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NORTH SEA TALL SHIPS REGATTA WINNERS 2010
The prizes awarded were:

Class Prizes for the Regatta

Class A:
1st - Stad Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2nd - Eendracht (Netherlands)
3rd - Oosterschelde (Netherlands)

Class B:
1st - Tecla (Netherlands)
2nd - Maybe (UK)

Class C:
1st - Dar Szczecina (Poland)
2nd - Riyal (Netherlands)
3rd - Black Diamond of Durham (UK)

Class D:
1st - Lietuva (Lithuania)
2nd - Urania (Netherlands)
3rd - Endorfina (Poland)

Winner overall on corrected distance: Dar Szczecina (Poland)
Longest distance covered, 662nm: Lietuva (Lithuania)
Best Crew in Crew Parade: Pelican of London (UK)
Vessel with youngest average crew (22.4 yrs): Endorfina (Poland)
Vessel with most international crew (9 nationalities): Kaliakra (Bulgaria)
Vessel furthest from their home port: Shabab Oman (Oman)
Communications Prize: Stad Amsterdam (Netherlands)
STA Netherlands Trophy, awarded to a Dutch, non-Class A vessel that covered the longest distance: Riyal

TECLA 15 AUGUSTUS 2010
54'19N 005'06E 18:21 UTC
Waypoint day! We passed loads of waypoints today, H I J K L and we are now on our way to N!! The wind has picked up to a strong breeze, with accompanying waves. Cooking downstairs was a bit of a trick, eating the soup we made, was even more of an challenge! Other vessels are finishing now, we are trying to get some last miles before the end of the race, make up for what we lost the 24 hours we drifted back and forth.
We did a lot of sail handling today, we gibed a few times, set an old wife and reeved the main and the mizzen. All went very well with the effort of our crew! Crew Tecla

KALIAKRA 14 AUGUST 2010
Update from the Swedish Trainees.

Day 3 - Thursday 12th
Today we were having a Swedish day on board Kaliakra. We took care of the kitchen and made a typical Swedish dinner, meatballs with potatoes and gravy. Grace from Portugal helped us as well, since we were one swede short. It was very interesting working with the Bulgarian chef especially since he didn't speak a word of English. It worked out very well and the crew seemed to be satisfied with our Swedish cooking skills. It was also a fun experience cooking with everything moving back and forth. After the dinner we had a presentation of Sweden, it all went fine. We went to sleep early since my watch was going to start at 0400.

Day 4 - Friday 13th
Chris woke us up at 0315 and we all needed to go on deck. It was raining and we could feel the storm coming in. We started to play a game of Pride and Prejudice but we had to stop, since the weather got worse. The seasickness is starting to appear and more people joining the green team every day. White team stands strong! The lunch was cancelled since the chef decided it was not safe to cook, so I had some apples and cookies before going to bed and trying to sleep. Rough day but definitely and experience to remember and I am proud I could handle it so well.
A message for the Swedish Speakers
Smyger in ett par rader p� svenska h�r ocks�. Vi svenska vikingar st�r sj�lvklart pall mot dom �k�nda nordsj� stormarna. Medans n�stan hela bes�ttningen sprider spyor b�de h�r och d�r. M�r vi of�rtj�nt bra. K�ttbullarna var mer eller mindre pannbiffar och hela r�tten var ganska bulgariskt inspirerad men alla verkade gilla det och det �r huvudsaken. Presentationen av sverige gick v�ldigt bra och Europas ungdomar vet nu vad en fika �r.

Updates from Red Watch
Friday 13th August 2010
We started our first watch at 00:00 till 04:00. Around 2 o'clock there was a storm coming. There were probably two of them. They were coming from different sides and colliding just above us, which meant that we will have a rough night ahead. There were coming waves over one side of the ship, which looked quite scary in the beginning. So, we started to furl few sails to decrease the power to the vessel.
People were wet and tired, but still working on the deck till the end of the watch. Hard work was successful and we were able to go to sleep at 04.00 o'clock. Not for long…. At 06.00 o'clock there was an 'all hands on deck alarm'.
Everyone had to get on the deck because we were tacking in a strong wind and there was a high need of men power. Finally, we went back to our beds for some more sleep, but still some people were working on the deck because a lot of people from other watches were sea sick and they felt a lack of people. We called a green watch, which was working almost 24 hours per day.
The majority woke up just before the next watch to try having lunch. The storm was still at its peak. Strong wind, rain and rough sea made a lot of people sea sick, which of course made the situation pretty unpleasant. However, we began our watch from 12.00 till 04.00 in the afternoon. We tried to play some games during the watch to build up the mood inside the ship. We played a game called 'pride and prejudice'. It's a game to learn about the other countries and to take away the preconceptions.
Inside the ship most of the people were getting sea sick, so a lot of the trainees stayed on deck even though it was raining. In addition, even the crew of the ship was sea sick… So the weather was challenging. Our last watch was much better because the storm finished and we could enjoy dry weather with no wind. We could even see the sun! So a lot of people just went outside to chill and relax after a stressful day. We ended our watch in a good mood, looking at the stars and hoping to see nice weather tomorrow.
Saturday 14th of August started differently! The sun was shining for the first time in four days so the weather was brilliant! We started our watch with a game called “Who am I”. It was pretty fun and relaxing. Later that day people started to sunbath and drying their clothes on the deck; the mood in the ship was much better and it was increasing with every hour. We helped the crew to remove the broken sail; some of us also helped the Captain to secure (hank on) the bramsail. This meant we had to climb up in the top of the mast and out on the yard; it was an amazing view from up there.
Later in the day we decided to film a music video on the ship. It will involve all the trainees and the crew. We saw few inspiring examples and we decided to make one even better. All this activity and the day is not yet finished….

To read more log and also see pictures: playingonboats.blogspot.com/

TECLA 14 AUGUST 2010
56'00N 002'11E 17:43
After more then 24 hours of drifting, we are underway again! The sun is shining and we have a little breeze that gives us a speed of about 5/6 knots, very nice! We have past waypoint G and are heading for H now. All the seasick are better now, I think it is the sun that has cured them!

KALIAKRA 13 AUGUST Stormy adventure
Stormy adventure

Hello from the Crew, Today we find we have a new watch in additon to the three usual; Red, White, Blue and now Green.

Yes if you haven't guessed the crew are experiencing the true power of the North Sea with a great storm. Several traines have been ill (and even some of the mentors)however spirits are still high.

We have several sails set at at the time of writing this post (12.25pm) we are doing 7.5Kts, steering 104 degrees and at a position of 56 dgrees 26.577 Minutes North and 001 Degrees 0.371 Minutes East.

Updates on the storms, the first 2 international meals and more will follow tomorrow... when we hope the storm eases!

Regards from a rough sea!

The AtSea Crew & Mentors

To read more log and also see pictures: playingonboats.blogspot.com/

KALIAKRA 12 AUGUST 2010
Blog day 1 Blue Watch

My day started really early this morning: 6 a.m., and this process was like a miracle – supposedly my co-worker Francisco should have been the one waking me up, but ultimately he was snoring like a pig, when I checked him in his room! :)

At 6 a.m like a beautiful princess I just opened my gorgeous eyes like magic and then I started cleaning, having the pleasure to begin with the girls toilet which was really pleasurable. Then I served the breakfast to all the trainees. Afterwards I climbed the mast which was very scary, but exciting but at the same time.

After lunch we went for a tour in Hartlepool that although it was nice, the weather is really different from my country, it was raining and cold. We had to play a game called tea bag exchange. I decided to go alone and I went to several houses to try to do the exchange. At first an old lady gave me a vegetarian soup then a big coffee bag then a little boy gave me a lucky stone and then I finally exchanged it for a monkey doll with a certificate that I was known as one of the monkey's crew.

It was really funny and I met many people. At the end of the day we came back to Kaliakra and finally I served dinner. This was a really important day to get to know the crew and practice my English.

I finally discovered my true calling today – being a Garbage woman! :))))

Bye, bye – Mariana, Portugal Nr:19

The Exchange Begins: Day 1, Arrival

The day started differently for every person. Some woke up in their own bed, some spent their night on the Newcastle beach, but everyone finally ended up aboard the Kaliakra.
The trainees who arrived early with 2 of the mentors went to do some shopping after the raising of the flag by the crew, which is traditionally done in every port. Food shopping for the ship was a great fun because of the large quantity bought and the way back to the ship was exciting. Pushing through the crowd with trollies full of food for the journey… After some quick introductions and a speech from the Captain we played an ice breaking game where we tied ourselves up in a knot. It helped to break down some personal barriers and increased our understanding of team work.

Later in the day we learnt sail and rigging terms in Bulgarian, which was quite a challenge for the majority. Whilst we were learning the terms, some crews from the other ships were making amusing shows for the public. Without the fun and learning there had to be some paper work done which is a necessity for the trip to go smoothly. Moreover, the drama with the Italian luggage ended… They are getting their stuff back and the Italian day is saved! In the evening there were visitors from the Swedish Tall ship committee who are organizing the Tall Ship Races in Halmstad 2011.

The captain and some trainees were showing them the ship and shared ideas about the race next year. They enjoyed the tour and left the ship satisfied. The day still has not ended…. Looking forward for the next adventure before sailing!

Trainee Log: Day 2
The day started really early for me : 6.00 a.m., like a miracle to me, because I was hoping that Francisco would wake me up, but ultimately, he was snoring like a pig so, like magic, my beautiful eyes just opened EXACTLY at the time that I was supposed to wake up! :) I cleaned the kitchens and the mess room floors and I had the pleasure to clean the fantastic toilet. Afterwards I prepared all meals and I finally found my Calling: I`m perfectly fit to be a Garbage woman!!!!! Bye bye, Mariana, PORTUGAL

It was fun to be able to climb the rigging and now I am hoping to climb further!!! In order to have one cookie I have to eat one tomato :(. And I am really eager for someone to cut my hair!!!!!!!! Last night I didn’t hear the engine start as we moved out of the deep water berths into victoria harbour :) Colm, UK

Last night we finally got our luggage so I could sleep in my sleeping bag with clean clothes!!! That was beautiful…. I slept so well!! So this morning I was ready to climb the mast…it was really fun and I hope to do it again…this morning we also learned lots of things about the boat because the captain held a sort of lesson and showed us lots of ropes and parts of the boat, he also taught us some words in Bulgarian, that was interesting and I expect we’ll learn lots of other words….
Paolo, Italy

This morning’s climb to the Mast was really pleasurable – exciting and scary at the same time – and when I was up there, I just wanted to spread my wings and soar, but my security system just wouldn’t let me!...
Afterwards, our Mentor Chris, was really mean and forced me into leading the Blue Watch team, to set sail!...
Everything is going well until now, I am sure that many more exciting moments! Grace, PORTUGAL

The morning was not too different from the day before. We had the early breakfast, raised the flag and a tour of the ship done by the captain. Then came the interesting part! After some waiting we finally had the opportunity to climb the fore mast. In was both challenging and exciting, as the tricks with life lines and everything was not easy to get the hold off. Yet, in the end, we successfully got our mast climbing practice and went to have lunch.
Lukas, Lithuania

I am so glad because I had this opportunity to learn so many words in Bulgarian like fal, contrafal, foc, kliver, scothi, gauss, bom brau, grot and many more. I also like very much to put on the “bra” and climb up the sails but the locks were a bit trick to work with but the experience was very pleasant and I can’t wait to do it in the sea. Yesterday I was so tired that I could not even notice that.

For pictures look at: http://playingonboats.blogspot.com/

TECLA 13 AUGUST 2010
56'05.2N 001'55.3E 18:12 UTC
NO wind, big waves, flapping sails, riddle games and rain.. Today was a bit of a disappointment. We are the last vessel left in the B class.. The other 6 did not start the race or retired during the race. So we are number one in our class and where 6th overall this morning. 36 hours of a lot of wind is now followed by no wind. We are drifting with only the jib and forestaysail up. We dropped the mainsail around 12 oclock and set her again when a small breeze picked up. But that only lasted for on hour and then we had to drop her again.
A good thing about today was the food! We had pancakes for lunch and Indonesian rice table Jet style (..tja) for dinner. With fresh coconuts!

WYLDE SWAN 6 AUGUST 2010
DAY 6 Thursday
This day we went the fastest through the whole race, 12.1 knops. It was the best time, and someone thought we were going to tip over. Because of the fast speed we arrived in Hartlepool at 2nd place, after the Mir. This was a real accomplishment. The time was about 12 pm when we arrived. The captain just slept 1.5 hours he was too excited about the speed and the placing in the race. All of the crew and the trainees got champagne to celebrate the "victory", of course after the happy-hour. When we got over the finishline we finally was able to take a shower, and some of us also took a swim in the sea. Now we just had dinner (as always Andreas maked the best food to us), and now we are going to celebrate with wine, beer and of course soda for the small "kids". Cheers g,v!

Lots of greetings,
Trainees Wylde Swan

ASTRID - 6 AUGUST 2010
it's 2 am and we're in the middle of the night watch. It has been a difficult day. After last nights watch I was really looking forward to my bunk, but the sea was so rough that instead of sleeping I could only hang on trying not to fall out, so by dinnertime this evening I was a bit of a zombie. I did, however manage to get a few hours sleep and when we turned out at 12 we were greeted by the most gorgeous star-filled sky. The moon has just come up a nice orange colour and, yes, we even have shooting stars. The world could really not be more beautiful just at this moment. In the distance we can make out the glow from the industry in Teesside, we are currently motoring to our rendezvous with the camera crews so that our film team can finish their report with shots from outside, so it will be all hands on deck early. Losing sleep tomorrow doesn't matter though as we have the arrival at Hartlepool to look forward to.
John Yates - trainee on board Astrid.

WYLDE SWAN 5 AUGUST 2010
DAY 5 Wednesday
Today we had a lot of fun. The day started off with a catch of 29 fishes in only 30 min. After a while we danced and had no wind. We all learned a new dance to the Madcon-song "Glow". It was so much fun! After a while the wind gained and we went just faster and faster. The top speed was 10.4 knots. When it was time for the happy-hour we turned on some music again and everyone danced along with the buckets and the brooms. We did the dish wash on the deck, again. The sun finally came up and everyone was up on deck and was enjoying it. Suddenly the dolphins peaked out too and almost teased us just jumping around and blowing water up in the air, Live music was the next on our "schedule", played by Peter on the guitar and Elie on the violin. We all sat down on the off-deck and listened and sometimes sang along. We just past the GMT and it's soon up for dinner. As always the food is going to taste really good. Andreas is such a good chief! We soon run out of water, so there is no possibility to take a shower. But the Wylde Swan is expected to get to Hartlepool at Friday so we just have to hang on and get used to the dirt. That's all for now. Over and out.

