Wetter, Essen und Stimmung gut...

Wieder auf See

Schönes Wetter, entspannte Stimmung

Einige von der Crew sind nach Santiago de Compostela gefahren, andere verteilen sich durch die Stadt und andere wiederum, ruhen sich in Schiff aus. Morgen Montag Mittag legen wir wieder ab und die Reise nach Amerika geht weiter.

Schöne Grüße von Bord Hugo und Crew

Cosmo’s log

I have given this log a new name as Ulli who speaks and writes excellent English also wrote an English log for yesterday.

We are now alongside in Coruna after an amazingly fast sail down the channel, and across the bay of Biscay. The last few days at sea blurred into a vague memory of cold, wind and water. The wind started at about force 7, and increased steadily until it hit about force 10.

At this strength the noise of the wind in the rigging rises to a scream that once heard cannot be forgotten. The ship lurches over as each wave passes, and every one reaches for a handhold. The waves sweep over the deck deep enough to flood our seaboots, and one rather expensive camera will never work again.

Down below we swing from handhold to handhold like a troupe of monkeys. A strong inheritance of the Neandertal gene is useful. Any mishap and another bowel of soup hits the floor, which becomes ever more slippery.

We were all quite relieved, I think, when we entered the calm waters of Coruna bay and everything became stable again. The evening was spent in the traditional sailors occupation of hitting the town, especially as we had a birthday boy.

Today has been very quiet with repairs and improvements to the rigging. Next log tomorrow when we will be sailing down the Portugese coast.

Cosmo Little 7th March

Sturm gut überstanden!!

Liebe Grüße Michael

A day full of contrasts and impressions – we spent the previous days and nights already in the heart of the bay of biscay – the statistically prevailing winds were playing elsewhere since last weekend and a splendid easterly breeze allowed us to turn south straight at the end of the english channel and run south. So we did indeed, as the winds picked up speed and gave us ample opportunity to get used to the famous wave patterns of the region. The Ship fits the waves beautifully and nature had an eventful Saturday with full contrast in her showcase for us, juxtaposing a full grown up gale with 10 bf gusts during the noon watch with dropping winds during the afternoon going down to the calm flat sea when approaching sheltered coast for the no-wave-no-wind- calm evening in the stopover port of La Coruna, Spain. Impossible to not be impressed - and appreciate. Probably every body on deck engraves in memory the strong impressions in the early morning, when we prepared the ship for the noon winds, taking in the main lower tops’l plus the fore upper tops’l, with hands working in the rigging blow-dried by the winds that kept everybody on deck well showered with spray, whilst dolphins were playing around the ship, curious to see what kind of bulky fin-less being plows their playground so slowly (well, for them – on deck the seven to nine knots over ground felt like real speed) and a dim sun, breaking through the clouds in intervals whilst the sea covers with typical stripes and waves break in the middle of nowhere, regardless of whether or not someone sails by to look at them. Wow.

The Ship rides the seas smoothly though duties under deck or working in the galley starts to have large aspects of acrobatic circus shows. Did you ever try to lash the pasta on the pot, keep sauce ingredients in a pan with three-dimensional movements with a couüple of meters amplitude or explain to a set of china that flying saucers are a linguistic term coined for use on land and not intended to literally describe the respective kitchen utensils movements? (For information: Do not try this experiment at home. We’ll take care of that, join us aboard for a galley testdrive!) Well, we did it and a special thanks went to the everchanging galley team, caring for all of us coming in from deck, soaked by the waters of the Bay of Biscay, covered in spray and salt.

We’re spending a day in La Coruna before setting sails again – we’ll keep you updated!

Rauher See, Sonnenschein, starker Wind

Gerade wird von der 4 – 8 Wache wieder Delfinbesuch gemeldet. Unsere ständigen Begleiter. Inzwischen sinkt das Barometer wieder von den fantastischen 1028 mB auf 1025 und wir nähern uns langsam dem Tief, das noch westlich der iberischen Halbinsel liegt. Die ersten Cirren tauchen schon im Südwesten voraus auf. Arbeit in der Kombüse ist mittlerweile Vollakrobatik, denn der Schleudergang ist zugeschaltet. Das Einlanden in der Spüle mit blauen Flecken scheint zum Programm zu gehören. Die Teller versuchen, mittels der Beschleunigungskräfte durch Kombüse und Messe zu hopsen, bekommen aber auch bei Zerschellen an der gegenüberliegenden Wand keine Betreuung durch unsere Erste Hilfe Schwester Ursula, die sich müht, die ständigen Kontakte von Mensch und Schiffsecken mit liebevoller Betreuung schnell in Vergessenheit geraten zu lassen.

Auch Schlafen ist mittlerweile standesgemäß zum Aktivliegen geworden, das ständige Rollen lässt einige in der Freiwache kein Auge schließen. Aber... Spanien winkt. Frühling in La Coruña. Ja, da wir in rekordverdächtiger Schnelle und vor allen Dingen mit saisonstatistikuntypischen Ostwinden schon fast durch die eigentliche Biskaya hindurch sind, hat das Kapitänskollektiv beschlossen, einen Zwischenstop in La Coruña einzulegen.

Wenn alles so läuft wie bisher, werden wir übermorgen wohl dort eintreffen. Noch liebe Grüsse und Küsse an Annuschka. Viel Spass in Barcelona. Wolf