Rekka Bellum

Busy Doing Nothing is the revised and improved version of the North Pacific Logbook chronicling our sailing voyage from Japan to Canada. 
The passage took 51 days, and it was the hardest thing we've ever done. We decided to keep a physical logbook of daily happenings onboard. Upon our arrival, we transcribed the handwritten pages, so we could publish them into a book.

Sailing from Japan to Canada

Busy Doing Nothing

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Cradled by waves, I stared into the depths and felt dizzy. I'd rather not spend too much time thinking about the enormity of the world's oceans. They are large and wild spaces between continents, and humans, blinded by hubris, build and wear their boats like armour to cross them. Madness.

Making so-called inconvenient choices, like baking your own bread or splicing a rope yourself, exposes us to a risk of frustration and failure, but there is much to gain from doing these things… 

There is an allure to high-tech systems, they are easy to use, but the taste for convenience begets more convenience. The more toys you own, the more chance they will break or get in the way. Off-loading tasks isn't wicked, but when you can't get drinking water because the electric water pressure isn't working, it is easy to see the problem with such systems.

We have to cherish nature, to foster its renewal, and to prioritize thrift and care rather than waste and excess. Maintenance and stewardship require something of us, we have responsibilities that lie beyond ourselves and our own profit. The farming phrase, "eyes to acres," by Wes Jackson, says that in order to run a farm well, one has to be familiar with the environment, to be in touch with the little changes that occur every day. Only when we see land as a community, to which we belong, can we begin to use it with respect and and love.

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