De bemanning van Shiva bestaat uit Inge en ik vergezeld door Mariette, Daan,Nicoline en Gerard. Het uitgangspunt was veilig met de hele bemanning aan te komen aan de overkant. Bij voorkeur zonder al te veel schade aan de boot en als het even kon in een nette tijd; 16 dagen zou heel mooi zijn. We vertrokken met een stevige oosten wind flinke golven. De verwachting was dat de wind met zo'n 20 knopen East door zou blijven staan. De hele tocht is door Nicoline als onze Manager communicatie, perfect vastgelegd op de ARC blog. Haar tekst geeft een prachtig beeld van alles wat we beleefd hebben. De volledige tekst wordt hieronder opgenomen.
Na aankomst in St Lucia bleek de ARC staf haar blog zo goed te vinden dat Nicoline de eerste prijs kreeg voor de blog over het leven op zee.
November 19, 2015 – The crew is complete!
Yesterday morning Gerard and Nicoline arrived in Las Palmas. Few days before
Herman and Inge had already welcomed Daan and Mariette. The four of them have
been super busy with the preparations for the crossing & the fun stuff that
comes along with ARC. So were they part of the ARC 2015 Opening Ceremony by
carrying the Dutch flag in the midst of all other 36 nationalities that are
joining the ARC 2015. On Monday they’ve rented a car to explore a bit more of
the island and see the views of Gran Canaria. Last Tuesday there was an
inspection on the rigging on board and Herman and Inge have joined several ARC
seminars. Every evening there is the ARC Sundowner where the Shiva crew and all
others that will do the ARC crossing (in total around 1250 people) can go for a
drink and a chat which is great for hearing each others stories and getting
more and more excited to actually sail away for Saint Lucia! What’s more, Inge
and Mariette have been provisioning the non-fresh food already. In other words,
stuffing the boat and filling all its empty cupboards and corners with pasta,
rice, eggs, pepernoten, olives, chocolates, chips, etc. etc. The last empty
spaces will be filled this Friday and Saturday with the fresh food. By the way,
speaking about eggs, finally it has been decided that we bring 90 eggs on board
and Daan has been numbering the eggs so that we can see which ones to eat first
with respect to the shelf life. Smart thinking! We have removed the packaging
material of all food and things for as much as possible so that we can minimize
our share of garbage during the crossing. But to safeguard ourselves from
cockroaches and other unwished animals and situations all is neatly packed in
cover boxes. A well-structured and thought-through system of food we have now
on board!
The arrival of Gerard and Nicoline yesterday
was perfectly timed so to join as complete crew the ARC “ 80s Films” Costume
Party. It felt as if we just walked out of the Crocodile Dundee film set! We
didn’t win the best costume prize (perhaps because we were late!?) but of
course that “didn’t kill the fun”.
After a good night sleep we started the day
today with several tasks: we turned the boat so to lay out the anchor chain on
the pontoon that enabled the Shiva men to mark the chain after every 10 meters
(handy when anchoring in the Caribbean); we’ve marked the mainsail with tape to
indicate where to put the reefs; we’ve washed the main deck and all its
accessories; hung out the laundry; installed the Watt&Sea that will
generate the electricity on board; and Daan and co bought the last fishing gear
– the fishing preparations are REALLY getting serious…! And then it was time
for us to join the life raft practice in the pool. With life jackets on we
experienced what it is like to enter and exit a life raft and we got some good
advices just in case we might come into such a situation. We don’t expect it at
all but it’s good to be prepared for everything (that is what we will be) and
it was also interesting and fun.
It’s beautiful weather in Las Palmas (happy I
just brought 1 pair of jeans) and the atmosphere is great with so much people
around that are all getting prepared for an ocean crossing.
Only 2 more days and then we will be taking
off!!!
So what is it that we expect & dream? The
skipper’s dream is to make a very beautiful and, if possible, quick crossing to
Saint Lucia. The goal for Herman is to do it in 16 days. But most important is
that everyone makes it to Saint Lucia safely and healthy and that the boat
remains in good shape so that Herman and Inge can continue sailing for another
few months after having arrived in Saint Lucia. So, safety first! Herman is
also curious to get water from the water-maker and has all faith that Gerard as
our Chief Engineer can repair it (anything) if needed. Furthermore with the
wasabi, soya and ginger already on board he expects Daan to catch tasty dorades
and tuna fish. And finally with daughter Mariette teaching him yoga and the
view on the beautiful ocean he expects to feel very Zen (which is so popular
and much sought for these days).
For Inge it’s a dream come true! In the 70s
Herman and she found in a book shop the book “in 4 jaar de wereld rond” (in 4
years around the world) from Claes and Welmoed Honig and together they knew
that’s what they wanted to do! And now it has become reality and will the dream
start… With an enthusiastic crew we will be crossing the ocean and will enjoy
many, new sailing areas. From the Caribbean Islands to the Bahamas, then along
the American east coast to New York and perhaps even to Maine. Inge is very
much looking forward to this adventure and all new encounters.
