July 25, 2016
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch
The days go by and the end of the campaign approaches. There is little less than a week left but you have to control the urge to return home, because the accidents occur when you let your guard down. If sailing in the ocean and past campaigns have taught me anything it is to begin and end at the same pace. I have come across people who give it their all on the first day of a voyage. They often fall victim to the fatigue of the sea and are all too soon defeated, especially in bad weather. From yacht racing I learned that you have to have a clear mind so that everything is done in the shortest possible time and so leads to victory. Only then can you lower a spinnaker with several boats coming on at full speed and stuck close together, hunting for the leeward mark, while you can feel the tension in the air. What a wonderful feeling, and only those who stay calm in the bow succeed in escaping from the pack first. It’s the last day for me in this campaign, and time to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion and then make good use of the time until the next expedition.