Archiv

CW52 2001

23.12.2001 - 31.12.2001

It is Sunday the 23.12 and the first hours of the new day are not very exciting. The little bit of remaining wind still allows us to sail, but the log only shows a speed of 1,6 knots and which is almost like standing still. Not only that, we also had to deviate from our course again, as the wind is blowing directly from the front.
During the forenoon, the sky becomes a bit lighter, and shows a couple of useful clouds, which allow us some good sailing for about 5 hours and enables us to stay more or less on course. But that was about it, when after about 16:00 o clock, the waves and wind hit us from the direction we are supposed to be travelling in. For about an hour we try everything possible, only to end up doing the inevitable: we drop off course for about 60° and sail in a westerly direction.
We have the main sail and fore sail hissed and that's how we sail into the night.
In the moonshine this can be endured, until the next morning at 2:30 o'clock we can almost go on course again. Now the world looks different again, although the GPS shows that it is still 699nm to our destination.
In the early morning of Christmas Eve, at 05:00 o' clock we are on course again!
For one solid hour and then it becomes exciting again. The wind is weakening, turning and dark cloud patches form. With a little bit of plucking the sails, we can however continue to sail. However, it does not work long with "plucking just a little bit". In a very short time the entire sky is overcast and in the distance dark thunderclouds move towards us. This becomes a morning of reefing and cranking. Every now and then the wind becomes stronger, and the main sail has to be reefed, but not for long, because in the short time it takes for the wind to become stronger, it also weakens again. That's how it goes for hours: reef in, reef out, reef in, reef out and that till early noon.
Then it remains more constant, with 2 reefs in the main sail and the fore sail made smaller, we race ahead with 8 knots. To have little diesel and water board, gives the advantage of being lighter and hence a lot faster. This is really fun! The lesser fun thing is the intermittent rain. At times it rains cats and dogs and what's worse is that the sea is becoming more restless. Later we haul in the main sail and only leave the fore sail hissed. So that is Christmas Eve at sea, whereas at home, the Christmas tree is probably being decorated and the last finishing touches applied.

There was something else this morning: we wanted to have some fish again, so early this morning let out the super-duper-lure again. It did not take more than a half an hour before we had the first bite. So I grab the rod and reel it in. Puh, its extremely difficult, especially since we are travelled at the nice speed we did. But the fish has to come in! When he was at the stern, we all looked a bit surprised, there was a "Kugelfisch" (Blow fish?) on our hook. Not a very nice sight. Such a beautiful fish that looks so lovingly at you, now with a large hook from our super-lure in its mouth. Now we had to act fast. We brought him a bit closer to the stern and with pliers Thomas removed the painful hook and dropped him back into the water. Luckily our little friend was not hurt badly and we have high hopes that he will survive.

So no fish for Christmas Eve, but something totally different: roasted Leberkäs' (liver pate) with sweet mustard and potato salad, just like mum used to make back home.
After dinner, the handing over of gifts and then the same program as always, night watch in 3 hour cycles.
Tuesday, the first Christmas holiday, the sky is entirely overcast and it's till 599 nm to Antigua. Everyone inspects the GPS numerous times a day, how far is it still to go??? The desire to reach our destination is warranted, as we've been on sea for 23 days and nights and have put close to 2300 nautical miles behind us. The numerous glances on the GPS also brings about the interesting number-constellations: 15:55:50 o' clock and 555,5 nm.
At least today's etmal gives us hope; 109 nm. At least an etmal over a hundred again. If we head on the same way during the night as during the day then we should manage to cover a distance of over a 100nm again tomorrow, as our sailing is going really well and that only with the foresail! In the evening we experience another spectacular sundown. Different every time, but beautiful each time.

Sailed the whole night, the whole night with the foresail and laid back a good distance. So we awake Wednesday to a beautiful sunrise and it's less than 500 nm to our destination. That raises the spirit and as well as another sail so shortly before 8:00 o' clock we hiss the main sail. The distance to our destination is getting less and less (at last!) and the water depth we are crossing are getting deeper and deeper: 5722m! It is almost impossible to imagine; up to 6 kilometres of water beneath us! It is noon, when the wind becomes weaker and it's time to change sails again. The genaker is hissed. Noon is also the time to determine the position and distance laid back (etmal). The one on watch is responsible for this and is allowed to make a mark on our large map.

