Heraclitus Arrival in Tangier

Voyage from Azores to Tangier, August 21, day 0 by Claus

We arrived in the Bay of Tangier and the last sail was finally lowered exactly when the sun touched the horizon, just of the entrance to the harbor.
I was afraid that this crossing might take 20 to 30 hours
Great afternoon in really rough seas, we got a solid pounding towards the end - probably the roughest 30 miles of the whole voyage . The mainmast is still standing proud and now we are alongside an empty commercial dock with gigantic truck tires as fenders, in the harbor of an ancient city.
Xti, Gordon, Omar and Manno our remarkable team of mooring men/woman took the docking lines in port after watching Heraclitus approaching for the last ten miles towards Tangier from high up in front of the old cities wall.
We had real audience and they liked it...
Later we went for a fine Moroccan Dinner on the Terrace of the Continental hotel, we walked through the old town, talked, enjoyed the difference and had mint teas or coffees in bars with lots of atmosphere and history.
It is Ramadan and the city wakes up late and is very lively while nobody is drunk - very interesting.

Always fantastic to see something completely new, so I am in trance now and try to realize that this was a truly grand finally of a wonderful time across a very big ocean.

We sailed here
Jemanja, thanks for having us...

Tomorrow we have to move the ship forward before the arrival of a cruise liner at 11:00.

I am very tired and very wired but it is time to go to bed - 21 st of August 3:50 Zulu.

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20th of August 1500 zulu by Claus

15:00 Zulu

35.59'N
05.56'W

Alright then

We are going for it!

Force 7 now from the east - Mizzen and fore sail are taken down, only the main sail is up and Heraclitus is pounding into a very rough sea and about to cross the main shipping lane of the straits.
DD 671 is working hard and the wind is from 70 degrees before the port beam, the bow is diving in constantly, water is flying over the decks. Another 16 miles to Tangier -and it feels like the longest stretch of this crossing...... we are making an amazing speed of over 3 knots in these adverse weather conditions right now on a course of 135 degrees; most of that is current I guess.

Hope that the wind has peaked already and remember all the good work that was done in South Africa during our last dry dock.

I feel the strain on the ship and will be a happy man when we drop anchor tonight - preferably in day light.
The harbor of Tangier should offer some protection.

The skies are clear and if we run late the moon will help some.....
If it gets to crazy we will turn around and try to anchor around Cape Trafalgar until the weather has settled.

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier, August 20th 2010, day 14 by Claus

10:38 Zulu

36.07'N
06.04'W

Heraclitus is working hard into a force 5 easterly wind.
Sails are pulled in tight, we have just changed to a starboard tack to get again closer to the Spanish coast, to find protection from a windward shore. The ship is only doing 2.8 knots on 1200 RPM. Heading for Cabo Trafalgar at the moment - kiss me Hardy....

We are back on a port tack now and are heading straight for Tangier, bearing is 140 degrees and distance only 25 nautical miles. .
Speed is averaging on a meager 2.5 knots.
Don't know how big the swell will be when we finally have to cross the open straits of Gibraltar,. The east wind might also gain in strength when being funnelled through the high mountains on either side. The rigging is not happy, but the sails are needed to keep a straight course. The bow is starting to dive....
Generally the current sets with 2 knots to the east through the strait and that will hopefully carry us nicely towards Baie de Tangier.

We'll try...
Tangier tonight or shelter of the coast of Spain - the next couple of hours will tell.

A helicopter of the Spanish Guardia Civil is circling us right now.....

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier, August 19 2010, day 13 by claus

10.30 Zulu

34.42'N
07.51'W

Last night was excellent.
We raced down the west coast of Portugal towards Cabo de Sao Vicente and finally turned east towards Cadiz around midnight.
For a few hours the ocean became very rough while the north wind put our rigging to a fine test.
The radar, packed with targets became a useful toy and helped to make sense of all those moving lights -
plenty of cargo ships, cruise liners and busy fishermen around.