Gerard is also very much looking forward to the
adventure of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It’s great to use the Parasail
together with the rest of the crew and of course he’s a little bit proud to be
the handyman, ahum Chief Engineer on board. Hope it won’t be needed but if so
we are in good hands!
Mariette is mostly looking forward to the yet
unknown adventure of the ocean with wind and water being the most important
topics of the day. It could even become a philosophical journey where it’s
possible to reflect on the small and big things and choices in life. But let’s
first get into the habit of living on a limited space with 6 people!
Daan expects to catch so much fish that he
needs to stop fishing because people get nauseous of it! And mostly he dreams
of the phenomenal views at sea like dolphins, flying fish, sunrises and
sunsets, and night skies.
Myself, I’m super curious to experience what it
is like to walk, sit, sleep, live on
a constantly moving vessel but also looking so much forward to this. Over the
last weeks, but mostly last night laying in my cabin, I was already picturing
it in my mind and feeling it slightly due to the little sway that is around in
the harbour. I expect to be very very happy and enlightened, I will tell you in
a few days if this expectation has come true (or if it appears to be the
opposite...!).
Next blog that we’ll post will be on Sunday or
Monday when we’ve actually taken off! From then on we aim to post every day an
update on the ARC log website. Don’t worry; they won’t be as long as this one!
And please also don’t worry if a blog comes 1 day later, I could be just very
busy reading, chilling, sleeping, cooking or just enjoying doing nothing …
Log day 1 - Clear start & first night
November
23, 2015 – We have taken off!! On Sunday just before noon we left the harbour
of Las Palmas. Many people were waving us out which was great! An exciting
feeling to know that you won’t touch shore for the coming 2,5 weeks.
Manoeuvring through all the other ARC boats with mainsail (1 reef) and jib up
we were heading off to the starting line. At 1PM sharp our group made a clear
start. 15 minutes before another group had started with Team Brunel sprinting
off and quickly leaving the rest behind them. There was about 22 to 25 knots of
wind, with highs of 30 knots. It caused a good wavy sea, in my eyes waves of 4
meters at least, but in reality 3 meters I must say! It is very impressive
seeing this blue high wall coming up behind the ship and then feeling the ship
surf over this blue mountain. One of our best surfs made us go 14.2 knots in speed!!
Of course this was just for a second, but still, a new record for Shiva! The
average speed we were making was around 9 knots. Still surrounded by many ARC
boats we were taking many pictures and of course competing already a little bit
J At
some point we lost the safety buoy (reddingsboei) because the force of the
water had ripped it off, Gerard immediately jumped into action and performed a
kind of solo man overboard rescue action. Great job Gerard!! The sun was
showing its face now and then, but mostly it was cloudy.
Between 5
and 6PM we had dinner from a bowl. Mm goulash and rice, thanks Inge for
preparing this upfront! After that the first people already went to bed to
prepare for the night shift. Inge got seasick, for the first time at Shiva!!
And therefore she slept throughout the night, for as much as possible... The
boat was a washing machine for real… Rolling, bonking, splashing, tweaking,
cupboard contents shifting, not easy to fall asleep this way!
With 2
reefs in the mainsail and jib up we entered the night. Gerard and Daan started.
Mariette, Daan and Nicoline turned passes and so did Gerard and Herman. From
12AM onwards the wind was steady and the automatic pilot was taking good care
of the ship and its course. The moonlight was so bright that it was like a
spotlight on our boat and on the waves around us. It was very beautiful, almost
magical! Mariette has seen one falling star and we could see still some lights
of other boots further around us. We’re curious to explore how next nights will
go, they say it gets easier after 2 or 3 nights, we do hope so but also believe
so…!
This
morning Inge was doing well again. Thanks Doctor Daan ;) The sun is shining and
there is somewhat less wind, very pleasant. We see only 1 more boat and we
still see the last island of the Canaries far away. Soon we’ll be on our own! The
waves keep rolling of course, they come from the back and from left and from
right, sometimes fast and sometimes like slow-motion. It’s a very specific
swell! Outside we’re constantly wearing life jackets and inside the boat simple
things like brushing your teeth become a huge challenge.
It’s just
day 1, but already a very special day! First of all because we have sailed 202
miles in the first 24 hours of our trip, which is much more than we expected
and a record for Shiva. Secondly, we’ve already seen the first dolphin swimming
next to our boat. And thirdly, Daan just caught his first fish!! We think it’s
a Mahi Mahi. It looks beautiful, now let’s see how it will taste!
In short, all
is good here & greetings from the Atlantic!
Log day 2 - Lunch time
November
24, 2015 – It’s the second day of our crossing. The moment I am writing this,
Inge just baked a bread, Herman and Daan prepared the fish that we caught
yesterday and which is now smoking in the oven, Mariette is taking a nap after
her yoga session, and Gerard is outside keeping an eye on the sails and the
auto pilot. Last night went very smooth, we are getting used to the shifts of 3
hours up and 6 hours of sleep, it’s very doable. Also we start to get used to
the noises and the rock and rolling, we start to get the sea legs!