Greetings Trainees Wylde Swan

ASTRID 5 AUGUST 2010
They say it's better to have tried and failed, and it certainly applies this week. Ok, Astrid has had to give up and turn the engine on, but it was always going to be difficult against the wind in a square rigged ship. None the less, I wouldn't want to have missed a minute of the voyage so far, we have experienced so much and it's not over yet. We did have a short period of good sailing. During our watch from 4am-8am yesterday we reached 8 knots under full sail, and Astrid showed that she had it in her if the conditions suited, but most of the time the wind was quiet and the voyage was more pleasurable than exciting. This, however gave us time to do other things such as splicing, map-reading etc, not to mention the odd trip up into the rigging. The rest of the time you are either on watch, or sleeping ready for the next one. We are on again at midnight...
John Yates - Trainee on board Astrid

TECLA 4 AUGUST 2010
57'05N 000'27E 16:28UTC
Wind, we have wind! After to many hours of drifting along, we are on our way to the waypoint again. Last night the wind was a bit weak and changing all the time. During the night watch we played some guessing games. I got some riddle cards from Nele from a game where you get a sentence of what happened and trough questions you have to find out what the story is behind the card. We had a lot of fun!
We went down in the race, this morning we where 4 in class and 6 overall. But with this wind picking up, we hope that we have at least our 3rd place back! Pegasus is on the horizon, coming closer! The race will stop tomorrow at 12:30 for the class B vessels. For the vessels who have not yet crossed the finish line this will mean a finish at sea. After that we plan on continuing our race as we only have to be in the harbor on Saturday!

ASTRID 3 AUGUST 2010
The weather in Kristiansand on our arrival could’ve been less rainy, but it stopped for a very spectacular firework display. Unfortunately the wind direction was such that all the paper from the fireworks fell on our deck, so the following morning we had some tidying up to do. We breakfasted early as there was a lot to be done. There was a bit of a worry as not all of the equipment had arrived for the film crew who were to be our guests on board, which could mean that the live coverage each day may not work, however all turned up just in time. Our day started with us up in the rigging releasing the sails ready for the parade of sail. It was my first time up there and I was glad of the harness. The wobbliest bit was when someone else came onto the same line under the yard that you were on, but you had work to do, so you soon got used to it. Then the time came to sail out into the bay and the welcome was amazing, there were thousands of little pleasure craft out to see us, as well as people lining the shoreline. Steering through the melee was no mean feat, but it was worth it, the tall ships made a stupendous sight all following on in line. Then we had lunch before the start of the race. The breeze was just right for the ships to show themselves in all their glory for the final rush to the start line, with lots of maneuvering allowing some wonderful views as the ships came really close to each other. As the race started, so the wind started to drop. The forecast was not good for Astrid with light winds from the wrong direction, but at least all ships had the same problems. As the race went on each captain had to choose their route, and many turned to try their luck in the North while Astrid stayed on a southerly course heading for Denmark. With the leisurely wind we had time for other distractions and the mackerel fishing was particularly successful, with our catching 5 fish on one line at one time. Obviously the dolphins were impressed, as a pod came to see what we were up to. So far, apart from a touch of mal-de-mer, it has been a wonderful trip, and even the mal-de-mer is settling down as we get our sea legs! Current position 11th in class, but if our weather gamble pays off there is still hope…
John Yates, trainee TS ASTRID

BLOG WYLDE SWAN at Hartlepoole mail
Richard Mennear is sailing at Wylde Swan. Read his daily log via: www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk

TECLA 3 AUGUST 2010
57'07N 003'13E 16:32 UTC
Today was a day of real racing. This morning we where in the middle of a group of tall ships, everybody racing, getting to the waypoint and doing the best they can with the wind they are given. The different rigs had their different advantages and sailing with light winds every change in wind, current and waves was vital. We tacked a few times, trying to find the course that gave us speed, but would also get us to the finish. The Wylde Swan crossed behind us, with great speed, the Sorlandet was a steady white spot on the horizon and the Pegasus was all around us as well. Now the group has fallen apart, maybe tonight we will find each other and do the same dance again when the sun comes up. Crew Tecla

WYLDE SWAN 3 AUGUST BLOG 4
DAY 4 TUESDAY 3 AUG 2010
This morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise. We had nice wind, heeling a lot. We are currently in 6th place in the race. It was a great relaxing afternoon with games and live music. We played who am I and it was quite fun. The shipmates wrote their own song about the race and our wonderful Wylde Swan who is destined to win. At the moment everyone is helping, even the seasick folks are having a dish washing party on the deck! It has been a very successful day, we are actually heading towards England. We still have everyone safe on board, a great accomplishment. People are sliding everywhere but we holding on, obviously. Some lucky people got to go up to the mast today. The food was amazing, as always. :)

WYLDE SWAN 2 AUGUST 2010
DAY TWO, SUNDAY 1 AUG. 2010

We started of from Kristiansand we a lot of boats following us out to the starting point. The wind was quite good and we held a decent speed. Because of the wind and the waves a few people got seasick. The wind lasted until the nightwatch started at 12 pm, and then we just floated about in the rain the rest of the night. We tacked a few times to get a higher bearing and heard on the radio in the morning that we were in third place behind the Mir and the Sorlandet on handicap.

Morning now, girls are at the back of the ship catching fish, and cutting the heads off..Lovely.(for lunch) Woke up to a beautiful weather, the sun is shining high on the sky.
The mood is very relax with people laying around sun bathing. The wind is catching up. We are hoping for another memorable day at sea.

TECLA - 2 AUGUST 2010
57'20N 006'11E 16:49 UTC
Last night we lost the wind. The Pegasus and the Jolie Brise sailed away from us with the little wind we did get every now and then and in the morning report we where number 3 and 10 overall. Slowly today the wind picked up. Around 12 oclock we where doing 4 knots again. Steering and enjoying the scenery was very easy!
The youngsters started fishing this morning, as there was no wind and not a lot going on. They caught a few mackerels and we decided to keep them for dinner. The big ones where killed and gutted although one was thrown back when one of the trainees had trouble deciding to kill it or wait for someone else to do it.. Gijs made filet's, I backed them and the crew ate them.
The wind has picked up now and we are doing 7 knots. Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 1 AUGUST 2010
57'57N 007'43E 18:02 UTC
We have started the race to Hartlepool about 2,5 hours ago! The wind is about 3 bf and coming from the SW.
Our new trainees are still a bit shaky. We are now 13 in total, 3 have sailed on the Tecla or other vessels in the last two legs, the rest is new at sea and new to the Tall Ships Races. We have a group of hardworking trainees, they seem to like tacking, setting sail and playing around with the sail just before the start a lot, a promising sign! Dinner is done by now, white watch is downstairs doing the dishes and the white watch is just getting instructions on steering, compass courses and sailing close hauled. Night will fall just before my watch starts and the sun will probably rise before the watch ends, I am looking forward to seeing some stars!

WYLDE SWAN 1 AUGUST 2010
TALL SHIP RACE 2
KRISTIANSAND - HARTLEPOOL
1 AUG. 2010

DAY ONE, SATURDAY 31 JULY 2010.
We arrived at 4:00 pm to meet the crew and all the trainees and unpack. We played speed dating to get to know each other. Afterwards, we all went out to the tall ships festival to watch the amazing fireworks over the harbor. Everyone experienced their first night on Wylde Swan and no one fell out of the hammocks! Some of the trainees had to stay up for the gangway watch, but the rest of us got to sleep quite well.

TECLA 27 JULY 2010/2
57'00.7N 008'00.2E 10:57 UTC
Yesterday evening we arrived in Lemvig around 18:00 hours. After taking a look in the innerharbor we decided to moor along the outside quay and have our barbecue there. And round sunset the last of the dinner was finished and so was another beautiful day. We left Lemvig this morning at 06:30 and used our engine on the way out of the fjord, due to head winds. In the entrance of the fjord we set sail and then proceded under sail and engine for about and hour, this time due to no wind. Now we have the topsails up and are doing 4 knots towards Norway, without engine! We do not yet know where we are going or how long it will take us to get there, as long as we are sailing! The new crew is a bit unstable for the first day out at sea with more waves then wind, but we hope this will get better during the night.

TECLA 27 JULY 2010
56'35.9N 008'38.1E 12:57 UTC 26/7
Finally some news from the Tecla. We are underway (using sail!!) to Lemvig, at the end of the Limfjord. We have about 10 or 15 miles to go and a little bit more because we have to tack a few times. The Limfjord so far has been amazing! Beautiful scenery, nice corners and amazing places to stay on the quay or at anchor. Yesterday we had a beautiful sailing day and we ended up along side a small dock. The owner gave us permission to come alongside as long as we did not use to much engine, as not to blow sand in his rails underwater. So this morning we prepared as best as we could, and left the quay under sail. The man smiled and waved with a Tall Ships Race tshirt in his hand. The sun is shining and we have a changing wind (every corner is different) that is between 1 and 3 bf, we are doing 5,5 knots now heading for a bridge, the 3rd and last. Tomorrow we hope to set sail towards a harbor near Kristiansand.

ASTRID 25 JULY 2010
Saturday morning, after an evening with beautifull fireworks the day starts for the new trainees on board Tall Ship Astrid with learning the ropes and going aloft. We prepare the ship and the new crew for the departure that afternoon. Slowly the port of Aalborg is getting empty, with the 70 ships taking part leaving one after the other in the parade of sail.

At 15.30 it was our turn to cast off. We did so and just meters from the shore and with a blow on the ships horn astrid was covered in her cloud of sails in less than a minute, all the sails being set at the same time. And so we left Aalborg, sailing the parade out of the Lymfe Fjord.

After passing Hals Barre Lighthouse we headed due North, towards Sweden. This morning we arrived in the beautiful small port of Skarhamn. An old small cargo port where the Astrid has visited many times in her time under Swedish flag sailing the Baltic with agricultural products.

Tommorow we will go further North through the Swedish archipelago towards Lysekil.

It promises to be a good day!

Willem - Cpt TS ASTRID

SORLANDET 21 JULY 2010
Hello,
We are still on our way to Aalborg, if all goes well we will get there at 11 o’clock. We are having some problems with the current. So maybe it will take a little longer to arrive at the right place. Aalborg will be my last stop on this journey.

The watches have continued very relaxed, we are enjoying our time at sea. The waves are not the same we had during the race. The sea is calm, wonderful!

During my day watch I have tried to make an ocean mat, it is used to protect the block. I didn’t succeed. Once I nearly finished one but I had to undo it because I had made a mistake. I helped to pack the sails in a nice and neat way. Like I said before most of the sails were already packed, we just made them look nicer.

After dinner they gave us the opportunity to swim next to the boat. Around 10 trainees were diving from the boat deck (about three meters higher than the main deck) into the gorgeous waves. I tried to swim around the boat, but because it was moving I couldn’t get to the front. I haven’t seen any fishes, sharks or jellyfishes. Maybe that was for the best. There are poisonous fish in this part of the ocean, some trainees caught several. After I got out everything was warm. I just had my last night watch. We received a very interesting lecture about the history of the sails, types of ships and the different names. Later a fellow trainee taught me how to make a bracelet out of rope. Later we will melt it together so it will stay on my arm forever. I have been learning Norwegian for two days now. It has been the cause of many hilarious situations. I think I am going to miss my night watch, it will be weird to sleep during the entire night without a 4 hour brake.

This is probably the last message you will get from me. Tomorrow I will be in Aalborg and the sailing will be over. It has been amazing. To everyone who is thinking about participating in the tall ships race: DO IT! It is a wonderful way of spending your holiday, the experiences I lived during this race are priceless.

I hope you enjoyed my blog, I certainly enjoyed writing it for you

Sofie de Groote - trainee Sorlandet

THALASSA 20 JULY 2010
It is again Pear’s time to write a nice note about our trip onboard of the Thalassa. Sunday morning we came on watch (12-4) and heard that the destination was G�teborg. If we would go at anchor or if there is a place in the harbour, was still unknown. But finally we got a place in Frihammen, berth 1, the nicest place that G�teborg Port Control could offer! Will be continued next night watch.

At the time that we arrived in Frihammen, about 05.15, the Thalassa was celebrating (with beer) that we did it! All crew and (most of) the trainees were toasting on deck. During breakfast/lunch (brunch) the Captain decided to should change the onboard time to local time, which means two hours forward. After brunch we cleaned the ship all together; Bananas cleaned the deck, Apples the interior of the ship and we did the dishes and cleaned the galley. Within one hour we were finished and there was time to swim in the harbour and/or go in the city. Everybody enjoyed this day in G�teborg!
The night we spend in the bar of the Thalassa and the next morning we sailed again out of Frihammen. It was beautiful sailing weather and in less than one day we arrived on the north of the island Laes�. Laes� is a small island in front of the entrance of the fjords of Aalborg. Earlier this watch (ca. 01.45), we dropped anchor and all trainees take full anchor watch of the ship as all Thalassa crew members have gone to bed. When we wake up again (still 20 July) the weather forecast says we can expect a sunny morning so we hope we can wake up with a dive in the water! More about our adventure on the Thalassa will be described by the Bananas.

WYLDE SWAN 7-17 JULY 2010
07 July 2010
After the introduction talk by the captain, Stefan, we were divided
into three watches.
In rounds, we learned basics concerning rope handling and sailing,
rules onboard the ship, safety and climbing the rig.
After a great dinner, that Andreas, our cook, prepared we went into
the park near the ship and did two introduction games: Throwing the
hat (mainly concerning names) and The union of similarities (find out
how you are similar to your fellow trainees).

08 July 2010
The first night sleeping on the ship, for some people it was not to
easy getting to sleep (especially for the ones in the hammocks) After
breakfast, we were going into Rotterdam for real!
Besides visiting locations of cultural and historical value, we had
to a trading game; every watch had to start with a teabag, and had to
trade it for something more valuable. Back at the ship we had a great dinner, I really liked it.