Funny, we have the exact same etmal as yesterday: 109 nm.
We sail with the genaker till supper, and to increase our appetite hiss the main and foresail before we eat. The night can now come and our hunger is guarantied.
No, we're not having fish again, but Cordon Blue.
With a reef in the main sail, we sail till shortly before midnight, when we also reef the foresail, as the wind is becoming stronger. Shortly past 3 o' clock, the wind turns and it is time to haul in the main sail. Almost in time for a change in watch, but tonight I would have stayed an hour longer, because it's Thomas' birthday.
Happy Birthday Thomas! So our birthday kid takes watch at 3 o' clock and has to work again. So that is the way it's going to be.
Only the foresail and that till noon, when the genaker comes out again. Nice "sheep" clouds on the sky and sunshine, with wind blowing from 120° and 5 knots of sail. Nice sailing! On this day of celebration, we will of course have a cake (which could become another "culinary tip").
Today is also the hour of truth. The wind comes from behind, so the spinnaker has to come out. Just to refresh your memory: six days ago our spinnaker ripped and we taped it up and stowed it away till required. That day has arrived and we are all interested to see if it works.
YES! The spi holds and works like a charm, so our taping trick seems to work well. Till sunset the spi pulls us smoothly across the water. Imagining every now and then that the 19t is pulled across the ocean merely by wind and a 100 m2 piece of cloth and that sometime fairly fast, the physical law always hold a piece of fascination.
The foresail relieved the spi for the night, causing us to be a bit slower, but it's just fine like that.
Friday morning and going to bed after the "dog watch" is not possible. We are waiting for a phone call. We want to chat to Michael Wegmer again.
Michael is from SWR3 and hosts a talk show known as "WildWeit". And it is precisely for this show, that we prepare a small interview, which is to be aired in mid January. We will still let you know about the date and time. The frequency to catch SWR3 on you will find on the Internet at www.swr3.de or just phone 07221 / 2011, which is the station in Baden-Baden.
It is Friday, and what is Friday, Friday is fish day!
So early morning the lure is out and we are waiting for that always-welcome shout "fish". And then it comes. To be able to pull the fish aboard that got hooked on our super-lure, we even have to take the sails in. It was worth it. A barracuda, about 1m in length.
"Petri heil" Diana! But with this fish, the fight really starts when he is on board. To gut and remove the insides is quite a piece of work. But after 2 sweating hours, he is filleted and awaits further assignments in the fridge.
We were also put to action in the evening again. A wind intensity of 5 is more for the foresail than for the genaker, so we change sails and the night can come.
We sail through the night with the foresail and that fairly fast under beautiful moonshine.
It is Saturday the 29.12.2001 and the moon shines brightly and for a long time, because he just doesn't want to go down and the sun doesn't want to come up. So its already past 6 o' clock when the moon finally goes under. Before the sun comes up, the foresail has been made smaller, as the wind is howling with 28 knots. A glance on the GPS (06:53 o' clock) shows another 222.2 nm.
07:30 and suns rise, but till then I have reefed and reefed out the foresail numerous times already.
The with sunrise, another small highlight: 6000 nm Thomas and I have laid back since the 27 of May. Just a short notice on the side.
The late sunrise shows us, that it is time to adjust our time dials again. We're approaching the 60-degree latitude, so it makes sense. So today the clock will be set back again so that we are 5 hours behind Central European Daylight Saving Time Zone (MEWZ) and 4 hours behind the UTC.
Although there is a lot to do during the early watch, there is time for a hearty and healthy breakfast:

Oat cookies (16 cookies) One cup = 250g
250ml fat free milk
2 tea spoons of honey
10g of dry yeast
¼ cup of oat bran
½ cup of flaked oats
½ cup of oat flour (or normal flour)

Stir the ¼ cup of dry yeast together warm water, until the yeast is dissolved. Warm the milk (easiest in the microwave for about 30 seconds), and add the honey and yeast. Stir properly so all is well mixed. Add the oat bran, flaked oats and flour and mix well. Let is stand for 30 min in warm place. The mix everything well again, and using a table spoon, place into a hot, non-sticky pan and bake brown on both sides till golden brown.
Serve warm. Also tastes very good with jam, honey or Philadelphia.

