Secure your cabin!

What does it look like to sail?  In the past it has looked like. . .peaceful mornings reading a book on the bow, playing outside while we watch the calm ocean pass by while keeping an eye out for dolphins.  Pretty much going about our normal business as if there wasn't miles of ocean on every side of us.  However, the end of the last sail and this current sail have looked a bit different for us.  We thought you might think it was interesting to hear about what it is like.

When we sailed from the Canary Islands to South Africa we got a lesson in the phrase "secure your cabin". We thought we knew what that meant but that was the first sail we have been on that included pretty rough waters.  At one point on that sail we had things flying off shelves, our dresser fell over, the trashcan spilled all over the floor and anything not secured to something flew somewhere.  Not so secure.

We were better prepared this time as we sail to Madagascar.  The seas have been rough again. We are now on day 5 of sailing and we have been rocking and rolling pretty much the entire time.  It is amazing how exhausting it can be to try and stay upright!  (side note: the kids seem to hardly notice) It's actually pretty comical watching everyone navigate the halls, eat meals and work in this constantly moving environment.  People secure their rolling chairs to their desks, we eat our dinner on top of wet napkins to keep the plates and cups from sliding off the table, we wedge Jack's high chair between tables so he doesn't go flying across the dining room, and we learn new ways to sleep so we don't roll off the beds. Sometimes we laugh at this "new normal" that has become our life lately.

Here's how things look in our cabin.  (please refer back to nice neat pictures of our cabin before sailing :) )

These bins were all over the floor on the last sail, so now they are tied down.

Our shoe rack also fell over, so here it is secured behind boxes of things that once occupied shelves.

Empty shelves.

Empty walls.

There's our dresser that fell, we just kept it down. Also behind it you see a pile of other things that we had to take down. I can't wait to have our space back and be able to pack these things away again.  But, in the mean time, we are glad to have the space to keep everything safely.

Refrigerator doors latched shut. You have to time the opening of the doors or everything flies out. Also if you grab the milk and turn your back without latching. . .food everywhere :(

Cabinet door hooks.

Pillows stuffed strategically to keep cups and things from rolling around and making you crazy at nighttime.

View out our window when it's smooth sailing. Note the water is level with the railing.

A large roll.  The largest (I've heard) that we've had has been 24 degrees. This one was more like 10- 15 probably. I'm sure someone can do the geometry to figure it out. :)

 

 

SO that's life at sea these days.  Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.  We are really looking forward to setting foot on dry land on Saturday! We will keep you updated as we can!