09 July 2010
We had breakfast, and straight afterwards Stefan and Martin got the
engine running, and we were off! While sailing out of the canals of
Rotterdam, we didn't set sails, but shortly after we came out on open
sea, sails were being hoisted. Everywhere on board, you would hear
quartermasters yelling "PULL PULL PULL", and by the power of teamwork,
the huge sails came up for the first time on this exchange. The day
passed quickly, with the watch schedule setting in. Some people went
to bed early and missed the sunset, but on the other hand got to watch
the sun rising over the coast of Belgium.

10 July 2010
Today we sailed from Vlissingen to Antwerp.
We prepared the ship for a nice arrival , all clean and tidy.
In the harbour of Antwerp, we could have a look at all other tall
ships. We made and delivered invitations for a brunch onboard the
ship. Crew and trainees of other ships were invited, so they could see
he beauty of the swan. In the evening we discovered the city Antwerp.

11 July 2010
Today we had the brunch on board and met lots of interesting people.
Afterwards we had the crew parade and the crew party, it was fun
recognising our guests from the afternoon in the parade, we all woke
up so excited to go and join the crews of all the other boats. This
involved everyone walking in a line down the street to the prize
giving. We personally thought we made the best entrance to both the
harbour and the crew parade. Other than that it was amazing to see all
the other crews and what they had dressed up in. After the parade we were all so hot and all so thirsty, that we
decided to go to the shop and buy some drinks.

12 July 2010
After another delicious breakfast, we visited the Statsraad Lehmkuhl,
a Norwegian ship much larger than the Wylde Swan! After that we went
to the Maratime School and saw many historical artefacts and an
amazing steering simulator that cost about two million Euros to
create! At the end of the day we stood on the bridge overlooking all
the moored ships to watch some spectacular fireworks, it was a lovely
evening.

13 July 2010
A Dutch naval ship called the Uranina was moored beside us in the
harbour today, and it was very interesting to have another crew so
close. Today was the last day we had it Antwerp, so everyone went out
around the city to see what they could before we sailed off with the
other ships in the parade of sail. It was amazing to see all the
people lining the harbour to wave us goodbye. We were back on the sea
again after a great stay in Antwerp - next stop, Aalborg!

14th July
We were anchored near the mouth of the Schelde, floating around with a
lot of other ships, a strange experience as we are normally so far
apart in a race! The race itself was postponed a number of times due
to weather problems, but after a few hours we got underway and it was
very exciting to be taking Wylde Swan on her first race. In the end,
we started thirty seconds early, a very small margin considering the
days to spend at sea, but it was against the rules and we have a
penalty now - that doesn't mean we can't win though!

15 July 2010
Today we played a game where you have to think of a compliment to give
to a member of your watch, it was great for morale and made everyone
very happy! This was our first day of racing, and along with it came
our first storms, and they were very powerful. Many of us had never
sailed before, and it was incredible to see what the sea was capable
of, lifting the ship like a feather. It was difficult for those
people, and some were seasick because of the storms!

16 July 2010
Today we had a birthday onboard the ship, so we woke up singing. The
weather was better, there was less wind and the waves became smaller
during the day. That gave us the opportunity to trim the sails better
and also take the helm again by hand.
In the evening we amused ourselves with some guitar playing and
singing. Almost everybody stayed up late because the finish was just a few
miles away.

17 July 2010
This morning we finished! Around 4 o'clock the Wylde Swan crossed the
finish line. We had a small party with the crew, just to celebrate the safe arrival
of the first real race of our ship. We anchored close to Danish shore, and after a good sleep we had a
swim and left for Sweden. We arrived in Marstrands, were it was
absolutely beautifull. In the evening we discovered the place,

18 July 2010
We left the harbour of Marstrand and went to a fjord. Part of the
group would be hiking, the other part sailing. At the end of the day
we would meet again in a fjord, where the ship would be anchored.
It was beautiful to sail between all the fjords. We reached the anchor
place, the weather was still good so some people decided to go for a
swim. We could also sail around with a tender of the Wylde Swan. Meanwhile a
barbeque was being prepared. The food was excellent. We enjoyed all
this but without the other group, the group that was gone hiking. They
were still didn't arrive. Some people said we wouldn't see them until
the next morning. But they were faster, they were back around ten
o'clock.

Trainees and crew of Wylde Swan

ASTRID 19 JULY 2010
MONDAY 19 JULY 2010

We're at the dock of the quiet harbourtown HALS, right across the ferry which connects the mainland to the island. At night it's fairly calm, in the daytime HALS is a very busy place, because many tourists visit this cosy town by bike, car or motorhome.

In the morning our experienced second captain Willem teaches us how to climb the mast. Everyone who dares to climb the mast can go up. We wear a safety belt and step by step we climb the 22 meters high mast. Some climb up the first platform, others even reach the top! On the highest yard you have a beautiful view of HALS. The sea, the beach, the dunes... wonderful!

Every time someone arrives on deck again, they are welcomed by a huge applause by the other trainees who followed the courageous climbers with camera's!

After lunch eight brave trainees take a biking trip across the Danish countryside. We drive to HOU, a harbourtown 12 km from HALS. There we eat ice cream after we return to the ship right through the wild nature.

Tired but satisfied we arrive in HALS where we enjoy an excellently prepared dinner.

In de harbour of HALS there are a lot of ships which participated in the race. Everyone has its own story of the previous stormy sailing days. It was really exciting and for many of us rather tiresome because of the strong winds and high waves.

At night there is singing, people drink beer and wine and return to their cabins really satisfied, ready for new dreams...

TUESDAY 20 JULY 2010

At 8 o'clock the motor wakes us up to start our final part of the journey AALBORG. It's a three hour trip through the LIMFJORDEN via the LANGE RAK.

By noon we arrive andK can start to enjoy the beautiful town of AALBORG which has a lot to offer: a museum, a zoo, a swimming pool a guided tour etc. We look forward to it!

Henk - trainee Astrid

SORLANDET 19 JULY 2010
We are now on our way to Aalborg at 4 o’clock in the morning. We have been in Sweden since Sunday and left there Monday (yesterday) at 1800 hours.

The first three ships in the ranking are Norwegian, we don’t know yet has first place. Some ships had to take a time penalty because they crossed the starting line too soon. In order of who crossed the finish line first: Statsraaad Lehmkuhl, Christian Radich and s�rlandet. We are the only one of those three ships that hasn’t taken a false start.

Sunday, around noon we were allowed to leave the ship. Stepping on firm ground after having spent a week on sea was a unique experience. When climbing some stairs I felt like I was on the boot again. My head was spinning by the time a got back to the ship. Later that night there was a barbeque on Statsraad Lehmkuhl. The three Norwegian ships were all moored in Halmstad. The barbeque was really fun. There was a drinking competition for the crew of each ship. The judge was from Radich, guess who won. We did spill some soda so there is room for discussion. The next day the city of Halmstad organized a trip to adventure-land for us. There was a swimming pool, some rollercoaster’s and a restaurant. If we showed our ‘tall ships race’-pin we could take the bus (also especially for trainees) to adventure-land. Later it took us to the center of the city were we went shopping. Instead of leaving Tuesday we left yesterday, that way we can spend more time in Aalborg.

Currently there is little wind and our speed is maximum 4 knots. There is very little wind, normally we would hoist all the sails. But because we are going to cross a sea-highway we only hoisted a few square sails and the stag sails in the front. That way we go slower and we will cross the highway at daytime. Also we want to cross it when the captain is awake, so the watch was really relaxed again for the people who didn’t have to do physical watches. I wasn’t one of those.

I’m going to get some sleep, I will write to you as soon as possible

Sofie de Groote - trainee Sorlandet

ASTRID 18 JULY 2010
zondag 18 juli 2010 12.45u.

57 graden 03 minuten NOORD
010 graden 34 minuten OOST

This night at 03.19'03" we finished the first leg of the Tall Ships Races. The people on watch woke up everybody, so we were all on deck to experience the historic moment. We were all excited, singing and shouting. It only took us three and a half days from Antwerp to the finish line! Incredible but true. It's one of the few races the Astrid participate in which such good winds!

In the final hours before the finish the winds blew us in the right direction, which made it possible for us to maintain our ninth position in class A and over-all. We're really proud of this achievement!

After the finish some stayed on deck to look at the beautiful sunset, others were tired of the exciting final hours and were happy to return to their cabins for a well-deserved rest.

A few hours later we woke up from the sound of the engine! That was something we hadn't heard for a while! At 3 o'clock we arrived in Hals, a beautiful and small harbour town where we could set foot on shore back again. What a strange feeling! It was nice to see many people on the dock to welcome us!

We still have a few days before we have to be in AALBORG for the events. This will give us some rest we had to miss the previous days because of the watches. But we can also practise mast-climbing, splicing ropes, tying knots and other crafts of seamanship,...

Tired but happy we look forward to what the last days of this journey will bring. The atmosphere is still excellent: no conflicts and friendships on TS ASTRID get stronger by the minute.

Henk - Trainee Astrid

Our ALOHA project for youngsters with and without a handicap deserves a ten! All wishes were realised and we already look forward to the many trips and races still to come on all those large seas around the world.

THALASSA 17 JULI 2010
Thalassa – Tall Ship Race 2010 from Antwerp to Aalborg

Last Monday we came onboard of the Thalassa. After a nice diner (the food onboard is delicious!) and a welcome speech of Captain Lammert we had time to discover Antwerp by night. As closing act there were fire works between the tall ships.
Tuesday we departed and in a parade of tall ships we set course to the start of the race (near by Zeebrugge). On our way to Zeebrugge the Captain decides to spend the night alongside in Flushing. The start was planned on Wednesday 14 July at 16.00. All trainees together made a voyage planning; found out where to start and what the weather forecast would be.
Wednesday was the day! After breakfast we went to the start area. In three groups we had our sailing instructions and practice, during which we all got our own task in case we needed to jibe. All trainees are divided into watches (pear = 12-4, banana = 4-8 and apple = 8-12) and in case we need to manoeuvre, we need all hands on deck!
Around 14.00 we arrived at the starting area. Where we together with 75 other ships (impressive how much!) were anxiously awaiting the start signal. The start was delayed till 19.00 because of the lack of wind, which we needed to safety cross the TSS (traffic separation scheme).
Finally we started! After two hours the wind was picking up and our wish for wind came true.
Around 23.00 a storm surprised us and (people asleep or not asleep) it were all hands on deck. At the end of the day we had already experienced all kinds of weather: with and without wind, sunny, warm, dry, rain and storm.
When passing waypoint 1 (ca. 01.00) we had to go north, so it was all hands on deck again! The rest of the night passed quietly, besides a lot of rolling around in our beds. Rolling of the ship was caused by the big waves (sea state 8) and strong wind (30 knots). Till now on the race is a success. So far the report of the pears

Thursday, we even broke the maximum speed record of the Thalassa: 16,8 knots! It was still a day of rolling around. There were people seasick, our chef got hurt because a hatch felt on his fingers. So we everyone helped out in the kitchen. At 12 o’clock some people got brainstorming about the crewparade. After dinner we got all to our tasks. The Bananas had to clean the toilets. This sounds easy but the ship was rolling al lot so it became a whole lot more difficult. This day a lot of people were a sleep all over the ship, but at one point a group of people gathered around in the saloon and tided knots, or at least they tried.
Friday, it was less windy so the ship wasn’t rolling around any more. The wind had turned a little bit so we had to adjust the sails. Because of this the ship was always leaning to the portside. So everyone at the portside couldn’t come out of there beds, and everyone at the starboardside rolled out of there beds. At the 12 o’clock we wanted to make a sunfix (celestial observation) but just at that time it became cloudy. Instead we made crewparade stuff, so the saloon is a bid of a mess, but our crewpararde will be very cool!! The ship became flat again and not leaning towards one side. The rest of the day will be described by the apple’s in the next blog.

ASTRID 18 JULY 2010
Everyone slept very well tonight. We rounded the top of Denmark in the night, into the SKAGGERRAK, but we're still 60 miles from the finish line in SKAGEN. Many of us noticed their cell phones had a connection with the world again, which is nice, or not? It is quite special to be completely out of reach for a while. Complete freedom!

The sea is calm. The weather is bright and sunny. So we finally need our suntan lotion! From time to time there are some high clouds and there is almost no wind. Unfortunately that's not good for our ranking, because the lighter ships all pass us by...

On board there is a quiet and cosy atmosphere, but there is also a lot of activity. We continue doing shifts, some polish all the brass, some bake bread, some enjoy the sun, others read a book or write poetry. There are also more artistic activities like painting on canvas, paper and even on bottles in which we will put a message for the world, hoping to get an answer some day. Message in a bottle!

Hopefully we will pass the finish line today, but everything depends on the wind and current and they're not really in our favour today. We're even drifting a bit off course because the wind is coming from the wrong direction. But the wind is promised to shift to the west so that's what we're waiting for. After the finish it's still 16 hours to AALBORG, our end destination. Maybe we will arrive in a beautiful island and take the dingy to shore, just like the sailors did in old times...

We enjoy this trip to the fullest and look forward to discovering a beautiful part of the Danish coast!

Henk on TS ASTRID - position: 57 degrees 16 minutes NORTH - 008 degrees 48 minutes EAST - 11:00

SORLANDET - 18 JULI 2010
Today the watches were really relaxed. The race is over and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction so we have taken down all the sails and we are continuing on motor.

We are going to visit Sweden. Tomorrow we will arrive at Halmstad and we will stay there until Tuesday. Then we go to Alborg in Denmark when the port is ready to receive all the tall ships.

During our watches we have packed the sails and done a lot of small jobs. Polishing the bell and cleaning the bathrooms are some examples. Right now we are running out of jobs to do. The physical watches still have to complete their duties, but the rest was learning some knots or watching a movie.

My journey is nearly coming to an end in only four days I will take the bus in Alborg back to Antwerp. So I really want to thank ‘het havencentrum’ (cultural center of the port of Antwerp) for giving me this amazing opportunity. I enjoyed every bit of it. Yes, even when I was feeling sick.

