By Matthew Maples

"Do I hear 22! Going once...BAM...Going twice...BAM" The bosun's rubber mallet, substituted for an auctioneer's gavel, wielded by crew member Tom Fitzgibbon, hits the capstan on the main deck. The lovely Christina models merchandise, this time a used nautical chart of the South American coast. Tom raises his beaten rubber mallet to strike the end of a sale, when again, at the last moment, someone calls out a raise to the bidding.

Yes, we had an auction on the main deck yesterday, and yes, we were auctioning off our charts While captains in a farther past kept their charts under lock-and-key, here on the Europa we are selling them off! Not all of them, of course, just ones that are no longer needed. The money raised from auctions such as these go towards compensating the cost of charts, and toward a charity in our next port. The highest selling item of the day? Two charts used for our voyage from Callao, Peru to Guayaquil, Ecuador (properly authenticated by Ruud Blokzijl's navigational scrawlings) at 50 Euros each.

The wind has been fickle to us this voyage. From mere rippled clouds on the horizon it built in intensity over the past day to finally shove the waves over into roughshod whitecaps. The noisy engine was allowed to rest and the sails did their quiet work. Finally, the ship was heeled over, and waves surged through the scuppers. The sails, filled with wind, bringing us forward at over nine knots. Then.poof! As soon as it came, the wind left us in the late evening. At least it was a good few hours of sailing.

If the wind has been unreliable, at least the weather has been reliably pleasant. Sunny days at sea - perfect for maintenance. The past few days have seen countless hands scraping away old varnish and sanding away old paint. Newly oiled blocks swing in the companionway, showing off their new coats as crew and voyage crew alike put sparkling white paint on off-white stanchions. Sunny weather, good scenery, good company and honest work fill the day. Those lax with sun-block wear the proof of our shining weather, as they "feel the heat" from a massive ball of flame 91 million miles away.

It is just an appetizer for the real treat comes with clear nights - then, the stars, unblemished by light pollution finally reveal themselves as the sun slumbers. First, the brightest celestial lighthouses come, and those on deck ask "Is that Venus? Or is it Sirius?" Then the Captain turned down the deck lights. It is a sight to see a small crowd on the quarterdeck, entertaining themselves for nearly an hour by finding well known constellations and discovering new ones. To see them this clearly in the lightless void of the sea is quite remarkable. Now that over 50% of humanity lives in cities, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for people to see the sky as it is, and as it once was in the eyes of all people before Edison.

Perhaps the curious questions prompted one of our astronomy experts, "Woody" van Grondelle, to host a class before dinner yesterday on Celestial Navigation. I was unable to view it myself, but I know it was well-attended.

May 4th was Remembrance Day, and we observed it with two minutes of silence to remember those in Holland, and worldwide, who died in World War Two. Captain Klaas gave a small speech afterwards. He said that among our current crew we had representatives of thirteen nations from five continents. While our ancestors may have vied with and against one another in that conflict, here, on Europa, we all work together and live together.

Despite language barriers and cultural differences, we learn an "international" language of friendship, facilitated by smiles, cultural exchange, good honest work, and experiences shared. The Europa, with its many nationalities is not only a microcosm of a larger world, but a glimpse into the world as it should be. As Klaas said, hopefully, in the aftermath of such a conflict, we all can learn to "Work together, help each other, and not kill each other." We do this every day on Europa.