Pacific Passage

(Greg)

This space is vast. For 17 straight days there is nothing from horizon to horizon.  Nothing. 

East to West, the Pacific is more than twelve thousand miles, or almost half the circumference of the earth. North to south, from the Aleutian Islands to the Antarctic, it stretches another ten thousand miles. Taken as a whole, it is so big that you could fit all the landmasses of earth inside it and there would still be room for another continent as large as North and South America combined. It is not simply the largest body of water on the planet—it is the largest single feature.(Christine Thompson, Sea People)

 All this time and space gives a fella lots of time to think and see:

 On the constancy of motion…

Surrender to the monotony and the motion. Marvel at the miracle of being moved by nothing more than the natural forces of wind captured by the physics of the boat’s design.

 On the senses…

Flying fish scatter as the surprise of our bow awakens their flight

The insistent galloping of the waves and their incessant drumbeat on the hull

The thunder and whine of the rig straining to balance the forces of wind and sea

 On the daily routine of watch…

A continuous circular function. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. But there are harmony and rhythm in the sameness. The vast ocean is constant but is constantly changing in color, feel, and texture; friendly, threatening, unquestionably in charge.

On the metaphysical…

Vast sameness and a taunting recurring question: where in heaven’s name did all this water come from?