Atlantic Ocean
Day 7. Saturday Nov 26, 2005. 20˚ N 20˚ W
The night before last was very uncomfortable, with high wind and seas. All 3 of us were up all night trying to get the sails right in the varying winds so the boat would calm down. Yesterday, not having slept for more than 2 hours at a time now for a week I kind of lost it and asked that I be dropped off at Cap Verde. G and B said they would drop me but also that they’ve been watching themselves and getting along better. But shit what do I know. The thing is, theres always something going wrong on the boat and them arguing all the time doesn’t help. Yesterday the SSB just stopped receiving, the kerosene stove caught fire and the toilet is leaking. G restarted the radio, we put out the fire, and the leaking toilet we are living with. Then theres the ever changing wind and seas and the myriad of ways to set the sails and, evidently, to fight over. People say this is the way it is with sailboats, something always needing tending to, but I’m not into the constant ups and downs, forgive the sea metaphor.
But today is better, we made real headway, averaging almost 6 knots. We just passed 20˚N and 20˚W and are heading toward the Cap Verde islands at which point we will turn west for the Caribbean. Last night on my watch some dolphins came by, I could hear them breathing in the dark. They were surfing down huge waves right beside the boat, leaving contrails of bioluminescence behind them. They slapped the water and jumped, maybe to make more light appear. There is no mistake that these creatures appeared to be enjoying themselves. It is beautiful out here today, the boat is calm, we are moving fast, and the seas aren’t too scary. I could stare at the ocean all day, and I do.
Andrea Legge • she/her • Ontario, Canada and New York City, USA
Andrea Legge is a NYC based visual artist and has spent 25 years making public art with Legge Lewis Legge LLC, a collaborative public art studio that she cofounded in 2000. Recently she is focused on a solo practice and is currently investigating shifting ideas of heroics and landscape painting through various projects.
