JUST LIKE CHILDBIRTH Jill Gallin (Jill and Michael Gallin bought Gerty, their Allures 45·9, new in 2017 and had always planned to depart in 2020. She is an aluminium centreboarder with twin wheels and rudders and draws only 3ft 9in (1∙15m) with the board raised, which allows her to visit places not accessible to most yachts. Read more about Gerty and her owners at svgerty.com.) On Friday 6th November 2020 I wrote, “Finally, it happened. Just like they said it would. Today I found my sea legs! It’s day four of our passage from Put-In Creek, Virginia to English Harbour, Antigua. It feels as though we have left politics, COVID-19 and, well, the world as we knew it, hundreds of miles behind us. Oh, wait a minute, we actually did do that! Albeit temporarily. We are now about 750 miles from where we started and I feel good.” During the next five hours of my night watch, from 2000 to 0100, I continued to write, taking time out every 15 minutes to check the sails, the radar, any AIS vessel locations, the weather, the speed over ground, the boat speed, the wind angle, the horizon, the sea state and the bilge, while Michael slept. This is what I wrote that night:
I feel so good that I’ve taken out my computer for the first time ever while sailing. I actually feel as though I can write without the urge to vomit over the side. In fact, I just realised that I forgot to take my seasickness medication when it was due 5 hours and 20 minutes ago. Clearly, something inside me has changed. That’s the point, isn’t it? To change. To complement my work as a writer I’ve been reading how-to books. Although these instructional books have taught me different techniques, the authors unanimously agree that one of the most wonderful ways to create change in the main character is to take them on a journey. “Fancy that,” I Gerty at anchor in the Caribbean
188
