Bitter Sweet

Ready to check off the next bucket list item; Crossing the Atlantic ocean by boat.

Bet not many people in the world can say they have accomplished this task. I'm only four days into my 15 day excursion across the Atlantic ocean on a motor yacht. Big Eagle departed Fort Lauderdale, FL on April 28, 2014 and hasn't yet looked back.We are headed to the Gibraltar (Gib) straight. This is the only little piece of the ocean where they divide and allow water traffic to enter and exit Europe from the Western world. The first 24 hours of my trip wasn't the best. Left late out of Fort Lauderdale and wasn't able to beat the rough seas and the small storm behind us.We had rough seas for about 20 hours straight which led me straight to the crew mess sink and my eggplant parmesaun was splattered everywhere. Its hard to explain the feeling of sea sickness (like a hangover that will never go away) and not being able to do much besides lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. If you read you feel more sick, if you watch a movie the motion in the movie can make you sick, if you eat much, it will make you sick. So needless to say I think i've been in bed about 90% of the trip so far. Its hard for your body to get the fact that you are in a completely  still room where nothing around you is moving but on the outside you are getting jostled around. Your body is moving with the boat but the room is staying in the same place so your inner ear is getting really confused. It's best to be at the highest point of the boat and towards the back side to remain the most calm and my cabin is the complete opposite. I am below the water line and at the very bow of the boat. Sleeping is like riding a backwards roller coaster! Don't get me wrong I love roller coaster but not riding a consistant one for 15 days straight. 

The trip ends up being 15 days long, not stopping at all until we get to Gib, 3,600 nautical miles and three semi trucks full of fuel, aprox. 8,000 per semi, in our tanks to get across. We aren't sure what our plan is once we get there but we will more than likely be able to have a day off in Gib. Gib is the closest point of Europe to Africa and the straight is narrow enough only by a few miles wide that when you come in between the two pieces of land you have Africa on one side and Europe on the other side. If we get enough time off we are going to go to Morocco, Africa and ride camels! Gib is also known for it's stunning views and wild monkey running the streets so either way I will be content with whatever our first stop in Europe will be. 

Since the last time I blogged, we had another charter with seven kids, just cruising through the Bahamas from island to island for seven days. From there we went back to Fort Lauderdale for three days to fuel up and stock food for the crossing. The best part about being in Fort Lauderdale one last time was that I was next door to my boyfriends boat. So instead of a $25 cab ride one-way just to see him, I was able to even see him during some of our lunch breaks. It was a hard goodbye but knowing we will be back together no later than September makes me hopeful we can do this! I pretty much signed up for this anyways. Someone told me "never to fall in love in this industry, because it sucks balls being everywhere in the world expect with the person you love." I've done plenty of distance relationships and seem like I could become a pro and even get sponsored because it's my specialty but this one seems like it's going to be harder than the rest. His boat is going up to the Great Lakes and Chicago for the first month of the Med season and then crossing over. But this allows me to stay focused and save the most amount of money I can until we meet again and hopefully take a holiday together. Pooling our money together and traveling around the world together is what both our goals are for right now and we are sticking to it. Already started looking into places to go and see.

The few days I spent with Dave in Florida were one of a kind, as usual. We were able to rent a red hot Camero SS to ride top down to Miami in and just explore. Got a cute little motel with a kitchen in it, waking up to breakfast in bed. Sure does know what he's doing! 

He also knew I was having a rough day before he even saw me and brought me flowers when he came to pick me up. Couldn't have asked for a better last weekend but knowing I was leaving soon and for sure not going to be seeing him for at least two months probably even more was really tearing me apart. Such a bitter sweet moment knowing I'll be in Europe for a long amount of time which I dream about this day to come but also having someone I care for so much, being so far away. 

Wish I could upload pictures but as anyone could imagine, our wifi is weak and is taking ages to upload anything.

Pray for calm seas for me, I need all the prayers I can get just to get through this next week or so.

Peace&Love