There are few experiences as spectacular as being in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. I, for one, have yet to find anything that tops it.
Imagine, if you will, a large horizontal disc as far as the eye can see, covered in water. Above you, naturally, is the sky. In the dead centre of the disc, is you. That’s it. Sometimes the water is rough, sometimes it is rolling, and sometimes, in the aptly named doldrums, it is as flat and smooth as a sheet of glass.
You get a definite sense of how big the ocean is when you witness such a thing. Even more so when the sun comes up the next day and it looks exactly the same. If you didn’t have your GPS to tell you otherwise, you would assume you hadn’t moved an inch.
Another good indicator is how quickly things disappear out of sight. We once left a port of call with another yacht heading in the same direction. We decided to see how far we could make the journey together, or at the very least, within radio contact. Within a couple hours they had disappeared from both sight and hailing distance.
All of this serves to pretty much scare the crap out of you, but, more importantly, it makes you feel ridiculously small and insignificant. Sounds like a bad thing? Not at all. There is nothing that can’t smartly be put into harsh perspective by that feeling. Not unlike looking at a clear starry sky and suddenly realising what it is you’re actually looking at.
It also makes spotting things in the middle of the ocean, after days of the same view, ridiculously exciting. We once saw a tomato sauce bottle floating in the water. It was the most exciting thing that had happened in a week. We once even saw another yacht. The odds of this happening must be tiny. Even I know that and I’m rubbish at maths.
So how big is the ocean? Pretty darn big. And powerful. And wild. And beautiful. And not to be trifled with.
Short of deep-sea diving or going into space, being in the middle of the ocean is about as out of your element as it is possible to be. The understanding that the only thing keeping you alive is the comparatively tiny boat beneath your feet, and even that isn’t a sure thing. This thought is with you constantly. It’s scary but it makes you feel alive in a way that jumping out of a plane or off a bridge just never will.
So, if you ever get the opportunity to experience going out to sea, grab it with both hands. It will give you immense respect for the ocean or reinforce the regard you already have for it. It is life altering and an experience you will always treasure, even if you don’t necessarily enjoy it at the time.
Stay in touch: for daily Aquarium updates, follow us on Twitter (@2OceansAquarium) and become a fan on Facebook.
