Countrysight

16 April 2019

Update from Bianca: A big question onboard the OOSTERSCHELDE during this voyage is “When will be the first land sight of the Azores”? A competition has been set up and everybody onboard had to fill in an estimated date and time of first landsight.

We have had changing winds for the last couple of days and because of that it is still not 100% sure which of the islands we will visit.  The weather can change every minute of the day. You can have a clear blue sky with a temperature of about 20 degrees and half an hour later it can be raining with a temperature of 10 to 15 degrees.

The atmosphere onboard is good and we all have nice conversations about home, sailing, the different whatches, seeing ships, dolphins etcetera. When we are not on watch; we are reading, sleeping and relaxing. It is very nice that there is not internet and people are doing other things than using their smartphones.

All of the crew members are taking good care of us, the cook is preparing three good meals every day and all the times he surprises us with great dishes he creates. All of the crew members are taking good care of us,  they are patient in explaining to us what needs to be done on deck, how to calculate the route, what is the speed of the ship, wind and many more other things. Sailing experience on the OOSTERSCHELDE is really great and meeting my expectations. Looking forward to the rest of the trip back home to Rotterdam.

This morning just after six o’clock the winner was known. He enjoyed his prize. Certainly after a rolling night with winds of seven/eight Bft, gusting nine. The arrival coffee in the morning-sun just after docking around 09:30 did taste better. After lunch we will set off to explore the island.