At Sea. At Peace.

At 9:00a this morning the Captain announced we are 33.20° South; 8° East and 362 nautical miles/416 miles from Cape Town. This means we will be delayed arriving in Cape Town until about 1:00p. That actually isn’t so bad in my mind. I’ve heard Cape Town is one of the most beautiful ports to approach by sea, following close behind Rio and Sydney. So I don’t mind having the morning to take a good long look at the “sail in.” Our delayed arrival may change our plans for the day (I’m waiting to hear from the Cape Town guide) but in any event, I plan to set foot again on land, even if it’s just for a brief time.

I realized tonight will be my last night at sea, so I stepped out onto the back of deck 10 (just a few doors back from my stateroom) to watch the sunset. The ship is traveling due east, so I had a direct westerly view from the deck. And I was perfectly alone. I’m not sure I ever voiced this out loud before this cruise started, but I had my doubts about being so far from land for so many days. Would I be afraid?

As I stood there on the deck, I felt safe. No fear. No worry. Peace. Contentment. Gratitude. Refreshed. Renewed. Alive.

As I write this, the waters have quieted some, although there are still large waves and swells of 11.5 ft. We are traveling at 21 knots. The maximum speed for Serenity is 22 knots.

I think I now understand the expression “fair winds and following seas.” That’s what we’ve had this past week.