Between shower and stars

7 February 2025

Between showers and stars

The past few days have mainly been marked by showers. There was a nice sailing breeze, but due to the series of heavy showers, we used reduced sails. As a result, we were sometimes only making four knots, only to hit nine knots again during a shower. Every time we thought about setting more sail, another shower would pass by, and we’d find ourselves in the strong wind, being pelted with hailstones. Not exactly a pleasant experience.

However, in between the showers, the sun occasionally peeked through, making it much more pleasant on deck. And for the first time in a long while, we’re also seeing some stars at night again! So, we’ve finally been able to share the stories of the stars, and now our guests know who Orion is and how to easily find the north with it. Additionally, we’ve told them about the Pleiades, Taurus, the Canis Major, the Canis Minor, Gemini, the Southern Cross (and how to find the south with it), and beautifully surrounding it, the Centaur. It turns out that through these stories, the constellations come alive in the imagination.

A while ago, I mentioned the Atlas comet that was supposed to pass by and might even be visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, we’ve had mostly cloudy nights, so we haven’t been able to see the comet. I guess we’ll have to try again in 160,000 years…

To add a bit of competition, a few weeks ago, we created a list of when people think we’ll round the Cape and when we’ll cross 50 S in the Atlantic Ocean. Now that we’re slowly ‘getting closer’ to the Cape, everyone is paying more attention to this list. People are studying the weather forecast, and a few are already asking if I’m bribable. I certainly am – for milk chocolate with hazelnuts! But I haven’t been bribed yet…

Also, as the end is slowly in sight, we’ve swapped shifts again. Everyone could choose who they wanted to be with, and there were no real surprises. We now have the ‘Baby-watch,’ the ‘Mother Goose-watch,’ and the ‘Sailed Around the World-watch.’ But it’s always a bit tricky to change shifts like this, as people suddenly have to adjust to a different rhythm and, for example, might have two shifts in a row. To solve this, everyone had a ‘Spa day’ today, which means a day off from breakfast until after dinner. The only request was for someone at the helm in 30-minute shifts. Everyone thought that was a good plan, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for it.

The number of showers has greatly decreased. There was a very light breeze (a bit too light, if you ask me), and the sun was out for most of the day, making it very pleasant on deck. Sailing with just the square sails up, the light, cold breeze was barely noticeable. The Baby-watch has now started, and the wind has picked up a bit. It looks like we’ve finally got the western winds we’ve been searching for weeks! Now, let’s hope they stick around for a while. According to the forecast, things are looking good, but we’ve learned how quickly that can change. To be continued…