I’d already heard that the arrival procedure for Suriname had changed last year, but I hadn’t expected it to have gone this digital, let alone that it would actually work! For those coming after me, here are …
Tomorrow morning we make landfall, Suriname in the first light, but my heart is still bobbing along on days made of nothing but water. Water everywhere, and yet never the same: from whispering ripples to waves flexing …
It’s already the 9th and last full day at sea. We expect, with a high degree of certainty, to reach the fairway buoy sometime tomorrow morning. After that it’s still a decent stretch up the river, but …
I often get asked where the name “Merrimac” comes from. Well, here’s the story! Merrimac is the Native American name of a river in New Hampshire, these days spelled the modern way, Merrimack. It means …
Yesterday, out of the blue, I got a message from what I think was a female Sinterklaas helper … 🎁 A Sinterklaas Poem for the Men on the Boat 🎁 Dear sailors, gathered on this floating home, Sint greets you warmly, …
It’s now Wednesday afternoon, 3 December, and we left Mindelo at around half past ten, bound for Suriname (Paramaribo). The distance is still 1853 miles as the crow flies, and we expect to arrive in about 10 days. …
At a quarter past five we arrived at the marina in Mindelo. Waiting for a marina guy, mooring to a buoy with the stern to the pontoon, dinghy off, Watt&Sea off, lines made fast, dinghy on deck, sail cover on. Now for …
According to the calendar it’s Friday today. And since we left on Tuesday, that makes this our fourth day at sea already. The days run into one another. You stand a four-hour watch at night and you spend all the …
First day and night out on the open sea, the wind lifts us up and we sail along free. Nine knots go singing past the bow, the land fades out, there’s only horizon now. Waves are rushing, whitecaps dance, …
Right, we’ve just put on the album Miss Perfumada by Cesaria Evoria, because we’re almost out of Spanish waters. Tanneke and Kommer Jan arrived on Saturday evening after what was a pretty long flight. Lovely …
The day before yesterday it was already time to take Marion to the airport. She’d been flat out at home with all the Milûk business and caught up on plenty of sleep. Read a good book (“What We Can Know” …
After a good week, Arnold came back to reinforce the crew. One last quick visit to Paz, and the very next day we were off again because of the weather forecast. Plenty of wind on the first day this time, but if we waited …