Today the
sun is shining and we have between 15 and 23 knots of wind. We are sailing
goose winged (melkmeisje) and the waves are very pleasant, not too high. The
distance we made today (day 2) is 177 miles.
We’ve just
put the clothes of Gerard to dry in the sun because of the over deck water of
yesterday that had soaked his wardrobe.
Now’s it
time for lunch, the fish is ready and tasting wonderful, hasta manana!
Log day 3 – A bumpy night
November
25, 2015 – Last night Inge and Nicoline started the first night shift, we were
going fast (12 knots) running goose winged with the mainsail and jib and we had
the inner stay sail in between. A nice sight all these sails up. In the next
night shift however the wind became stronger and Herman and co decided to
change and lower some sails. We got into difficulties in getting the inner stay
sail down. With all men on deck we finally managed to get it back to mainsail
with 2 reefs and jib up. A tough job it was in the dark and with wind and
waves. But the good result of the team work was reason for Herman and Daan to
open the first beer on board!
Another job
of this night was the leakage in the stern. Early morning Gerard and Herman
discovered the root cause and have been able to fix it. All is good now!
So a little
less sleep for most of us last night, but today is again a beautiful day and
we’re doing fine. Especially seeing all those dolphins around our boat this
morning made it again a beautiful day!! For several minutes at least 10
dolphins were swimming and jumping around our boat, really beautiful…
Day
distance is 190 miles.
Daan and
Mariette are now preparing dinner, after that we’ll get ready for the next
night. Time flies here! It seems like we are having fun…!!
Log day 4 – Hello, is it me you are looking
for?
November
26, 2015 – “Hello? This is sailing yacht Shiva.” “….” “This is sailing yacht
Shiva. Hello?”
Last night
during Herman and Daan’s night shift the satellite phone suddenly rang.
Everybody awoke because hearing a phone ringing while being in the middle of
the ocean is quite peculiar. Daan picked up the phone and the rest was quietly
listening…
“This is
sailing yacht Shiva. Hello?” “Hello, do you have engine problems?” “No, we do
not have engine problems” “Ah alright, in that case I’ve dialled the wrong
number, bye” “Bye”
Wow, what a
story! ;) We were in contact with the outer world!! Too bad we didn’t ask for
an update of what is happening in the world…
Furthermore
it was a quiet and decent night and we all had a good night sleep. Today there
is much less wind, so we are putting up the parasailor. We are the 8th
boat of the 22 boats in our group, Herman and Gerard are busy navigating so we
can follow the routes where there are better weather conditions (more wind).
For that reason we sometimes take a slightly different course – not straight to
Saint Lucia – so to catch more wind. Our goal is to overtake some other boats
of course.
This
morning we ate baked eggs for breakfast and now we are making pasta for lunch.
For sure with some oranges as dessert, because today is orange day (yesterday
was banana day). The sun is shining and the music is on, Saint Lucia here we
come……!
Log day 5 – Thank God it’s Friday
November
27, 2015 – In the last 24 hours we have made 150 miles. It’s less than the days
before but more than we expected because of the lack of wind. Last night the
sail and jib were going left and right and left and right because of the little
wind which made a lot of noise in the cabin (where people were trying to
sleep). So again a bit of a bumpy night.
In the
morning just after sunrise there was a big crowd of dolphins playing around our
boat. There were at least 10 of them, even another group further away, and they
stayed for 10 minutes or so around our boat. It’s so beautiful to see them swim
through the water, overtake our boat, and then jump out of the water in front
of our boat. Magical….
Today the
lack of wind caused quite a flat sea. And for the first time of our trip we
could have lunch at the unfolded table in the cockpit, walk through the cabin
without too much of resistance (so Mariette and Nicoline could do some yoga inside)
and simple things like brushing your teeth weren’t causing more black spots
(blauwe plekken) (referring to an earlier blog).
So with
little wind and a lot of sun it became a perfect Friday with Shiva crew in the
chill mode reading books, listening music, sunbathing at the deck, washing our
hair (for the first time since Sunday…!), playing games (pim pam pet), doing
some yoga, enjoying the view of the huge parasailor and drinking a Radler
during the “borrel” (5 o clock drinks). At borrel time Loupan, another ARC boat
that was nearby us, even reached us through the VHF phone (marifoon) to ask us
what rig we had now with this little wind. No wind, but thank God it’s Friday!
Log day 6 – Stars in your eyes
November
28, 2015 – We can see that the sun is setting and rising later compared to our
clocks. Which makes sense because we are moving towards the Caribbean where it
is 4 to 5 hours earlier. So we changed our clocks 1 hour backwards and this
morning the sun was rising at a normal hour again. So nice to follow the sun
and the moon and decide for ourselves when to adjust our clock settings. For
all people at home: for us it’s now 2 hours earlier than in the Netherlands.
