Martin captured this picture yesterday from the top of the mast. |
I had a great call with Martin today. He was
calling me during his 10pm-2am shift. It was so much fun killing time
with him and knowing he was sailing in the middle of the ocean so far away.
Martin and his crew are over halfway to the Canary
Islands with around 225 miles to go. The 30 knot winds have been pushing
them along with just a reefed genoa. He sounded to be in great spirits
and said that they are still having a wonderful time. All of this was
great news for me to hear!
During this passage, Martin told me that they have
seen sea turtles floating on the surface of the water and have had Pilot whales
swim up beside the boat. They even had a pod of dolphins, and their
babies, play in front of the bow for a good 30 minutes. Now I'm getting
jealous.
News Flash: It looks like those huge fishing rods
that Martin lugged to France (and paid a hefty price to get onto the plane) have
finally earned their keep. They got their first catch! It was a
Bonito, which they promptly gutted, cleaned and ate for dinner.
Amara is set to arrive in the Canaries (Las Palmas)
on Friday. Once Martin and his crew arrive, it looks as if the weather
will still be working against them. So, they'll probably have to sit in
the Canaries for a few days and wait out the storm... again.
Meanwhile, I am home and still packing.
A typical scenario for me is that I pack up all the boxes, sit on them
for an evening, then wake up in the morning and say to myself, "We don't
need that. Now which box is such-and-such in?" Then I proceed
to unpack all the boxes until I finally find the item. Another typical scenario is
that I'll think of something that, "I forgot to pack", then
I'll get up, grab the item, take it downstairs to the boxes and throw it inside
of one of them. Tuesday night I stayed up late into the night and finally
itemized each box. First, because I'll need to do it for customs forms
anyway, but mainly because I can't play this game of "go fish"
another day. Luckily, the boxes leave next week so I can stop playing
this "song and dance" every day. It's all so exhausting.
Honestly, I don't think that I'll be able to relax
until I am finally at the dock in St. Maarten and have Martin in my line of
vision. It's all just too much not having him here in Utah with me.
Last night, I had a dream that Martin was in bed next to me. I even
remember taking my foot and reaching out to touch his leg. This is
something that I do so often and obviously take for granted. When I woke up, I
reached over to his side of the bed and realized that no one was there.
It took me a good 30 seconds before my brain could catch up and realize
that he is still so far from Lily and me.
We really miss him.