Sailing the oceans of the world means living in and with nature every day. The first few months of our journey the elements dictated us. Every storm, every rain shower, each wave and even a sunny day were like a surprise. Compare it to making new friends: you need time to figure them out.

But after living in close harmony with nature more than 3 years and meeting her many different faces, we understand the character of Mother Earth so much better. Surely nature still holds surprises for us. But we know and understand much more about cloud formations, waves and currents, wind gusts blowing off snowy mountains and lows coming in over the vast ocean waters.

The original people of this land didn’t need all that time to figure it out. They already understood from the beginning that the earth is like their own breath: without earth there’s no life.

That’s why I love their stories so much. And how they live close to and with nature. Their totem poles are a great example of their way of life.

This one was carved by Sammy Robinson 69 years ago. Its head fell off. Native people have decided to leave their totem poles decay naturally. Other than cleaning out debris and brush which might grow on them, there are no efforts to preserve them as they believe that totem poles have a natural life like a human.

They should be given back to the earth.