Life on board

12 February 2020

Dropped anchor at São Nicolau, the weather is beautiful; little wind and the ship hardly swings. Most of the guests were taken to the Island, by a dingy, this morning for an excursion. I am sitting in the salon: a beautiful room were we just had lunch with the crew and the guests that stayed on board. I enjoy the peace and silence.

We’ve now sailed for 8 days across the Atlantic between various Cape Verde Islands. The ship is doing well, we have sailed in various directions, with more and less wind, during the day and at night. The dimensions are huge: both of the ship and of the environment but they fit together. The area is empty, when we leave an island behind us, there is nothing: no land, no tons, no other ships, no birds. It’s all us, the wind, the waves and the compass; during the day the sun and at night the moon and the stars.

Life on board is comfortable but also quite tough. Comfortable because they do take care of us. The ship is beautiful and well maintained and the materials are good. The cabin gets bigger and bigger over the course of days. The crew has got a routine down and sails the ship with determination from island to island. They appreciate it when you want to help a hand. The food is delicious and every meal is a party eating together at the table inside. At the same time, it is a bit of a challenge to make trips on a heavy, sloping ship that sometimes take more than 20 hours with international company.

But every time there is such a beautiful island that when the work is done everyone is satisfied again.

Watching the crew organize the setting of the sails together and steer the guests to pull the right line at the right time makes us fully enjoy this beautiful trip on this fantastic ship. Many thanks to Jan, Jonathan, Maty, Edson, Fernardie, Edward and timo for their hospitality, unstoppable energy as sailor, host, tourleader and the good conversations.

Maaike Steenstra and André Vink