Sunriser

On my way to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, where Jos was so kind to pick me up at the airport on Dec 29th 2023, my mind went back to that moment he phoned me with a special request: would you like to join us early January 2024 to cross the Atlantic? It was a September morning and I was driving to my work when he rang and I had to focus extra on driving safely after he had spoken. Of course I would like to join but I had to answer politely: ,,I have to discuss with my wife Willemijn, I’ll call you back!’’

Fortunately, that discussion was very short: of course I should accept this and so Jos got my happy reply that same day…!

From the very grey, moist and windy Dutch winter, I stepped into the Canary sun and found a real community of 25 ships almost ready to go with an interesting group of nice people from different geographies, backgrounds, age etc who share a common ideal: finding new horizons. Very interesting to see how closely knit such a divers group becomes in a very short time. Writing this blog in Cabo Verde, I experience myself already how relieved I am to see every boat and crew arriving safely in the harbour of Mindelo. They have made it, solved their problems underway, fought against sleep deprivation and achieved something out of the ordinary. With the really big crossing still to come! And although I’m just temporary crew, I feel welcome from the first moment which is special.

Our story of sailing to Cabo Verde was one of good timing: Jos decided to start a day early to avoid too much motoring and he proved right. We had a couple of very smooth sailing days and nights which allowed us to fish – we got two skipjacks and a mahi mahi – to read, cook (Beatriz’s maritime cooking skills are impressive!) and enjoy views including the stunning view of the Cabo Verde volcanic islands rising up steeply from the ocean. Enough time also to practice my new hobby: water painting. Choosing the ocean for a painting proved infinitely hard but I’ll just keep on trying with another two thousand sea miles ahead of us.

Living an already very privileged life with my wife Willemijn and our grown-up children Felix and Juno, I experience this trip as a great bonus. I have done sailing trips with Jos on his previous ship the Seabee and always returned home with great stories and wonderful memories and I know that my memory box will start flowing over this time. It struck me how good life is for us when we finished a tour on the Sao Vicente island in the favela of Mindelo yesterday. No such privilege to be found there, but nice and friendly people abound, preparing for their big carnival with VERY loud music, dancing and drum beating.

So, this has become a short tale of being extremely lucky and happy to join my friends Jos and Beatriz on their – and mine – first Atlantic crossing. But not before visiting the Cape Verde island Sao Vicente en Santo Antao.