Atlantic crossing: Tattooed, fish and stolen time, what else could there possibly be?

Date: 12th December 2023
Geographical Position: 16°04.6’N 032°57.6’W
Etmal: 122 nm
Total: 3230 nm
Ship: Regina Maris

As we are leaving more and more miles behind us, our sails full of wind, the land still far away, we are making memories that will last a lifetime. Here are some of my favorite memories that I won’t forget anytime soon:

Fish everywhere, except on our plates

One thing everyone knows is that fish belong in the water. Or at least that they should be there, right? Something no one was expecting before starting the Atlantic crossing was the constant fear of finding fish, or better said, flying fish where they don’t belong.

They are everywhere. You don’t believe me? They are in the galley, on deck, in the toilet bowl and even in our beds. So at night, after hours of night watch, it is always crucial to check your bed for uninvited guests. But don’t worry, any fish found alive are returned to the ocean and the dead ones are collected in our freezer for future biology classes.

Sadly, we only managed to catch one fish with our fishing line so far, namely a yellowfin tuna weighing approximately 10 kg. Sadly, as it was only a small one. However, most of us are positive that we’ll be able to catch some more soon.

Tattooed like true sailors

Something you should be concerned about is all of us returning fully covered in tattoos (of course, I’m only joking!!). Today, as always, Thomas interrupted our schooling with temporary tattoos from home. They included pirates, ships, parrots, and sacks full of gold.

So we all did the only logical thing, plastered them on the most ridiculous places: Jonna on her forehead, Thomas on his nonexistent biceps and Kris and Andrea beneath their eyes. Now everyone is now a true old-fashioned sailor.

Movie night

So far, for me and many others, the highlights of the crossing have been our fabulous movie nights. Now, movies are great in general, but what made this better than any so far was the fact that we watched it on the poop deck, the film projected onto our mainsail.

How did we convince the crew? We just pointed out that we could use the time difference (we had to turn the clock back an hour) to watch the movie, so it basically never even happened.

With land still far away, I’m looking forward to all the time I can still spend here in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by my friends, spending time with my watch and learning new things.

P.S.: Jane: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Opa. 👴🏼🥳