SailBlog

Vessel Name: Inspired Insanity
Vessel Make/Model: Southern Cross 28
Hailing Port: Virgin Islands
Extra: First American Woman to Solo Sail Nonstop Around the World
Home Page: www.donnalange.com
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10 July 2016 | Bristol RI
15 June 2016 | 35 00'N:75 05'W, Another wild few days ahead... deja vu.
13 June 2016 | 30 00'N:79 35'W, in the Gulf Stream off Jacksonville Fl
01 June 2016 | 41 24'N:71 25'W, Just arriving in Lake Worth... leaving again tomorrow in my car back to RI
29 May 2016 | 41 24'N:71 25'W, Bristol RI: Herreshoff Museum Dock
26 May 2016 | 41 24'N:71 25'W, a day to tidy up...
25 May 2016 | 40 54'N:71 52'W, starry night sky, farewell dance for now...
25 May 2016 | 40 28'N:72 30'W, ?? Arrival to bay tomorrow afternoon: 2 days to events
25 May 2016 | 40 28'N:72 30'W, ?? Arrival to bay tomorrow afternoon: 2 days to events
24 May 2016 | 39 47'N:73 16'W, 4 days to arrival..incredible to imagine...
23 May 2016 | 39 11'N:74 00'W, 4 days to arrival..incredible to imagine...
22 May 2016 | 38 10'N:73 30-'W, 4 days to arrival..incredible to imagine...
21 May 2016 | 36 37'N:74 03'W, 5 days to arrive... made 157nm yesterday..only 300nm to go
21 May 2016 | 36 37'N:74 03'W, 5 days to arrive... made 157nm yesterday..only 300nm to go
20 May 2016 | 35 15'N:74 45'W, 6 days to arriving!!!
20 May 2016 | 34 27'N:75 19'W, 7 days to arriving!!!
18 May 2016 | 32 12'N:77 32'W, 8 days to my arrival... keep an eye on the tracker!!
17 May 2016 | 30 26'N:79 01'W, 9 days to my arrival... keep an eye on the tracker!!
16 May 2016 | 27 45'N:79 48'W, 11 days to my arrival... keep an eye on the tracker!!
16 May 2016 | 26 'N:79 48'W, 11 days to my arrival... keep an eye on the tracker!!
Recent Blog Posts
10 July 2016 | Bristol RI

Journeying On

The summer has barely begun in Rhode Island and the mornings already seem to be cool, almost a scent of autumn air… How is that possible? There is so much to do. Each day seems to begin and end with a sense of having been floating on air, my feet barely touching the ground. “What is it like now, [...]

15 June 2016 | 35 00'N:75 05'W, Another wild few days ahead... deja vu.

Passing Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras!!!

There was no warning�... the day touting varying winds from the SE to SW, the sails trimmed in and let back out over and over to keep us moving as fast as we could, the engine called upon when we weren�'t moving fast enough. I was making breakfast when Bob went up on deck responding to a sound�... next [...]

13 June 2016 | 30 00'N:79 35'W, in the Gulf Stream off Jacksonville Fl

Offshore once more: SV Calyspo is heading north!

It seems endless, the need to keep pressing, keep moving, from one point to another, the whole world of details needing to be dealt with upon returning after so long offshore, after having completely detached from the world system. Yet, there is a dream state that wants to believe I would not reattach�... [...]

01 June 2016 | 41 24'N:71 25'W, Just arriving in Lake Worth... leaving again tomorrow in my car back to RI

the MISSING BLOGS: are coming

Hang in there... I am enroute to Florida to get my car... a busy week. I am getting the 'missing blogs' going. I just realized that I didn't write any blog the days I was knocked down...though Bob did an incredible job of keeping you updated and with the details...He was totally accurate and you all [...]

29 May 2016 | 41 24'N:71 25'W, Bristol RI: Herreshoff Museum Dock

Magnificent Welcome Home

PHOTO: after knockdowns at Cape Horn and heading for Panama WATCH FOR NEW BLOGS : FROM FEB.14- MAR 28�... HANDWRITTEN UNDERWAY AFTER MY COMPUTER BROKE, TO BE TRANSCRIBED AND POSTED OVER THE NEXT SIX WEEKS�... STAY TUNED!!!