It is early morning now, winds are very light from NNE and we are running under engine on 1150 RPM towards the east.
140 nautical miles to Tangier, we are cruising with 4.8 knots and so far we seem lucky - I like it....

Yesterday morning I was on the helm when Gilson saw whales very close to the ship and I climbed awkwardly out of the Lhasa window, our helms house, to see for just some seconds several blows of maybe 4 or 5 creatures with rather large and pointy dorsal fins in close vicinity.
Das was no sharks! But can it be that we saw a group of Orcas????

Palm trees in England? Orcas of Portugal? Chinese junk made of stone in Africa?
A world full of wonders hidden to the eyes of ignorance might explain it all.

The little fish of mahi mahi genes, that came on board in the early hours of yesterday got marinated in soy sauce and wasabi before being seared for just a few seconds and munched away secretly in the galley by some greedy bastards - I was one of them! Yes!

I did not get too much sleep last night but collapsed happily on the stern bunk in command room in between exciting moments.
A low mountain range can be seen to the north and to sense when waking up this morning the smell of land that got carried over to the ship by some light early morning breeze was a delight - there must be pine trees over there.

Europe is only 20 miles away...

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier, August 18 2010, day 12 by Joan

August 18, 2010
It is now 12 days since we left Horta. Hopefully in 2 ½ to 3 days we will be in Tangier. Today started grey and cold when I came on watch at 0800 hours. By the end of watch at 1200 hours the sun was shining. We have had more cloudy days than sunny ones. The days can be cold with sometimes a force 6 wind blowing at 22-27 knots. Noodle that I am I forgot my sweat pants as well as the pants to my foul weather gear. During the day I wear 3 T-shirts and a hooded sweat shirt. Sometimes I also wear my foul weather jacket with the hoods up of course. Let's not forget my survivor buff. At night it is obviously colder. The little bit of sun that warmed the winds and air is now gone. I bring a blanket on deck with me and wrap myself in it. Jethro an Australian living in the UK calls me "blanket girl". Being American I think I look like an Indian squaw. Juan from Argentina tells me I look like a Bolivian woman.

"Go for it" seems to be the mantra on the ship. It is the response you most often get regardless of what you say or ask. I want to have a coffee. "Go for it". I'm going to take a nap. "Go for it". I'm going to take a shower. "Go for it"

It seems to me that the youth of today use the word "awesome" to freely thereby diluting it's meaning. "I got a new shirt". "That's awesome". "I just saw the new Twilight movie". "That's awesome". Being on deck of the black ship Heraclitus, completely surrounded, 360 degrees by the Atlantic Ocean and the ship is in dead center. The perimeter of this circle is the horizon line. That is as far as you can see. Only the ship that I am on exists. When I look up the sky is completely filled with stars, planets and shooting stars. Yes I made a wish each and every time. Will I tell what the wish was, no of course not? Will it come true?? I'll have to wait and see. It is as if you are swaddled in a blanket of stars. This umbrella of stars, if you will, comes down and tenderly kisses the horizon.
This friend is awesome.

Joan a.k.a. Queenie and Auntie Mame.

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier, August 17th 2010, day 11 by claus

23:00 Zulu

38.05'N
10.54'W

The wind has been pumping nicely from NNE for the past 24 hours and we are sailing on 4 points behind the port beam, averaging between 5 and 6 knots. If we continue like this we will see the the lighthouse of Cabo de Sao Vicente to port side by tomorrow night, from there it is only another 180 nautical miles to Tangier.

The swell is coming from the north and of short frequency, some waves in between were exceptionally high and earlier today we heeled over hard enough to take on water on leeward through the starboard side porthole in command room - that is rare as it is located about 2 meters above waterline - roll on Heraclitus...
Plenty of water has also collected under the wooden floor in Synestigia - our main dance - and dining hall and is slushing around noisily; we can not get it out when we are heeling so hard, no worries we are used to it..

Otherwise all sails are up under clear skies, the stars are bright, the fish don't bite and all seems honkey dory.

