Take a good look at her!<\/p>\n
The curves. The canvas. The tempting lines.
\nThe salt, whispering from the crevasses in the weathered wood. The wind, the memory of which is trapped into the folds of the harbour
\nfurl.<\/p>\n
She is Tres Hombres, Tres for the crew. Trusty, steady, free.<\/p>\n
What most might not realize is that she is so much more than an engine-free sailing cargo ship. Sure,
\ncarrying rum, wine, gin, chocolate, and coffee, Tres sounds badass enough.
\nHer true power, however, lies in bending time and transforming space.
\nShe navigates dimensions and realities with the same grace and ease that she does the waves.<\/p>\n
Those stepping aboard soon feel the simultaneous pull of the gravity in one direction, and complete
\nfreedom from it in another. Like surfing a wave on a humongous windsurf board.
\nIn the one sense, the seeming downgrade in lifestyle conveniences common in what
\nwe agree to call the developed world comes crashing down like saltwater splashing
\nyou from behind while you're scrubbing the pan after the dinner, in the dark, in the cold seawater,
\nwhile the world around you rocks back and forth.
\nNever stable, never entirely clean, all the while clad in layers of slightly damp \u201cwarm\u201d clothes.
\nYou know, The Reality.
\nThe Reality of realizing that no other life form we know has showers with hot water switched
\non with a turn of a valve. Or a bed that could fit six people, but only one sleeps in it.<\/p>\n
The Reality of weightlessness in space and time, head up, gaze tracing the neuro-net
\nbetween the stars, back to the immediacy of compass and steering,
\nwhen the line between where the ship ends and you begin, blurs, like the horizon
\nstitching the ocean and the sky. The ship becomes the means through which
\nyou become a complete, inseparable part of the entire world, galaxy, universe.
\nIt is indeed, a transporting vessel, true that.<\/p>\n
The Reality that despite our nature and nurture, we are all more similar
\nthan we are different, that deep down we all crave love, understanding, and belonging.
\nTres is capable of doing just that. It doesn't matter where you step on and off.
\nRemember, she bends time and space. Where and when doesn't matter.<\/p>\n
Sixteen of us started this journey together in Den Helder, four stepping off in Douarnenez,
\nmore joining in Baiona, and so on. Already it feels like parting with family.
\nSpeaking of which, a few days in, with the watch routine setting in, the friendly bickering
\nbetween the crew sparkled here and there, adding to the whole family vibe,
\nno less than grinding more coffee beans than needed (and with a hand grinder no less!)
\nso that the other watch doesn't have to do it;
\nor taking the load off the cook's shoulders for a day, or taking one for the team scrubbing the toilet,
\nor rushing to cast off the correct line when in the heat of the moment
\na less experienced one mixes them. That's love and respect.<\/p>\n
When you trust someone else \u2013 a complete stranger in the case of Tres \u2013 to have your back,
\nto keep watch while you sleep, bake the sourdough bread that you knead and put into the pans,
\nyou cede the sole control of the situation, thus becoming part of something larger than yourself.
\nThat's your belonging.<\/p>\n
When you and your crew member dangle over a swaying yard, folding the unyielding sail
\ndesperately and fruitlessly trying to convince it to furl
\n(\u201cArgh \u2013 for satan!\u201d \u2013 a classic Danish sail coaxing spell),
\nhear the same response from the sail: \u201cI'm just not meant to furl, hon\u201d, that's understanding.<\/p>\n
And there you have it.<\/p>\n