Where the big birds soar

38’32.3S 041’57.2W course 293′ speed 5,7 , 30-12-2023

There is something very magical about the albatross. It is said that the souls of seamen lost at sea are imbedded in the albatross. And it is something truely maginificent to behold as they soar through the sky, riding in front of a wave, spray blowing off the waves back. The stronger the wind, the better the soar. And we have seen them soar vert well the past 24 hours.

We have been extremely busy today trying to make any west or any south in our course. We have tacked at every wind shift and shower, but we are still not a lot further then this morning. A strong south wester is blowing as a huge low pressure area is sailing by in the south. We are on the other hand not sailing by that much. Mainsail is down, due to the force of the gusts, and between showers there may sometimes be half an hour of no wind at all. So engine is on, sometimes idle as we head down wind in a shower, but mostly helping us get west. We have also found that the usual South Atlantic current has a strong southerly component in it, and is a lot stronger then 0,5 knots. This must also be due to the south west wind that has been blowing for days now and will continue to do so, at least until Monday.

The wind has been up and down. Averaging on a force 5, showers come over with near gale force 7 gusting and hail coming down on us hard. It is getting colder every day. And so tonight we will have “stamppot” traditional Dutch mashed potatoes with vegetables, it feels like it is cold enough for it today.

So all is well on board, although a little frustration is starting to develop as to our course over ground, Jet

Last day of the year!

31-12-2023 for the Americans: 12-31-’23

38’07.4S 042’45.6W course 180′ speed 2,9kn

This last day of the year has come on so fast through the past few weeks, one does not know where the time went. Although this past week, time has slowed down a little, just like our speed.
Today we have been battling changing winds and mainly the strong current against us. We have tacked, gybed and altered course many a time, until a very strong south west started up and we were heading 290′ engine off, just storm jib, forestaysail and reeved mizzen. Sadly this did not last very long, we ended up doing 305′ for most of the evening watch and then at watch hand over at midnight the wind had decreased so far, that we had to start the engine again. During the dog watch we had some showers and then the wind changed so drastically that we were doing 030′ over the ground.. NOT where we want to go. So we tacked and are now on a Southerly course. Wind is very changeable, most of the time we cant make any west, but some of the time, we can!

As described before, we will have headwinds for most of the next 3 days.. then it will go light, hopefully to be followed by a high pressure area that will give us Northerly winds. Can’t wait for that to happen!

Although nobody likes being under engine, the atmosphere on board is still very good. Maybe its the many birds that we have spotted so far. And the occasional blow of a whale.. Maybe its the sunsets that are spectacular and the sunrises that are ever so sweet. The light behind the clouds as the sun comes up and the spectacular showers and cumulus clouds! It may not be the sound and the pounding against the waves, but it certainly is the company!

All is well on board, although somewhat shaky, Jet