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An Ocean In A Paragraph
posted by Rhian
"Do we now love the sea life a little?", David asks me. Of course, yes. I love the sea. I LOVE the concept. I entirely give myself to carbon-free global travel and independence. But. A sailor I am not. In the first three days after leaving Chile we became entangled in an almighty storm,- waves above the spreaders, running under bare poles, throwing drogues and ropes and anything else we could find off the back to slow ourselves down. After a week we reached safety at the beautiful Robinson Crusoe Island in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago. I loved it there. So much so that I didn't want to leave. Until we were hit by a huge Tsunami and were pulling bodies out of the sea. No joke. After a long and sleepless night the Navy told us to leave before the next wave hit.... so, bounced back into it we were in a fug all the way to Easter Island (1600 miles), where we got three days to recover before being blown out to sea again by yet more shit weather (possibly the only tourists to reach Easter Island and not see the big statues!). By this time storms had become less scary and more tiresome. By the time we reached French Polynesia I was thoroughly unamused with the concept of sailing and all it entails. Life improved somewhat after that and we saw some lovely places but only in Suvarow (Cook Islands) did we find a glimmer of what we were hoping for: I got the swimming and untouched islands, Andy got spear-fishing amongst sharks. Sad but no coincidence that the places we love most are unpopulated by people. After that Tonga was pretty cool until our friend's boat sank and we spent a week on an intensive salvage mission.. intense emotionally as well as physically, trying to be a voice for the environment, determined that recovery of every plastic bag or bottle of solvent was as important as the items of resale value. Or more so. Then another hard journey to New Zealand and here we are, 9000 miles and ten months later. You asked: I've never written a one paragraph synopsis before! Needless to say, I'm glad to be on land for a while. But dreams of oceans remain, and dreams of icy oceans are more powerful than ever.
... And so it was, that in November 2010 our journey across the Pacific came to an end. Less than a month later I was asked the ever-feared "how was it?", and the above is what spilled out. Four months on and I have already added a newly polished rose-coloured hue to the memory.
Now, if I put my mind to it, I can also extract delights from my memory. There is no doubt that the experience itself has changed me, hopefully for the better and definitely in ways I may never know.
The sweetness of fresh honey in Pitcairn, and smiles on the faces of kids there; melon-sized avocadoes in the Gambier Islands and the weird allure of black pearls; breadfruit, and what to do with it; weovils, and how to avoid them; a breath-taking, perception-exploding full solar eclipse; sunsets that fill the sky with fire, and storms that make everything else inconsequential. The challenge of the extreme, psychological and physical, met by the challenge of overcoming boredom and becoming comfortable with Self. The days you are so tired it's a miracle the body continues... balanced by others that tumble past worry-free. Most of all, the companionship of being just two in a big big ocean, on a small small boat.
Now we are in New Zealand, looking to the future, excited and intrigued about what might come next. This site remains open, a catalogue of those experiences, but my more continous web presence has returned to rhiansalmon.com. See you there.
