Stranger Things at Sea: absolute nothingness

You’ve seen it in films. The Matrix, or Black Mirror, or Stranger Things. The main character stands in a place of absolute nothingness. The Other Side. The Upside Down. I really do not remember all of those names, but the feeling and image is pretty much the same. And it is exactly what I’m experiencing right now at my night shift. We are about 1/3 on our ocean crossing. It’s a very dark night, there’s no moon and clouds cover the stars. The wind just went down to a small breeze, the waves are hill-like: soft and gloomy. We fastnened the sails so they don’t bang or flap. The boat is rocking and slowly moving at a steady pace. The gps shows a forward motion, but all I feel is us tumbling around in the black nothingness. It’s not scary at all, funny enough. You don’t see anything, so nothing triggers you’re fear. It really is a weird experience. When I look in the water, I see small alges lighting up when the boat movement hits them. Leaving them behind is the only reference of speed. The boat is fully glued to the ocean, like movements through oil. You don’t hear blobs or other water movements, no water smashing against the hull. No sizzling waves braking. Just only motions in the dark void. You know it will change. But for a moment, it feels like there is no time. It was really a spacy, maybe almost a womb-like experience!

Suus

ps. The photo attached shows actually a ‘big’ moon on a very bright night! It’s still the best image to visually describe my experience and to show a bit of the darkness 🙂