THE NARRATIVE ARC
My Voyage From the Arctic Took a Dark Turn, but I Lived On
Seasick and wishing for death with no way out
The blanket fell off my body onto the floor, where drips of water and ginger ale sloshed around. And I just didn’t care. I grabbed it with my hand and pulled it back over my body. I was lying on one of the dinette couches in the vessel's galley. The one I’m working on for a month as a cook. I was thinking to myself of ways to escape and there were none.
Our vessel was traversing through waves that crested at 4 metres. Winds of 99 knots came our way. It was epic. The boat rocked and rolled and there was no way out but through it.
No one would send a Coast Guard helicopter to haul me off the deck. As if I could even physically walk out there anyway! My body was telling me to stop moving completely. The slightest twitch, and I felt nauseous.
The boat motion didn’t just affect me. One of the ship’s much younger crew members had been puking and, in his darkest moments, said he was considering a career change.
Earlier that day, I leaned out of my bunk, pushed my husband out of the way, and yelled for the garbage can. The lean contents of my stomach heaved themselves out. I felt much better afterwards, but I was still…
