I spoke to Boyan this morning. Getting nervous. 36 hours to go.

Ok, it’s midnight in Honolulu, I have not smoked a cigarette in 3 hours and my internals feel slightly hectic. In roughly 36 hours I will put my feet on a boat that is 52 foot long (15,84 meters) and I will not take my feet off of it for almost 3 weeks. At least not voluntarily. There will be water, everywhere, lots of water, deep blue pacific water. And wind. I am praying to the Grand Tiki Goddess this Hurricane Guillermo will lose his wits somewhere over Big Island. The very nice photographer Tracy told me this morning that that’s what the volcano on Big Island does – break hurricanes. Like Kim’s ass broke the internet. (sorry, but Gersin said I should write the truth)

This morning was fantastic. I interviewed Boyan (who has pretty amazing ideas – can’t wait to write down and share that interview) for an hour and we took pictures at Waikiki Beach. I wish some business relation would have called me from home with some minor question about accounting or something. I would have said “Hey, ja, sorry, I am at a photo shoot on Waikiki Beach, about to help some dutch people clean the ocean. Can I call you back mid September?” But no one did. Because it was night at home.

I love my life.

Still nervous.

It´s the good kind of nervous, the kind of eager anticipation that is only thwarted by the knowledge that it might get un-cosy at times. It will definitely get un-cosy. On a boat that has no doors, not even for the toilet. And no shower. (3 weeks) It’s a race boat, not a cruise ship.

There is a rather large chance I will be the only girl with 5 Mexicans. No, 4 Mexicans and one Austro-Uruguayo. They are all very nice and I am sure they will protect me and teach me sailing in Spanish and we will become friends. I prefer to travel with guys. I will be as manly as I can and they will learn to understand my woman emotions. (And I want to inhale the red hot smoke of 3 cigarettes at the same time right now.)

Well, it’s 00:28 and I should enjoy this last night in a real bed. And the hot fresh water shower in the morning. And the breakfast, at a table, on a terrace, with cutlery. And napkins. And the soft ground under my feet.

One thing I am sure of is that at the end of this I will come out very alive and kicking. And I will help Boyan and his people to make a difference, to find out more about this trash that is killing fish and polluting our planet.

“All in” I say.

If you wanna know where we are, track us. The name of my boat is PATCHES. I would love to embed this map thing into my blog but it won’t let me. So click here MAP FOR TRACKING MEGA EXPEDITION BOATS