This morning we left Rotterdam with beautiful weather. We have 16 guest crewmembers on board for a short voyage to England for the long weekend. The weather forecast predicts southeast and east wind so we decide to sail to Lowesoft or Great Yarmouth. But when we sailed down the Nieuwe Waterweg and where at sea the wind changed and we sailed towards Scheveningen. We tack and the wind is now just right and Great Yarmouth is right ahead. Let’s see how long the wind will blow from this direction.

The birthday of Hamburg harbor is greatly celebrated! Three days of festival, with around 100 ships in the water and also a nice festival and fair on shore, throughout the whole city. We have sailed several great daytrips with each 80 to 100 guests on board. Wouter, our chef, has prepared a very nice meal for all our guests. A great firework show was given on saturday, which almost all the ships could see from the water. Besides these 100 ships, there were also 3 gigantic cruiseships (Aida shipping company). Therefor it was to be expected that some ships would clash or crash into another. We have seen several ships with a shorter bowsprit after the festival. Now we sail above the Dutch 'Wadden' on our way to Rotterdam. We left the harbor of Hamburg early yesterday morning. At this point there is hardly any wind, and from the opposite direction. For tomorrow they forecast a fair wind from north west direction. Therefor we try to pass Texel soon, so that we profit from this wind.

53°32.41'N, 009°59.17'E. Cours on compass 090.
Our voyage to Hamburg was very nice and smooth. On monday night and tuesday during the day we sailed in a wind of 5 to 6 Beaufort and with a wind of 11 knots we passed the 'Wadden' Islands. Tuesday in the afternoon the wind dropped completely and we motor sailed the last bit towards the 'Elbe'. We timed it quite well, so that we would go with the tide on the 'Elbe'.
At midnight, we celebrated Jana's birthday (one of our crew members).
We went with the tide during the whole night, so we went pretty fast. We moored in Hamburg at 6:45 in the morning. During the day we painted and cleaned the ship to make her ready for the Hamburg Hafengeburtstag. In the evening we had dinner in a restaurant for Jana's birthday, where we also met her grandparents. (Jana is from Germany).
Yesterday we have had the 'Einlaufparade', in which we sailed with around 100 other ship on the Elbe towards Hamburg. Of course this is somewhat chaotic, but everything went well and our group of 80 guests had a great day on board.

We have added a new voyage to our program. This summer you will be able to see London from the Thames! After our daytrips during the Olympics, the 'Oosterschelde' will be sailing the Thames from london to sea and cross the North Sea towards Vlissingen. This 4-day voyage (August 13 to 16) can be booked from today! More information can be found in the voyage description in our program.

'Oosterschelde' arrived in Rotterdam yesterday, where all guests left the ship. We look back on a very nice voyage.
The ship just left Rotterdam towards Hamburg, where we will be joining 'Hafengeburtstag Hamburg'.

51°02.47'N, 001°42.51'E. Compass 039. Knots 6,8. 

49°36.62'N, 002°18.20'W. Compass 195. Knots 6,0. 

50°20.86'N, 001°04.41'E. Compass 196. Knots 7,8. 

It will be a very exiting finish. We are not the only ship that can’t reach the finish buoy at once and we have to tack along the Dutch coast. Strangely the ‘Morgenster’ that is normally much better in sailing close hauled is not far away. Also the ‘Ide Min’, the ‘Flying Dutchman’ are close by. It’s only 5 miles to the finish, but the wind is coming from the complete wrong direction. The current that was with us the last hours is weakening and will be turned within an hour. Then the finish will be practically unreachable, so a lot is depending on the tags that we make now. The wind has increased to 8 Bft and tacking is spectacular. Everyone is participating on deck.

It is again a night with little wind or no wind at all. We dropped the anchor again when the current began to set us back. But in the end the promised wind is there. We are sailing with a good speed toward the Dutch coast. From time to time we have some rain with more wind during the showers and it is really cold. We still have the jib headed topsails on, but if the wind increases we have to take them down. Next to us are the Morgenster, the Ide Min, the Artemis, the Zephyr and the Gallant. The wind is more north then we hoped for, so we have to sail close-hauled. This isn’t a good course for the ‘Oosterschelde’. The other ships are better at sailing this course, but we are doing our best and maybe the wind will turn a little bit.