I am watching the weather carefully with Freddy's help. It seems as if there is a strong east wind developing for the 21st of August - not good for approaching Moroccan shores just before the straits of Gibraltar.
Currently we are lucky and are riding inside the western edge of a strong wind system, it is calming down of our stern...

So the latest fantastic idea is to focus on arriving a day early, instead of finding some hide out on the southern Portuguese or Spanish coast.
A bit of magic and it might just happen....and after passing Cabo de Sao Vicente we shall try to stay close to the southern shores of the peninsula, steering for a position north of Rio Guadalquivir, the entrance for the port of Sevilla, to again have a better angle towards easterly winds when finally taking aim for Tangier.

Only 80 nm to Lisbon right now and we might see its glow on the horizon to the NE after the moon is going down in a few hours.

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At Sea

Voyage from Azores to Tangier, Monday August 16 2010, day 10 by Claus

22:30 Zulu

39.36'N
12.51'W

Yeah ,we are kind of flying in a sexy force 6 wind and sea state - lots of white cap, sprays and big swells from the beam make the ship roll back and forth and heel with up to 30 degrees to starboard - almost as good as it gets, still on the gentle side and everyone seems to like being on the helm - there is something grand about steering 120 tons of boat through a rough ocean; the ship seems to like it too.
We covered 120 nautical miles in 24 hours, currently we are making up to 6 knots -
Captain was in good mood this morning and made some fine Kartoffelpuffer for breakfast, however...I could not find the applesauce and neither could the search and rescue team that I had sent through the vessel just before it was time to serve. This added a certain tragic twist to my performance - I am over it now.

The crew is quiet and when the ship is this fast one can hear the propeller shaft rotating rapidly in engine room, driven by the water rushing past.

It is 170 miles to Lisbon, 250 to Cabo Sao de Vicente, 430 to Tangier. Soon, too soon we will experience lots of ships traffic - new to most of us .Gibraltar straits is such a narrow passage to the Mediterranean.
From tomorrow on I shall sleep in command room again - closer to the action...

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier, August 15th 2010,day 9 by Claus

18:30 Zulu

40.58'N
15.13'W

I wanted to share my thoughts on the at times difficult question of our ETA Tangier.

For the past 24 hours we are sailing in good winds from NE towards Cabo de Sao Vicente, the SW tip of Iberia.
The Atlantic is beautiful today, grey skies, blue skies, rain or sunshine all racing past in quick succession while the waves are slowly growing bigger.
We are making between 3.5 and 4.5 knots and I am hopeful that weather conditions will be to our advantage for the next 2-3 days at least.
I would love to meet the ETA Tangier of 21st of August and we are doing our best to make the old black lady fly.
Any crew that does not perform to standards is punished immediately .
If the sea turns against us I shall consider dealing with it like Persian emperors have done in good old times before.

It is about 560 nautical miles to Tangier and we will have to cover a for Heraclitus very high average of 94 miles per day to arrive next Saturday, just before evening prayer on the shores of Morocco... - very difficult but not impossible.

It really depends on the weather, especially after we negotiated the southwest tip of Portugal.
If the infamous Levanter blows with near gale force winds into our face we can not even dream of trying to approach the straits of Gibraltar, but will have to find some place to hide instead.
If the sea is calm or a sweet little breeze blows from the west, we shall - especially with the help of DD671, pump up the volume and make it just fine and on time into the port of Tangier. That is my wish.

If we can not make 94 nautical miles but only 80 or even 70 per day, we would arrive on August 22nd or 23rd only....

I much appreciate every ones involvement and the great efforts that have been put into making this voyage to Morocco happen.
I hope that Gordon, Pablo, Manno and Omar - our fine international avant guard will be able to greet us in Tangier even if we run late.
I hope that Fortune continues to be our brother in arms and that Jemanja is still in love....

We just caught our first fish on this trip - que bonito....

Precision is a wonderful thing.

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I Saw The Light

I Saw The Light
by Rio

I have never been one to exclaim that I've seen the light, but this time I feel compelled to write about it, as I am now a true believer. As they say, seeing is believing, and for me, seeing twice is believing.

