Hi everyone,
The last two weeks have been pretty crazy. I haven't had internet access so I couldn't write earlier about the crossing from Marseille to Corsica. It was a great experience, especially since it was my first time sailing.
We waited a couple of days in Marseille because the wind was too strong. The third day the option was to either go or wait two more days, so we took the risk and left. I still don't understand how my friend dared to take me with him since I knew nothing about sailing. Later I realized that in that kind of weather you usually don't go sailing at all, and if you do you should be at least three people on board.
The first thing that happen was that we couldn't get the sails down and a few minutes later the steering broke. Fortunately my friend has a hint of Macgyver in him and repaired it with a hammer and a piece of wood.
It was getting dark and the waves were getting bigger. I think they were something between 3-5 meters. I'm still not sure why I felt so calm and comfortable, I deffinately shouldn't have. We went 12,4 knots without engines or sails.
After a long night the sun was finally rising again but the waves didn't get smaller. My friend had to take a nap and I took over. The waves got even bigger and I started to feel quite uncomfortable between all the high peaks of adrenaline rushes. If the boat starts turning while it's surfing down the wave it might flip over and then you gotta start swimming and hope someone finds you before you freeze to death.
Every wave felt like a big challenge and I knew that if I let fear take over it might have a bad effect on my steering so I started singing instead. It kept me calm and focused.
After what seemed like ages the waves started getting smaller and after 30 hours of sailing we finally reached the safe harbour.
I spent two weeks living on the catamaran in Corsica. I got back to Helsinki yesterday and I still feel a bit weird about being in the city. I remember dreaming about a machine with this horrible sound that would destroy the world, then I woke up and realized that it was only a car driving by the window. I guess that's what you get when you get too used to the silence and the waves.
Cheers,
Jessica