We just started at the North Shipwash buoy. The wind is southeast and we are making good progress. It was a time start and we started after the big group. The disadvantage is that we are in the back but the advantage is that we can pass the other ships… We just passed the ‘Oban’ and we are now next to the ‘Thalassa’. We are also coming closing to the other ships. A good wind for the ‘Oosterschelde’ we hope that the wind stays this way.

After a second night of partying it is time to leave Ipswich. It is not easy to wake everyone up this morning. All the dark sunglasses can’t hide the fact that a few of our guest crewmembers are a still a bit wobbly. Around high tide the lock gates to the dock are open and we can sail out in a row to the river Orwell. The weather is beautiful, very unlike normal British weather!

The start of the next leg is at the end of the afternoon at the North Shipwash buoy. The weather forecast is excellent. A light to moderate breeze from the west, that will turn in the evening to the northwest and tomorrow will increase a bit. At that time the wind will be a bit more north and maybe even northeast. Our tactic is to make some extra miles around north this evening and soon as the wind turns more to the northeast we can sail directly towards IJmuiden. We will see if this will work out as planned!

It was a close finish. At the last moment the Jacob Meindert and the Thalassa passed us. But all in all we didn’t do to bad with our position in the middle, for faster sailing two-masters. The arrival party was a big success. It was a small wonder that everyone found their bed in the end and not literally got stuck to all the dirt. But now the ship is clean again and maybe the students have recovered a bit.
We are now busy with some small chores on the ship and the students are preparing for the gala night tonight by taking a nap.

This morning 'Oosterschelde' and her (guest) crew left Rotterdam. Accompanied by many other ships, they have left for the 'Race of the Classics'. We have students on board from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The students really looked forward to the race. In the morning they were accompanied by their parents, who could have a look on board and sailed along the first part. The parents left the ship this afternoon and then the race really started.
Unfortunately our start was absolutely not what we hoped it would be. We calculated the course and when we wanted to tack (15 minutes before the official start sign), we couldn't make it. Therefore we had quite a bad start position. Before we got back on the way, jibed and coursed towards the starting line, we lost quite some precious time.
The good thing of this soft weather is that all the ships are still quite close to each other. And due to the slower speed, we will probably stay close to one another quite some time. And with a beautiful sunset, we sail in northern direction.

'Oosterschelde' is already back in Rotterdam for almost two weeks. We are taking it slow for a few weeks. With two or three crew members we are cleaning the ship and preparing ourselves for some more maintenance in the spring. Last week the inspector came around and we received our certificates for the coming year without any problems.

The so-called 'channel fever' has started with some of our (guest) crew members, some of us are calling home and looking forward to seeing their loved ones, since we are almost home.
We went through the Channel with little wind and sun, but still impressed by the huge Freighters. We sometimes turn on some extra lights, to make sure that they have actually seen us.
It is remarkable to see how the fishermen can actually fish in an area where sometimes 5 huge ships sail next to each other, even sometimes with cables in between.
We were very surprised by having the help of sailing upstream and downstream at the right moment. That is the lucky thing of being in Calais at the right moment, but is very extraordinary!
We hope to be this lucky again tonight on the 'Nieuwe Maas' and expect to be in the Veerhaven this evening around 8 or 9 o'clock.
 

Guest crewmember Jan writes:
“A few days ago I wrote: “Hurray, we are sailing!” We did that until last night, but as expected the wind decreased. The combination of little wind, little speed and beam sea made it unpleasant to steer.
A different course after tack didn’t give any improvement. There was nothing left to do then turning on the engine and let down the topsail, mainsail and course. The wind will be away for a while so we keep on going on engine towards the Southwestern point off Cornwall. It is about 90 miles to Lizard Point.
We are at sea for a week now and of the seven days we could sail for five. Our rythm is being defined by our watches. Eating before or right after your watch (and always to much because it is so good) and sleep. Beforehand I didn’t think I had more time then that but it turns out we have also time to do something else. The books that I brought with me are already read, luckily there are still a lot of books on board.
And so the days go on and we are sailing closer to the Veerhaven."