This message is a bit short but that is because I haven’t done much today,

I will write to you soon, Sofie de Grootte, trainee at Sorlandet

TECLA 17 JULI 2010
57'34.4N 009'30.4E 17:48 UTC Log written by the Red watch (Stef, Robine, Cedric en Koen) with help from Julie!

Today there was not a lot of wind. At one point we where even going backwards and in circles. But Fortunately we did enjoy ourselves with jokes, songs and riddles. Other boats appeared behind us at the horizon. We hope that the wind will increase so we can make some speed and resume the race! Now it is starting to rain, time to go inside and get our rain clothes and see if the rain brings any wind! Crew Tecla and red watch.

TECLA - 16 JULY 2010
56'27.6N 007'44.5E 18:10 UTC 16/7
This morning we where still number one in our class and now we are waiting for the results of today. The wind has died out a little only to return every now and then when showers pass us by. We had it all today, beautiful sun shine, rain, wind and now wind. We tried to butterfly our sails again, but the waves make it difficult to keep them all full. So now we are on a portside tack again doing 6 knots towards the next waypoint, about 50 miles away. The first vessels have finished the race by now, no big changes in the first 10 vessels in the race. Crew Tecla - Jet

SORLANDET - 17 JULY 2010
WE CROSSED THE FINISHLINE! but lets not get ahead of things:

my second watch at 12:00 started really relaxed, so some fellow trainees and I decided to climb the main mast. It was awesome, we could see denmark clearly and watch the trainees walking around or sunbathing. On the way down I was asked to pack one of the sails. It was really difficult because my arms are short, so i couldn't wrap the rope around the sail. But with some help I succeeded. Later the wind was changing constantly so we had to brace a lot of sails. There was only a break for 3 minutes to drink some tea, but that is OK, it took my mind of the seasickness, then I ate, talked to some people and went to sleep.

My first watch (00:00-04:00) was actualy really nice, we crossed the finish line at about 00:45 (i don't know when exactly, we keep track of time with the bell that the firewatch is suposed to ring) everybody was congratulating each other and hugging and dancing, a moment that i will never forget! We are definitly in the best 10, but our exact place is still a mistery. We are going maybe 4 knots. The wind and the sea are a lot calmer. Then we took some sails down. When we take sails down we need to pack them. They needed everyone who could clime, it was raining and they wanted to be done as soon as possible. packing sails is hard work, these sails had to be packed really tight and they are heavy to lift. But again all went well. Except that i am now completly wet.

The port in Aalborg is ready to welcome the tall ships from the 19th. So i don't know what we are going to do. We could sail in circles, let down the anker or we could visit Sweden. Personaly I prefer the last option. I love the sea but the sea does not always love me back. Plus, i never went to Sweden before and they say you can shop cheaper there ;) Anyway, I am going to sleep a bit (it is now 4 o'clock in the morning)

I will try to write again as soon as possible, Sofie de Grootte - Belgium trainee on board Sorlandet

TECLA 15 JULY 2010
53'53.5N 005'12.1E 19:38 UTC
Yesterday we started the first race in the Tall Ships Races 2010 and we started off without wind.. The start was delayed for 2,5 hours due to lack of wind. This was the calm before the storm. While starting the wind picked up and we soon did 6 knots, but as the night came so did the thunderclouds. All the vessels where still close together when the Eendracht reported windgusts up to 40 knots. We took down topsails and jib, set them again, gibed and tried to get out of the middle of all the 74 racing vessels. By morning we could not see anybody anymore. The first reports came back and we where 4th and 16th. We still had strong winds, 7 bf from the south west, gibed a few times to stay close to our course line and tried to keep as much sail up as possible. This evening the new reports came in and now we are 1 in our class and 12th overall..! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 13 JULY 2010
51'22.5N 003'55.6W 19:02 UTC 13/7
Today we left Antwerp. We had a great time there! We arrived on the 6th at night, and moored around 00:00 UTC. We met up with the Maybe just before entering the Royen lock in Antwerp. It was amazing that starting only a day apart from each other we managed to get into the same lock after 30 days! They moored alongside us, where they stayed for the duration of the Festival. We saw a lot of old friends and had a good time in Belgium. Now we are sailing towards Vlissingen where we will pick up some last parts and then tomorrow the race will start. The start line is about 15 miles out of the shore and will first take us westward towards a waypoint.
The new crew is very enthusiastic! The sails went up and down, we tacked, gibed and cooked dinner as if we have been sailing together for at least the last week! We are looking forward to the start of the race! Crew Tecla - Jet

Sail Antwerp started
10 JULI 2010
At this moment we are sailing at the Westerschelde at the Wylde Swan on our way to Antwerp. Yesterday we had a great day of sailing. Not much wind but we could have all sails up and enjoying the sun. This morning the sunset was really nice. The pilot just came on board and this afternoon we will reach Antwerp. Kruzensthern is sailing close to us.
SEE YOU AT SEA

TECLA 5 JUNE 2010
50'20.2N 000'49.3E 16:34 UTC 5/7
We crossed the Greenwich Meridian again and are back on the east side.
Last night we had some fog patches, a little bit of rain and changing winds, veering from south west to north west. We gybed a few times to stay close to the courseline and when the wind lessened and the current turned against us, we turned on the engine to keep the speed up. Now we are sailing again, we have beautiful weather and with the wind in our back we have our sails butterflyed. The mizzen on portside, the mainsail on starboard, the forestaysail on portside and the jib on starboard again. It looks amazing and we are doing almost 7 knots with the wind directly from behind! A few more miles and we will be able to luff up to the wind a little more towards Cap Gris Nez.

TECLA 4 JULY 2010
49'41.1N 002'10.7W 16:46 UTC 4/7
A beautiful Sunday sail, sun, wind, and landscape to admire. And we had some beautiful scenery today. We decided to take a gamble on wind and current and pass under Guernsey, to make a pass either through the little Russel or the big Russel passage. The wind decreased before we got to Big Russel, so we passed through little Russel. It was beautiful! The wind increased in the passage and with the current running with us we did 10,5 knots at times. Now we are sailing underneath Alderney, trying to find a counter current which will bring us to the other side of the island. So far no luck. The wind is in our back and prevents us from sailing in the precise direction we would like. The Maybe is right next to us, the race is on again!
Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 3 JULY 2010
48'33.9N 004'51.4W 16:27 UTC 3/7
We have just passed Ile d'Ouessant on the east side, getting a bit of the current with us. All the lighthouses on the island gave us a good opportunity for some coastal navigation and explanation.
There is little wind right now and we did not have a lot of wind last night. The weather reports now say that we will have a wind force 4 from the west coming, but so far it has not been more then 1/2bf. The waves are still there, it must have been some storm around Ireland! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 2 JULY 2010
47'10.3N 006'40.1W 17:14 UTC 2/7
We had a tough night last night. It started raining around 22:00 hours and real showers around 00:00 hours board time (UTC +2). The wind was south west force 5/6 with waves building up. As my watch came on at 00:00 hours the wind turned to the north as I was still trying to get my boots on. Sails where flapping, helmsman was confused and we had to wake up the captain. From a backstay wind to close hauled was a big difference in apparent wind. The topsails and jib where having a rough time and so we took down the topsails and planned on taking down the jib. But after we took down the topsails, the wind steadied and we left the big jib up. The blue watch went to bed and the red watch cleaned the deck, the last rope was coiled at 01:50. After that we had rain, a lot of rain. The best sailing suit could not keep the water out and so as we went to bed, we hung our wet clothes in the bathroom and stuck our feet under a warm shower.
During the day we had light winds, with still a big swell, that has only now come below 2 meters in hight.
This evening we listened to the World Championships on the radio! Holland won form Brazil with 2-1!!! We had a small party and orange pumpkin soup for dinner! This evening is definitely one to remember! And this in the middle of the Bay of Biscay!

TECLA 1 JULY 2010
45'16.8N 008'42.5W 16:38 UTC 1/7
Sailing!! Sailing!! Sailing!! The GPS just showed a speed of 9 knots! We are heading north on a south west wind. The wind is expected to turn to the north west, so by that time we hope to make more east. It is a bit drizzly and grey, some of the crew are worried that their tan might be fading.. the things we worry about! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 30 JUNE 2010
43'26.7N 009'17.1W 16:39 UTC 30/6
Together with the Maybe we have found our way to the Bay of Biscay! We are finally sailing, although not very fast and not really towards our goal, but without engine! We started setting sail at about 12:30 board time (10:30 UTC). We had some trimming to do with the head leach of the mainsail and the trimming lines of the jib. So all in all it took until 14:45 before everything was as we wished, topsails included. After that we has some ice cream to celebrate that we are sailing again and that we are on the Bay, with pretty nice weather so far! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 29 JUNE 2010
42'10.9N 009'00.6W 16:31 UTC 29/6
Last night at around 20:00 board time (18:00 utc) the fog came back with a vengeance! The watertight doors where closed and a sharp look out was held. The dog went inside so that her old bones did not get to cold and the heater was turned on. But then at 22:00 we sailed out of the fog and lucky for us, it did not return this time. We set the forestaysail and the mizzen again and are currently motorsailing near Vigo. They expected north easterly winds, but so far we have only had north and north north westerly winds.. During the day we had a workshop about sail setting, handling and which course and sailsetting to what wind. Hopefully we will get a chance soon to practice the theory! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 28 JUNE 2010
40'10.6N 009'27.7W 16:31 UTC 28/6
Today was another hazy day. Only just before dinner did the sun come out. We still have headwinds, but they have decreased in strength and during the day we hardly had any wind. This afternoon we did a small rope game, naming and explaining what the different ropes are used for. Turned out that there was still some room for improvement and so the pinrail diagrams (a drawing of the Tecla with all the places where the lines are belayed) showed up on deck to learn them by heart. Maybe tomorrow we try again. Crew Tecla - Jet

TECAL 27 JUNE 2010
38:32.1N 009'17.4W 16:54 UTC 27/6
Engine is still running, we still have two sails up and are staying close to the shore, where there are a little less waves and wind. Our new wind measurer says that we have between 14 and 22 knots of wind, so max 5 bf, which is very well to handle with only mizzen and forestaysail up. Today was Sunday, so no workshops. We saw some dolphins, bottlenose dolphins as well as common dolphins. The bottlenose ones seemed oversized after seeing so many smaller species along the way. They can grow up to 4 meters, where the common dolphine is only 2,4 meters. Fore those who have read our logbooks last year during the Trans Atlantic Challenge, we had a small banana crisis again, so after dinner we had a bananapuding with warm chocolate mouse. I could not help but think about the adventure we had last year! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 26 JUNE 2010
37'13N 008'58.7W 22:16 UTC 26/6
Headwinds.. we are now only a few miles out of the shore of Portugal. We passed Sagres on 4 miles, a wall where the four of us once stood, together with my grandparents looking out on sea. I don't think I was thinking of the possibility that I would be sailing there some 12 years later..! We have two sails up for support and are using the engine to get to where we want to go. The Maybe has been beside us for the last two days, a nice familiar site. They tried to sail this afternoon, but eventualy only did 1,3 knots trying to get up against the wind. The weatherrepors say we have some strong winds coming our way. We hope to make some miles north before this starts. Wind is now NNW and force 4/5. Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 25 JUNE 2010
36'03.3N 006'06.2W 16:42 UTC 25/6
Finally, the Atlantic!! We arrived in Gibraltar on the 24st around 7:00 UTC. We first took in some fuel, then tried to get a berth in one of the ports, but there was no room for a Tecla sized vessel. We tried some more, but nobody would budge. So we decided to go at anchor on the Spanish side, only a mile further. We first had to wait with crossing the from one side to another due to 2 airplanes leaving. Strange right..? For those who have never seen Gibraltar, it is separated from Spain by an airport with a runway that crosses the highway leading into Gibraltar and ends in sea. When planes arrive and or leave, vessels have to wait until they are safely in the air or on the ground. The afternoon was spend grocery shopping, getting the Tecla ready for the next half of the journey and some swimming. At night a group went to the shore to see the second half of the Netherlands/Kameroen match, but this match was not on the television. The first half we listened to on the radio, old school style. Now we are finally on the Atlantic. We have headwinds, but no more short waves! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 23 JUNE 2010
36'11.2N 004'36.5W 22:25 UTC 23-06-2010
We are closing in on Gibraltar, 32 miles to go. This evening we took away the sails. There was no wind and no expectation of wind, so all is down and ready for the harbor.
During the day we did some Medical drills. We lifted a fake brokenleg out of the front cabins with a stretcher and got her out to be transported with a fake helicopter. After that we some emergency procedures to help people suffocating and getting an unconscious person out of harms way. It was a hot day, so after that we did not do much more.
Tomorrow we hope to take an anchorage for the day, and if everything works out we hope to be on our way when the tide runs out of the straight again. Atlantic here we come! Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 22 JUNE 2010
36'26'1N 001'48'9W 15:43 UTC 22-06-2010
After 4 hours of beautiful sailing, the wind died out as my watch started at 00:00 hours.. Today we have sailed a little bit, and made the best out of no wind by having a swimstop! At noon most of us dove into the water, Nyske also took a dip or two. After that those making a bag out of the old Tecla sails worked on their pieces of art a little more with some tips and tricks of Gijs. During dinner we saw a swortfish jumping out of the water about 300 meters from the Tecla. Some of us had seen one before, but this one really gave a show away hunting after smaller fish.
It is still about 170 miles to go to Gibraltar. We are definitely stopping in Gibraltar for fuel and grocery shopping. Last stop before leaving the Mediterranean. Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 21 JUNE 2010
37'12.0N 000'09.9E 16:15 UTC
Finally the sails are up again and we are doing 5,5 knots towards Gibraltar!! The swell stayed until this afternoon and the lack of wind made us take down the mainsail and the mizzen to prevent them from flapping all over the place. There is still a swell running from the west and one from the south east. Is this possible..? Apparently so..
Midsummersnight is upon us, but here in the Mediterranean there is not a big difference. And we are about to pass the Greenwich meridian, tomorrow no more East longitude, but West! Jet - Crew Tecla

TECLA 20 JUNE 2010
37'42.1N 002'35.9E 15:45 UTC 20-06-2010
The wind stayed all through the night and only lessened this morning. This morning at 9:30 board time we tacked and went south again and around 12:00 board time the wind veered from W to NW, bringing us back on our course line. It is Sunday, so a lazy day, except for de-reeving the main sail. Not much news to report, so siting's of sea life and hardly any vessels around, only cross sea to 'amuse' us.. Jet/ Crew Tecla