The light I've seen is a phenomenon, known to many of us as Eddie's Light. The first time he saw it was in Papua New Guinea. The light has appeared to him in white, green, orange, and red, sometimes very briefly and sometimes for several seconds, in total about fifteen times. Once he and Captain Claus were on deck and the light appeared above on the port side, and once with Kira he saw the light in green on the stern. He describes it as an extremely concentrated bright spot light, but with a colored trail similar to a jet stream. The light always appears somewhere in close proximity to the ship and is distinctly different from a shooting star. Eddie has seen it on port, starboard, above, and in South Africa across the entire ship from starboard to port.

The first time I saw the light was on the crossing from Freeport to Horta. It was night, during my 8pm to 12pm watch. Abi was on the helm and I was on deck, sitting on the rigging box next to Lhasa. It appeared as a bright white light, about a foot in diameter, about 4 feet off the deck, just aft of the main roll bar. It illuminated the deck, and lasted about two seconds. We both saw it and were astonished.

My second sighting occurred a couple of nights ago, on my new watch, the 12am to 4am. Carlos was on the helm and I was again sitting on the rigging box. The light appeared in approximately the same location and had a similar duration. Carlos also saw it quite distinctly.

Neither Eddie nor I can recall anyone from another ship describing such a phenomenon, and none of the other sailors Eddie has asked have seen such a light. So perhaps we should call this the Heraclitus Light. Lyn-Li believes it is aliens, who are attracted to the Heraclitus, as they recognize its magical properties and know there are people on board who will appreciate such phenomenon, at least enough to write blog entries about it.

Whatever explanation for the light you gravitate to, if you are the type who requires explanations, or perhaps you are simply comfortable accepting it as a part of the Heraclitus' magic, it now has a place in Heraclitean history.

For those of us who enjoy the magic of being on deck at night, the possibility of seeing the light again is ever present, and I somehow find it offers reassurance that the Heraclitus is indeed a magic ship, a unique vessel that is also a portal to another world where even seeing the light is possible.

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First Sight of Land by Rio

FIRST SIGHT OF LAND
by Rio

Day 37 of our 39-Day Voyage from Freeport to Horta, July 25, 2010

I had been at sea for over a month, thirty-seven days to be exact, which made this my longest voyage, exceeding the

36-Day Survival Voyage during the Around-the-Tropic-World Expedition in 1983. During my time at sea, many thoughts,

feelings, experiences, dreams, passions, histories, potentialities, and so on moved through my subconscious and

conscious minds, while the Heraclitus cut its way through the deep blue north Atlantic waters.

My inner sea had its ebbs and flows, it rolled with rising swells, and sank with deep troughs, crashed about under

strong winds and cresting waves, and became flat and still in the doldrums of a windless mirror sea. My inner sea

reflected the ever-changing seascape that surrounded the Heraclitus; clear blue sky, star-studded no moon nights,

immersion in fog and mist, a full moon illuminating the mainsail swollen with today's wind, squalls pounding ship

and sailor with rain and wind.

The two seas of my inner and outer experience merged together, flowed into and out of each other, and formed a

unique resultant experience, known to some for as long as man has inhabited Planet Water. The sea-persons life, a

life that is unknown to those who cling to the shore.

Eleven bodies moved about the Heraclitus, through her inner hatches, across her deck, and up into her rigging. Six

men and five women, each traveling in and sharing their man-time and women-space, responded to the Heraclitus'

ever-present need for constant attention. From mid-twenties to early sixties, spanning a range of generations, the

older sharing stories of experience and adventure, the younger questioning, wondering, offering insights, whims, and

all meeting most intensely in shared music, recorded and live. All seemed to share an interest, expressed or

accepted, in some form of personal development, call it enlightenment, reflective experience, and such.

