Leg 2, Day 44 – The waves are alive with the sound of music

Lizanne Van Vuuren By

Day 44 – The waves are alive with the sound of music

Like Nat tells me regularly; a picture speaks a thousand words. Music is almost like that to me, telling a story.

The gentle rhythmic sound of the oars pulling through the water, waves splashing against the cabin walls, the frequent rain sounding on the roof, usually starting gentle and building up to a loud crescendo, and the quiet or excited natter of the rowers; that sound will resound in our minds when we reminisce back one day about that time we lived on the Ocean.

Apart from these, the sound that will propel us back to sitting on the oars are the songs that we listen to either through the deck speakers, or earphones. Music is an incredibly powerful tool we use to occupy our minds, inspire us to dig that little bit deeper and push harder, and can take us into a world where our minds run away with us as we think about various random things on the oars.

Isn’t it amazing how music can be made by someone who can’t hear? It speaks volumes for the vibrations that eventually enters into our ears and is perceived as sound. It means music can be felt, if you listen hard enough…. Music changes moods. You can emphasise or calm down emotions of anger, sadness, loneliness, happiness, excitement and inspiration. Before getting on the boat Keith, our Sports Psychologist got us to write down our Hot Buttons; what are the three things that gets the best out of you, and what are the three things that gets the worst (it’s a good question, try and answer it!) anyway, I wrote ‘music’ as something that gets the best out of me. Psych me up with a good song and I’ll be happy.

I love all kinds of music (mostly) and I love exploring and hearing new music. All the different blends and flavours of songs and albums from the four of us has melted together beautifully. It’s been great to see that our music tastes on the boat are also very similar, and the range is huge. From Whitney Houston and RnB to Nat’s Spanish music, everything is covered. Each leg of this journey will sound different. Different conversations, different audiobooks, different voices, different music… So I’d like to give you a little idea of what our Pacific Life Leg 2 sounds like.

This is the go-to playlist I made and is played on the deck speakers usually during the Sunset Shift:

Are You With Me / Lost Frequencies (Radio Edit and Harold van Lennep Piano Edit)
Day Dreams / Midi Matilda
Goodbye (feat. Lyse) / Feder
Looking Too Closely / Fink
Headlights (feat. Ilsey) / Robin Schulz
Howling (Âme Remix) / Ry & Frank Wiedemann
Liberation (Radio Edit) / Harold van Lennep
Liberty City (Lost Frequencies Radio Edit) / Krono
Sweet Goodbye (feat. Cimo Frankel) / Krono
Outside (feat. Ellie Goulding) / Calvin Harris
Photograph / Ed Sheeran
Recover / Chvrches
Tether / Chvrches
Under The Tide / Chvrches
The Mother We Share / Chvrches
Reality (feat. Janieck Devy) / Lost Frequencies
Rêveries (feat. Marie Beekman) / Shaparder & LRX
Almost Home (Sebastien Remix) / Damien Jurado & Moby
Africa /Toto
Cut Your teeth (Kygo Remix) / Kyla La Grange & Kygo
Same My Name (Cyril Hahn Remix) / Destiny’s Child
Car Radio / Twenty One Pilots
Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better) (feat. Jasmine) / Felix Jaehn
Help Me Lose My Mind (feat. London Grammar) / Disclosure
Love Me Like You Do / Ellie Goulding
Anything Can Happen / Ellie Goulding
I Love You Always Forever / Donna Lewis
Lady Soul / DJ Jazzy D
Fast Car / Tracy Chapman
One Of Us / Joan Osborne What a Wonderful World / Louis Armstrong
Boys of Summer / Gram

Among other favourites are Nat’s Electro-Tango, Latin music, Buddha Bar, Cafe Delmar and other world music that she has collected on her vast travels. Top 40 Hits have firmly planted it’s way into the earphones of everyone when we need something a little more up beat to face the waves. For me a bit of Bethel music during my morning quiet time. Last but not least, you’ll never guess that what pulls us out of the depth of despair, as we fight yet another current are the cheerful teenagers who emerge from us as we belt out songs by The Backstreet Boys.