TECLA 19 JUNE 2010
37'12.8N 003'49.4E 16:49 UTC 19-06-2010
Head winds.. first hardly any winds, about 3 hours ago up to 7bf en and now lessening by the minute. But the waves stay.
Last night we had a beautiful watch. Even 2 hours of moonlight lit the way. It was a bright night with a lot of stars and a lot of traffic going the same way or exactly the opposite way, mainly not bothering us. On our portside we saw the lights of Africa, and this morning we saw the mountains through the morning dew. Today we tacked a few times to catch the favorable winds, first changed the big jib for the small jib, then reeved the mizzen, and later also reeved the main. So we where a busy lot today. Wind is back to a force 4/5, but the short waves reaching 2/3 meters stay. Now we hope the wind will turn to the north so we can get back on course. Jet/ Crew Tecla

TECLA 18 JUNE 2010
37'18.2N 005'20.5E 15:49 UTC 18-06-2010
Today was a blast! We decided to have a swim stop, as there was not enough wind to sail. But just as we where ready with the lunch dishes, the wind picked up a little, to much for a save swim. So we thought, why not let the dingy into the water and take some pictures from there and then maybe swim from the dingy, just a short splash. And so we did. We set out with only Jannette and Gijs left on board and made a tour around the ship under full sail, she was doing 2,4 knots at the time. As we came to the leeside of the ship, we noticed some splashing and some fins coming out of the water, DOLPHINS!! Al of a sudden we where surrounded by playful dolphins, coming up to the dingy, swimming in front of us and jumping around. Some left to play with the Tecla and as we swung round to take some pictures, they swung round as well. From the dingy we could almost touch them, it was an amazing sight and feeling. They stayed for about 20 minutes and the left us to go swimming.
We played around for about 3 hours, swimming from the dingy, jumping from the Tecla, dragging behind the Tecla on a rope and taking pictures of the Tecla from all sides. After that we had a small snack, we took a shower outside and enjoyed the sunshine for a bit. Tonight we are going to gather all the pictures on a laptop and sort them out. When we get in port, we will send some pictures. Now we are doing 4,5 knots, and 222' over the ground, heading for Africa, then tacking and heading up again, we expect to have westerly winds for the next two days, so we will have to make do. Crew Tecla - Jet

TECLA 17 JUNE 2010
37'34.7N 007'16.9E 15:28 UTC 17-06-2010
Last night was impressive, one to remember. The 20-00 watch (Jannette, Diederik and Irene) started off with a small breeze, which gradually became a strong back stay wind. The Tecla darted around on the small bumpy waves and had speeds up to 8,4 knots. Although there was thunder and lightning all around, it did not seem to effect us. At first.. it seemed.. At the start of my watch (Daria, Matthew, Jet) the wind started turning. There where clouds forming over our heads and rain around us, although we did not get wet. We decided to gybe, but we could not due to changing and lessening winds and the waves. We then tacked and tried to get back on course. The wind increased again and followed the way the thunderclouds where heading. Luckily we could stay on the edge of it all, the lightning was on our starboard side, and stayed there. Winds did increase up to a force 6 at times and from changing directions. Steering the Tecla was difficult and intense. Only at the end of my watch did the wind steady again and after another gybe we where going where we wanted to go. Gijs had been present during most of my watch to handle the sails if necessary, we made a big pot of coffee for his watch (Gijs and Sergei) and then went to bed. A well deserved rest!
Today we have sailed all day, except for maybe 30 minutes where we had no wind. We are heading for our waypoint with 6 knots, which feels pretty good. We had cleaning day today, downstairs and outside. The rain from a few days ago had left a lot of dust on the deck, now everything looks nice again and downstairs smells like daisies.

TECLA 15 JUNE 2010
36'48.9N 12'33.7E 15:35 UTC
Last night during my watch (00-04) we had a beautiful sail! Doing 7 knots close hauled with wind bf 3. We were a little of course, heading north, but it felt good to be sailing! We had taken down the topsails as a precaution because the wind at first was a bit unsteady and went up to bf5 at times. Only short blasts, but enough to want to have the topsails down. This morning we changed the big jib for a smaller one as the wind (after being gone again for 4 hours) became gusty again. But as we changed the jib, the wind was gone again... and so it was all day, wind came form all directions, stayed for a few minutes, then disappeared again to come back from a totally different angle. But it keeps us sharp!
No sun today, even a little rain and cloudy all day long. We decided to change the jib again into the bigger one and after setting it 3 times we decided that was enough workshop for the day, as it was raining, no body complained! Crew Tecla

TECLA 16 JUNE 2010
37'59.1N 009'32.7E 16:21 UTC
We have just crossed behind the Maybe, our fellow class B Tall Ships vessel. We are both sailing with the wind, but with the sails on different sides. It was a beautiful sight, the vessel that once competed in the first Tall Ships Race ever, sailing into the sun. Last night the Maybe came up behind us, both using engine and sails up to temper the shaking due to the (irritating short) waves.
Yesterday was rainy with thunder and lightning around us and changing gusty winds, today is the opposite. Sun and a very small breeze, which became a steady force 3/4 from the east. After dinner we had a frozen watermelon as desert, only in Russian this word changes into something I can hardly pronounce and remember "Arbys" (spoken it sounds like Arbus).. So every day we learn a little more.

TECLA 13 JUNE 2010
36'23.4N 14'02.9E 15:44 UTC
I will not write about the wind again, as long as it's the same story every day, it is not really interesting is it..?
Yesterday was cleaningday and today is restingday, a real Sunday! No workshops, just doing what ever we want. Except for the crew on watch of course. We have almost past Malta and are going through the straight of Sicilia. Waves are toying with us and due to the current lack of wind we will take the topsail and mainsail down as soon as the dinner dishes are done. Hope tomorrow brings some more steady wind.

TECLA 12 JUNE 2010
35'51.3N 16'06.1E
Wind, no wind, wind, no wind, motor, sail, motor, sail... now we sail again, last night we sailed by engine.
Last night was warm but wet and very dark! We saw a dolphin play in the water and light up the phosphorescent algae, but other then that, the night was calm. Although our crew is small, we have a lot of nationalities on board, of course Dutch (4), Russian (2), Norwegian (1) and one from Bermuda! Our language is English and the very International language hand and feet..! I am learning a few new Russian words (euh,,..) and have learned that a lot of words in Norwegian are similar to Dutch, it is just the pronunciation that is different.
During the day we saw a lot of Turtles and during dinner a group of dolphins kept us company doing a backsplash and diving in front of the boat. We hope to keep the wind we have found now, a backstay wind that gives us 4 knots speed.

TECLA 11 JUNE 2010
35'19.5N 18'49.9E 18:15 local time
We are in open water now, during the night watch we only saw a few vessels passing by on a very long distance. Still no moon, but a beautiful starlit sky! The milky way was shown very clearly and falling stars are sometimes as bright as searchlights in the sky! During the night we kept the motor on, but in the morning we finally found some wind! Light winds, but non the less, wind! Speed went up and down between 2 and 8 knots, but with her new sails the Tecla seemed to glide over the water. For me it is the first time sailing with these new sails, and I must say, it is a delight!
During our first 'workshop' we talked about the history of the Tecla, explained the use of the STI trainee logbooks to the new trainees and started working on our diddybags. These are bags made out of the old sails of the Tecla (the old jib) and can be used for a number of things. It introduces the trainees with the needle and tread, with knots and sail making. Lets see what they come up with!

TECLA 06 JUNE 2010
Hi everybody, hope the signal is strong enough!

10-06-2010 35'45N 21'17E 15:47 UTC (18:47 local) After we left Lavrion we set sail, but the wind was not strong enough to carry us. We motor sailed along hoping to find some wind as we came around the Greek island Kithira. Near Kithira there are a lot of unlit islands and wrecks in the water, without the moon it was a strange sight, but we found our way through. What we did not find.. was wind. This morning looked better, topsails went up and we sailed for about 5 hours with an average speed of 5 knots. When the wind turned against us we again turned on the motor. The weather forecast said NE or SE winds, 4/5 bf, so we are still looking to find them. On board all is well. Our new trainees are finding their way on board. Yesterday we held a welcome swim stop. As it had been hot all day most of us went into the water, the dog as well!
Gijs has just turned of the motor, we are doing 6,3 knots by motor, I hope it stays!
greetings Jet - Crew Tecla

TECLA LEFT LAVRION
10-06-2010 35'45N 21'17E 15:47 UTC (18:47 local) After we left Lavrion we set sail, but the wind was not strong enough to carry us. We motor sailed along hoping to find some wind as we came around the Greek island Kithira. Near Kithira there are a lot of unlit islands and wrecks in the water, without the moon it was a strange sight, but we found our way through. What we did not find.. was wind.
This morning looked better, topsails went up and we sailed for about 5 hours with an average speed of 5 knots. When the wind turned against us we again turned on the motor. The weather forecast said NE or SE winds, 4/5 bf, so we are still looking to find them.
On board all is well. Our new trainees are finding their way on board. Yesterday we held a welcome swim stop. As it had been hot all day most of us went into the water, the dog as well!
Gijs has just turned of the motor, we are doing 6,3 knots by motor, I hope it stays!
Jet Sluik

Tecla - 09-06-2010
Wednesday, june 09, 2010 - Tecla is leaving Lavrion today

Today the Tecla sets sail towards Antwerp. With a possible stop in gibraltar for fuel and supplies we hope to arrive in Antwerp on the 10th of july, one months time.
The harbor of Lavrion is empty, the Akela has just left, the sun is still between the clouds, and today is a good day for sailing! The wind is supposed to be good for the next week.
Our trainees are looking forward to seeing water as much as we are, anticipation is a beautiful thing. This will be my first time sailing with the Tecla in almost 5 months.. And the first time with the new sails!!!
greetings from warm Greece - Tecla Crew - Jet

Tecla - 19 May 2010 42 06.7 N 29 10.6 E
It was a grey morning. Last night it was raining. Now the sun is shinning.
Yesterday was grey also, but sometimes the sun came through the clouds and was shinning over Istanbul, Europe capital of culture 2010. It is amazing to see such a big city laying against a mountain, full of the most beautiful buildings. All the mosques and palaces, with golden points, glittering in the sun, on top of the roofs. Next to it, the very new high buildings, with lots of glass and in between, green parks. We went in parade all the way through Bosporus, till the black sea. And there we started, at 15.00 UTC, the second leg of the race to Varna.

The start was with a NE breeze. And sometimes a SW one......The starting ship was moving sometimes a little bit, but everybody got over the starting line at the end. The little breeze was kind to the Tecla. Without swell it went quiet good. We where able to keep up with the first ones. Till this morning, after a lot of tacking, gypping and topsail changing it went good, so good, that after the schedule we heard that we where 1 and 1. Also that the other leg had a better result then we had till now, 1 in class and 3 overall.

Then after a lot of wind changes, there is a NW-ly wind. Not to good for us and the Mir, who lays next to us. first it seemed good to go to the second way point, but this afternoon the wind disappeared completely, and just now, as I am writing this logbook, the wind is going where it should have been all the time, SW, not a lot, but perhaps, if it stays, and gets more a little bit (we are doing 0.3 knots at the moment) we will ever be able to leave way point 2 on our starboard site, just 21.5 miles, on 330 degrees. I hope to tell you tomorrow.

Greetings Jannette

40 41.143 N 27 50.633 E Marmara Sea 16 May 2010
Sorry for all who where waiting for news of the Tecla and her crew. Our radio had a lot of trouble lately to get our e-mails in the air. I hope that from now on, it will be possible to send news more often.

We finished the first leg of the race from Volos to Varna. A race with almost no wind on the first day. The start was delayed three times. At the start there was a nice breeze, but it did not stay for many hours. The first night was more or less totally without wind. Also was the wind from all sites, many boats stayed close to each other. Just a few took the nice breeze to disappear at the horizon. No wind is very hard for a crew, you try to find a breeze, you tack and gyp, close to the wind.... with the wind, the current takes the ship for a dance and before you know it, she makes a round. Then there is a little breeze, the speed goes up, you are happy to see 3.5 knots on the GPS, till it drops again and the frustration attacks you, will we ever be able to do these (only) 150 miles in three days by sail?

And then, when the first ships announce their finishing time, there is a breeze that stays and grows to a real wind, force 5 to 6. We lower the top-sails, the big jib stays on, it is a too good puller to lower, even if we think it is a little bit too much. We start leaving ships behind us and take over, others. We are sailing again, everybody on board is enthusiastic, most skip their 6 hours of sleep, with only 5 trainees onboard and three crew, we are tiered, but every body is in the winning mood again. Speed 8.9 knots, we can smell the finishing line.

At 23 56 51 UTC we finish, just before the wind drops down again. We lower the jib and set the smaller one, the wind picks up again and turns against us. The weather forecast, says: gales coming up. We enter the Marmara sea, start the engine, head winds, and on the Sea of Marmara, in a bay, we drop anchor, have a beer or wine, start the anchor watch, have a good sleep and a late breakfast, the wind is SW 7, the sun is shining, and race control gives the race results. We are number one in our class, we are happy!

Greetings Jannette

Tecla - 27 April 2010 38 46 N 20 33 E
The wind got more and more. The sea got wilder and wilder. The swell worse and worsen. But the speed went up! 8.5 knots! The sea swept a lot of very salt water over the Tecla and her dog, but then, after 6 hours full speed, all of a sudden, the wind died out, just 8 miles out of the coast of Greece.

There it was, laying in the sun, the white beaches, green hills, white houses with pink roofs, the blue water, with millions of sunny diamonds, on this early Sunday morning.

We had to start the engine, because of the...... no wind at all, and dropt anchor near the beach of Levkas. Took the sails down, cleaned the deck and had a nice beer in the sun with a tuna salad and bread. After a shower, Gijs and Adam had a look for the bus station, Jet already had a check on the internet in Holland, wether it was possible to get to Athens by bus or train. And a good thing of Greece is, that they have a perfect, not to expensive, regular, bus connection, almost from every where, to Athens. Adam took the bus at 18.00 local time, so he had still the next morning to see a bit of the city, before his flied home, Ireland. We said goodbye, in the hope to see each other soon again.