After our, oh so healthy breakfast, the sky clears slightly and a few sunrays break through. They come to good use, as we are sailing at 6 knots, with a cool and fresh breeze around our noses.
At the noon-degree of latitude, we determine an etmal of 105 nm, which puts us in a good mood and the GPS shows that it is less than 200 nm to our destination. A good wind is blowing, which allows us to make the foresail smaller, without loosing any sailing speed.
In the evening the log shows a speed of 7 knots and that only with a foresail; we're moving forward! It stays like this throughout the night till the early hours of Sunday morning. It is Sunday the 30.12.2001 and only 110 nm divide us from Antigua.
At 02:30 the foresail is reefed 2 times and we are still making 5 knots.
It remains like that till it becomes light, when the wind becomes a bit weaker and we can increase the foresail again. It stays like that till noon and then the weather conditions change drastically. The wind pick up to 6 and the sky becomes overcast again. Along with that, a few rain showers and a small "time problem".
You read correctly, a time problem! Today we have an etmal of 126 nm. At 17:00 the GPS indicates that its 50 nm to our destination. The fact is, that in Antigua, the English Harbour advises to come in during the day and night in the darkness. So now we are actually trying to slow down artificially so that we arrive at daylight. It's crazy; up to now we could never go fast enough, or almost made no headway for days and now we are too fast. Murphy's!
So we sail with a mini-foresail into the night. Funny, it doesn't help. No matter how small the sail, we still travel at 4 to 5 knots.
23:45 and Petra is on watch! We did not hear her call, but if she had done, we would have heard the long awaited sound of "land in sight". It is a clear full moon night and in a 300° she sees the first lights of Antigua.
15 minutes later, when there is a change in watch, I also see the land. A new day and New Years Eve has begun. The new day is not much older than an hour and we sail, with our mini-foresail, into the next rain showers. But that doesn't matter anymore, as we are almost there!

Normally Thomas's watch starts at 03:00, but he wanted to be woken up at a specific position and as we are travelling so fast, we reached that point at 02:00 o' clock. From now on our position is marked half hourly and continually we check our bearing. So around 03:00 at 304° appears the beacon light of Cape Shirley. We are driven forward by less than 2 square meters of sail. Then at 06:00 o' clock it's time. The engines are started and the foresail is hauled in entirely and in front of us lies Antigua and other ships waiting get into the English Harbour. We're all on deck and hence experience the first sunrise in the Caribbean.

Just like the past 2881 nm across the Atlantic, Thomas takes us safely past the riffs and through the entrance into the English Harbour, our destination. 2881 nautical miles, 29 days and nights, 693 hours we've been travelling; crossed water depth of up to 6000 m and now we have made it! HURRAY! It is quarter to 7 when the anchor hits ground in the English Harbour. Now a decent breakfast and then things can continue. After the days of the crossing, the dingy comes to use again. So strengthened from the breakfast, we let down the dingy, put on the outboard motor and Thomas drives to the check-in point. He comes back with some good news, that we do in fact have a place to dock.

So, its up with the anchor, preparations of the ropes and off we go to the docking place. Tied with ropes and anchor. That was easy, but then a young man arrives and says that we cannot stay there and shows us a new place to dock. So up with the anchor and ropes again and the whole things starts again. At 11:30 we finally dock at the right place, directly in front of the Gallery bar. Not bad, heh!
Although we are all a bit tired, even though its New Years Eve and although its incredibly hot: our ship looks a bit run down and has to be cleaned. Hooked up the hosepipe and start working and soon enough SILVER BLUE shines brightly again.
Filled the tanks with fresh water and that was it for the day. Then its time to clean ourselves in order to go out and have look what New Year is like over here.
We go out for dinner and drink a Planters Punch in the Admirals Inn and listen to the fascinating sounds of the steels, which a played by a group of over 10 people.
At midnight there is a beautiful fireworks display and live music for about 15 minutes in front of the so-called Head Quarters, HQ for short. With BBQ smell in the air, we take one or more inevitable Champagne showers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Everything of the best for 2002.

So and that's it for this week as well as for this year. We hope you will travel further with us in the new year when we return again with:
… what the new week has brought us
… back here again next week:
same wave, same place!
so long

Diana + Thomas
And again a happy New Year also from Petra and Martin, with greetings to family and friends.