Arrival
A few hours ago, our crew of eight women left the boat and took the ferry into central Amsterdam. There is nothing better than hearing your crew chatting about where they are going to meet up for dinner once the trip is over. It’s a sure sign that these eight individuals—once strangers—are now friends. Friends out of choice, rather than because they were forced into the confines of a 65-foot sailing yacht with no escape!
We gathered in the cockpit last night to reflect on the trip. It took us four days to sail the 500NM rhumb line passage from Bergen to Amsterdam. That’s slow! But we didn’t go slow—we just couldn’t sail straight. In fact, we actually sailed over 650NM and hit speeds of over 11 knots! Evidence that it wasn’t such a “smooth sailing” trip. In fact, quite the opposite.
We began with gale force winds in our faces, then enjoyed a “recovery day” downwind. Then the wind died off altogether, and a few hours of motoring transitioned us into our next day of upwind, before we came screaming along into Amsterdam downwind in 25 knots—gybe, gybe, gybe, and then in! Then a loch to contend with on the entry to the canal was interesting, followed by a few hours of motoring, and we parked up in our dock in Amsterdam marina. I’m not sure the guy cleaning the showers knew quite what was happening as we all poured in!
We said to the crew before we left: you get out of this what you put in. They took it literally, throwing their heart and soul, bodies (some stomach contents), energy, wit, laughter, and the rest in. So unsurprisingly, the final debrief was emotional. “Empowering” was probably the word of the moment, along with “fun” and “resilience.” A comment that really struck me was from Natalia, who highlighted how grateful she was to have been with a group of people that could always find lightness or a reason to laugh—no matter how challenging the circumstances.
It’s one thing I think these passages really teach you—that with the right mindset and good company, you can get through almost anything. Once again, Mia and I were reminded of the power of sailing offshore, and the fun of doing it with people who are up for an adventure.
Until the next one…
— Nikki
NikkiHenderson
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People Get Ready!
The last three days have been an intense (and intensely hot) period of discovery, practice, and planning. Because Adrienne II is not a 59N boat, there's been some extra setup and coordination needed including rigging all the sails that were out for repairs before we arrived. Its been a blast working alongside the 59N team getting to help them work things out on a less familiar boat in real time. Tomorrow morning we'll run through our Person Over Board training as the final pre-departure task, cast off and head out. Can't know all that it will be, but its going to be a great adventure out in the vast world with some pretty fantastic people.
Among the Channel Islands
In the wind shadow of SoCal we had a restful night with calm conditions ghosting through smooth seas. We’re getting ourselves in position for spicy weather tonight once we round Cape Conception, the seas build and the breeze freshens. It will be an upwind sail into an acceleration zone along a formable coast with few bailout points, Morro Bay being one. The crew is really gelling with lots of smiles and laughter on deck. Monterey is in our sights!
Day Two Delights
The seas were completely glassy with a gentle swell as we approached San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands. Everyone jumped in and marvelled at the lovely temperature and crystal clear, indigo-colored water. Before long the wind started to pick up, and we happily unfurled the jib and were sailing again. The afternoon has been gorgeous, cruising along at 5-6 kts, close hauled on a port tack in a gentle breeze, Catalina Island in the distance on our starboard side, and everyone is happy.