Yesterday
night Herman and Nicoline started the 1st night shift. We saw some
dark clouds coming up and in full sailing wear (except for the boots) we were
ready for it. Luckily no rain came but some good wind did and Shiva made 9 to
10 sometimes even 11 knots of speed. Nice to make some fast miles again! One
hour later however the wind lowered to the level of the day which made us go 5
knots of speed and sometimes even less. The next night shifts Shiva speed was
steady with 6 knots. The weather can change so quickly here, in one day you can
have all sorts of wind and weather. It makes a stunning sky with many different
views, because clouds are changing shapes quickly and the sun or moon are
painting the world in different colours.
Because of
the clouds and no moon it was very dark, you could barely differentiate the sea
from the sky. Impressive! Even more impressive was the sky full of stars that
we could now clearly see. Stars all around us and the milky way right above us.
Beautiful. As soon as the moon came up and found a way through the clouds Shiva
was sailing in the spotlight again and still some stars were blinking to her.
So what is
it that we do during our night shifts? Firstly the shift schedule starts at 5PM
and ends at 9.30AM. We do shifts of 3 hours up and 6 hours down (asleep) and we
are always with 2 during a shift. Herman, Inge and Gerard (generation X) turn
passes and so do Daan, Mariette and Nicoline (generation Y). A nice thing is
that after 1,5 hour of your shift the other Generation has a shift change, so
you always sit the first half with someone and the second half with another one.
Mariette usually prepares a Snack Bag and we make tea and coffee upfront. Then,
during a shift it is important to watch the sails and the wind. The course is
usually already determined, so we need to adjust the sails to the wind if
needed. Also it is key to keep an eye on the surrounding if there are other
ships or heavy clouds and possible rains coming our way. This can be done with
the navigation system or radar or by eye of course. Other than that it’s mostly
sitting and keeping each other awake J We are only busy if the wind is too
heavy for the automatic pilot or if we need to change sails a lot. But so far
the majority of time during our night shifts is spent sitting & chatting
& now and then checking the surrounding. Key thing is that people are on
deck and readily available for action if needed.
Temperatures
during night are between 18 and 20 degrees, very okay but still necessary to
wear a fleece or something warm and long trousers because you’re sitting still
during the night with wind. During the day it’s about 25 to 30 degrees.
Today it’s
day 6 already and our day distance is 148 miles. In total we have now made 1051
miles, approximately 1700 miles more to go!
Log day 7 – Flying fish
November
29, 2015 – Today we are getting slightly nervous of the little wind that we
have in this part of the ocean. We’ve seen on the grib files (weather
navigation files) that a more windy area is 120 miles away from us. And that’s
what we are heading towards. Last night we have tried to make as much speed as
possible by putting up and down the helm (oploeven en afvallen) but we couldn’t
get much faster than 5, maximum 6 knots. With today the same low wind
projection we finally decided to put the motor on so we can get faster in the
more windy area.
Daan had
the 6.30AM morning shift and threw out his fishing line, believing most fish
bite when the sun is rising. 1 or 2 hours later he yelled he had a catch and
all of us approached him to assist and to take pictures and make a video. It
was a big one! Daan was busy taking in the line, Herman grabbed the hook to
pull the fish into the boot, Gerard put the knife and the alcohol ready,
Mariette watered the cockpit to prevent it from blood stains, and Inge and I
had the cameras ready. And then… the fish flew! It managed to unstring itself
from the hook and went off like a flying fish…
What a
pity!! We tried to cheer ourselves up by counting the real flying fish around
our boat. Since a few days we see quite some silver coloured, shiny, tiny fish
flying just above the water. Sometimes just 1, sometimes a bunch of them –
really nice. But the real joy came when the sun was high in the sky…
… and Daan
yelled he had a catch! Again all 6 of us jumped into action to assist Daan.
This time everything went perfect and we pulled a beautiful blue, yellow
coloured Mahi Mahi into the cockpit. At this moment in time we had 2 fishing
line out. So just after pulling in the first fish, we also had a catch on the
second line! When the second fish was almost pulled in – also a Mahi Mahi – it
again got off the hook and off it went. Luckily this time no disappointment,
because Herman started fileting the first fish we caught. And because the fish
continued to bite! Fish number 4 had bitten off the bait and the hook, or the
line had broken. Fish number 5 was lost and also went off like a flying fish.
Fish number 6 was a Bonito (a sort of Tuna but smaller) and we caught it nicely
and neatly. Fish number 7 was a Mahi Mahi, much bigger than the ones we have
caught so far, and was pulled into the cockpit.
