The cycle of sailing

We have officially reached the one-week mark of this sea leg, a fact becoming apparent in the presence on Gunilla.

The days are floating together into a cycle of eating, sailing, working and studying. An everyday life broken up by a whale, dolphin, or piece of pie during the afternoon fika once in a while. The lifestyle of a sailor may not be suitable for everyone, but I think the members of our crew who spend many hours bending their upper bodies over the gunnel and feeling sick is living proof of the value and pleasure of it all.

We spent our day watch mousing shakles with all sails set. The only problem was that we hadour course set to Greenland, something we would have to take care of during our night watch. Before the expected veer we made sure to make the most out of the little sunlight being offered during the hours of the 20-00 watch. Our watch leader Bea had prepared a challenge with the purpose of learning the international code of signals and the phonetic alphabet. There is this one flag which timing of usage is a bit funny and for that reason also happens to be Bea’s favorite one. The flag is white and blue and the name is Juliett for J. It means I am on fire and have dangerous cargo on board. Keep well clear of me. Nowadays setting a flag in case that situation would appear maybe isn’t priority number one, having the numerous automatic and electronic communication systems onboard in mind. It was probably more frequently used back in the days.

After learning the code of signals and being fueled up by cinnamon toast, it was time to dowse all sails. A long and tedious process that you would rather not follow through with, not because you’re lazy but because going by motor means no sailing. And I guess some people don’t enjoy lifting up a heavy 90 square meter sail. So we made sure to save some work for the next watch.

Have a good one!

Elin Rudolph SA1821