Our trip from New York to Charleston for four days was a test for the books. The sail started off pretty relaxed, but it turned out be the calm before the storm. On the second day the weather got more and more wild with gusts up to 45 knots, 23-24m/s, being the same as a strong gale! Now the dear lady Oceans of Hope showed us what she was made of – we were just out of Cape Hatteras with large waves and powerful winds, and one after one of the crew went down with seasickness except two.

Near Cape Hatteras two of the major Atlantic Currents collide, a southerly-flowing cold and a northerly going warm one.  Mariners use the currents to speed their journey, and so many travel close to Cape Hatteras when travelling along the eastern seaboard, even though the collision of the two creates turbulent waters and there are frequent storms occurring in the area. The many ships that have been lost off Cape Hatteras have giving the area the name “The Graveyard of the Atlantic.”

But we did it! And after another day the weather turned to something more normal. The funny thing about life is that often, you don’t know what you will wake up to – so after the storm, one by one we slowly regained strength, the atmosphere lifted and we arrived in Charleston on day four in the lovely bathing sun.

When I think back on four weeks of sailing with Oceans of Hope, it has giving me so much. I have gotten to know 10 lovely people, who all share the same disease, MS. To think there have not been any conflicts at all, even though we were many people in a relatively small space, and at times very tired. A great thanks to Eva, Helle, Patty, Joan, Martin, Claus, Cara, Chris, Iben and Christina - We did it! I am bloody proud, because MS is a lifelong companion, who follows you the rest of your life, which is why we need to see options instead of limitations. And that is what we did.

Also a great thanks to the permanent crew Kristian, Bertram, Jens and Mikkel. You guys are an amazing team – kind, good and always helpful.

Kind regards,

Kaj

Report from Bosun Bertram:
Thank you Charleston! We had a blast, but once again it is time to say goodbye and move on to new adventures. Fort Lauderdale awaits! And so does the sun and the beaches, by the way! It's the morning of November 26th and we're departing the Charleston Maritime Center around 10:00am to do the first leg south from here to a small harbor just 50 nautical miles south. Oceans of Hope had a thorough checkup in the shipyard and is ready to take us further around the world! 

Local time onboard is 08:30 and our current position is 32°78'8 N, 79°92'5W