Wow what a
day! Even though no wind and still on motor, we caught 3 fish which made our
day. Herman is a professional in fileting and now we have 2 kilograms of
delicious fish meat in the fridge. We’re thinking of making a fish curry for
lunch, having smoked fish for the borrel, and grilled fish the day after. It
looks like Daan is indeed going to catch so much fish that we will get nauseous
of it ;)
Log day 8 – Downwind we go
November
30, 2015 – Yesterday late afternoon, before we started the night shifts, the
wind increased slightly. With the code 1 and mainsail up we hand steered
instead of using the auto pilot so to catch as much wind as possible. Great
sail it is the code 1.
The night
was peaceful and steady. Still a relatively flat sea but with some more wind
now. We went on average 7 knots in speed and the sky was clear so we could see
the moon rising from the sea horizon.
In the
early morning we reached our way point. From here on we get into the more windy
area that we had seen on the grib files and we can move westwards, directly
towards Saint Lucia. With this new course (260 degrees) the wind comes from the
back, which is perfect for the parasailor. Our 2 previous experiences with the
parasailor were not perfect yet. It’s a new sail for the crew and it’s not that
easy to manage a 206 square meter sail! But also we think the wind was too weak
for the parasailor, the code 1 was better at that time. Today however the wind
is 10 to 13 knots and the parasailor is doing great! We make a speed of 7 to 9
knots flat downwind, something we couldn’t have done with the gennaker.
It’s still
beautiful weather, very warm actually. And today we saw another boat on the
horizon which just called us on the VHF phone. We’ve had Mahi Mahi curry fur
lunch, SUPER delicious, and now it is time for our siesta in the sun!
Our
position is 16⁰45min North & 31⁰42min West. Greetings from the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean!
Log day 9 – Rolling westwards
December 1,
2015 – The parasailor has been up all night. It was perfect weather for it:
steady wind of 12 to 18 knots. The sea got a bit more wavy though so we were
rolling left and right in our beds again. This morning we lowered the
parasailor – after 27 hours of great performance! – because the wind increased
to 20 or more knots so we put up the mainsail and jib goose-winged. Also with
this rig we’re going 9 knots in speed. We are making some fast miles now! Great
to have good wind and to see how Shiva glides through the waves. Our day
distance today is 185 nautical miles.
It seems
like the trade wind (passaatwind) will blow us fast to Saint Lucia now. We are
still sailing 260-270 degrees, straight to the island. The weather forecast
looks positive. With this speed and this course we expect to be drinking rum
punch in 9 or 10 days from now!
Log day 10 – Halfway and still enjoying
December 2,
2015 – As the salty sea and the strong wind can damage many little things on
board we daily make a ‘chaving round’ so to check if all lines are clear and
still quality conform. During today’s round we discovered that we had a couple
of flying fish on deck. Mariette had already seen one jumping into the boat
during her night shift and this morning there were 3 more on the front deck.
Now we could examine them from close! Interesting birds, uh, fish.
We’ve
sailed 188 miles in the last 24 hours. A nice distance thanks to the steady
wind of 15 to 20 knots. We are more than halfway now!
Over the
last days we have of course collected a fair share of garbage with 6 people on
board and no collective garbage company. So we have our own system in trash
management: compostable garbage can be thrown overboard; plastic trash is cut
into small pieces and collected in one big, empty water bottle; metal trash
like cans are smashed flat with a hammer and collected in one bag; all other is
collected in a big bag in the back of the ship. Our aim is to arrive in Saint
Lucia with as little as possible garbage of course.
Besides the
garbage system we have a Shiva water system. The availability and usage of
fresh water is something we need to think of in our daily life on board. We
left Las Palmas with 500 liter of water in the tanks. We use it for cooking,
cleaning, everything actually so we try to limit the usage as much as possible.
A daily shower is therefore not part of the daily routine on board…! We are
flexible and creative in finding ways to use it as efficiently as possible and
even wash our hair now and then. If needed there is a water maker on board
which can turn sea water into fresh water, around 50 liter per hour. The power
the water maker needs comes from the Watt&Sea that is hanging in the water
behind the boat and generating power. A nice system! It enabled us to take a
real shower on the back of the boat!
As you can
read, we keep ourselves busy! Even more so, we had a visit of Sinterklaas and
Zwarte Piet who asked us to draw straws and write a poem for another crew
member. In 3 days from now they’ll be back and we will be celebrating
Sinterklaas!
Log day 11 – Ain’t no mountain high enough
December 3,
2015 – It’s day 11 of our trip. The sea is like in the beginning of our trip: long,
high waves that are coming from the back right corner which is causing the
washing machine effect. We therefore had a bit of a bumpy night, just because
we were rolling in our beds and therefore some difficulties falling asleep.
Other than that a fine night with no extraordinaries.
In the
early morning Herman threw out a fishing line, with little expectation because
of the high waves, but few hours later we did catch a Mahi Mahi again. Catching
and preparing fish has become part of our daily routine now! We’re looking
forward to the fish curry that we will have for lunch tomorrow.