Eleven individuals who represented a multitude of sub-cultures, surface generalities represented by their passports

and World Cup favorites, but such designations do little but scratch the surface during a long voyage, and fall away

with each passing nautical mile. The pressure cooker of the Heraclitus ensured that even the most unwilling and

reticent were forced to engage, reveal, and participate, even unwittingly. All who choose to face it, openly

realized that none could get off the boat, and were all in it together. Some rose to the challenge of how to make

the most of such a rare opportunity, while others prayed for port arrival and the accompanying release of pressure.

Somehow all eleven continued to laugh. In their own way, none lost their sense of humor. Each one knew that "this

too shall pass" and that some day soon we would see land and shortly thereafter, set foot again on solid ground.

The day of seeing land came on July 25th. At about 04:15 (06:15 UTC) I was awoken and called to the deck by Lyn-Li.

"Come now! The moon is setting, the sun is rising, and land is almost visible." Feeling I did not have a moment to

delay, I wrapped myself in my warm comforter and braved the cold morning air. Struggling to contain my rapidly

departing dreams and quickly waking body and mind, I joined half the crew on deck. All were alive with smiles and

light-hearted banter, silently speaking, 'something really important is about to happen and I'm not going to miss

it.' Standing on top of Nemo's for a better view, or back on the poop deck picking the clearest vantage point, eyes

reached out into the disappearing darkness for what each was sure would be the first sight of land. "Do you see it?"

"No?" "Look there, see where my finger is pointing. That's it."

At that moment I was suddenly transported back to 1983 and the thirty-sixth day of the 36-Day Survival Voyage.

On that morning, the Savage Seven, as our crew came to be known, found ourselves in the Banks Islands, a group of

islands in the Pacific located just north of the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu. However, when we awoke that

day we were by no means sure of our location or what course of action we would take.

On this recent voyage, we had radar, a GPS, and a compass adorned our binnacle. In 1983 we had none of these. GPS

had not been invented yet, our radar wasn't working, and our binnacle compass had been thrown overboard when a line

from the main sail caught on it. We did have a chart and a small hand held compass.

Vividly recalling that morning, I remember spreading the chart out on the deck and turning it to corresponded with

the islands that surrounded us. That was about as close as we had known for certain our location in a month. It is

difficult to express the comfort and confidence that afforded. Still, without engine, with only the emergency

tiller for steering, as the hydraulic steering had failed a week before, and no room for error, a successful

landfall was far from assured. We had recently rescued the Heraclitus from grounding in Western Samoa and knew we

no longer had it in us to do it again.

Once we were certain of our position, we analyzed the options and identified the main bay on Vanu Lava as the most

promising entrance. The southeast wind was just right for our approach. On the starboard tack, with one person on

each block and tackle of the emergency tiller, one pulling to starboard, one to port, I piloted us forward, in what

still stands as my most electrifying sailing experience. We managed to just skirt the beach, while maintaining

enough speed to get through the channel. A couple of young boys running along the beach trying to keep up with us

were the first to welcome us.

Once inside the bay, I continued forward toward the opposite shore. The crew anxiously awaited my order to drop

anchor, while I patiently waited for the right moment, knowing that once secured we had no means of propulsion other

than our sails. I needed to allow sufficient swing space if the wind direction changed, but didn't want to be too

far from shore either, as we only had a few cups of gasoline remaining for our outboard that would carry us the last

several hundred yards to the beach.

By contrast, on our first sight of land in the Azores, no one ran along the shore to welcome us. We created our own

welcoming party for ourselves. The first island we came to in the Azores group, Corvo, had steep cliffs with a

relatively flat top, lush with grass from the volcanic soil. A few goats and cows were visible through the

binoculars. It was covered in green life. We could smell the vegetative life. Almost taste it.

In celebration, we spent several hours of the afternoon drifting a few hundred feet off the island. We shared a

collective meditative state, absorbing our first sight of land in 37 days. The change in scenery made a palpable

change in the emotional scenery of the crew. Many expressed a bittersweet feeling as we discussed our impending

landfall at Horta on the island of Faial. The voyage was drawing to an end and that realization suddenly made our

time at sea all the more valuable.

