Position 46 08N, 58 01W. At the pre-race crew briefing before this final 2300 mile ocean crossing, we previewed the first installment of the ten segment TV production covering our race. In the US and Canada, it will eventually be shown on the Outdoor Life Network. Watching it, I was struck by how heroic our exploits look when shown in slow motion with dramatic background music.Below decks during a passage through rough seas, feeling like you're being tossed around like a towel in a dryer just seems like a challenge to endure, nothing more. Seeing the helicopter footage of the same moment, however, with the bow piercing wave after wave and the foredeck crew awash in sea water while the music builds suitably...well, it was hard not to feel some tinge of pride in what we're doing.
That's an emotion I've fought hard to avoid, for all around me I see that each of us are little different than anyone you'd meet on the street, except that we're here, not there.
The people around the world that I've spent this time with have the most to do with what I've treasured in this voyage. The work of sailing is the vehicle, not the journey. One of the reasons I've chosen to take part in this circumnavigation was to confirm my belief that people all around the world are the same: they are good.
Such has been my experience...particularly so, it would seem, in Nova Scotia.