Today
started as a sunny and very warm day. Hours passed by quickly with people
reading books, hand steering, listening music, knitting (new hobby of Mariette
and Nicoline, with Inge being the teacher) and taking naps. Herman and Gerard
have pulled out the Watt&Sea because it is causing quite some water due to
a leakage in the stern that otherwise needs to be pumped out 4 times a day. In
the afternoon it became cloudy with now and then a shower of rain.
The blue
mountains keep approaching us from the back. It’s still amazing to see how the
boat is lifted by these high walls of water and how Shiva can then make a speed
of 12 or sometimes even more knots. On average we are making 8 to 9 knots. Hand
steering goes much smoother than the auto pilot so that’s what we have been
doing a lot today. It’s lovely to steer Shiva over the blue dunes and mountains.
Today we
made 197 nautical miles in total and 177 effective miles, that is 177 miles
closer to Saint Lucia. Also we crossed the 40th longitude and
thereby we crossed the midpoint of our map. Reason to celebrate with a beer
during the borrel!
Log day 12 – (Wild) Life on board
December 4,
2015 – Last night the half moon was illuminating our journey through the water.
A half moon gives slightly less light than a full moon, but still it gives
enough light to see somewhat of our surrounding. Night sailing remains to be a
little wonder. It’s such a surrealistic view to see nothing around you, just the
water and waves that are lightened by the moon and a dark sky with some stars
or clouds. Further than that you only hear the ocean and feel the swell. It’s as
if we are sailing through a painting. Or as if we are part of a film set.
(To the
people that have seen The Truman Show: I sometimes imagine we suddenly sail
into a wall…!)
In the last
24 hours we made 196 miles. And we have a new speed record: 15.8 knots thanks
to a high wave that lifted us up and carried us forward very fast for a second
of time. We have 4 meter high waves today and there are approximately 7 seconds
in between every wave.
We’ve seen
an orange buoy drifting by and we heard some noise on the VHF phone. When
somebody sees or hears something like that – even an orange buoy… - he or she
screams and then the rest of the crew comes to watch it pass by. Bizarre how
such useless things can almost be a highlight of the day! It’s a sign of life,
which is nice after having seen nothing but water and sky for the last 4 or 5
days.
The real
highlight of today, and a big sign of life, was the white bird that was flying
around our boat and that landed on deck for a couple of hours. We gave him a
lift, Daan even gave him some food, and we took some nice pictures. He didn’t
like the flying fish that were still lying on deck of the last night… But we
were happy to have a pet on board.
After the
Mahi Mahi fish curry (our favourite dish on board) some of us took a siesta,
read a book, or wrote a Sinterklaas poem. We all find our way so well on board.
At some point we noticed that the jib sheet (schoot) had split. The line was
broken by the constant pressure of the wind and we replaced it by the port side
sheet. Also we then checked all the screws around the ship, because some of
them get loose because of the constant movements of the ship. Such things are
normal practice on board and keep us busy now and then. It’s important we keep
checking and solving such things. This way we continue to fully trust Shiva in
bringing us to Saint Lucia safely.
For the
first time we have seen the sun setting into the sea. Usually there are clouds
which take that view away, but today the clouds were only covering the top of
the sun which gave a spectacular sunset view.
Log day 13 – Wishing on a star
December 5,
2015 – A dark night it was because the moon didn’t show its face before 2.30AM.
It was cloudy with now and then a shower of rain. Still the stars managed to
get through the clouds and showed their beauty to us. We’ve seen many many
falling stars! It was a night of dreams and wishes…
At 4
o’clock today, after singing some songs, Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet left a bag
full of presents and poems on deck! We’ve all read our poems and then we played
dice for the presents. We ate home-made pepernoten and we were very pleased
with this unexpected visit from our dear friends from Spain. Thanks for the
presents and see you next year!
Today we
made a distance of 207 miles, which is a new day distance record for Shiva.
There are still no other boats in sight. We start to become curious for what it
will be like when seeing land again…!
Log day 14 – Sleeping beauties
December 6,
2015 – We have entered the area of the Atlantic that is known for squalls:
local wind and rain storms. You can recognize a squall by dark vertical clouds
and you can actually see it moving. They grow and move quickly, so in case we
come into a squall it’s only for about 15 minutes that we will be having strong
wind and showers of rain. Yesterday night we have seen 2 squalls that just
passed us. We’ve seen them on the radar but also by eye. It’s impressive to see
how fast several clouds can compile into 1 dark rainy cloud. This time we were
lucky, no need to put on our rain jackets.
We were
less lucky when few hours later we wanted to reef the mainsail. We had issues with
getting the sail straight due to the lock of the line that slips, which we only
found out today. Additionally often the electrical winch (lier) stops
functioning because the power switches are suddenly turned off (overheated
perhaps). It happened again last night in the middle of the action. The man
were on deck and the woman inside heard somebody cursing about the winch and
all 3 ladies jumped immediately out of bed towards the power switches. Quick
reactions! I woke up few seconds before by the bucket of sea water that was
poured over my face while I was sleeping – never leave your window open when at
sea! So all crew was up in the middle of the night to fix the rigging.