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier, August 14th 2010, day 7 by Claus

22:30 Zulu

41.39'N
16.37'W

Finally at about 15:00 we turned the engine off and and started to sail in about 15 knots from NE - wonderful, we got what we wanted and can take it well from our current position, wind is slowly increasing in strength and just a little before the port beam.
We are heading towards Cabo de Sao Vicente on 125 degrees with up to 4 knots right now. I hope the wind will stay, so far we blew about 1/3 of our fuel.
Feels good and sounds more like a ship with creaking ropes and woodwork now, snoring mates and the ocean splashing along the sides of the hull.

The galley check valve failed and filled up sinks and floor, so did the one of the shower drain on starboard side - German Brazilian team fixed at least the Galley plumbing in no time; the rest has to wait, is to close to the waterline and not to be touched in the middle of the ocean....

Lucky again, we had a giant visitor late afternoon - this time a minke whale circled Heraclitus and resurfaced 5 or 6 times while we all cheered excitedly and smiled.

Otherwise we got spoiled with Zimbo-curry for lunch, Brisbane-beef stew for dinner and Joan is mercilessly giving us the rest with her fantastic baking skills from New York City.

The night is dark, the sky is overcast, dread lock maintenance has just finished in command room and I hear the 8 -12 chatting on the stern but prefer to listen to the wind caressing our sails and rigging while my eyelids are getting heavy - dozing off in paradise central. We are half way today..

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Azores Crew

From left to right: Mo (USA), Iordannis (Greek), Juan (Argentina), Jethro (Australia), Carlos (Honduras), Gilson (Brazil), Abi (USA), Rio (USA), Claus (German), Christine (German), Joan (USA), Lyn-Li (USA), Eddie (Solomon Islands)

Yoyage from Azores to Tangier, Friday the 13th of August 2010, day 7 by Claus

22:50 Zulu

42.25'N
18.24'W

Wind is from ESE and on our nose - that is not exactly what we asked for but life is not perfect, at least not today but maybe tomorrow...
According to the weather forecast the wind should increase in strength become more NNE and then we could finally turn the engine off for a change and travel the seas in the way one should - sailing....

Again plenty opportunities to make wishes last night and I was pleased to see an old companion again after a long time - Orion stood proud in the early morning sky to the east and reminded me of past adventures, promises and romance. Dreaming had worked just fine last night.

I want to pass some knowledge on and felt myself almost getting tense about it during our lunch meeting today when complaining about a lack of questions ???? Or taking either notes or lots of gingko bilboa supplements when I talk about equation of time or meridian passages.

Calma senior...

The sea is gentle, the food is great and the crews mood so far is sweet and light and that is for a change very pleasant indeed...

A light breeze from NE right now and we are steering towards Cabo de Sao Vicente, 540 nautical miles to the SW tip of Portugal and from there another 180 nm to Tangier.

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier,August 12 2010,day 6 by Claus

22:00 Zulu

42.42'N
20.10'w

Last night had plenty magic as one could see so many shooting stars and make so many wishes...

Still no wind, the ocean is calm and we are running under engine, straight east - 480 nautical miles until the coast of the Iberian peninsula; 780 until Tangier - North wind we miss you, North wind we love you...come on and play with us....

Today the captain showed of with our Japanese sextant, all were allowed to hold it, know now how to read it and some even managed to shoot the sun.....We learned something!

The drums came out late afternoon and a silent sunset dinner is always a fine thing. We told and enacted some of the short Pleasantries of the Incredible Mullah Nasrudin, had a laugh and welcomed the new moon.

I am tired now and will crawl into my tiny luxurious bunk, read a bit and dream a lot.

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier, 11th of august 2010, day 5 by Claus

15:00 Zulu

42.18'N
24.48W

Yesterday was grey until the late afternoon, so we did not stop to go for a dip….
Today it shall be - I promised, and in 30 minutes from now we will stop and go for a swim in over 3500 meters of water. Strongly demanded especially by China-Mo because supposedly only above 40 degrees north this is a manly exercise that might even make your chest hair grow – we will see.
Zuna Port-Moresby already volunteered to be the shark watch of today. His ancestors return as sharks into this world, so maybe he'll be able to put in a word for us in case we have a rare visit.

