The weather has not calmed down yet and we have almost gotten used to being wet. When I look out of the window, watching the rain pour down, I am happy to be inside. Though, when pulling lines and feeling the wind in my face, I am happy to be outside. Basically, there is no bad place to be right now. And while I am writing this, Sven just said the following: “It is nice there are so many different days on board. Sunny days, stormy days, exhausting days, relaxing days, adventurous days…”. It is true, although this is a relatively short trip we’ve seen so much and experienced so many different things. We have seen the ocean and what it can be. The changing wildlife, the changing neuston in our manta trawl, and I have seen changes in myself. 

It always takes a few days to settle in, but there is always a point in the voyage when I reach a sense of inner peace and let go of all my worries. This is probably also the moment when friends and family stop receiving e-mails because we are living in the present. Do not be troubled; we have not forgotten our fondness for home, we are just taking a break from life and the outside world.

Yesterday afternoon we were so in the moment, that nobody was wearing a camera or a phone when the main event of the trip happened. At least 15 people have seen it, but the rest of the ship won’t believe us as it was undocumented. A masked booby floated by, surfing the waves on a big plastic lid. In the middle of a squall, strong waves and wind, this bird was SURFING! Not without trouble though: it looked like hard work to stay on that lid, but he managed. Spreading his wings, finding balance, almost looking as if he was waving back at us. It was a vision to behold. Wildlife moment of the year. We could have won prizes with a photo of it, if we had taken one. In our defense, we were doing sail handling, and it took a few moments for us to realise what we were looking at. Maybe plastic pollution can be a good thing after all?