Thula - day 19

At 1:31 a.m. this morning, after 18 full days at sea and approximately 2,900 (nautical!) miles we finally crossed the finishing line in St Lucia. I think we were all agreed that, for us, the crossing was not a race and the ranking hardly mattered to us. Nonetheless we were overwhelmed with emotions when the Thula, our home for the last weeks, finally pushed its bow over the line and we heard the signal. We had a fantastic and truly memorable journey! Now, if you would excuse me, I have to attend to my beer… . read more...

Thula - day 18

While the day before yesterday was already rather uneventful, making it hard for me to come up with an original blog entry, the day yesterday was even more uneventful. There is, to be frank, nothing at all that I could possibly write about (Dieter suggested that I get into the psychological effects this crossing has had on us or any philosophical insights about the meaning of life that might have come to us in the last weeks – but I think I’ll rather leave it to him to write about these things in his memoirs). This is not even meant in a negative way. Quite the opposite, we all greatly enjoyed the last day of our normal, unexciting boat routine before we would eventually have to (not only mentally but also physically) get started with our preparations for the arrival in St Lucia: filling. read more...

Thula - day 17

Day 17The sixteenth day of our journey lies behind us and again we got one little step closer to our final destination. By now, we are only about 350 more miles from the shore – a tiny distance taking into account all the miles we have travelled so far. On the one hand, it is evident that we are all awaiting our arrival in St Lucia with great anticipation. After all, the reunion with family and friends, a motionless and spacious bed, a sinfully long shower, some private time and an unrestricted activity radius are all prospects that appear very attractive after almost three weeks at sea (we are probably the only boat on which the departure from the boat will result in a immediate downgrade in the food variety and quality; yesterday, on day 16 (!!!) of our trip, we, for example, had an. read more...

Thula - day 16

Day 16Following the rather eventful night, the next day started off as if nothing had ever happened. Winds were again down to a pleasant 16 to 20 knots, giving us a decent speed. The sky was still largely cloudy but we could already make out the first sunbeams fighting their way through the layer of clouds in front of us. By lunch time at the latest, pretty much all the clouds had disappeared, resulting in even the most fearsome rabbits to re-emerge from their hole. The sun has by now become so intense that we decided to put up the Bimini above the cockpit. With all the seats comfortably cushioned and equipped with extra pillows, the beige canvas sheet above our heads and relaxed music running virtually all the time (much to the disliking of some of the more, say, “elderly” crew members). read more...

Thula - day 15

Yesterday, we already “celebrated” our second advent at sea. This, to be honest, I only just realised as I sat down to type this up. Since every day basically follows the same routine here at sea, we didn’t even pay attention to the fact that it was a Sunday – and that Christmas is in fact approaching really quickly. The only item that occasionally reminds us of what time of the year it is, is a little cardboard calendar that Philippa has brought with her and which is placed near the entrance. From the early advent morning on, the previously bright blue sky was for a change speckled with thick, darkish clouds. While it was quite pleasant to be able to stay outside for some time without being fully exposed to the glaring sun, the clouds also brought with them a warm, sticky, humid. read more...