4°55.5' N 027°00.2' W
October 8, 2025 | 18:20 UTC | 4°55.5' N 027°00.2' W
First week offshore! Wow, first week offshore! Let's take this from the start. We departed from Salvador, after a great skipper meeting, during the afternoon in beautiful and great conditions. Nice wind and some waves (according to Tim, not more than a 1m…). After a fantastic pasta carbonara made by David, we started the night shift. Around 10 pm I started to feel a bit sick even though I had taken the medication. I knew that could be an issue but was not sure. Tried to contribute but could never go below deck, and I just realized that it has always been my wonderful mother being downstairs when we were out sailing during my youth.
Unfortunately, we were three people out of four in “Team A” that felt seasickness. However, everything's just fine when you work together, especially when you have Vilgot on your team! A big thank you to Vilgot and everyone else that worked so hard for us underneath the deck! You literally saved us! A person once told me about seasickness: “First it feels like you are going to die, then you want to die, and then suddenly it's gone.” After 20 hours it was gone and life onboard started!
Life on a sailing boat is about trust and taking care of each other. On this boat, we all have the same goal: to come safely to Gran Canaria and at the same time sail fast forward in an enjoyable way. It is therefore amazing to be on the water around the clock with people you have never met before, building up this happy ship with positive momentum and a high level of knowledge. Imagine doing yoga on the aft deck or sailing downwind in perfect conditions of sun, temperature, and wind, listening to your daughter's offline playlist on Spotify. That’s our amazing reality—every day! A fantastic constellation of people.
From a sailing perspective, this first week has been great. I was prepared for 20 days of upwind, but after two days we eased our sails and bared away. A great feeling to work with this mature lady, Adrianne, and see how much she loves the wind of 20 knots. We have had an average speed around 9 knots, which is quite good for a boat with a weight of 35,000 kg! Today we hoisted the gennaker—a 230 square meter sail—and she is moving forward as on rails. Happy ship!
I am also impressed with Eric and Tim, our skipper and first mate. Eric has fantastic knowledge of weather (taking us safely across the Atlantic) but also his modern leadership of communication, engagement, and involvement. Tim is the reason why I selected this trip, and I am certain that everyone who has been sailing with him knows what I mean. If you haven’t—you should, because he is just fantastic!
A huge thank you to everyone on the ship contributing and making this trip as good as it really is! Last but not least… the feeling of being disconnected. This is the first time I sit in front of a computer (been tricky before…). It is so good to be only “here” without disturbing electronic notices—something I will bring back home. Now I need to continue to do what I do every day: sail, eat, and sleep….
To my family back home—LYA ❤️♥️💜
Jim | ADRIENNE II Skipper
crew@59-north.com
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Cast off the lines
When we awoke it was overcast but the Brazilian sun quickly burned the clouds away and we were left with blue skies. We reviewed some safety procedures, cleaned the boat and had an exciting Person Overboard (POB) recovery. Once we were underway spirits soared as we pointed the bow toward the Canary Islands. As I write this we are heading upwind and dealing with all that involves, and working into our first watches. It is hot, a bit bumpy but we are sailing!!
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!