It is so good to be back on dry land, in a real bed and using a flushing loo; the list goes on. A week later I think I have just about adjusted to normal life although I did have some form of what I am labelling 'land sickness' - the land wasn't moving but I was regularly feeling queazy for no apparent reason. The turning point seemed to be Wednesday and subconsciously I must have been missing the ocean as I was back out on a boat in Plymouth Sound.
Keen to put my newly acquired knowledge gleamed from the Clipper transatlantic race into practise I rejoined "Wave Warrior", the thirty seven foot yacht I have crewed on a few times in the past, for one of the summer series races. I distinctly remember the first time I sailed on this boat it seemed huge. Perspective is a funny thing and after living on a 'seventy footer' I was seriously questioning if this was even the same boat. I couldn't comprehend how much smaller it was, so much so I hardly even recognised it.
I know that Devon is a small world, sailing is too, combine the two and I shouldn't have been surprised at this coincidence. One of the crew on "Wave Warrior" was talking about coming up the Thames last Saturday, then I heard him mention St Katherine's Dock (where the Clipper boats moored up) and sailing a seventy foot yacht around the world - it turns out he had just sailed one of the Clipper boats back from London to their home in Gosport. I then had to be careful what I talked about and there was no room for exaggeration as I shared my transatlantic experiences with the rest of the crew.