Since we have left the Azores 5 days ago, the weather was as forecasted and we are now sailing in a nice wind, with main sail, gaff top sail, course, top sail and top gallant sail. The heavy depression that was on the ocean, turned direction north and left west of the UK. We are sailing with a wind of 5 Bft on the edge of the high air-pressure area. Last night we have changed our course with 20 degrees and heading the English Channel with a little curve. We are 325 miles southwest of the traffic separation scheme at Scilly Islands. Sometimes we lower the gaff top sail and the top gallant sail, and as soon as we can we set them again. The watch of last nigth had 3 other ships on the radar, which has been the most busy night since a while. Coming days will be busier, now that we are moving towards West Europe and 'the rest of the world'. A world that is hardly in our mind at the moment. For us at open sea, there is no euro crisis, no tax problems,  just the view of a wide and open sea, dependent upon the elements, accompanied by dolphins and the fun of being together on board.
It is not really cold yet, even though the sailing suits and scarves are on, we haven't used our gloves and thermal underwear yet. The cook prepares a very nice meal each day, yesterday he surprised us with hamburgers for lunch and a lovely lasagna for diner with an ice cream dessert! Due to moist in the air, we started painting inside instead of outside. The stores and kitchen look great again. Last night we switched the time on board towards Greenwich mean time, and therefore both the watch groups had half an hour shorter to sleep. We switched because it started to become dark very early in the evening.

More from guest crew member Jan ten Dam: Hooray, we are sailing! Yesterday morning just before changing the watch, the wind came up and we could set sail. We have set mainsail, course, top gallant sail and the mizzen and sail with more than 7 knots. We course in north east direction and expect to be able to follow this the upcoming days. We are happy that we have found the wind we were hoping for, as explained in the earlier message of saturday.
If it stays as planned and hoped (and if the wind does what was forecasted) we will be able to sail along until we reach the English Channel and then wind will turn west and help us in the right direction. NIce sailing is expected!
An extra reason for me to be happy is that I can make my steering hours. It is way too early to look back upon the trip, because we have many days to go, but I can already make a small conclusion: we are very lucky with the weather (and the wind). It starts to become a little bit colder now, and until now we have not had many cloudy days. This morning it was 13 degrees, much better that I had expected for this part of the trip. If the weather turns out to be worse, we are in no trouble, the bay of Biscay is 600 miles starboard.

Guest crew member Jan writes: "After staying in the harbour of Horta, we are back at sea en since a full day all we see is water and sky. It is very calm, and there is hardly any wind. So unfortunately we have to use the engine to move forward. The weather at sea can change quickly, but at the moment the forecasts do not expect any wind soon.
Yesterday Sebastiaan took us through the weather maps and showed us the forecasts. We seem to be in a high air-pressure area north of the Azores. Therefore the lower pressure areas with a lot of wind will stay at a distant.  Our course is based on two main factors: 1) our destination, the Veerhaven in Rotterdam and 2) do as most of the track as possible under sail. Our course is now based on reaching that part f the high air-pressure area to catch a useful wind to reach the south west of England mostly under sail.
I would like to tell something more about the Azores. In many shipping novels the Azores are mentioned as the final grip of islands that are visited before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. On Faial nothing reminded of that. But the island is crearly visited often by sailing yachts that make a long journey. The crew mainly used the first day of our stop to make the ship ready for heavy weather on the track towards Rotterdam. The second day was used for relaxing and exploring the island. We rented a van and crossed the island, with a very nice visit of a huge crater on 1100 meters."

The 'Oosterschelde' has left the Azores. We enjoy a sunny day, which brings us 22 degrees of warmth
Last preparations for bad weather are being made; this might come up next week; for the first few days ahead though the prospect is fine.
We will start off in a northerly direction, and next we will follow the rim of the high pressure area and set for western England.

