Coming home

Maartje studied biology and sailed on the Thalassa as rating deck for the past 2 years. After 6 months of sailing, she is back home. About her time on board, she wrote a blog on the Dutch site Zeilhelden (‘Sailing Heroes’).

“We are no longer alone in the world. As we sail into the English Channel, the many ships, buoys and lighthouses dazzle the starry sky. It’s a strange feeling. The past six months did feel like we were alone in this world. Our own little society on this ship as we all make a journey around the Atlantic. During such a crossing, the days no longer matter. What does it matter if it is Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday? The days are broken up by the watches you run. Time after time, day in, day out. The fine rhythm you can get so lost in if you don’t watch out. For all I care, we sail on. Not coming home. Not yet.

Anchor watch

One last stopover in Cherbourg. Another anchor watch run. Apart from the sporadic crackle of the VHF radio, it’s quiet. The water ripples quietly past the ship. For the last few weeks, I have been trying frantically to hold on to these moments. I want to capture them, store them forever in my mind. I think back to the places we saw and the things we experienced. In the moment, it feels so normal, so natural. But as I sit here like this, I only realise how special it all was.
The night watches we walked, which we sometimes started off happy, and of course sometimes grumpy. But that never lasted long, sooner or later you were brought back down to earth. Just a head in the wind, a glance at the stars and you were back at it. It’s all in the little things. The jokes here and there, the nice cup of coffee or the feeling when you are sailing in the right direction at 9 knots. The waves throwing the watch snack through the wheelhouse without pardon. The birds that came to visit us as we lingered on the middle of the ocean. Or whales, dolphins and turtles that showed that you are never really alone. The wind coming back, the engine going out, or your nice warm bed after a watch. A ship and routine that comes to feel like home.

You do it together

And maybe that’s the beauty of long sailing trips. Everything is so incredibly relative. One moment can feel like you can’t go any deeper. But as soon as the wind returns and the sun starts shining, only then do you feel how rich you actually are. Without the negative, there is a no room for the positive. On board a sailing ship you really learn that. And the coolest thing? You do it together. My helmsman always says “You sail the boat together”. And that hits the nail on the head. You can’t do it alone. You have to do it together, with all that entails. And it just worked out. A feeling of pride creeps up on me. But also of early homesickness. Of course I feel like going home again. But, I am sure that in a week’s time, I will long for my rocking hut again. That’s okay, I know I will come back again. Once the sea takes hold of you, it never lets go.

Maartje Schinkel.

Read Maartje’s blog at Source: zeilhelden.nl.

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