Date: 01.12.2022
Author: Lenya
Position: St. Vicente, Cape Verdes
Nautical Position: N 1653.007 W 2459.927
Etmal: 2499

Today is the first of December! Everybody has been counting the days until today, to finally be able to open the first little present. Some brought cute chocolate advent calendars, others even got handmade ones from their family and friends. Either way, it’s a beautiful way to be reminded of our loved ones though it also makes you think a lot about home. When having lookout in the middle of the night for example, when all you see is the stars and the ocean, I tend to get a littlebit homesick. Larissa always describes homesickness as something truly beautiful, as it shows you there are people and things worth missing. That there is something you can always go back to and be happy to see again. Also Justus mentioned that it can only be a nice thing to have such a nice family that is worth missing.
Anyways, I’m quite happy that we‘ll arrive on the Cape Verdes soon to get a bit of a distraction. I mean it‘s ridiculous to think about all my friends sitting in their cold classroom for at least six hours a day while I am laying on a bean-bag in the sun. And we’re soon going to arrive on the Cape Verdes!!!! It honestly blows my mind!

Party time

After dinner many of us sat outside on the main deck in our second dingi listening to music. Everybody sang loudly to the songs and we had a really good time together. I guess these are the things we’ll remember looking back on this journey. :))

Arrival on the Cape Verdes 🇨🇻

At around 21:30 pm we finally arrived at our last destination before the Atlantic crossing. After about five and a half days at sea we set the anchor in a bay in St. Vicente. It was already dark and everybody stood on deck to be there at the arrival. Tomorrow we’ll visit the city and we’ll also get some free shore leave, although we’ll have to make some important safety precautions.
1: wear long trousers and T-shirts that cover up your shoulders and neck.
2: don’t wear any jewellery
3: for the free shore leave:
– min. amount of people: 6
– no girls only groups (there have to be at least 3 boys with them)
– keep hydrated!!!

Frankly, it kind of scares me, that even six girls together isn’t a safe thing to do. That we, as girls, have to have some boys with us for safety. I honestly didn’t think something like this was an issue at all. But well, I don’t want to overdramatise it. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

Hot, hot, hot

I guess we can all feel it by now: It’s getting really hot. It’s slowly becoming a little more sweaty in our cabins and everybody is laying on deck tanning in their summer clothes. We are all wearing shorts and T-shirts only in December!!! It’s amazing! Especially because we can keep all our thick sailing gear (Ölzeug) stored away nicely in the very back underneath our beds. And I can tell you, it’s just the best feeling, not freezing on watch anymore even though you were literally wearing six layers of clothing. And I want to emphazise six layers. Also it was horrible having to put on all of these layers while being seasick. Luckily though none of us is seasick anymore now. :)))

The best news of the day!

After we’ve arrived in the bay of the Cape Verdes, our captain Martin showed us a beautiful video of his wife and daughter and you wouldn’t believe what happened! We got our Reggie back! It was found in England on the beach and she is now back at home in Amsterdam. We couldn’t have imagined better news for tonight!

P.S.: Greetings to all of my family (including my grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.) and of course all of my friends! I hope you had a nice start into the Christmas season and I hope you don’t have too much stress at school or work. Go eat some nice Christmas food, go to Christmas markets and celebrate the most beautiful time of the year! :)) I miss you all so much and hope we’ll hear from each other soon. (I’ll go look for an Internet Café :)))

P.P.S.: Happy Birthday Anette! I love you so much and I miss you!
Merit❤️🥳