Journeying On

10 July 2016 | Bristol RI
The summer has barely begun in Rhode Island and the mornings already seem to be cool, almost a scent of autumn air… How is that possible? There is so much to do. Each day seems to begin and end with a sense of having been floating on air, my feet barely touching the ground. “What is it like now, being back on the Terra-firma”, folks keep asking. All I can say is that it almost feels as if, having endured and basked in the huge ocean swells; the hazy calms; embraced it seemed by the wildlife, the dolphins, the vast variety of birds, the pilot whales singing and chuckling far off in the distance; It is almost like a dream that it all really happened. And maybe that is the way the days feel. Somehow detached from any concrete reality.

As I calm my inner self in this moment, I am groping to engage with life energy. I feel like I am being torn apart at times; Part of me wanting to give myself permission to just ‘be for a while’; I want to go for a single quiet walk or swim; and yet all of the land and yachty projects; the steps I have to go through to get back on my feet; get Inspired Sanity refit with her engine as well as put back together after being in the parade; just keeping a phone and computer functioning; is all clamouring for my immediate attention.

And I am surrounded by the cosmic energy of people; So many to thank and catch up with; so many who have given so much of their life energy to me as they have followed my story, believed in my dream, and too, endured, the day by day challenges I faced, yet not being able to help me. Following my writing, they had been feeling my cold feet, hearing the thunder of the seas in gale after gale, knowing that I was hurting and exhausted; when they see my face for the first time, tears fill their eyes as they embrace me, so glad to touch me, hold me and finally be able to comfort me while also feeling so proud of me. “You did it”, they say to me. “We watched you every day and didn’t know how you could make it, but you did it”.

I want so much just to linger and tell stories; to relive the moments of challenge, those of incredible creative energy and excitement; the beauty of the rainbows, each sunset, the storm frontal clouds, the sounds of the birds and blowing of the whales as they crest the sea alongside Inspired Sanity, the clicking of the dolphins as I allowed my body to slip into the sea along with them as they swam around me in the calms.

And then the life stories of each person I meet come tumbling out as they relate to my story; It is a good story. Life’s story of how we come to find our self, each in our own paradigm. Life is drawing incredible people toward me… every day has been a banquet of new fresh flowers… Venturers. All having the common thread of having followed their deepest longings, willing to let go of their comfort zone to embrace a vision they sense with a greater flow of energy then they have ever felt before. It is as if their vision is choosing them as it becomes an overwhelming passion that cannot be denied. That knowingness… If I follow my dream, I will find a greater expression of who I am and true joy is there; self-satisfaction; yet with purpose, as I see how my life’s vision is a conduit of life in the greater life energy of love… of God. We are a matrix of life energy flowing vertically. We are finding each other.

It is as if there truly are two planes of functioning, one with my hands to the ‘plow of all that needs to be done’, the other like a receiver and transmitter to people as our life stories entwine. On the one hand, my body is overwhelmed with gravity, my muscles aching, trembling within, tension seeming a part of my experience these days as I keep moving, climbing up and down in and out of the boat, cleaning, organizing, somehow making sense of all on board, the salt laden Inspired Sanity.

Being in the July 4th Parade was such a privilege … it all came together, each person joining the preparation team magically painting the float with their talents, whatever that talent was; making sure it was safe, cutting wood, providing tools, driving, decorating, designing and doing graphics, painting masterpieces of the dolphin and whale. Yet, I knew that I was actually taking my boat apart, the mast down, wind generator off when inwardly I am longing for IS to be together.

The week of preparation for the parade used up that first round of energy that I had thought would result in IS being back in the water and settled so that I could go forward … so I could get on with my plan for what I was going to do now that I was home from sailing the world … I had wanted to already be on to the next phase. The days did not stop from dawn until collapsing into a dull sleep, after, maybe having one drink too many. But it allowed me to finally lay each day to rest.

