Farewell?

That's it.

After about 15 days, we arrived in Bordeaux. It was a very calm sail. Sometimes more like drifting.

I spent the last section in the Chief Mate Watch. So from 4-8 am. After six weeks in the Dog Watch, the change was actually a bit difficult for me. I had been in the same watch with the same people for six weeks.
In the beginning, I also found my new watch quite challenging, simply because no one talked and if they did, it was a lot of talk about ships and sailing. Doesn't always interest me. Especially considering that I have been on a ship for three months. I have other interests too.

The first 10 days it got colder and more humid. We even had fog. It's crazy not being able to see anything. And then there might be a trawler. They are never on the Ectis. The Ectis is like the navigation system that also shows ships on the map. Trawlers often fish where they are not allowed to. So sometimes we had to look out in the watch. Look out into the fog at the bow.

One night I accompanied Alice on the lookout. Lots of fog. A bit of chatting and keeping each other company. Well, how should I explain this. There was suddenly, I don't know, this eight-meter-long creature. Winding like a snake through the water right next to the ship. Creepy, makes you wonder if it can be dangerous. And what kind of creature it is supposed to be. Sea snakes or something like that were just superstition.
Turns out it was a pretty normal dolphin. Why did it look so big? Because of the bioluminescent plankton. In the darkness, the dolphin leaves an infinitely long trail, which glows, so that for a brief moment it looked oversized in length.
It was really nice to watch the dolphin as it swam in circles, sometimes jumping out of the water, and then two more dolphins would come and they would start swimming in synchrony. Always with long trails of glowing plankton. A true magic.

In the last few days we were accompanied by a lot of dolphins.

The Bay of Biscay is one of the most dangerous sailing areas. 8-10 meter waves, massive tides, and it gets shallow quickly. Everything is exhausting.
For those of you who have been following the ship's position, we took a big detour. Normally, there is a huge high-pressure system over the Atlantic. Due to centrifugal forces, the air masses flow clockwise away from this high-pressure area. We use the wind to get to the Caribbean and to sail back to Europe over the north. This high-pressure system was not where it should be. The detour we took to the north describes the curve around a high-pressure system. Well. So the wind came from the continent. Accordingly, there were no extreme weather conditions like 8-meter waves. We had a very calm sea.

What we did have were low temperatures. The coldest was probably 7.5 degrees. Not nice to get up to. Only snuggling helps.

But honestly, without this detour or the calm sea, I wouldn't have been able to spend the last few days on the ship so beautifully with the people.

I wrote about thinking about the hierarchical structures on a ship.

Fortunately, we didn't encounter extreme weather conditions. But I thought, if I'm on such a big ship with such experienced sailors, it would be the right moment to find out if the captain, the person with authority, makes sense.
Well, there wasn't one. Still, I've already had a few 'realizations'.

I don't have the slightest ambition to become a captain. Not at all.

The condition of the ship and thus the preservation the company and the lives of each individual on board are in the hands of the captain. Of course, there are officers to take on tasks. But in the end, the whole responsibility lies on the shoulders of a single person.
Sorry but I feel sorry for you.
I'm not saying I know how to do it better. But in democratic institutions or even a state like Germany, there is something like the 'separation of powers' because the 'rational being' human has accepted that people make mistakes. Well, out there it seems different.

No shit, of course I could have continued sailing. Because of the people. I enjoyed every day it took longer.

I was nostalgic from the beginning. I started to miss people. To think about what comes after. I didn't concentrate so much on sailing or anything like that. I focused a lot on the people.
Talking long and intensively with everyone again about what might come and what we had. I spent a lot of time in other watches. Especially with the people from the captain's watch. I could chat well with them. Not about ships.
Actually, I also liked to watch the watch handover, of which I was not a part. They are all still here on the ship.

We talked a lot about the first crossing. From Tenerife to Marie-Galante. It feels like years ago and it is already more than two months ago. But it's only two months. So much has happened. We shipmates have experienced a lot. We have spent a lot of time together.

I like sailing. I think the project is very important. But over these three months, it was always the people on the ship from whom I drew the most. So many beautiful and intimate conversations. We all got to know each other well. We slept in the same room for three months. We had problems with and among each other. With some, I'm pretty sure they won't just become acquaintances from the past.

And it will never be the same again. Many came to the ship because they believe in this project. Crossing the Atlantic was often associated with the desire to do so. No one here came for a mundane job, for the most part, it was a new life concept. Some of us are at risk of burnout or have just finished high school, others are in the middle of their jobs, others have quit their jobs. I will never sail again with a crew that treated each other as intimately, lovingly, attentively, and helpfully as here. Probably. There is a high turnover of people on sailing ships. Some have left on our journey too.
What I experienced here with the people. That's a lot.
How I got to know people here
That's a lot.

And I am very grateful for that.
How did we say goodbye?

The schedule was very tight. We docked on Friday. We were supposed to leave the ship on Saturday morning.

That was the announcement. Phew.

We made the best of it.

The calm sea helped a lot to say goodbye slowly.
On Thursday, we anchored in the estuary. Because of the tides, there are certain times for docking.
On Friday, we motored to the pier. For a good 7 hours. The sun was shining. The Gironne was very calm. Preparations were made for mooring. Those who wanted could take the helm again. I sat in the sun and chatted for the most part. Packing things. I really arrived.
Well, and at 9 pm we moored, it only took 5 minutes.
Then it really started. Mooring beers and wine, everyone hugging each other and expressing congratulations. Twice across the Atlantic. Wow.
I don't remember how it started, but at some point, there was music playing in the galley. And it felt like everyone in this room was dancing. Once again, all the songs we had listened to for 3 months, all the songs that bring back so many associations. I then switched my watch so that I had two hours to sober up. We still had to stand watch, of course. With a tidal range of 5 meters, that's also quite important. But the galley floor was like a cauldron, everyone letting off steam again.

The next morning, we got our alcohol from the locker, collected our travel and vaccination passports, had our Certificate of Service signed, and said goodbye.
9923 nautical miles. Almost four months.
I already hit ten thousand hehe.
What a ride.
The five of us were in a hostel room. We were used to it.
Last evenings in bars and pubs. Exploring Bordeaux a bit. Fuck, this city is beautiful.
Well, slowly more and more people are leaving. There are fewer and fewer people in Bordeaux. And eventually, I left too.
Farewells. Never easy. This one is somehow okay. Everything was done once again.
It wasn't the most pleasant thing to deal with Corona and what's going on, what do I want and all that. But there is news.
I will sail on. Not from Bordeaux. But from Tenerife.
It is also a bit the answer I was waiting for.
It will be really weird to sail this ship with different people.
So it will continue soon.

And it will be good. But I will miss the people, my first shipmate crew.