At sea a unique and pure currency exists onboard that is constantly being generated in our minds. It has varying denominations, moments, which combine into stories and with enough of those they add up to an experience. There is no calculable exchange rate but it thrives amongst shipmates as we all generate this intangible coinage. Over meals this tender is passed back and forth, as we share anecdotes and reports of things that we’ve seen and done, recently and long ago. They can’t really be bartered, as perhaps could be said for favors, like writing a Daily Expedition Report for a fellow staff member as a birthday present. This is purely an example, as it isn’t at all an unwanted task or hardship, but just to illustrate a different form of trade. Especially one that might occur on a 26-day voyage across the entirety of the Atlantic where one might run out of things to write about the open ocean. However there truly is never a dull moment, as just when one might be grasping at straws thinking of how many ways to describe the azure depths that surround us, a massive pod of dolphins appeared on the horizon!
At first they seemed to be common but upon further inspection it was discovered that they were Clymene dolphins due to the distinct darker markings on their beaks, a rarity indeed. These gregarious marine mammals might have been in similar state of mind as our staff, primed for excitement, as they quickly surrounded the ship in teeming hundreds, leaping into the air, darting back and forth in our wake and riding the pressure wave of the bow. It’s a good sign of everyone’s mental health and priorities that even the galley team emerged from their stainless steel office to watch these anthropomorphically jubilant creatures frolicking in the seas. Each second, of the hour or so they decided to join us on our journey, added up, banking itself into our memories. While you can’t spend a sunset, or a rainbow, the value of having that experience is something that will never depreciate.
