leaving soon

As mentioned by the ‘mates’ in the previous posts, days are getting busier as we approach the departure date. So we all got off blogging for a while and are all back in full force/posts, because there is so much to say, so much to share – and simply so much to get out of our heads for us to contemplate. So i’m adding my bit here, hoping that there wont be too many repeats.
Life on board is amazing as ever. Surreal mix of jumping off the boat to take morning/afternoon/night swims, and sweating under the sun to do one of the many Ant-work tasks which need to be done. It could be a morning - water based - task to scrape barnacles off the dingy, and then coming up inside guided by the tantalizing smell of Stephanie’s Pancakes served with a smile and a broom guitar demonstration for breakfast. And this is just an example in a million, life goes on. Time stands still.

This morning’s breakfast was blessed by some generous clouds, which brought along a few hours' relief from the sun, and also a contemplative mood on my side (Phill says moods are a women's exclusivity, being a woman is good then). So my inner debate started it’s questioning routine and i realized that attributing an age to each one of the faces (and bodies) of people around me was something I was simply unable to do. Strange feeling of one-ness rushing by. I decided not to consider ‘Why’, and felt satisfied contemplating the lightness of the realization from within. We share the same dream and all the happiness and stamina it gives us to realize it. I am still not sure if I experienced such a feeling before, and guessing that this is just the beginning might not be too much of a presumption.

So here we are, working along, singing along, living the infinite dream together. This morning we had our weekly ‘talking stick’ meeting where everyone gets a chance to share and let go emotions. One at a time, with the other crew member. It is for me a very important moment of the week, as I feel that it really adds to the quality of life on board. The reason why I mention it here is because David brought up a very sensitive definition of what community life means, and it touched me a lot, and it was a very interesting echo to my morning inner discussion that was still going on within. I could have thanked him right then, but only now I realize that it made my day, and since I don’t want to quote him wrong, he might just want to add it to this post later (please David?!).

Another highlight of the day/last night was the return of Randy & Cary on board. [They had spent a few days on Infinity before my arrival, but had left on a trip for a few days before I got here]. So this was a highlight, not only because they are wonderful, but because now our crew until Singapore is complete. Another sign that we are leaving soon and that the ocean would not wait much longer for us to discover (and wear hot pants!!).
-- like Gyan, sitting next to me as I right this post says: “next week at this time we are in the Ocean”. She says it, and already, a million starfishes in her eyes keep the dream running). --

Today Ruben confirmed his fishing skills by catching a few very fry-able fishes. I tried my scissors at cutting them open to remove the goopyguts, which was not all that disgusting and worked out pretty well.. Big fishes of the sea beware! Here we come. To complete the team, Gyan fried them up till tander-crisp, the fried fish story was a real success.

The sun is setting on the Giant-Buddha-sitting-on-the-top-of-the-hill-in-front, and I got to go and sit outside and swallow it in.
Sending you all a couple of barnicles, fired fishes and sunsets,

xxx