Approximately 45 minutes later the mainsail was reefed and the jib was out
again and 4 out of 6 could go back to sleep.
Today there
are still quite some clouds in the sky. It can be that we are in the sun with a
blue sky above us and we see in the front or in the back a dark sky with clouds
and showers. It changes constantly. In the late afternoon the tip of a squall
passed over and all except for Herman stayed inside until the showers were
over. Everything under control and now we’ve experienced a squall!
Finally we’ve
seen a boat on the horizon! We expect to see more boats soon because we are
getting very close to Saint Lucia now. We are on the 11th place of
our group (in total 22 boats) and we expect and hope to arrive as 10th.
Other than
the squall and the boat not much happened today. All of us have been taking
naps during the day, due to the lack of sleep last night. So it was a quiet
day! Now everyone is again in bed, with Inge on deck as night watch and me
finalizing the log. When the log is sent I’ll join Inge and in 1,5 hour Daan
will take my turn and I continue, just like the others, with my beauty sleep. J
Log day 15 – Endless time
December 7,
2015 – After a cloudy night with here and there a squall and a shower of rain,
the day started cloudy, grey and humid. With most of us inside and waves of 3
to 4 meters it was a funny scene to see the 6 of us stumbling around while
doing the morning dishes, brushing teeth, cleaning up the ship and pumping
water out of the stern. You always have to hold yourself with one hand attached
to the ship, leaving one hand free. If not, more black spots are a guarantee!
Around 11AM
the sun pushed aside the clouds and we had a great sunny comfortable afternoon.
Mariette and Nicoline practiced some yoga on the front deck. Mariette adjusts
the program based on the height of the waves so it’s achievable whatever the
weather conditions are! For lunch Inge made a lovely stew of canned, great (!)
meat, carrots, tomatoes, onions, garlic, with rice.
We eat very
healthy and super delicious on board. After 15 days on sea we still have fresh
vegetables and fruits. Inge and Mariette have thought through very well which
vegies and fruits to eat when. With 15 eggs, 10 oranges, some tomatoes, 2 coleslaws,
1 zucchini, a big bunch of lemons (for all that fish) we can continue our trip
for at least 1 week and still have high-standard dishes. As you might already
know, our favourite dish is the Mahi Mahi fish curry of Daan and Mariette. But
also Inge continues to make culinary surprises for us!
To extend
our great sunny comfortable afternoon we put back our time again with 1 hour.
Now we have a time difference of 4 hours with the Netherlands. Before we arrive
in Saint Lucia we will do it again. We had a long relaxing day, and a cosy
(gezellige) gathering (borrel) in the sunset. We could see the sun set in the
sea and for a long time after we’ve watched the colourful clouds above it and
the changing sky. Beautiful. To quote Inge: the time feels endless here on the
ocean. On the other hand, time flies by so quickly. It’s incredible we are
already 15 days on sea! We expect to arrive Wednesday night in Saint Lucia, so
just 2 more days…
Day
distance of today is 200 miles. Only 460 miles to go, which is like going from
Amsterdam to Berlin.
Log day 16 – Catch me
if you can
December 8, 2015 – Today we have been caught by several squalls. The day
started very cloudy again and when we saw 1 or 2 squalls approaching us we
quickly jumped into our bathing suits and grabbed the bottles of shampoo. Nothing
better than to start your day with a natural rain shower! (With a bit of help
of the water hose…)
It’s again very warm and humid today. Because of that we all took it
easy. Mariette and I watched a movie yesterday night and today, also that is
possible on board.
And then we heard the fishing line rolling out… Our first reactions were
‘oh oh here we go again’ – slightly less enthusiastic than the first times
catching fish. Daan’s goal to catch so much fish that all of us would have
enough of it has been achieved! The last Mahi Mahi piece we actually threw
overboard because we all had enough…
This time was different though. We all became quiet when the line was
almost completely pulled in and we still didn’t see the fish jumping like all
last times. We knew it would be a big one… It swam very deep and even went
under the boat. Since day 1 we had an order outstanding with Daan to make us
some fresh tuna. And today was the big day!! What a great surprise when Daan
pulled a HUGE tuna from the water! After some brave actions of Daan, Gerard and
Herman the tuna gave up and we could measure it and take some nice pictures of
this beauty. A length of 1.20 meter (!!) and we estimate 20 to 25 kilo’s in
weight. Incredible…
For dinner we had sashimi with soya sauce and wasabi, and grilled tuna
steak. What a kick!!
Log day 17 – Final countdown
December 9,
2015 – The last day of our Atlantic Ocean crossing…! It started a bit tough
after a night of many clouds, extreme heat, strong rains and weird wind shifts.
