Day 8 - Becoming a seaman

Position: N 46° 38' W 014° 36' UTC 1200

Nautical miles left: 443

Today we have been sailing for one week. Cantare has been heeling with about 30 degrees to the starboard side and rocking more or less constantly. We have adapted routines for life onboard. I have been reading and listening to more books in one week than I have done during the last 15 years. While listening to books I can stand looking at the sea for a long time and I'm amazed how different the waves are from the ones in my home waters. They are like small mountains with waves on top of them. In the beginning of this trip I was afraid of getting seasick and the first two days I was a bit uncertain about how to behave and what to eat. I realized that I couldn't be looking at the horizon for seven to ten days. I must admit that the first two days I felt a bit queasy but from day three I got my sea legs and now I'm feeling perfectly well. I haven't been facing more than about 40 knots of wind for short periods so I'm not hundred percent sure about how I would cope with a storm. About my relationship with the captain I have realised that she has got much more experience on ocean sailing and trimming Cantare so I just have to obey orders. There is just one subject that I constantly disagree about, that's when she's giving me my rations of cookies or sweets. My point of view is that we have to eat the best things first and in a rather high speed due to the fact that we might have to abandon Cantare in case of an emergency.

So far we have been lucky with the wind speed and direction, the captain says that we will be in harbour on Thursday the 17th. We have come to the conclusion that we both need to take a shower, someone is smelly onboard. We're not sure whether it's us or the free passengers I have mentioned before. After that I look forward to a big steak and some beers.

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