Everyday on “Oceans of Hope”- Blog by Egon
Oceans of Hope took off from the bay of Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos Islands on the 21st of February. Today we write March 4th, in other words it is now the 12th day at sea.
Regarding weather, we have experienced most scenarios on the nice-weather scale, anything from almost doldrums when only the engine has been moving us forward, to a brisk wind, putting the boat’s speed to an impressive 14-15 knots when the wind direction and sail trimming were ideal.
A very special experience has been when the wind dies down completely, letting the smaller wave tops lay down, so only the swells are left. The many thousand kilometers of water and the enormous water depth in combination results in several hundred meters between the bottom and the top of the waves. That means you really get the feeling of sailing up and down the sides of the waves.
You could wonder how such a massive area can contain so little life – we have only met a couple of other ships (2--3) on our voyage, which so far has stretched several thousand kilometers. In regards to animals it has also slowed down on the numbers. Gone are the birds and the dolphins, the only “friends” we have left to cheer and disturb us are the flying fish, though they are in great and large schools. Apparently they are not equipped with too much of a night vision above the surface of the water, since we are finding a lot of them on the deck each morning, when the day and the light break out. We are around the time of month with a full moon, of course giving us a beautiful sight on the ocean surface. But because of the light from the moon, we must go through the night without the amazing star-filled sky including the Milky Way, which had given us an incredible peak into a sky that we never, or at least rarely, get to see under our skies at home.
As of now we have put behind us two-thirds of the 3,000 nautical mile distance, and we have started to calculate our first contact with land to be around the March 9th, depending on the weather the last couple of days. Our first destination is Nuku Hiva, where one crew member is swapping. After that we have another 800 nautical miles to Tahiti, our final destination of our leg to French Polynesia. During those 800 miles the ship plans to visit several of the area’s “bounty” islands, and the crew experience will change from the everyday routine at sea and go into a combination of sailing and island hopping – Presumable everybody is looking forward to this change, just as we were looking forward to getting started on the ocean crossing..
Report from Bosun Bertram:
750 nautical miles left to Nuku Hiva - we are down the last quarter of our crossing. Four days to our destination seems like so little time (especially when you are racing away, as we are), but still, you have to be careful not to get carried away. Falling overboard, hitting a container or catching fire onboard is still something we can only deal with ourselves, and so we have to remain just as u as when we were in the very middle of the Pacific. Fortunately our crew are now, after more than two thousand miles, rather experienced on the vessel. The daily routine might have become slightly monotone, yet once you are comfortable with your daily schedule, that is when you can start breaking the rhythm. And rhythm we shall have!
Wait and see what surprise we have coming for you in the next few days…
Local time on board is 11:00 and our current position 8,52.45S , 127,25.5W.
Blog Translation
Dagligdag paa “Oceans Of Hope”
Blog af Egon Soerensen d. 5. marts
Oceans Of Hope stod ud af havnen I Puerto Ayorra paa Galapagos den 21 Februar. I dag skriver vi 4. Marts, det er med andre ord den 12. dag paa soen.
Vejrmaessigt har vi oplevet det meste paa godtvejrs skalaen, lige fra stort set vindstille hvor kun motoren har kunnet drive os frem og til en frisk vind som sendt baadens hastighed op paa imponerende 14-15 knob, naar vindretning og sejlfoering har passet.
En virkelig speciel oplevelse har vaeret naar vinden har loejet naesten totalt af og de mindre bolgetoppe har lagt sig og kun doenningen har vaeret tilbage. De mange tusinde kilometers frit vand og den enorme vanddybde I kombination goer, at der er flere hundrede meter mellem boelgedal og boelgetop og at hojdeforskellen er adskillige meter. Det betyder at man virkelig kan faa fornemmelsen af at sejle opad og nedad paa henholdsvis top og dal af bolgerne.
Man kan undres over at saa stort et omraade kan indeholde saa lidt liv – Vi har kun moedt enkelte andre skibe (2-3 stk) paa vores faerd som indtil videre har strakt sig over adskillige tusinde kilometer.. Hvad dyrearter angaar er der ogsaa skrumpet ind I mangfoldigheden. Vaek er fuglene og delfinerne, de eneste “venner” vi har tilbage til at opmuntre og adsprede os er flyvefiskene, som til gengaeld optraeder I store og massive flokke. De er aabenbart ikke udstyret med et saerligt godt nattesyn over vandet, da vi kan finde adskillige af dem paa daekket hver morgen, naar dagen og lyset bryder frem. Vi er omkring det tidspunkt paa maaneden hvor der er fuldmaane, det giver selvfoelgeligt et smukt syn paa havoverfladen, men til gengaeld maa vi paa grund af lyset fra maanen undvaere den fantastiske stjernehimmel med maelkevejsstriben som paa de maaneloese naetter har givet os massevis af fantastiske indblik I en himmel som vi aldrig, eller I hvert fald kun sjaeldent oplever under vore hjemlige himmelstroeg.
Vi har paa nuvaerende tidspunkt tilbagelagt over 2/3 dele af distancen paa over 3000 somil, og vi er saa saat begyndt at kunne regne ud at vores foerste kontakt med land vil ske omkring 9/3, alt efter hvordan vejret bliver de sidste dage. Vores foerste maal er Nuku Hiva, hvor et enkelt besaetningsmedlem skal skiftes ud. Derefter har vi endnu 800 somil til Tahiti som er maal for vores “ben” af turen til Fransk Polynesien. I loebet af de 800 somil vil skibet I foelge planen anloebe adskillige af omraadets “Bounty” oer, og besaetningens oplevelser vil skifte fra dagligdagens lidt monotome, men alligevel afvekslende, rutiner til havs og over til en blanding af sejlads og “oehop ” - Formodentlig glaeder alle sig lige saa meget til dette skift, som vi glaedede os til at faa taget hul paa turen..