Firsts

Firsts

Today was a day of firsts. Since this past January, today was the first day:

I did not wear foul weather gear deck

I neither wore my down vest in the cabin nor slept with it on

I didn’t wear a wool toque

I didn’t wear my fleece pullover night and day

I didn’t drink anything hot

I didn’t need a blanket when sleeping

I left the companionway hatch open

Thinking about all the changes that only a few days has wrought put a smile on my face. For months, moving West to East in the Southern Ocean, the only discernible change was in one’s self. Moving South to North, the your whole world changes in a matter of days. With Polynesia, the Trades, the Doldrums, and the Equator all north of us, the pace will not slacken.

The changes have not all been welcome. Today was the first day since this past January that I did not see a Wandering Albatross. Only Shearwaters. The Wanders are gone. Consigned to memory. It is a loss that stung and made me realize how much of their presence I had leaned on for company and distraction. Missing them makes me miss home all the more.

Follow my tracks in real-time:
https://bit.ly/svseaburban