Captain Sebastiaan reports: ‘ With 9 knots we sail towards the harbour, controlled we let down the sails and when we are almost there turn around to let down the mainsail. A few moments later we are moored in the Southern harbour (14th of March at 22:00 o’clock). After shaking the hand of my old friend, Duncan of Mid Atlantic Yacht Service, the maritime police came on board.
After a lot of autographs, stamps and searching through the ships papers we where declared bona fide. And we took a drink on the good outcome of the voyage and another one for the Queen. After that we went to bed.
We got up early to clean the whole ship; we did all the washing and hung out the sheets. We did some maintenance on the sails and we brought the jibb to the sail locker, we took apart the electric engine etc. We also welcomed the coastguard manager and four of his employees that is what you get when you have such a nice ship; they told us that they just had to take a look! At night we went out to diner from the money of the tip box and today we are in a car to explore the island.
The weather looks good and tomorrow on the 17th of March we will leave at 11:00 o’clock local time, (13:00 o’clock Dutch time) because the sun rises a bit later here in the Azores.

In a quiet watch at sea, where keeping track, making sure the sails are still okay and checking the radar are the main goals, we have some time to think. Especially for our guest crew, who are not as used to being away from home as we are. Guest crew member Jan explains: "At sea you become aware of the quick changes of the weather. It is fascinating to see how quickly it changes, which is of huge impact for a sailing ship. It reminds me of what sea philosopher Anthony Goldsmith said: ' There are three kinds of wind: Too little, too much and head-wind.' And the saying 'the exception proves the rule.' As far as I am concerned, these two complement each other in this voyage."
   Practically we have had both, this sunday. We started on the engine under a clear sky. Every now and then some clouds appeared and even some rain. In the afternoon we could set sail, due to some wind. In the evening the wind increased a lot, we had no sight and many showers. Around the showers we had to take extra care on the wind, since there were many changes. We precautionary lowered some of the sails, and variously had much wind and little wind, coming from several directions. Luckily the showers were well seen on the radar, since the night was very dark. Due to these changes, we had a lot of work to do during the night.
   Now on tuesday there is a heavy eastern wind. Interspersed by sun and rain, we sail the last miles towards Horta on full speed. We expect to arrive around 8 o'clock local time.
 

Guest crewmember Jan ten Dam: “ It started Friday night around one o’clock. The wind thought: ‘Oh well I helped the ‘Oosterschelde’ on her way now. It is weekend for me now too, I’m going to take a break.’ So the wind was gone and there was nothing left to do then start the engine.
We are sailing in a high-pressure area. Saturday the weather was great: sunny and the temperature was really nice. Besides the daily activities everyone is busy with all kinds of lists; checklists and to do lists.
In the afternoon, there’s an alarm. It looks like we hit a container. We don’t know if we are making water but there is a wounded sailor below deck. Thank goodness it is a drill and Lukas is our victim.
It is a clear night and we are enjoying a starry sky. We can see the planet Venus. I don’t get much further than recognizing the little saucepan. But Maarten shows me a few others. When the moon occurs we can only see the brightest stars.
With this steady speed we are sailing to Horta on the Azores. The estimated time of arrival is Wednesday morning.
Then is time for a drink and think about this great journey. Until that time I am going to enjoy myself.”

Written by guest crewmember Jan ten Dam: Friday February 10th, we are on our way for four days now. This voyage will be the longest one yet for me on the ‘Oosterschelde’.
After departure from Palmeira we set all the sails and since then we didn’t have a lot of work to change them. We are comfortably sailing in the right direction. To top it all the weather is also very pleasant at night and the rest will be taken care of by Wouter, our chef. No wonder that the sphere on board is excellent!
All the guest crewmembers are divided into groups with the rest of the crew to stand watch. This way I can contribute to the life at sea. Off and on I stand by the wheel and steer and this is for me the thing that is the most of the fun. The thing that intrigues me the most at sea is the sudden changes in weather. First your sailing with nice wind and suddenly the wind is completely gone. But we have a solution for this problem: we start the engine and we motor sail a bit till the wind the returns.
All in all we are making progress towards our first stop at the Azores.

