1. November 2022
Autor: Nicolai
Position: Bay of Biskay
Nautical Position: 44°09.828 N 8°59.585 W
Etmal: 1020 NM

A beautiful morning

During our watch from 04:00-08:00 we saw land. It was the first time that we saw something other than water for four days and luckily it was not as lumpy as yesterday. I enjoyed the most beautiful sunrise of my life today while I was steering. Next to our boat, many dolphins swam into the sunrise, sometimes leaping out of the ocean.

First watch of the day

My day started at 04:00 just like every day. Today, it was hard to get up and motivate myself for the day, but it was very enjoyable because of my mates. To waken everybody up and keep us smiling, we started to sing some shanties. Like every morning, the sun rose at the end of our watch, so everybody was having a great start into the day. The breakfast was just like every other day. I ate my daily cereals and went to bed to get some rest. I was very excited for lunch today, as Abbie and the galley team made some pasta with pesto. But let’s be honest – sometimes the food lies heavily within the stomach, especially with this constant rocking motion. The rest of my free time I spent with some friends in the messroom.

After the sleeping session

After another sleeping session my watch started at 04:00pm and it wasn’t very nice because of my seasickness but my view towards the spanish coastline was breathtaking. I sat down in front of the wheelhouse and looked at the deep blue ocean, at the rough waves which move around our ship and the sun shining while the sunrays were tickling my nose. Today we were very lucky, because dolphins were jumping out of the water right next to us.

Land ho!

Everyone was excited and had a smile on his or her face. After having seen only water for the past few days, it was a freeing moment to hear “Land ho!”. Spain was finally there! But we still have some miles in front of us until Vigo. The Captain said that we are probably going to be there in two days time but it can change of course because it depends on the weather conditions. Even our steering skills influence how long it will take us until we arrive in Vigo.

1000 Miles

Today we hit a big mark, 1000 nautical miles! While sitting on deck, thinking about how live is going, the smell of today’s dinner comes to my nose and makes me feel a lot better.
Being on a ship means that even eating soup becomes challenging or walking has never been harder. On a ship, small things like getting dressed can be very difficult.