My final evening watch was everything I could of hoped for as I said my goodbyes to Mother Ocean. The moon was full. There were no clouds and a perfect sprinkling of stars across the sky. The air was warm and the wind was enough to push us along at a reasonable speed and so smoothly. I remember wishing for just a couple more days but alas everyone had been in “race” mode for a few days now. 
Ps. Final results for who won aren’t in yet since they need to calculate how many engine hours and different handicaps for boat size. We are thinking we are in the top four though :-).
It is pretty apparent I am not the person you want on board if you want to be continuously tuning the rig for optimum performance. I prefer to set the sails for comfort and gaze off into the endless blue remarking on nature’s beauty and beginning my journey of self reflection. Lol.
I did my best to step up and be ready and willing for changing out sails, shaking out reefs, playing with the Genoa, experimenting with different sail configurations for speed but my heart wasn’t in it. I wanted to spend my three hour watches studying how the squalls moved across the water and the changes of the ocean, watching for dolphins, pondering how humongous the waves were, feeling the exhilaration of surfing down them, and don’t get me started again on the sun and the moon. I paired all this with a music playlist that filled me with joy. Soooo ya...I wanted a few more days out there. ;-)
There was one little pesky jester though who was determined to jolt me from my joyful bliss. On that last watch as I sat with face to wind and eyes on the moon a black sharp beaked bird came right at me out of nowhere. I screamed and grabbed the sleeping bag we had in the cockpit all rolled up and began flailing it around. Graham thinks I’m nuts at this point. I'm screaming bird, and terrified it’s going to come into our enclosed area which only has one open side where I am sitting. Graham hasn’t seen the bird at this point and is laughing hysterically and then all of a sudden it comes straight at me again. I continue flailing and quickly zip up the door so he can’t get in and I am totally on edge. I realize there is still one spot he come come in through so I’m agitated and looking everywhere for him. That’s when I turn around and would you believe that little bugger was sitting right behind me on the solar panel. This was my queue to head to bed and close my door.
Hours later we were pulling into St Lucia in the dark and rain. For the journey across we stayed on Canary Island time so now it was four hours earlier in St Lucia, in the early morning hours. As we made our way through the channel and onto the dock I looked to my teams faces and I could see happiness, excitement, relief, pride, and strength. We all brought to this experience a unique aspect. People bring color to your life and enrich your experiences. You learn new things, they inspire and they provide opportunity for self reflection. I am very grateful for my time on Mareas and to have been a part of their first journey across the sea.
Pss. Odd fact is that 7 years ago to the day on Friday the 13th of 2012 we completed our first Atlantic Ocean crossing and arrived in the Caribbean on Salty Ginger.
Very nice final post, look forward to the stories.
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