8°21.5' N 026°17.2' W
October 9, 2025 | 8°21.5' N 026°17.2' W | Halfway mark and Wahoo Sashimi!
Joining Adrienne, I didn’t know what to expect, having no experience offshore and very little sailing experience overall, but after 9 days and over 1500 nautical miles all my expectations have been exceeded. Both in tough ways, experiencing a lot of seasickness for the first few days; and in happy ones, like full days of exceptional downwind sailing. Led by skipper Eric and mate Tim, the crew, and our home-away-from-home, Adrienne, take it all in stride. We support and look out for each other every day to make sure everyone is as happy and healthy as can be.
For the last few days we’ve been in the doldrums, which means lack of wind and rain squalls popping up left and right (or based on our current winds, windward and leeward). Adrienne seems to be immune to them, even at times when a bit of rain would be a welcomed respite from the tropical heat.
Life onboard can be a little bit different than on land, so here is a snapshot from this morning on Adrienne:
5:30 AM: I get woken up by the off-coming watch to get ready for my 6 AM start. Living on land, I’d be dreading this early start, but on Adrienne, we all live in a different reality.
6:00 AM: I pop my head out of the hatch and see the smiling faces of my shipmates David, Lance, Andrew, and Brittany. They’ve been up for the last 4 hours keeping Adrienne on course and looking out for squalls, but now is the time for them to sleep and team A to take over. Vilgot is up already, with Jim, Nicole, and I following close behind.
6:15 AM: We witnessed the most beautiful sunrise of the trip so far.
7:00 AM: We opt for the luxury breakfast, prepared by chef Vilgot, with pancakes and lingonberry jam and Nutella to keep us happy.
7:45 AM: Coffee time.
8:30 AM: We planned a busy schedule for ourselves this morning starting with a workout circuit. On the bow, core exercises; lower body amidship; upper body on the stern deck, with the last station being the helm, as someone needs to steer Adrienne after all.
8:50 AM: Rolled out the Genoa.
9:00 AM: Avoid a couple big squalls that we’ve watched develop over the last few hours.
10:30 AM: Start preparing lunch. Today, we’re having couscous with aubergines and sausages.
12:00 PM: Lunch time. Rest of the crew has woken up and we're ready to eat like a big happy family. This also marks the end of the watch, so after lunch team B takes over again and we slowly rinse off the salt, sweat, and sunscreen, and rest.
Overall, every day is filled with kindness, fun, and beauty, and I am grateful to be part of this amazing crew. To Chloe, I love you. Thank you for supporting me in this wild idea, and give Lou a belly scratch from me.
Pete, Crew
PS. I have to go now as Andrew just caught a huge beautiful fish, so we’re changing tonight’s menu from halloumi stroganoff to Wahoo sashimi on rice!
PPS. From David, this was the best day ever! We celebrated our halfway mark for this passage together in the forward cockpit eating the sashimi fish. Just as we did, a rain squall blew over us, and left us with beautiful pink sunset clouds. Tears in eyes.
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!