There’s an infinite amount of music out there, which excites me a lot! Each era of our lives sound different, and I love that you can revisit it, like going back and reading a diary. So I’m already looking forward to sitting on the beach in Cape Town, listening to my “diary” and reminiscing about shouting at the ocean as she made Doris impossible to steer.

UPDATE: I had my first sense of humor failure today as the steering once again became so difficult to control. The ocean was turning us into all directions apart from the direction we needed to go into. I had a moment. Then a brief laugh from all the girls on the change-over as Ems and Laura heard my shouting. It felt like an initiation…. So proud to say, NOW I’m an ocean rower.

Also, help needed. I’ve started fishing and haven’t caught anything. We didn’t bring any bait on board (as the girls did no fishing on leg 1) so my options are human food. We have a rope with a colourful squid-like thing at the bottom with the hook. I’ve tried dried apricots, dried mango and nuts as bait…. Would have been a miracle if I caught something I’m sure. So any fishermen advice for 4 girls on a pink boat? We have pouches of tuna….?

Share:     

8 Comments

  1. Ray Penhaul says:

    I have a suggestion ref catching fish, having repaired Laura’s ipod and tried it out in the car I think you maybe scaring the fish off with the music!!

  2. JG says:

    I’m afraid my music harks back to history and a young person like you (and my grandchildren) would be distinctly underwhelmed. Also my choices leave me on my own most of the time! The one group you might appreciate is the Ladysmith Black Mambazo with my favourite track being Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes with Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel. “Eh?” I hear you say ! Ha!
    Fishing – what would I do? The next time a small flying fish lands on the boat kill it with a sharp blow to the head gut it and feed your hook into it and drop the line over the side when you are doing a knot or so. But be prepared for surprises – you could catch something larger than you would like. Alternatively make sure the lure you are using trails along behind Doris just below the surface – you may have to weight it with something. Lures attract fish with movement. Keep safe – with you all the way.

  3. Thank you for a wonderful blog again. Truth is , music is so part of our lives and it is hard to imagine life without music. As a picture can speak a thousand words then a song can also speak a thousand words.
    Lizanne with that bait you may have been lucky to catch a fish in the marico dam, but in the sea …. nah. Only a blind starving sea fish would take that bait and before that time he would have been eaten by the other fish(LOL)
    I see your mileage is a bit better today and yesterday.Keep on believing in yourselves.Just a whisker from the equator and then it is downhill, at least I hope so with a current in the right direction.Keep safe xxx
    Liefde
    Pappa

  4. Simon TY says:

    No idea about fishing or music. However, suspect a spinner would be best ( assume though you do not have one). A lure would not be going fast enough through the water ?

    Sorry that the blasted rudder was playing tricks. Cannot believe that was your first outburst in 44 days. That would make you ( all) even more super human than we thought.

    Xxx

  5. Simon TY says:

    Listening to music, how do you get round the problem runners have, changing your stroke to the beat ? Do you find yourselves both speeding up or vice versa ? Worse, what if you are listening to different music through earphones ? Do you still follow “stroke” sitting in front of you, or row mainly in time, but pretty much in yr own zone ? In an ordinary rowing boat being fractionally out of time has consequences. ….does it in Doris ?

    Xxx

  6. Sharon says:

    Boy am I out of touch with modern music! I read that list and recognised none of the songs, though I did recognise a few of the artists.

    All the best with the fishing. I’d think fish on the hook might work better than ‘veggie’ baits.

  7. Jim Andrews says:

    I don’t think towing a lure on a rope is going to be very fruitful to be honest, You probably need 50 meters of pretty strong fishing line, even a bear hook being trolled through the water will probably attract something, a feather tied to the hook or a bit of silver paper will double your chances. I love just about every genre of music, I think there is something for every mood and as you said it can determine your mood. Progress is steadilly improving and morale seems to be excellent with the inevitable glitch. Keep strong and stay safe. XX

  8. Karlien says:

    So get this post about music. I wake up with it and go to sleep with it playing. My very wise husband bought me the best gift ever a year or two ago, a Bose bluetooth portable speaker, so where ever I go I can listen and share my music!
    Current fav is Met by Love, by United Pursuit. Amazing for those morning quiet times.
    Best of luck, so proud of you girls.

Leave A Reply