After the goodbye, we started our anchor watch and a lot of sleeping. The next day a visit to the town for some shopping, I hope the rest of Greece has as many flowers and balconies as they have here! But we will see that very soon, because we are on our way again, sails up, and guess what....we start with no wind at all again!

Greetings Jannette

Morgenster - 26 april

On Sunday the trainees arrived with nice weather. We had the coffee table set up on the shore and met with the parents dropping off their youngsters. As we left the marine men where there to cast away our lines.

That evening at 19:00 hours we threw anchor near Oude Schild, Texel. We had our evening meal, the Captain had a small talk and then it was time for the lessons to start. First up, familiarization with the ship and safety, climbing the mast (something everybody liked!) and the first work with the sails, it was 22:30 hours before we knew it. During the night we kept anchor watch. Next morning at 7:00 hours we had breakfast, instructions on setting sails and then getting to work and actually setting the sails. We left our anchorage with current in the back, but wind from the front, tacking our way out of the Schulpegat. A lot of work, but very educative!

We did some more lessons sailing during the day and a fire drill, searching for a victim. Everybody is having a good time, incluiding the mentors! A few have mild seasickness, we are sailing south, wind is expected to turn SW tonight, we will then tack and set sail for England.

Greetings,

Lex

morgenster 28 april
The wind is weak, so we have to tack a lot. Sailing under full sail is a lot of work when we have to tack. The trainees have to climb in the rigging and trim the sails for maximum speed. But at 04:00 hours there is no more wind, the end off sailing under full sail and the beginning of sailing on motor. At the break of dawn we wash the deck and have some ‘tosties’ even the once who where sea sick yesterday are feeling better and digging in.
At 12:30 it is happy hours which means on the Morgenster, time to clean the ship, top to bottom and everybody helps out so where done in 1 hour.

After that it is time for a MOB practice. First with a buoy and after that we let the dinghy down and the trainees get to practice retrieving something out of the water whilst the Morgenster is sailing on.
In the distance we see some fins coming out of the water, dolphins? Purpoise?
Then the trainees practice packing away all the sails without help from the professional crew.

Trainee Marijke Zuiddam is on board the Morgenster and says:
I am having a lot of fun! It is good to see how everything works. We learn a lot in school, but now we are able to actually practice in real live. The atmosphere is also very good. The leading staff lets us do a lot our selves!

Greetings from the Morgenster

Tecla - lazy Saturdays - 24 April 37 48 N 18 39 E
Saturday, the first day of the weekend. Saturday, long sleeps, shopping, going to the market, have a coffee with your grand dad (Jet!), work in the garden and in the afternoon, sit with a couple of friends chatting with a beer.
That's what a lot of people are doing today.

But not the Tecla with it`s crew. We are fighting an ESE-ly wind, force 6 to 7, and a sea, who is building up. The main sail is down, it is not good for the shape of new sails, to reef, there for we only sail on mizzen, for stay sail and little jib now. We have a speed of between 5.5 and 7 and we are not going where we want to go. The wind turned this morning more easterly, and that is a pity. Although the wind was going to turn to the west, but till now, no sign of it. We are totally alone, no ships around us and no dolphins. Only a pigeon, who thinks he/she is a sea bird, fly's with us for hours now. Yesterday, there was a plane, we think a weather plane, witch made three rounds, very low, around the ship, we could see the people in the cockpit, we waved to each other.

The waves take the Tecla up, and try to throw her away again. But she does not seem to care. She was build for seas like this, the only ones who complain about it, is the crew, especially when the whole content of the refrigerator, tries to kill me.

Greetings Jannette

Tecla - 22 April 2010 36 25 N 15 16 E
After a day of motor sailing, because of a lack of wind, we are now sailing again. Not really speedy yet, but we are sailing in the direction of Greece. The weather forecast said we would have south east winds, 5 to 6, some times 7. Until now, only the direction is correct. This afternoon we took the topsails and big jib down, because of the predictions, that means that with this wind, a 3 Beaufort and sometimes a little 4 Beaufort, we miss them a lot.

Sailing with four people, is amazingly quiet, after a group of 16 persons.
Jan and I do the 6 to 12 hours shift, and Gijs and Adam the 12 to 6. As it is still early in the season, we only see fishing boats and big cargo ships. Till now, we only saw a two sailing yachts near Sicily.

This morning we saw Malta, you could see the big defence buildings, or castles and the steep coast line. Also we saw a lot of airplanes, so we guess, that all planes go normal again. The wind is picking up a bit, the radio gives an alarm, we hear a Dutch war ship saying that they have finished shooting. The radar is on, visibility is getting less, it is cloudy so tonight we will have to do without the moon and the stars. Now there are only the sounds of sails, the wind through the ropes and around the masts and the singing propeller. I go for a cup of coffee, still three hours til the end of the watch, and 300 miles to Greece.

Greetings Jannette

Tecla - 21 April 2010 37 05 N 13 11 E
The race is over, we all did the sail parade, most of the ships are now on their way to next appointments. The Far Barcelona is on her way to Barcelona, the Kaliakra to Varna, The Palinuro to Palermo and with the Palinuro, a lot of northern Italian trainees, who could not fly home. Also here, during the race and festivals, there were a lot of discussions, how to come home. Paolo, the journalist on board of the Tecla, had a flight to Milan of 1,5 hours, now he will be at home, after a ferry, train, subway, bus, in about 40 hours!

We are now on our way to Lavrion, Greece. We hope to do there some promotions for the coming Tall Ship Races of the Historical Seas.

You think back of all the good thinks there where. The very good pesto meal, one of the Genua mothers made! I got the recipe, the best pesto is made in Genua they say! ( to day we cooked a real Dutch meal, baked potatoes, salad, fresh beans and a cutlet). The very nice Parade, with people from Trapani. The ice cream, Gijs and Adam have been eating, offered by guests of the day trip, Gijs said: the best ice ever! All the parents and trainees, who where daily on board to say thanks for the great experience they had during the race.

Now, the only trainee on board, is Adam, we will bring him as near as possible to Athena, where he will fly home again, if the airplanes will ever fly again! Otherwise, he has to become a sea man, for the rest of this year, and we will bring him, later on this summer to England, on our way to the Tall Ship Races 2010. I think he would not mind, he loves the sea, the
dolphins and new places.

Many greetings to all Jannette

TECLA - 15 April 2010 36 58 N 011 48.2 E
A sunny evening, after a cloudy day, all sails up, a speed of 6.5 to 7.0 knots, still 49.4 miles to go to Trapani, estimated time of arrival: 0:42 UTC
We just had diner on the deck, the red watch is doing the dishes now. It was cleaning day, to day. We want the Tecla to look good, if we enter Trapani, we also have open ship, tomorrow afternoon, so we have to look nice for all the people who are visiting the ships.We got a few e-mails, saying that we where number one in our class, but we are sorry to say, that we are number 2, and that the results from yesterday, where different, because not every ship had given their finish position by that time. That makes us number 2 in class and number 6 over all. The definitive ones, there still could be a protest or something like that, witch can change everything again, will come after we are in Trapani. The race director will do that after checking the "race declaration forms"We are glad to sail most of our time to Trapani, this would have been a wonderful wind for the race, also the youngsters are more interested now, then under motor. Our Sicily boys are looking a lot on the gps, to see the speed and distance to their home port. It must be wonderful their, many fishing boats and a long history of sailing. At the moment everybody is making jokes about the swallows (about ten), which try to attack the ship, by flying against the sail, we told them to fly north, they seem to be tired. The dolphins here, are the opposite, they jump roll and play all day long, Jan hit almost a turtle, a small one, it looked backwards, as if it was saying, mind your speed!

Greetings Jannette

Kaliakra - 15-04 1200h 39'17N 011'44E 6.5knots

Preliminary placings in class A on corrected time:
> 1.Astrid
> 2.Oostershelde
> 3.Tenacious
> 4.Pogoria
> 5.Kaliakra
> 6.Palinuro - retired

Brgds
Capt.Kaludov

Astrid - The results are in!
At this mornings radio schedule, where all the ships give their position to race control, we heard that the decision was made to finish the race at sea.
If the weather forecast is such that the fleet will have problems to arrive in the next port on time the race committee can decide to let the fleet finish at sea. At nine UTC the race was finished and 15 minutes later the finish positions were passed on to race control. The fleet placings were extra exciting for us, because we did not know how good the Oosterschelde, second in our class the day before, had sailed during a night with light winds for us. The night before we saw how different the wind can be even at a small distance, as we and Tenacious, sailing at about 4 knots, passed Kaliakra and Far Barcelona who were struggling to get their ship moving at a distance of only 5 miles!

Tonight the preliminary results are in and it is almost certain(but not yet
definitive) that Astrid is 1st in Class A! By my knowledge this is the very first time Astrid has won a Tall Ships Race, in 2008 we won the second prize in the Funchal Tall Ships Regatta, but never first!

This afternoon the trainee crew started to stow the sails in a calm sea.
We are expecting to arrive in Trapani in the early morning of the 16th.

Willem van der Wel
TS ASTRID

TECLA - 14 April 2010 41 28 N 10 41 E
On this cloudy, all most misty day, the race ended, because of the lack of wind, now, but also in the coming days.

After a night of just laying and drifting with 0.4 till 0.9 knots in different kind of directions, we took the mainsail down. It was horrible to see the new sail shaking and hitting it self. Because of the heavy boom and gaff, she constantly went from one site to the other. We hoped that the clouds would bring us some wind, but they did not move all day. We are in a large area with the same air pressure. about 1012 mbar. We looked on different weather maps, but we did not find one, who showed us a change in the weather/wind. It is sad that we now do not know what the new sails can do. We think we are faster with light winds, but there has to be wind to get the Tecla moving. We are glad to see, that we where the third big ship ahead of the others, only the Oosterschelde and the Pandora where ahead of us.

This morning we where 2 in class and 6 overall. The yachts went up in the overall positions, except for the Pandora, who kept the 1 in class and 1 overall, we saw here a long time on the radar, last night, but this morning she was gone. And let me not forget the Astrid, she is still number 1 in the A class.

Now we are on motor again, still 184 miles to go to Trapani, where we will arrive early in the morning on Friday.

And as I am writing this, a little wind from the ESE is coming up, time to set sail...till tomorrow

Jannette

Kaliakra - 14-04 41'39N / 10'21E / 6.5/156/
from 13.04 trere is a dead calm.
today at 0900 utc/ 1100 lt race control announced finish at sea. The ship proceeds to Trapani on engine. Acc the position at v 0600 utc the interim position on class A is:

> 1.Astrid
> 2.Oostershelde
> 3.Tenacious
> 4.Kaliakra
> 5.Pogoria
> 6.Palinuro - retired

Brgds
Capt.Kaludov

TECLA - 13 April 2010 - 41 40 N 10 25 E
Yesterday night, was a good night. It was beautiful sailing, up till 9 knots, turning winds, good for us, we had the sails on the right side. But this is the Mediterranean Sea, the wind can drop down to nothing in minutes, and that happened at three o`clock last night. It picked up again this morning at eight, and turned from NW to NE, all hands on deck to gibe. Luckily, this is the time the watch changes, but also breakfast time, that means enough people, but hungry! Some protested, working with an empty stomach, but in a race, the ship always is the first to take care of.
The fleet is still very close to each other. We can see at least six ships, and that makes it on one hand very nice, at the other hand, it means that the placing's in the regatta differ by every mile difference, because many ships have all most the same rating. At the moment we have a speed of 0.9 knots, we are doing that for several hours now, the first ship all ready retired, the Palinuro, an Italian navy ship. More ships are whispering about it. We still hope for wind, it does not matter from which site , as long we do not have to motor, the race feeling just started, a race for two days, would be to short.
We are now 2 in our class and 3 over all, but that can change any minute, it depends on who is the fasted drifter to night.

Greetings Jannette

Light spells - ASTRID 13 april
With a spectacular start of the day racing close to Tenacious the day was predominated by light or no wind. But the morale on board is high as we are 1st of our class! The first night of the race did us very good. During the
0-4 watch we overtook Kaliakra who was 5 miles to the west of us, becalmed, while we were sailing at a steady 4 knots.
At this mornings position report the fleet seemed to be very close, and we received the good news that we were 1st. And although at 0200 we made the first logbook entry with a speed of over 1 knot in 8 hours we seem to be doing good. As far as we can see all the ships are in the same situation.

With the trainees watching out for shooting stars I hope one of them wishes for better winds.

Greetings from a very very calm Mediterranean sea.
Willem van der Wel
TS ASTRID

The fleet has left Genova - ASTRID
Saturday our trainees arrived, a mixture of nationalities and ages. Directly after they found their cabins we instructed our new crew in one of the most important things on board a square rigger, going aloft. They learned how to use a safety harness and how to climb in the mast. Sunday morning their newly acquired skill was needed directly after breakfast. We were getting ready to sail and this meant that the sails needed to be unpacked. And when we left Genova we manned the yards as a thanks to the port for their hospitality.

Sunday afternoon the decision was made by the race committee that we were not going to start that day. A lack of wind in the Gulf of Genova and better forecasts further south meant that the fleet sailed 60 miles in the direction of Trapani.

This morning we were able to start. The start line was opened at 1100 local time and Astrid went over the line at 29 seconds after that.
After this exciting start the winds were light and we sailed towards Trapani with a speed around three knots.
Monday evening we sailed past Elba where the wind increased and we were doing 6 knots for a while, but this did not last long.
We went through a night with the wind varying quite a bit, our speed ranging from 0,1 to 7,6 knots. Around 8 o'clock we were right besides Tenacious and Den Store Bjorn. This is the first time I have seen a race fleet stay so close together. Unfortunately Tenacious got from under our wind coverage and sailed of with 8 knots. But the battle is not won. There are three more exiting days to go.