When my night shift started I joined Herman in what was a totally grey world
with no sight around us and only strong rain. The bad part of these squalls is
the waves and the rock and rolling inside the boat where people are trying to
sleep. The good part is that they only take 15 to 20 minutes.
Today there
were no more squalls and the sky brightened up. It was still very very hot and
we’ve been sitting in the shade all day. Herman and Gerard had put the
parasailor up which made us go smoothly more and more towards Saint Lucia. Only
130 miles to go……..!
We’ve seen
many birds today and also 3 other ships! It becomes cosy here at sea ;) Clear
signs that we are approaching land. It’s the topic of the day to estimate at
what time we will arrive at Saint Lucia. We expect to arrive around 4AM. We
managed to overtake 1 other boat in our group, so now we are on position number
10. In a few days from now we will hear the final results as some factors like
hours of motor and ship size will need to be taken into account. Anyways, what
matters to us most is that we have had an amazing journey together and that we
are almost there to put a nice, cold rum punch to our lips – even at 4AM!
Besides
talking and dreaming of Saint Lucia we have cooked some nice dishes again. For
lunch we had grilled pieces of Daan’s ‘tiger tuna’ with some delicious pasta.
For dinner we usually keep it light and we ate bread and toasts with different
toppings. It was the best bread Inge has baked so far (we didn’t expect it
could be even better!). And as a dessert Mariette had some freshly baked
brownies for us.
And now we
go into the last night of our Atlantic Ocean crossing…! So far the sky is clear
and the stars shine bright. We hope it stays like this so that we can catch
some sleep and wake up early early morning to see the land of Saint Lucia in
sight and to cross the finish line with all crew on board and enter the harbour
of Rodney Bay.
We’re
almost there!
Log day 18 – Arrived!
December
10, 2015 – It’s 5.20PM, we need to get ready for the night. Is the top light
on? Are the flash lights outside? And the life vests in the cabin? Whose watch
is it? Have the dishes been done and are all loose things tightened up? Who
makes tea and coffee? Mariette, did you already prepare the Snack Bag?
That’s how
it went the last 17 days and nights… Right now at 5.20PM I’m sitting in the
cockpit – the boat is not moving (!!) – with the laptop on my lap and a drink
and a snack on my left and when I look around I don’t see just waves and sky,
but I see lots of ships lying in the harbour and many people walking by or
chitchatting in their cockpits or doing some maintenance activities on their
ship.
We have
arrived at Saint Lucia!!
Yesterday we
started the night shift according to our normal routines, but it was of course not
a normal night. It was the last night of our Atlantic Crossing! With only 80
miles left to Saint Lucia we were all so eager to see land for real. Therefore
we improvised our night shifts instead of following the schedule. Herman and
Gerard stayed up almost all night to maintain a good course to Rodney Bay. At
some point Herman took a nap in his cabin and Gerard made a bed under the stars
while Mariette was night watching. The first time we heard another ship calling
the ARC finish line through the VHF phone Inge and Nicoline woke up and jumped
outside to see if we could see land already. (Where we almost tripped over
Gerard who was taking his nap on the floor of the cockpit!) We could see 4 to 5
green or red lights around us, more boats were approaching the finish line! We’ve
also seen 1 cruise ship of 300 meters. Exciting how busy it was at sea! From
around 12AM we could see the first lights of land – yes, we had land in sight! We
could see both Martinique and Saint Lucia.
At 4.30AM
all crew was up on deck because we just crossed the top of Saint Lucia and we were
approaching the finish line. 2 miles before Pigeon Island Herman phoned the ARC
Finish Line. They had already spotted us, together with the 3 other boats that
were just before and after us and finishing around the same time. The wind was
increasing when we crossed the top of the island and dark clouds were
approaching so we lowered the jib and continued with reefed mainsail. It was a
bit rainy, just like at the start of the ARC. Then we saw the orange flashing light
that indicated the starboard side of the finish line. Just before we entered
the finishing area a photographer in a dinghy came to our boat and took some
pictures of us. And then, at 05:50:49 we crossed the ARC Finish Line! We made
it!
The
daylight came through when we lowered the mainsail and motored into the
harbour. How normal to motor into a harbour again, we almost forgot we were for
18 days on open sea. But when we nicely docked our boat and put the first steps
on the pontoon we were all exhilarated because it did feel a little bit weird!
Not sure if it was the rum punch we drank or the sea legs that needed to get
used to land! So there we were, drinking the rum punch and seeing other people
and many other ships, something we had been looking forward to for the past few
days. Difficult to describe that feeling, but for sure we were all happy we
made it safe to Saint Lucia and so pleased with the things we have experienced.
Today and
the coming days we will explore the beautiful, tropical Saint Lucia and Shiva
will be undergoing some maintenance here and there. We will still post some
pictures but this is our last ARC blog in writing. Herman and Inge will
continue their sailing adventure for the coming months and are posting their
updates on www.syshiva.blogspot.com. Thank you for following us and for
your nice reactions!!
