Day 1
What a beautiful start to 2024 and our first trip of the year. We left Lagos in the afternoon in light winds and had a gentle and serene sail until sunset stole the wind. The sea at night was glassy and beautiful, reflecting the stars. We dodged shipping heading to and from Gibraltar, practicing with a hand bearing compass. When the crescent moon rose, it took a while to realize it was the moon, as it looked like more lights on the horizon. Then we were treated to a spectacular two-hour sunrise, with the light reflected off the glassy ocean. Throughout the morning, we had a perfect sail—6 knots in light airs and a gorgeous, flat ocean. As the wind eased, we hove to and went for an ocean swim and a hot water shower. Feeling refreshed, we got underway again with a strengthening ESE wind, and the dolphins arrived to speed us on our way. Great start to the trip! — Jojo
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Hat overboard!
On June 4, we reviewed our passage plan before our departure from the marina in Hjellested.
Departure from Bergen!
The crew on the women’s sail training on Isbjorn is settling into a great routine for managing the boat and life onboard.
The sun sets on another journey
The hardest part of sailing across French Polynesia wasn't the night watches, the heat, or the open ocean — it was the prospect of being trapped on a small boat with a group of strangers. First-timer Natalie boards as a self-described land crab and discovers that the sea has a way of reshaping both your sea legs and your assumptions. What follows is dolphins, sharks, the Milky Way in full technicolour, and a crew that somehow made the whole thing better than she ever imagined.