Week 10 - Bark Europa and the unexpected voyage from Ushuaia to Scheveningen

Another week has passed. We entered the new one listening to the roaring engines that we finally engaged after long deliberation. Not even day has passed, exactly 22 hours and we set the sails again as winds picked up, and for a while, it seemed, we get a good push ahead. Unfortunately, it didn’t last too long after all. As we have a deadline to keep and economic reasons to consider, Eric decided to turn the engines on again. Winds were not cooperating, weather forecast not really accurate. Seas were calm, a good condition for motoring as the ship doesn’t have to battle the swell, which would slow her unnecessarily down and ultimately make us burn more fuel. Occasionally, when winds picked up, we set some sails again to help the engine with a little bit of a push. It proved to be a frustrating experience at the time as the wind kept making fools of us. Setting all the sails and then taking them away and furl them all takes a long time. We spent one entire watch doing sail handling and then being aloft. In a strange way, it was frustrating but also a satisfying experience. On one hand, we didn’t get the progress we wanted and it kept us from away from maintenance work that is still ongoing, on the other hand, the fun of sail handling and spending time aloft gave us a little bit of real “sailing workout”. We haven’t had much of it lately. Ultimately after few attempts to engage the wind power, we just motor without sails.

We are surely in the midst of a busy area. The number of vessels popping on the radar increased, with few of them passing by in relatively close proximity. Unfortunately, the amount of rubbish we spotted floating on the water surface increased as well. The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis) is still frequent in these waters. Some of the crew members experienced first hand the stinging power of its tentacles as one of them got tangled in a rope and got pulled accidentally on the deck. Nothing serious though. The whole feel of “Northern Atlantic” is quite different compared to the ocean closer to the Equator. Water seems to be murkier. Temperatures are colder than normal average in this area. Quite often we grab our foul weather jacket when standing on the helm. It can get pretty cold there. Especially during the night watch, when the wind picks up, the chill can get to the bone when not dressed properly.

At some point, we were about 300 nautical miles away from the Azores, which is the closest we have been to any landmass since we sailed near Falklands. That brought us also an increase in wildlife. A number of common dolphins pop out often checking out the ship. Unfortunately, the Europa is too slow for them so after they checked her out, they disappear quickly. They prefer much faster vessels with speeds of about 20 knots that we cannot reach. We spotted some pilot whales, tuna jumping high above the water surface, arctic terns, storm Willson petrels, and some other bird species. At the time of writing this blog, we are still about 1500 nautical miles away from our destination. So close, yet still so far. We tell ourselves it is like crossing the Drake Passage 3 times and we are there. Sound simple, but the ocean and the weather can be very unpredictable. Also with the motoring, we have to be careful. The amount of fuel left is limited and we still have to run the generators. A lot to think about when the right decision has to be made.

As we are getting closer to our destination, we notice the change of the feelings and emotions among the crew. It is a feeling of uncertainty we are going to face when we arrive. Nobody aboard has any experience with the new “world order”. Some of us are on the ship since the beginning of February and that is a very long time. It far exceeds any quarantine imposed on people by their governments and health organizations. Sadly, after all this time spent on the see far away from our loved ones, most of us will still have to spend 2 weeks in quarantine before we can actually make it home. We have also a hard time imagining how social distancing works in real life. Jokes are frequently flying around about practicing social distancing on the ship while trying to sail it. In all seriousness, it would be close to an impossible task. Once we reach the port, that is the new reality we all will be forced to adapt to it. We are regularly in touch with the office. They are busy at work preparing for our arrival and also trying to figure out how to get us home. As of now, many countries are still on full lockdown. As things are continuously evolving, the situation may change by the time we arrive, and as I mentioned we still have to cover at least 1500 nautical miles. Two weeks? Three weeks? Guess :)