Greetings from all on board TS ASTRID

Tecla - April 12 Garibaldi Regatta 2010
12 April 2010 - 42 53 N 10 02 E

To day we started! After a night of motoring, early in the morning there began a little breeze. We all hoped that it stayed, and it did, so the Race Control announced the start should be between 09.00 UTC and 11.00 UTC. All the ships where at that moment, near the starting line. The weather forecast was difficult for us. It said that there would be more wind later on the morning, do we start immediately or will we start later on? Well, we started with the last ones, and the wind dropt down, it was perhaps not the best choice, because it got less and less.
The wind was the whole day NE, so we all had to sail with the wind, for some ships a nice course, but we prefer it more from the site. And because there are a lot of islands in our way, we chose to let Isola Capriaia at our starboard site. So did the Far Barcelona, who is faster then we are, with light winds with the wind. Luckily the wind picket up as the sun went down, now we are in the race again. Near Isola D`Elba, the wind turns,that means, all hands on the sheets. The young Italians like to pull robes, it was done in a minute. This evening we had the 8 for the first time on the gps.
At 19.00 UTC we got the results of the day, we are now 3 in class and 11 over all. Its the first day, and if the wind helps us a little bit, who knows

Greetings Jannette - Crew Tecla

Tecla - April 11 - Garibaldi Regatta
11 April 2010 43 58 N 009 09 E

This day the race should start, but I am sorry to say, that we did not. No wind. The day started with SE 4 to 5, and as the sun came more and more, the wind went totally away. We are all motoring now to the second start line, 60 miles further on sea. So we will have the start tomorrow morning, or.....
Our trainees on board are except one, Italian. The exception is Adam, from Northern Ireland, who did the last part of the Trans Atlantic, with us last year. 9 Of them are from Trapani, Sicily, a nautical school, 2 of them from Genua the rest more from the north of Italy. All are between 16 and 23, except one, he is 45 years and a journalist, writing for a beautiful Italian boat magazine. He makes a lot of photo's, so we hope to show you some pictures, when we are in Trapani.
To day was not a successful day. The parade line was in the wind, so no nice sailing pictures. And, the sea is not nice to our trainees, more then half of them was, or is, sea sick, mal de mare, they say in Italy, sounds better, but the effects are the same. I hope fishes like union bread and spaghetti Bolognese. I have 300 pills to offer them, warm tea and dry bread, so lets hope that tomorrow, there is some wind, so they will all feel better very quick. Also the race feeling will get them up their feet again, and we will know if the new sails bring us, what we think they can. Our rating went up, so our speed has to do the same!

Many greetings Jannette - Crew Tecla

ASTRID AND TECLA IN GENOVA
Genoa here we are!

The Astrid has arrived this morning around 9 o'clock local time in Genoa. The third day of the trip started with setting all the sails again and after that we sailed for two days past the Cote d'Azur; St Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo. And we met up with Tecla again, seing their two masts on the horizon!

The evening before easter the wind died and at the point where the speed went below one knot we decided to start the engine again, to arrive in Genoa on sunday before the expected SE 8 bft.

And we did arrive this morning, finding Tecla already in the Molo Vecchio, between the superyachts. You could notice that a tall ship is an unusual site fore the people of Genova, as we had quite a few bystanders when we were stowing our sails.

Now it is time for us to find our eastereggs!

Tecla - April 3 2010
43 48 N 008 07 E 3 April

After a day of beautiful sailing, a sunset over the gulf of Lyon, a red almost full moon, the Astrid at the horizon, under full sail, live could not be better. The wind, SE 3 bft, sometimes a little bit more, but not the 5 and 6 the weather forecast was talking about. A pity, but better then a storm. Even this morning, a red sun and dolphins, a weather report saying SSE 4 to 5, Lyon gusts 8. Tomorrow NW......8. The barometer is falling slowly. In the morning the clouds are growing, and getting blacker, but the wind is what they said, SSE 4, we have a nice speed, and dreams about long sleeps, tonight in the harbor of Genoa. The Astrid we cannot see anymore, we left here behind, we think.
And then, all of a sudden, just sailing along the coast of Monaco, the land of kings, queens and movie stars, where you always see the pictures of beautiful people in bathing suits in magazines, the wind drops, till zero, then turns all the 360 degrees, stops by SW 1, and what is left from all, is a terrible cross sea.
It is time to weak up Gijs and take the sails down, a hell of a job with new sails. It takes us more then an hour. Monaco lays in the clouds, the wind turns again, now to the NNE 1, a very cold air flow is going with it.
The engine is working, the new weather bulletin is saying, Provence S 4 to 6 turning NW 7 to 8, tonight. So now we hope, they are wrong again.

Greetings Jannette - Crew Tecla

Tecla - April 2 2010
42 38 N 005 32 E 2 April 2010

As every body already could see, the Tecla has new sails! And believe it or not, that is a hard job. Sails, good sails, have a body and a soul, so if you put them up the first time, you do not know them, its like you are a stranger on your own sailing boat. So after trimming the sails in the harbor of Benicarlo, we had a lot of trimming at sea. And as we are only the three of us, and the sails are with a lot more.....we have pain every where now, but....we think it is a real success. With a breath of 3 beaufort she went like a youngster through the water! Our new jib, more the old version cut (lower to the jib boom), is a real puller and a beauty. The main sail gave us the most trouble, but it looks like we will be best mates after some fight's.
The first hours after our departure we had some very good sailing moments, beautiful weather, sun fishes, dolphins, whales,the Astrid, who was our neighbor for a month, a head of us, so we where in good company!
The wind on the Mediterranean is not the easy steady wind, sailors like a lot, speed, but also the direction is not steady. So we jibbed and tacked till the wind died out and only an awful short swell stayed, pulled the main and mizzen down and the engine on. Now every thing is up again, the wind is southwesterly 2/3 bft, speed about 5 to 6 knots. It is a little bit cloudy and the wind is fresh. For this evening, the forecast says, the wind will be backing to south force 4 to 5, possibly 6. So we hope they are right,to see what the sails can do with a bit more wind!

Jeanette - Crew Tecla

ASTRID ON THE MED
After a good day of sailing we went into the night(overtaken by Tecla) with still all sails on, and the sight of a whale at sundown. But just after midnight, as if an April fools joke, the wind turned 180 degrees in a matter of minutes. You can imagine that it might take quite some effort to adjust all the sails to such a wind change. It was a night with little rest for the crew. In the morning we were quite close to Tecla again, but around 8 o'clock we started our engine to cope with the head winds we were now confronted with.

The Mediterranean seems to have many surprises, from whales to its infamous wind changes.

Right now, 0100 UTC on the 2nd of April we are under sail again, slowly progressing towards Genoa using only the forces of nature. It still amazes me how a ship of 250 tonnes can be propelled all around the world only using the power of the wind in its sails.

See you in Genoa!

Willem van der Wel
On board TS ASTRID

PRE RACE TO GENOVA
The Race has already started!

Although the Tall Ships Race season did not even start, on board Astrid we are already in full racing mode. The Astrid and Tecla just departed from the port of Benicarlo Spain and we have pointed our bow towards Genova for the Garibaldi Tall Ships Regatta.
The Tecla left a few hours behind us, but are slowly catching up on us. Right now we are almost under full sails, in a few minutes we will set the main course and all our 17 sails will be set! But I can see that on board Tecla the topsails are being set, so I think we are not the only ones ready for the Tall Ships Races.

See you in Genova!

Tecla - 25 Februari 2010 - Getting Ready for the Races!

Getting ready for the races!

The Tecla is moored alongside the dockyard in Benicarlo. We are working hard on getting the ship ready for her annual check. And of course to get a fresh paint job on her.

Last year we crossed the ocean, we even won the Trans Atlantic Challenge, and this year we are out to discover more!! And we have new sails coming up! On the docks we will clean the hull so no more Bermudan seaweed clinging on. And loads of new countries to visit, so nothing can stop us! The race will be on!!

The sails are made by Arjen Kooij, the cousin of Jan. They are specially designed for the Tecla and more so to race!! On our blog we have already shown a few pictures of the sail when Gijs and Arjen where still working on them. They are ready now, and as soon as they are on board (after we have docked) we will post some more pictures.

Hope to see you all on board!!

Crew Tecla

Tecla - 1 february 2010
02-02-2010 33' 03.7' N 11' 36.9' W

We left La Palma again and are on our way to Benicarlo, Spain. There we will go to set the Tecla dry, in early march. The two month on La Palma where wonderful. The Christmas storm kept us from painting, but still we did already a good part of painting. At the moment, the weather is a bit disappointing. Our shorts are in the wardrobe again, now we have to wear our oil goods. As we left, there was a south easterly wind, so that was a nice sail, at the moment the wind is east,so we started the engine to help the sailing a bit. Around us, is a lot of thunder, some times rain, but also blue sky's, so we can take off our jackets. The first group of dolphins and gannets already said hello, also we saw an orange turtle, warming in the sun! The nights are clear, just after a full moon, Orion leads us again, but now on starboard site. It is good to be on the sea again. -
Crew Tecla

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TECLA - 3 december
At this moment, we are on La Palma, in the harbor of Sante Cruz. Our Swiss group has left the ship for a week now.
With the group, we visited after Zapata, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Puerto de Vueltas or also called, Gran Valle Rey (valley of the great king) San Sebastean de la Gomera and we finished our 10 weeks sailing trip on Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. And because of the beautiful weather, the youngsters have been swimming and body surfing a lot!
Since a few days, the weather is not so nice. There are showers during the day, it is about 20 degrees, but the nice weather will return this weekend, we saw on several weather sites.
The crew changed, Gijs is back to Holland and Jet is now on board. Till now we fill our days with clear and cleaning the ship, the engine room and other little jobs.
Jet already made our calendar for next year, together with At Sea Sail Training, in Holland. It will be a year with a lot of Tall Ship Races, a lot of countries and a lot of miles!
Gijs will help our sail maker in Holland, making new sails for the Tecla! And also about this project we will keep you informed!
For now, the ship will stay on La Palma, the island with the most palm trees of all the Canary Islands, in the coming weeks we will tell more about this also!

TECLA - 15 november
28 31.99 N 16 07.944 W
Just a short report. We dropt anchor at Zapata, north Tenerife, yesterday afternoon. We are anchored between high, bald rocks. With only a couple of little (fisherman?) houses. It is hot, about 26 degrees, also the sea is nice warm, that means that there is a lot of swimming. If the tide is low, there even is a little, black, beach, where you can play with the ball. Everybody has a good time. Nyske is walking around again, she swims or asks for a shower, this morning she was caught by a swell and she went completely under water, she did not like that!
Our program around the Canary Islands is not definitive, but when the weather stays like this, it can not be difficult to have a nice time here!

TECLA - 13 november
30 01’ N 15 03’ W
Still 103 miles to go before we drop anchor. The wind is now westerly, as the weather forecast already was saying, but so less that it is of no use. The sails are still up, but also the engine with 800 turnings. Again a gigantic star night. We try to recognize them, but there are so many! Orion, you can recognize very well, with its three clear stars as a belt. Also the Great Bear is no problem. But whether we see the Unicorn or Cassiopeia is already more difficult.
Sailing with engine is and will be always annoying. Everybody gets a little bit restless, the main question is all day : how long still to go? The temperatures of water and sea are getting very pleasant now, water temperature 23 degrees, so every body longs to swim and stroll along the beach. The sailing suites are in the closet now, and in the morning about 9.30 o'clock we put on our shorts. In the afternoon we have a swim stop. And even now, 21.00 hours, the temperatures are still very pleasant. The only thing we can complain about, is the short days, at 19.00 hours, it is dark. So we are forced to eat in site, because with a moonless night, it is difficult (read: sloppy) to eat at the aft deck. Our legs and arms get Charlston colors again and we are very pleased with that.
Tomorrow afternoon we will drop anchor near Tenerife and then the last part of the expedition will start. Walking, swimming, bananas, papayas, black beaches…..I am looking forward to a winter on the Canaries!

TECLA - 12 november
32 21.380 N 13 37.840 W
Bonjour, je m'appelle Bogdan, j'ai 17 ans et je fais actuellement partie de l'equipage du Tecla.
Ca fait depuis le 15 septembre que je suis a bord et j'ai beaucoup de plaisir. Jan, Jannette et Gijs sont de tres
bons capitaines et Jannette fait tres bien la cuisine. J'apprecie beaucoup les regles et l'environnement du Tecla.
J'aurai pour ma part fini mon voyage le 25 novembre mais ca ne sera pas la derniere fois que je serai sur le Tecla.
J'aime beaucoup le monde marin et le Tecla, j'aimerai revenir a bord lors d'une course qui se deroulera en 2010.

Nous avons commence la journee avec un vent de force 2. Vers 3h00 le vent baisse et nous allumons le moteur.
Actuellement, nous naviguons toujours au moteur et comme la mer est tres calme nous avons pu en profiter pour passer
une journee assez tranquille. Les quarts ont ete tres sympas, dans le mien que je commence a 8h00, Jannette nous a appris
mes collegues de quart et moi, a nous reperer a l'aide d'une carte marine. L'apres-midi a ete consacre au
nettoyage du bateau. Cela s'est passe dans la bonne humeur et a la fin le bateau etait niquel. Les capitaines ont ete
tres contents et ont arrete le bateau pour que nous puissions nous baigner en plein milieu de l'Atlantique. Ca nous a
fait du bien parce qu'il faisait tres chaud et nous avons eu beaucoup de plaisir. Le bateau redemarre en direction
de Tenerife ,les quarts recommencent et la journee poursuit son cours tranquillement.
Nous sommes actuellement a 255 miles nautiques de notre destination et suivons le cap de 205.

Hello, my name is Bogdan, I'm 17 years old and I am actually part of Tecla's crew.
I am on board since the 15th of September and I'm having a lot of pleasure. Jan, Jannette and Gijs are very good captains and Jannette cooks very well. I do appreciate a lot the rules and the environment of Tecla. I will for my part, finish my trip on the 25th of November but it won't be the last time I will come on Tecla. I like the sailing world a lot and the Tecla, I would like to come back on board for a race that will take part in 2010.

We have started the day with a wind force 2. By 3:00am the wind decreased and we turned the engine on. At this moment, we are still navigating by engine and since the sea is calm we managed to have a quiet day. The watches have been very nice, in mine which I start at 8:00am, Jannette taught my watch colleagues and I, how to position ourselves on a sea chart. The afternoon was dedicated to cleaning the ship. That was in a good atmosphere and at the end the ship was as new. The captains were very happy and stopped the ship so that we could swim right in the middle of the Atlantic. That was very nice because it was very hot and we had a lot of pleasure. The ship's engine is on again towards Tenerife, the watches have started again also and the day continues quietly. We are now at 255 nautical miles from our destination and our course is 205.

