He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata” - It’s the people, its the people, its the people

The ship is not an island, even if it appears to be lost in the heart of the ocean. 

And those who sail in her are not islands. No man is an island, entire of himself, to drop the famous quote. 

Europa is entirely about connections. 

The ship exists only because of a network of extremely dedicated people, and it can be sailed only if those aboard her work together. The speed with which a bunch of strangers developed connections on this voyage is astonishing to me. It happened because of our common interest, and, I think, also because of an unspoken understanding that our success depends on our cooperation. Europa may not be an island, but she is a ship in the open sea, and her immediate future depends on those aboard her. 

Now compare that to almost anything else we do, including our global response to pollution and warming. The ship may not be an island, but the planet is one, so working together like the crew of a ship in the open ocean, should be a given. 

Sailing the Europa strips away everything but the current moment and the current demand. There is no functional past of any importance, and our actions determine our future. The lesson should be crystal clear.

So much, so obvious. What may be less clear is that the Europa sits in a web of global connections. Those who sail in her come from a world of achievement and networking, professional and personal. This applies to the permanent crew and to the paying volunteers. Those who go down to the sea in her are doctors and engineers, environmentalists and educators, administrators, academics and artists, plumbers  and electricians, professional sailors. People with webs of personal global connections and experience, for which the ship becomes a nexus for the duration of the voyage. 

The possibilities that spread out from this point in the ocean strike me as endless. I have found myself focusing on what I can do next. I used to think that what one person can do against global challenges is ineffective. But we are never one person. We are the connections we decide to pursue. The one common interest in sailing has created a set of new connections for me, and for every other person on board. Already I am thinking about ways to use some of these new linkages to take some action on the things that I think are really essential. 

Sailing in Bark Europa has come at the right time in my life. I have been reminded once again that the future is what I make it, but that I cannot make any difference alone.

Bon Voyage.