Moment of amazement
After having a break of three nights in St Helena Island we are now sailing to our next destination of Recife, Brazil. The break has re-energised our sprit and motivated us to face mother nature to our next destination.
It struck me when Captain Moritz mentioned in his crew briefing that we will leave the anchorage by sail without using the engine! I first thought “How is that possible”, then I thought I misunderstood him. Soon I saw he gave instruction to pull out the anchor while the ship’s engine wasn’t running! It was an amazing experience to see 550 tons of ship moving out of the harbor, where other boats are also anchored, moving forward by sail!!
It never crossed in my mind that I would ever experience such an incredible maneuver of great seamanship! To see this size of the boat leaving the harbor quiet and slowly with the wind! I will remember thisfor a long time it is the highlight of my trip so far.
Life on board.
It is amazing experience on this sailing trip to meet people from different nationalities with different ages, experience and knowledge about sailing, however, we all getting on super well and respect eachother’s differences.
We are divided in a typical three watch system Red, Blue and White. (Representing the colors of the Dutch flag.) I’m in Blue watch, we are five people (the best on board! Haha haaa!). Valerie from Austria, Ysé from La Réunion, Connor from the UK, Matthias from Switzerland (a good man!) and myself from the Paradise Island of Zanzibar.
To be part of this journey and experience of how people were sailing hundreds of years ago, and explore the world by sea, facing mother nature and what it can offer. It is a very unique experience. To set up all 26 sails and pulling forward this old-dog boat forward it is incredible, not only we are sailing but learning the terminology of how to sail this ship; to make basic sailing knots; and other things about navigation.
What makes Bark Europa very special is the professional crew, they have created a super friendly atmosphere on board, the minute you step on board you feel welcome. Additional to it all is the delicious food! Later on, I learned our chef is vegetarian! The questioned I asked myself is “how is it possible she is vegetarian and able to cook super delicious meat food for the whole team on board!!” I guess it goes back to the teamwork of the ship’s crew, for their commitments to give every guest on board the experience of a lifetime!!
Asanteni Sana Hakuna Matata 100%!!
