After the last trip of the 2020 Antarctic season, Bark Europa has spent 10 days on anchor in the port of Ushuaia due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, uncertain about the upcoming trips. The crew stuck on board, not allowed to disembark or go ashore engaged in maintenance work before the decision to sail to Europe has been made.

After a careful deliberation considering many factors, the decision has been made to sail the Bark Europa from Ushuaia back to her homeport in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Read about the departure and the first week of this unexpected journey forced upon us by extraordinary situation in the world caused by coronavirus pandemic.

Bark Europa has entered the second week on the sea, a week of mixed weather. Starting with slow progress and weak winds she later entered a huge low-pressure system that has brought a dramatic change to the weather and general sea conditions.

It is week 3 and we experienced the two faces of the ocean, the wild and rough as well as friendly and calm. Bark Europa is slowly leaving the low-pressure system and fair winds as well. Progress is halted, high swell from the beginning of the week is replaced by calm seas, weak winds, and very tropical-like weather, a good reason for our first Atlantic dip.

Week 4 of the voyage was characterized by very slow progress as the ship was stuck on 21° South latitude for a couple of days and also plenty of sunshine and immense heat. Despite changing the sail rig frequently to address the numerous wind direction changes the progress was very slow and frustrating.

Sailing in the tropics can be frustrating. The amount of work put into the sail handling may not be directly reflected in the progress achieved. During the fifth week, we got closer to the Equator but we are still not there yet. The progress is so slow, the option of using our two auxiliary engines is being considered for the first time.

This week we reached our major milestone. An imaginary line that we crossed during the evening hours on the 5th of May put us on the same hemisphere as our home port in the Netherlands. After 6 weeks on the sea, we crossed the Equator.

Bark Europa is finally sailing in the Northern Hemisphere. We spent a couple of days still in the equatorial calms called Doldrums and now we are on the way to the north. Also, the postponed Equatorial crossing ceremony took place this week, and all the pollywogs have been accepted into the Neptunes kingdom and can proudly call themselves shellbacks.

While the rest of the world is practicing social distancing, here on Europa we live in the bubble. Here on the ship, we preserved the world how it used to be before the corona pandemic started. Due to our long isolation, we can enjoy the old ways, at least till we arrive in Scheveningen.

Chasing the wind. This could describe our sailing experience during the ninth week of our voyage. Frustrated by a mismatch between the weather forecast and the weather outside we turn on the engines for the first time. A though decision has been made to keep us going and meet our arrival deadline on the 24th of June.

Bark Europa is still sailing (motoring) in the Northern Atlantic and getting to about 1500 nautical miles proximity to our destination. The closer proximity of land comes with increased sea traffic and sea pollution. The preparations for our arrival are on the way while the feelings of anxiety among the crew about the situation back home increase.

We are getting really close now. Bark Europa is just about to enter the English Channel, the last milestone ahead of us before we roll into Scheveningen. The low-pressure system we went through gave us a significant push and despite rough seas, and healing ship we can sense the end of this voyage is near.

We have arrived. On Jun 16th, Europa finally moored at her homeport in Scheveningen after 82 days on the sea. It was March 27th, a Friday morning when we heaved anchor in Ushuaia and embarked on an unexpected and long journey through the Atlantic Ocean from south to north.