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
View more passage logs
Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!