[Today's blog is written by Matt, one of the Rainbow Warrior's hard-working deckhands.]
It seems like another world out here. Another world with no one else around. And this is just at the surface. I can't even imagine what the world beneath us is like.
Up here 3-4 kilometres above the sea floor, it is a world worthy of respect. The sea demands respect. Today has been calm. On a calm day, the feeling that we're the only people out here is magnificent. 360 degrees of large gentle swelling ocean. The only company are the light winds and albatrosses surfing ten centimetres above the swell. The Warrior rolls slow and heavy on the rolling hills of the sea. Sunny days and awesome sunsets. There is no way to describe being at sea on a calm day with no other ships around, no planes crossing the sky, you feel like you belong a perfect peace between the elements and ourselves.
On an average day it feels like the last place people should be. The way the ship moves on an average day makes you dread a bad day. The Rainbow Warrior doesn't exist for the sea. The sea doesn't notice us for a second.
Any task involves timing a movement, then timing the moment to brace yourself against a bulkhead, a rail, a rope, a bunk.
These contrasts, between the rare calm day, and the average gale sweeping through the crest of the swell, demand reverence. Both are a world far away from everyday knowledge and experience. And the thing that blows my mind is how far away from our knowledge and dreams is the deep sea world beneath us.
I could have never imagined what it could be like out here alone on the ocean this winter; but I can't imagine what it is like down there on the 99% undiscovered sea floor.
Comments
Sounds like you are having a great time Matt, but I know what it can be like on the high seas, and yes one has to respect the sea - always. The tranquility of it all is something to experience first hand before you can grasp the feeling though, isn't that true. I really envy you all.
Take care - 'may the trade winds be with you but NOT the gales! :)
It seems very peasefull, and since i'm a person who loves experiences, that one is probaly one of ones i'll regreat not experiment. Good luck and good winds.
