The Final Countdown
8th May 2023
6th May: Early start for us, think our coffee intake is unhealthy at this moment! The poor kettle hasn’t stopped boiling! It’s those pre-match nerves, the firing of our synapses, the mental gymnastics going on in your head, the setting of goals, looking forward never back, always breathing and taking that leap with both feet!
The inside passage is in our grasp all we have to do is take mother nature’s hand, wait for that window of serenity, that synchronicity with the ebb and flow. That moment between madness and clarity! Time to cross the Rubicon!! The die is cast!
5th May: It’s one of our team member’s birthday today, Happy Birthday Shaun!!! The thing at the back of our minds is that we have family and friends supporting us through this; they are the unsung heroes sorting out our day-to-day lives. We are on a once in a lifetime experience – our loved ones made this possible!!
After spending time apart it’s that first hug that first smile that first meal together – it’s pure magic!
Then our sponsors; where do I start?!! The late night calls and emails, the amount of work behind the scenes, the long days, the short nights, the Zoom meetings, the different time zones! The quick calls to make sure we have everything – you are rock stars!!!
The mist and fog is rolling in – it adds this eery glow and amplifies the senses! Navigating is going to be difficult, trust the bearing, trust the compass, trust the navigator!
We are sorting out the last of the food boxing up our resupplies. It’s a logistical minefield!! We are leapfrogging our supplies from point a to point c, point b to point d. Charts are getting sorted, tides, flow and wind updates are getting pencilled in.
What sweet sorrow it is to say good night, when you have been around sadness, feeling lost without direction, rudderless in an never-ending ocean. Then you have these lovable rogues, your brothers that have shared everything with you: you need anything take mine; you don’t know a knot come let me show you; I don’t know how this works, sit down next to me I will teach you!
It makes you feel like you can achieve anything!!
Time works very strangely when you have such a mammoth task ahead of you! You start off with so many hours in the day then all of a sudden there isn’t enough! Then time slows down again and it’s like looking at your reflection in a puddle. All confused with all kinds of hues losing track of it all, snap of a finger then it’s task after task!
4th May: Time to get rid of that superflous static!!
The sound is screaming at us, the water calling our names. The owls sharing our late night conversations, set your compass to north keep land in sight, concentrate on your breathing and the next paddle stroke, get your rhythm, get the feel of the ocean, listen, feel mother nature around you! Behold the beauty, embrace the savagery of the ragged coastline, break the surface, feel the pressure on your paddle, rotate, let those muscles contract and propel you forward!!
