On a ship there is always something to be done: ropes hanging loose, a shelf that rattles, a sail looking crooked… anyone can add chores to the list. It is important however to take time to do nothing.

It seems men are better at that than women.

Sleeping can be seen as time we do nothing, but that is a serious underestimation of the activity of our brains.

Time to do nothing very clearly shows up when you are on outlook-duty. 

Foreground: water, in the middle: water, background: water, nothing to be reported to the bridge. Almost automatically thoughts turn inside. 

Slowly the daily chores move to the background and there is time to enjoy the little things happening NOW.

For that in the middle of the ocean you can simply do nothing.