We become accustomed

26 May 2016

We started out with beautiful weather in Bermuda. The first day there was so little wind that we could swim and so we did. But the days after the wind increased to 4 Bft. It was a ‘special’ experience for me as an ‘extensive’ North Sea coast sailor. Instead of foul weather gear in shorts and shirt. Unique. And the sailing itself, the huge empty sea around us. Once in a while we see a ship (sometime only on the AIS). In the meantime, the great weather disappeared, we got some rain and even heavy showers. Unfortunately, at the same time we were setting the upper topsail and we are all soaking wet. 
In the afternoon there is regularly a special program. Yesterday we watched a movie about the ‘Peking’ around Cape Horn, completely different circumstances compared to ours. A few days later Maarten van Eden gave a lecture about celestial navigation. He is our star specialist. At night he tells us all about the stars.
Our watch is 4 hours on 8 hours off. I get the feeling we all need our sleep more than usual. But there is still lots of time left for (other) relaxation. 
This trip is special for me and I am happy to experience it. Ocean sailing is definitely different from coastal sailing! But now we are at the Azores I am also happy to be able to contact the people at home too.