Last nights birthday dinner for Joan was sweet and plentiful and accompanied by a romantic evening sunset and a little performance of two foolish chevaliers in love, a mean Melanesian palace guardian and an ugly fake boobed queen from Greece.

We just had our dip into 23 degrees warm North Atlantic water – Neither frightening ancestral reincarnations nor gentle giants or other wonderful creatures of this realm came by…..so it was just us and a black ship and the magnificent blue of a deep ocean.

Interesting but also disturbing that, when looking for my misplaced thumb-drive, I have finally found the two credit cards that had disappeared under strange circumstances 4 months ago - under the chart table where we had looked a hundred times before.... . Yes, Dario! for the family...

Headwinds or no winds and the engine has been running almost continuously for the past 4 days and we used up more than a thousand liters of diesel already - C'est la Vie, without our noisy, thirsty friend we would be still drifting somewhere between the islands of Azores.

Compadres are waiting that we do not want to miss and the strong call of a magic land, people and continent is driving us.
Many of us have never been to Africa or Europe, have never visited a Muslim country, have never heard the magic sound of morning and evening prayers that are sung for more than a thousand years….

Heraclitus was visiting Aqaba of Jordan during Ramadan fifteen years ago and we all loved it for many reasons.
This will be also my first time in Morocco, but not the ships! She has seen Tangier before some 30 years ago.

I am getting excited.

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August 10, 2010

August 10, 2010:

Three days at sea now and it's my birthday. On August 8, 2010 it was Abi's. Having a birthday on the Heraclitus is something that is very special and can not be replicated. Tonight the captain will prepare a German meal for the occasion. We will also have Champagne. I'm just getting my sea legs back and most of my stomach……….

The salt air for me is sweet nectar. Something I have been missing for awhile. Heraclitus welcomes you back. No questions asked and happy you are here. Sleeping in bio is wonderful. With every rise and fall of the bow, a gentle rock from port to starboard you are rocked to sleep like a baby in a cradle. The sea lapping at the hull is the lullaby.

Yesterday Claus spotted a sperm whale. I'm not sure if it was a juvenile or a dwarf sperm whale. (I only just learned there are dwarf ones.) Which ever it was it looked like a submarine that had surface but without it's periscope up. Then it dove and with its fluke waved goodbye.

Every day I have seen a sea bird. Flying low over the water, solo. Where did you come from???? Where are you going???

Joan Smith aka Queenie

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier; 9th of august 2010; day 3 by Claus

18:00 Zulu

41.01'N
26.16'W

The skies are blue, not even a cloud over the north eastern horizon and the sea has calmed down in light easterly winds.

First I saw just a blow and got Iordanis who had not seen a whale in 33 years really excited - time for a sighting isn't it....but nothing much happened until maybe half hour later when a group of 4-5 large pilot whales splashed around of port side in maybe 50 meters distance.
Great also when a few hours later I was taking a relaxed leak of the port bow, staring into a beautiful blue nothingness when suddenly, just a ships length away, a large sperm whale popped up to the surface to take a breath and say hello - general excitement on deck and the usual frantic search for cameras....
" I am telling you, the whale is looking at us..." maybe it even smiled before diving down again and waving good bye with its giant grey-green fluke a few minutes later.

Tomorrow if the calm persists we shall go swimming in these rich blue waters, hoping for another visit from our big and gentle friends.

Abi liked her little cat party last night with steak, cake, cocktail and beer and Ramones and Prodigy all served over 2000 meters of Water....

Now we continue under engine to the ENE and are looking forward to a fine dinner on deck on a calming ocean complimented by a long sunset, later to be topped by a clear and moonless night sky.... And I shall marvel at the Polar star while my universe spins around it slowly and dream.

New moon and the beginning of Ramadan in 2 days from now.