And here we are, half-way through July already. And IS isn’t even cleaned yet. But I have met the most incredible people and now the whole process is no longer just about ‘getting IS settled’. It has become about those who I would meet along the way, as if IS is the conduit of bringing people together. The students at IYRS (International Yacht Restoration School) are going to give IS a bit of their own magical energy. There is a much deeper camaraderie developing in the midst of accomplishing these physical tasks. Those I am meeting are like sojourners. It is a mystical aura surrounding us, drawing us together.

And yet, the physical tasks do have to be addressed. Yes, Inspired Sanity needs to be gutted, cleaned, bottom painted as well as she really needs topside paint. The starboard side was totally underwater for so many weeks in the South Atlantic on my way south, that the paint is blistering off. The engine must get installed once the IYRS students rebuild or clean the systems as needed. Even doing the laundry seems to be impossible these days. We just can’t keep throwing money at tasks. There is no money.

Yet… there is a way. The truth is that this whole period of time is just my continued journey. Can I let go of my past way of attacking life’s challenges… it has always been about brawn, pushing, keepin on keepin on. It is as if life is screaming at me, “Donna! Stop”. My whole body is tingling as if in shock. I feel nearly paralyzed physically though I am midst these continual amazing encounters and auras. I must let go of my own agenda… tears are welling up … Life is trying to show me a new way, but I am still insisting on putting pressure on myself with this agenda.

Does IS need to get back in the water? I never have talked to the boatyard owner to establish how he is sponsoring me… I have an underlying fear that I am going to get a bill for all that the yard has done for me. I have no financial stability… Bob and I are both walking purely by faith. But I am allowing life energy to carry the burden of the unknowns? Or am I still just filled with worry? Am I connecting to life energy or am I starving, once again tapping out my egoic sources? I AM STARVING!

Today is a new day. A Sunday. A day of rest. And despite all that ‘needs to be done’, I am going to let it all go. I am going to clear the egoic patterns of managing ‘life’s necessary tasks’ from my past by simply asking God to do it. I am filled with fear of failure, fear of financial ruin, fear that I will not play music again; that just making money and working will become an obsession stealing all of my life energy. AT this moment in time, I am asking God Consciousness within me to clear the memories and conclusions I have about how to manage life’s tasks, making money, managing my time. And I am drawing near to God, centering within my true self in meditation… to listen. I will allow life energy to be the one to guide my day having no expectation from myself. I am going to relax and let go of all of the tensions caused by fear and worry. In the Pause… I can redirect the portal of existence from one that is consumed by my egoic self to being free to be embraced by God. And I can cry… sob… letting go once again, releasing the toxins of fear and worry. Breathing!!!

I am missing the morning and afternoon hours of meditation, focusing energy together. How is it that I let life suffocate me so? I can clear that tendency to wake in my egoic self and allow now to be new… I can allow this moment to be a portal into conscious awareness. Life is created new each moment of every day. Love is created new each moment of every day. Peace is created new each moment of every day. Compassion is created new each moment of every day. Caring is created new each moment of every day… but not before we are filled with Life and Love, function in Peace, so we can first receive Compassion and Caring for our self, then we will be overflowing with Compassion and Caring for all that life requires of us. Otherwise, life will suck our energy dry and we will find our self starving for energy, catalyzing the function of our ego’s survival tactics of old to get through the days. So… Letting go, Breathe, then in the quiet we can enter into the portal, embrace our true self and we can allow the day to unfold empowered.

Keepin On Sailin On Caring… I am realizing how truly vital the discipline of writing is for me; a portal for life flow. I become centered when I begin to write the blog, knowing that I am writing for others to read. Wow. Breathe!!! Instead of having a list of ‘things I need to do today’, I can simply be in awe as I watch my day unfold, moving through all that I am empowered to do today, starting by becoming a conduit of life energy flowing, taking in the environment of beauty surrounding me.

Fairest of Winds and the Love of the Oceans
Only Gratitude
Donna
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