Date: 23rd of December 2022
Author: Hanna
Position: Antigua
Nautical Position: 17° 00,7´W 061° 46,3´N
Etmal: 5418 NM
Ship: Pelican of the London

Waiting For The Cook

Our cook should not arrive until the evening, so we had to think about what we are going to eat and what we are doing today. After some discussion we ended up with the plan to order traditional food from the island for lunch and to make potatoes and some salat for dinner, because of Christmas tomorrow we also decided to make Christmas-cookies. So, the food was saved.

And what could we do today?

The extra time was good for the Costa Rica expedition planning, because the expedition time and the route itself chanced, so every group had to figure out a new plan. Because the Wi-Fi on board is not very good, we had the chance to go to an internet cafe. Everybody used the chance make the last calls and send Christmas wishes to family and friends. After some planning time we had very tasty lunch: Chicken curry or (for the vegetarians) vegetables with rice. Afterwards we had our last free shore-leave in Antigua for two hours. While some people stayed on board to relax a little bit, others went ashore to run last errands or to enjoy the last time Antigua.

Prepare for Sea and waiting

When we were back at 3pm we started to prepare everything for sea. That means that we tidied our cabins, put the sails in gear, made the mooring lines ready and many other things. For putting the sails on gear, we had to climb up, detach the gaskets and make them fast without the sail in between. We only needed to do this at the course and top sail. I had a brilliant sight over all the super-yachts from up there which was really cool. Then Ali, our new First Mate, assorted some people for the mooring-operation-jobs. Leander and I were the two people who had to go onshore and detach the lines from the jetty. In this port it’s very different to other ports because the mooring-lines are attached to chains under the jetty. So, we had to lie down on our belly to detach the lines. That was quite funny but also a little difficult because we had to pay attention for the shackle not to fall into the water. When we were finished with the lines, we had dinner.

When Robert, our new cook arrived, we just had to wait for Axel to get the passports. While waiting, we made everything ready for a straight start. Around 7pm we did our mooring-operation and went to sea. Because our manoeuverability isn’t that great, we had to do a very crazy manoeuvre to get out of the port. Directly in front of our berth were some other sailing vessels and yachts. Of course, we didn‘t want to hit them. So, when the Pelican was on the edge of the jetty, Leander and I had to give those on the well-deck the two ends of the mooring-lines, which were attached to the last stanchion of the jetty. On the Pelican they had to hold on this line to make it drift around the jetty until it was in the right position. Leander called it a „Fast and Furious manoever“ and it sure looked like this. Afterwards, Janice and Lara picked us up with the RIB after we explained one of the marina staff members what we are doing on the Pelican. Then we got back to the Pelican and drove into the darkness of the ocean.

Back at Sea!

Some people got seasick again and went quick to bed. So did I because I really didn’t want to vomit again. Others prepared their Christmas presents for „Secret-Santa“, chilled, watched movies or were on Watch (Fore Watch B).