Thursday, May 08, 2008

One Year Later - 1000 Days at Sea


Reid has spent over a year sailing his schooner over the seas in his quest for 1000 days at sea. If you have been following his story, his young lady friend jumped ship about 8 months into the journey. Reid soldiers on without her and I can imagine he is one tired dude as he manages a ship that would normally take a crew of 4-5 to sail. Here is an entry from earlier this week.

A light gale with waves from the west picked up and the NE waves from the five day storm kept coming. It was a wild ride and a good thing I had double reefs in both my foresails when the squalls came through. I felt like Paul Revere with a mission and a message as I rode through the night and waved appreciation at the patches of stars that showed up through the ragged clouds. Before dark I was geared up and moving around the schooner and studying her from different vantage points, so from the pilot house during the night as I heard different noises, I felt confident we weren't breaking things. Before dawn the cresent moon floated like a boat above the eastern horizon. In the morning I did feel like a horseback rider who had ridden through the night catching snatches of sleep on the run. As I checked the deck before coffee I patted my foremast on the brow and said “You did good”. The first thing I saw was a rainbow behind us to the west and our first Pacific flying fish on deck. The Schooner Anne gallops inexorably onwards knowing there's no stopping. Both of us are nursing a little fatigue, pulled reigns and sore muscles and the migration of the yearning is longer than we have experienced. We ride great forces of nature through time and our timing and positioning are still good, thank goodness.

618 more days to go!

For more on Reid's journey, click here.

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