TECLA - 11 november
Wednesday 11th of November, 34'16.8 N - 12'33.8 W

Good evening everybody! My name is Sophie and I am 25. I finished my architecture studies in France last year and decided to do a gap year preparing and participating in the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge with the two French class B schooners, Etoile and Belle Poule. This gap year is getting more and more extended because I am now sailing on Tecla since almost two months... Already! Time really flies away when you are having good fun somewhere. But my trip is almost finished because I am leaving next week, a few days before all the youngsters on board; and the only thought of it in my mind makes me sad. Hopefully I still have a few very nice and sunny days left, which will maybe be the best, who knows!

The first time I really met Tecla was last year in Vigo (Spain) in the beginning of the Atlantic Challenge. I was sailing on Etoile as the "communication officer" and so I could hear and be in contact with Tecla daily for the race control positions. I first met Jet and Gijs on a party given by the Urania in Tenerife (Canaries) and then we met in each race port call. During the last race between Halifax (Canada) and Belfast (Ireland) my captain received an email from Tecla asking if I would eventually be interested and available in sailing on Tecla, as a translator for a group of young Swiss...
Of course! who would have thought that would really happen? Me, sailing on the every time winning ship? THE ship who would always cross the finish line before us, all sails set and full of wind on both ships; with whom we would always compare our positions and try to get more miles on her daily... But that of course Tecla didn't know: she was already far ahead to see us behind!
So of course, I accepted this once in a life offer with a lot of joy! Who wouldn't have?
And that is how it all started for me here on board...

Here I try to do my best to be efficient on the deck with either holding the helm, helping in the kitchen, translating; even though most of the young try now to speak English by themselves and sometimes do not want to be helped anymore. If at sea the first hours (or more depending on the swell as you know the last few days were quite terrible!) I am sometimes seasick, there is always things to do to keep my mind off of it and smile: Jannette has a lot of little games to play to know the rigging better for the young either with words or drawings and we have to get what it is and where. I must say some drawings are not very easy to understand sometimes but then that's what makes the game funny and difficult at the same time!
On a ship like this, if you put your heart in it, you might get quite poly valent afterwards... If you like cooking, you just have to stay in the kitchen, putting yourself at work, all together, cutting and learning all the secrets of Jannette's delicious soups or Jan's Chinese meal like we had this evening: " Succulent" like we say in France for a 3 stared Michelin restaurant... Either you can stay on the deck, in the nice warm sun, to sew! Today we continued our ditty bags sewing and stitching; trying to help each other and see how one has done his to do the same and get the good ideas out. It is nice to see how some young really get involved in choosing their colored thread, the way they want the stitches to be seen... and how doing something all together during the workshop makes a day well fulfilled!

In fact to be a good sailor we have to learn all of these jobs at the time: cook out of nothing wonderful meals, sew to repair a ripped sail, to make time joyful and nice for everyone have a lot of humor and good stories.... we have still a lot to learn from the Tecla Family! But then these are only the extras. Most of all we learn how to sail: finding the wind, even if we don't feel anything breeze; the direction of the swell, even if it seems to come from everywhere; holding the helm and staying on the correct course, even if the waves makes the compass turn in all directions; being outside watching the horizon for a ship, even if it is cold and rainy and our eyes are begging to close... but then comes the shiny sun waking up in the east and going to sleep in the west, the dolphins, the falling stars, the silence of the ocean... anything you can get on a ship but not on land that makes this trip unforgettable!

Thank you for all. For sure I will do my best to come back, even if I have to sleep in the cellar or attached on a rope hanging behind the ship!

Our course is this evening 210, heading directly to the Canaries. We are at an average speed of 5,5 knots and have still 378 miles to go before arriving. This night we will be half way since we left Cascais.

TECLA - 10 november
36 09.65 N 11 54.74 W - But, their was no going to Madeira the next day. We did the shopping, we had fresh clothes, the water tanks full and then came the last night in the city for the youngsters. And that went not that well. We needed for that more then just an hour talk together. Happily now we are on the "road" again. Yesterday afternoon, we left Cascais behind us, with an awful high sea and not enough wind to let the Tecla sail smoothly through the swell. Luckily the primmest wind force 4 to 5 from northerly directions came 20 miles out of the coast and we could enjoy the smooth Tecla speed of 9.5 up to 10.5 knots. A marvelous, moonless, star and milky way night, full sail, an old jib as mizzen stay sail, no fishermen to give way to, we rumble in to the night. Estimated time of arrival, 12 November 20.30 hours. The young are astonished about the quick arrival! Plans are made what we all can do on the Canaries, now we get a lot of extra time with this marvelous speed. Bud, we saw the weather forecasts for the next days, and that this will only stay for a short time, if we don't hurry, we will even have to face a southwest wind against us! Before midnight the wind drops heavily, the swell gets more grip on us. This means that a large part us the crew is not able to do any thing during the watch. The morning starts grey, not cold, 20 degrees, the same temperature as the ocean, the sun comes out in the afternoon , by that time the wind is gone more to the north east, so we have to gyp , lower the topsails (and mizzen staysail) and set every sail again at the other site. This course is a more comfortable one with this swell, most of the ill get collar again and want to eat again. Gijs puts the amok under the boom of the mizzen and everybody who wants to lay in it, has to tell a nice story. The shorties come out, together with the cough drinks and tablet. The wet weather brought an awful cough and cold by a lot of the crew members. Our eta is now, November the 14 th 19.35 hours, but as soon as the wind has a dip again, it takes a day extra. We are enjoying our seconde star night, this time with a lot of falling stars. The wishes we can not say lout, every body can guess, for the time being, we enjoy the sailing and the atmosphere on board, witch has improved a lot.

TECLA - 5 november
38 42 N 09 25 W - And the wind brought us to Cascais. An old city, on the west coast, 30 minutes with the train, to Lisbon. With a NNW wind, a bit searching sometimes and getting more and less again, it was a very nice sail. In 33 hours we where at anchor, next to the marina of Cascais. After being 6 weeks on board now, the youngsters know their job better and better. Everybody has a favorite spot during the working on board, by setting and folding. Also, some start feeling the pride of getting the ropes really turned perfect, or the gaffs in line!. That makes the work easier and faster, so we are ready for the tea, coffee and coca cola more rapidly every time. During our trip, the weather forecast getting stranger by the hour. We notice that the swell is building up to more than 3 meters, by a wind of not more then 4 Beau fort. On the navtex we read that ports are closing along the west coast. It starts with small entrances, but after that the bigger once also. Aveiro, the port where we last year started the Funchal 500 Race, closes for ship up to 15 meters. After that, Porto closes for all ships and soon after Aveiro less than 35 meters. The weather forecast now does not only speak about wind, but mainly about the sea state: heavy waves. The wind is mainly over de Bay of Biskay, and the Atlantic Ocean, NW 9, but the waves are along the total west coast, all the way up to Casablanca.
We are going to get a berth in the marina. We have to take in water, a lot of eating's for a week and of course clean cloth. Out site, in the bay, container ships are at anchor, we see them go from port to starboard, they have eating problems now. In the marina we lay next to the big white motor yachts. Three double deck, double engine, double cleaning women etc. it is a little bit strange, but we get used to it very quickly. Cascais is a friendly clean town. There is a fortress with old buildings in it, witch they are restorating at moment, every where you find little beaches with rocks in the town. The fishing boats are rather small, they mainly fish with lobster traps and pots for crabs, earlier baked ones, now made of plastic. On the quay every fisherman has his own spot for all his gear. We try to find as much weather forecasts as possible, to know what the swell will do tomorrow. As it looks now, we can leave tomorrow, most of the swell must have been gone by then. Now the swell is 8 till 10 meters. We will see, it is not a disaster to be here, but Madeira is waiting for us.

TECLA - 3 november
40 24.6 N 009 21.2 W. It took us a lot of time, 53 hours to be exact, before we could, after a lot of tacking and turning winds, enter the harbor of Leixoes. But it was not a boring journey. With a little bit more then half moon, we did not have a great star sky, but for that, we good spot the lots of dolphins very good, even by night. We will put the photo's in the logbook as soon as possible. And with a small wind you can tack with a small crew, so we did that a lot, without waking up the whole group. Leixoes is a suburb from Porto. I am sorry to say, but it will never win the price for nicest city. If you come near the harbor, you see a lot of breakers against and over the sea breaker/wall, you have to go through it if you want to enter the harbor. So we had to clean the lunch table again (we did not have the lunch yet!) to make not too much damage downstairs. After entering you sail into a bay. On port side the oil harbor for tankers, starboard the fishery harbor and more to the big bridge the container ships and ferries. Behind a big wall is the marina, and that is the harbor we want to go alongside, to have all a good nights rest. But we are to tall, they say, to come in, we should go at anchor in the bay. Gijs, who really wants a long night sleep, complains as long till the harbor master agrees we go alongside the bay side wall. So we do, big fenders are already hanging there, so we are very pleased, till one of our Urania ropes gives a gig bang and is gone, we take our orange heavy weather land-line, but the ship keeps shaking and making strange noises. So we decide to drop anchor, 40 meters, but with two lines ashore at the aft, so we only have to look after the lines a few times at night . As we are finishing the last lines, the fog signal starts to blow the horn, we can not see the entrance anymore! We are lucky, it would have been very difficult to enter the port with this weather. The group takes the bus to Porto, and Nyske is going for a beach walk and swim. The beach is beautiful, except the all waste that is lying around, Next to the beach is a kind of boulevard, on the beach are several very modern beach-bars and even a swimming pool in the ocean of grey concrete, desolated, ram shackled. At the other site of the street arise a lot of high apartment/hotel buildings, most of them empty, between this all, some lost shops for cloth or shoes, and the rest is restaurant, most of them empty, or closet and forgotten. And that is how the rest of he city looks like. Next to beautiful old merchandise houses, with fine woodwork's and tiles, but ram shackled, ugly new buildings, often as ram shackled and empty as the old ones. As the group is staying for diner in Porto, we are looking for a nice restaurant, without the plastic chairs on white tiles with a lout tv. We find a nice Italian restaurant, in one of the old merchandise houses, tasteful, a wall made of a piece of an old ship, old pictures on the wall, whine storage up to the ceiling, it is strange to know that the other three floors are all most falling down, our hands start to itch, but we are not looking for a new project yet, during the walk to the ship, through the desolated streets, we already are busy planning where the wind can bring us tomorrow.

TECLA - 30 oktober
41 21.989 N 008 56.668 W. We arrived at Vigo!! With a horrible swell, where even I, Jannette, the first time this year!, was one of the very ill persons. Swell coming from the northwest and wind from the south/south west! Grey clouds, showers, a stormy wind and a never ending rain, falling down by lots and lots……but not cold! And that I wrote more then a week a go. Vigo is party a very old town. The fishing harbor is large, in the harbor we where berth with the TSAC race, now are many towing ships, waiting to help maneuvering the big container ships, witch have there own harbor a little bit more east. We are berth at the outer site of the marina , quit near to the center of the old city. Her our group gets a visitor from Swiss on board, so we stay for almost three days, because it is no nice sailing weather outside. A stormy south/southwesterly and rough to high seas, 4 up to 6 meters. We had the wish of seeing more of the surroundings, sinds the first time we were in Vigo, there are so many beautiful beaches and villages and of course the Islas Atlanticas de Galicia, the Parque National, that now we had the chance to see more of this all. Happelly one of our trainee from the TSAC race Vigo/Tenerife, comes by for a coffee and tells us that it is possible to get permission to anchor and to visit the islands, so after a long walk and a lot of time, we leave Vigo, with on board the licence, to visit the Archipielage de Cies, where we drop anchor, with a stormy wind and a lot of rain again. On the island live a few people, there are a few houses, and many walking routes. So we take the longest, without the dog, no dogs allowed, up the highest hill, 175 meters, in the rain. It is realy beautiful, the only missing thing was the few, up the hill, a big cloud took us the few! So the next day we leave again, with the rain and the stormy wind, but also with the sails up, for the bay of Aguete. And again, a beautiful bay, gardens full of whine trees and little tomatoes crowing on the ground. Here Jan, Nyske and I get one time again a very wet suit! It is as if the sky pours out, all the rain there is in heaven ! And I think that really happened, because the next day is dry, sunny and warm! A good day to do a man over board exercise with the immersion suit and the rest of the training. After that of course swimming time, jumping of the jib boom etc. We dry our wet cloth and study the weather forecasts, fog, no wind, rough seas, no good conditions to sail to Porto or Lissabon, where we ant to go. So we decide to go a little bit more south again to Bayona. A very sympathetic town. A real big castle wall, with in it a newer build hotel, surrounded by a big beautiful garden, an very old monastery with nuns, churches, steep narrow streets with narrow deep houses, and looking over the sea, the big white swell, falling against the stones. A good sea to surf JB and Gijs decide and so they do that afternoon. Now we are on our way to Porto?Lisboa? With a south-west/south-east wind, force 2 to 5, speed 1 to 6 knots. We are 36 hours on our way now, it goes very slowly. But we sail again!

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NORTH SEA TALL SHIPS REGATTA WINNERS 2010

The prizes awarded were:

Class Prizes for the Regatta

Class A:
1st - Stad Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2nd - Eendracht (Netherlands)
3rd - Oosterschelde (Netherlands)

Class B:
1st - Tecla (Netherlands)
2nd - Maybe (UK)

Class C:
1st - Dar Szczecina (Poland)
2nd - Riyal (Netherlands)
3rd - Black Diamond of Durham (UK)

Class D:
1st - Lietuva (Lithuania)
2nd - Urania (Netherlands)
3rd - Endorfina (Poland)

Winner overall on corrected distance: Dar Szczecina (Poland)
Longest distance covered, 662nm: Lietuva (Lithuania)
Best Crew in Crew Parade: Pelican of London (UK)
Vessel with youngest average crew (22.4 yrs): Endorfina (Poland)
Vessel with most international crew (9 nationalities): Kaliakra (Bulgaria)
Vessel furthest from their home port: Shabab Oman (Oman)
Communications Prize: Stad Amsterdam (Netherlands)
STA Netherlands Trophy, awarded to a Dutch, non-Class A vessel that covered the longest distance: Riyal