. Somehow the expansiveness of the sea around us always finds a way into our hearts and our minds while out here, broadening our horizons as well as our comfort zones.
I’ve been privileged to witness some incredible growth on this trip. Some people who were hesitant to helm at the beginning can now be confidently left on deck for hours while the professional crew attends to bilges and water pumps and blocked pipework. People who were daunted by the cooking duties are now whipping up wholesome meals for 14 people without batting an eye. Most importantly, 10 guests who’ve never crossed an ocean before can now say they’ve spent 17 magical days at sea, owning every part and participating in all the highs and all the lows of an ocean crossing. And they really do get to own that themselves. The beauty of these trips is that every mile we’ve sailed was helmed by hand by our crew, every meal cooked, every sail change and evolution made. I can sense the feeling of profound pride and ownership in the guests knowing that they really were crew not passengers on this trip. People are already talking about the next sailing trips they want to do, the certifications they want to pursue, and the passages they feel confident taking their friends and family on after this experience.
We’ve shared such raucous laughter, such vulnerable night-watch reflections, stories of who we are back at home and who we want to be. We’ve been through squalls, through intense heat, lack-of-sleep, through high-stakes spinnaker-over-board rescues, and so many “firsts” together. But what amazes me every time is the resilience of the guests we’re so privileged to welcome on board, of the way they open themselves to being truly transformed by this experience, and the depths of their strength they are able to reach through the catalyzing medium of offshore sailing. As we watch the remaining miles absolutely whizz by on the plotter (make it stop!!), I can’t help but wish we could slow down time, even just for a little bit, and savor this experience together for a bit longer. But alas, St. Lucia calls! And SV Sea Dragon is absolutely eating up these last few miles at a brawny 11 kts as I write. All I can hope for as our final moments together float away in our wake is that everyone onboard feels as proud of themselves as I feel of them for this incredible achievement they’ve undertaken, the immeasurable personal transformation they’ve undergone, and this unforgettable journey we’ve been so privileged to share.