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Voyage from Azores to Tangier,Day 2, 8th of August 2010 - by Claus

39.55'N
27.19'W

16:00 Zulu
(...by the way Zulu means GMT or UTC but just sounds much cooler! )

Azores was somehow plain but sweet and honest - quiet and humble people that did not make a fuss about anything.
A powerful volcanic landscape all around and the port of Horta has a small town feel to it - no wonder with a total of only 15000 inhabitants on the island of Faial - strange at first...

Almost shockingly different, especially after almost 6 weeks at sea and most of us got intoxicated more than once on vino, cheese, chorizo or nature....
There was some wonderfully unpretentious hospitality around and a favor, a ride, some free beer or wine or fish seemed to be a most natural thing - nice experience and somehow refreshing.

French Matilda came along side without asking and I wanted to send them away at first but was charmed instantly by a group of very gentle young men and beautiful woman - interesting, talented and sweet - French people can be wonderful too.....
Great to have them for a few days and to enjoy each others company, and we were hanging out and ate and drank and laughed and even climbed the highest peak of Portugal together. They admired Heraclitus and said that they felt the spirit of all continents and oceans breathing from inside our vessel - I liked that.
Good luck to you, especially when rowing across the Atlantic next year.

Pico is the highest volcano of the Azores and also gives the name to its island.
Climbing through the thick clouds to a sunny 2200 meter high peak where one could still feel the heat of the inside of the earth was a splendid challenge - Sailor legs do usually not walk far on a 82 foot sailing junk and my heart was beating fast and happy - makes one feel alive...
We were 6 and sleeping even closer to the stars that night was cold but truly magic. Gilson and Jethro did good and Christine developed a most interesting cowboy walk while descending next morning; waving good bye to Thierry and Severine from our ferry was kind of touching.

The anchor winch is finally working again , the forward mast head light shines bright, tanks are full, so are the freezers and we are out at sea for almost 30 hours now - ready for anything, we hope - I wish....

Weather is still not in our favor.
Tangier is to the ESE but right now we are moving under engine to the NNE, hoping our plan works out - Chinese Junk rig is strong but not made to sail upwind!
The skies are blue and a coolish wind from ENE blows into our face - Temperature is around 23 degrees Celsius.

Today is Abi's birthday and we will be lion punks and shall try something civilized for a change - Rammstein?

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Voyage from Azores to Morocco; 7th of August 2010 by Claus

18:00 Zulu

38.42'N
28.25'W

We have cast off our lines 4 Hours ago at Horta and are now motor sailing to the NE, making 4.5 knots on 1100 rpm.
The E wind is moderate, before the starboard beam and Heraclitus heels with just 5 degrees to port on a gentle North Atlantic and feels steady and strong.
The impressive cliffs of the western tip of Sao Jorge are near and we are hoping for a bite when we pass over shallow water soon.

The weather forecast is not in our favor, so the plan is to cover distance to the NE and reach the center of the high pressure system where the head winds are weak and make good way towards the Iberian Peninsula - the main engine is going to rumble for the next 4 days - DD671 is noisy and thirsty but also wonderfully reliable - 1.06 Euro for a liter of diesel hurts a bit....
The winds will be from the north and should increase in strength the closer we get to the coast of mainland Portugal, and we need to be in higher latitudes to use those to be able to sail towards North Africa in style - this plan good plan I hope....

Christine left today to see family and friends, help to pave our way into Spain and catch our mooring lines when we finally arrive in Morocco.
Gabriella has jumped ship last Tuesday and is together with John somewhere between here and Casablanca - bon voyage !

Joan ,Iordanis and Jethro joined which makes us a fine crew of 12 - 4 women and 8 men from Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, USA, Solomon Islands, Australia, Germany and Greece -Let's see what comes out of that! Neues Spiel neues Glueck....

Azores were beautiful, we made some sweet friends and I love the North star more than ever - but more about that another time.

We are sailing again - 1200 nautical miles to go and a few brilliant men are waiting for the black ship to arrive in the ancient city of Tangier. I am excited and hope for a fast and smooth ride.

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