Report from Bosun Bertram:

Our last day in New York City! Oceans of Hope is preparing to leave The Big Apple for good, and though we have had a fantastic time here, we are as ready as can be to head south. Sailing the rivers around Manhattan and the Long Island Sound is one for the books, but admittedly we prefer some warmer temperatures! 

As Oceans of Hope is out sailing with the local New York citizens, the crew is preparing for the next leg to Charleston, South Carolina. We have five days to cover approximately 650 nautical miles, and once again some proper provisioning is on! 

We plan to depart this evening from North Cove Marina and set the course due south. Winds are expected to be extremely light so the first day will be motoring until we can hoist the sails sometime during Sunday afternoon. We are excited to do the longest leg of the voyage since crossing the Atlantic, which will be the longest leg of the American tour! 

Local time is 10:45 and our current position is 40°71'283N 74°01'727W

A Day Onboard Oceans of Hope in Port by Christina Engstrøm

When moored the morning starts between 7:00am and 9:00am. People wake up at different times as long as they’re ready on time. I am usually the first one up. My first duty is to heat water for hot drinks, slowly the rest of the crew joins me in the galley. We make breakfast – find yogurt, milk below one of the seats and oatmeal, syrup, nuts and raisins from the 'breakfast' closet and brew coffee and tea.

We all sit down together and enjoy this first meal of the day. The meal is concluded with us having a common session about the day ahead. What is going to happen, who is going to do what, where and when are we sailing, how is the weather going to be, what clothing is needed and so on.

Preferably what happens next is that we do the dishes and clean the ship before leaving the steady water of the port. Living nine people in a small area means tight quarters, so daily cleaning is indeed needed. And then finally we are off....

 At the end of day back in some marina we do some grocery shopping for dinner, shower if that is a possibility – many marinas are now more or less closed for winter – and the assigned dinner team prepares the last meal of the day.

Again we eat together and when done we discuss plans for the trip ahead. Then another team does the dishes while we all socialize in the nice galley and finally we slowly leave and turn in for the night – me usually first :-)

Christina