We said goodbye to a beautiful island, full of colors and sounds. An island where people are kind, always waiting for you with a smile and most important, they are there to help you to find the true nature of the Jamaican lifestyle.

When we got to the Jamaican shore, it was dark, and we could not see the beauty of it. In the morning, green in the golden light of the sun it stood, with its white beaches surrounded by vegetation. What a beautiful sight! It's hard for me not to think about the Europeans that came here for the first time after all those months at sea, imagine all that hard work, and suddenly get a glimpse of this beauty. They have reached paradise on earth, there's no doubt about it.

We sat sails a couple of days ago. As usual, every dream must come to an end, it was time to get back to business and take this beautiful vessel to the next port. It sounds easy, right?

The crew slowly began to get used to the work schedule again, not an easy task when you have spent many days walking, eating at restaurants and hanging out. The first day was a bit slow to get back on track, the tight work/rest routine was not easy, and you add the difficult environment to get some proper sleep. The movement of the waves, in a sense, feels like the boat is nursing you. No time to complain, we are in a four day non-stop ride to our next destination.

As you can imagine, the galley remains the way it was, a mean place, with its fearful heat. It can turn the dream of cooking into a nightmare. When any of us comes out from the galley, we have the same face of “I don't wanna go down there anymore.” I know I will have that face in a while, as soon as I finish this entry.

We had a change in our permanent crew. Jan left the vessel, and Kristian is the “new” guy on board. Don't get me wrong, in a matter of minutes, he was like an old friend coming on board to be part of this leg of the voyage. There's one thing I want to note. After the Jamaican interlude, the group seems closer to each other, we joke and work as old friends. It is incredible how the human mind works, I knew the crew the day I got on board, but right now I feel I have friends all around. We're not simple patients with something in common, we are doing something out of this world, and we are all putting our biggest effort to make it happen.

It's impressive how I find the struggles of everyday life more and more alike to the one's we have in our daily routine on board. Sometimes the sea treats you well, and you can have a comfortable day on Oceans of Hope. Other times, the sea gets a bit eager and everything moves - the rain can come out of nowhere to make your night watch miserable, but in the end, it's in us to get the most out of every situation and move forward.

There's more I would like to write about, but it can wait to my next entry. Enough of the galley for now. Let me get on deck to get some fresh air and enjoy the big blue sea.

Panama awaits.

Report from Bosun Bertram:

Our red Spinnaker on a pole and a full mainsail, and we have been flying down the Caribbean sea with 8 to 10 knots the whole night! This is proper trade wind sailing with the wind aft of beam reach. With this speed we should arrive to Colon in Panama late tomorrow evening to prepare for our trip through the grand canal.

Local time on board is 12:45 and our current position is 12'58.48N , 79'15.44W.