We have been on our way for days already; with water fountains on deck we make steady headway. Yesterday evening we took down the topgallant sail, because we where leaning over a bit too much.
This morning we cleaned the ship with the fire hose to rinse off all the desert sand. It was everywhere even the wind vane was red and the dust was in our eyebrows.
It was a surreal experience yesterday; the visibility was very poor with the ship in a red haze. Now the weather is much better with the sun and less dust. Dolphins visited us a few times already and we even saw a turtle.
The weather forecast looks good for the next few days, the wind will be northeastern 5 Bft. We keep watch to see of the sails are set right and we clean in places that we haven’t cleaned for a while. There’s also time for inventory, updating maps and clearing away supplies.
Everyone takes turns in steering Her Majesty over the waves and we look out over the sea to see of there is any danger on the horizon. The atmosphere on board is excellent!

The ‘Oosterschelde’ left today from Palmeira, Sal. This morning we brought the last fresh vegetables on board, without boxes and rinsed off to prevent it from vermin.
We all put on our lifejacket and explained where the fire extinguishers are; this was easily done because our guests have already sailed with us a lot in the past.
We think we will arrive in Rotterdam in a month, but this will depend on the weather. Yesterday evening we looked at the climatic maps and routing, the first part to the Azores it will be over starboard due to the North-eastern trade wind, that is blowing a lot of dust over the Atlantic.
The iron lady is longing for a downpour so to see: the flags and banners are golden brown because of all the dust. I hear the propeller-shaft and we are sailing with standard rigging, topsail and topgallant sail with for now only the ocean in sight.

Written by sailor Anouk: Today it’s February 3rd, the last day of the voyage and of all the voyages in Cape Verde. It where three beautiful months, it’s a shame we have to leave, but luckily we will be returning next year! At the moment we are sailing and with the engine from Boa Vista to Sal, we expect to arrive there in the late afternoon.
Three days ago we where anchored at São Nicolau. There we got two cabs, it where pick-ups so some of us went on top in the back and a few sat in the backseat. This was a good thing for your rear end but for the view and taking pictures the back of the pickup is better. We saw a lot of nice things. On every island in Cape Verde you see a lot of colours. The houses have different bright colours and also the laundry that is hanging out to dry is very colourful.
The first stop was a long the coast. There we could see what the sea does to lava. The sea carved beautiful layers in the lava. After that we return to the harbour at the other end of the island, but not before we made a short stop at a gas station. An old man with a crooked back and a cowboy hat was trying to saw down a tree. The tree had only a cross section of about 15 centimetres, but it still took about 10 minutes before the tree came down. We assumed it was the type of wood that must be very hard or was it the chainsaw that wasn’t working the way it should? During our drive we waved at all the people that where standing next to the road waving at us and even a little boy with a plastic electric guitar gave a guitar solo specially for us! A day full of nice views, colours but mainly beautiful people! Thank you São Nicolau!

A story of sailor Lukas: Thanks to Bertoni, our Capeverdian guide the island São Nicolau is one we will always remember. He organized a barbeque at the beach, it was great! Good food, live music and all this under a perfect night sky with stars. A great end to a great voyage. As Anouk already said we sailed from Boa Vista to Sal the next day. The wind was not very favourable, so it was pretty bumpy and even the toughest sailor (I) got a bit seasick. Around five we anchored in the bay of Palmeira and our cook Wouter prepared a festive meal. Everyone toasted to a beautiful voyage and after a few drinks beautiful stories where told. This morning we already had to say goodbye to our guests. A lot of them where not very happy to go, because they already spoke to the home front and knew that it is very cold in Holland with temperatures below zero. I wish them good luck!
01Now the ship is very quiet again and that is always a pity The crew is busy preparing the ship for her way home to Rotterdam. The cook is grocery shopping, the rest is cleaning and putting a new/old course on because the old one had a big tear in it so we have a lot to sow on our way back. Now we have to wait for our new captain and first mate, who will take over from Frianko, Frianko did very well. When we are on our way back to Rotterdam we will give another update!
 

On the 27th we left Santiago with a eastern wind, sometimes even a bit from the south. Therefore we could sail in the direction of São Nicolau. We were hoping to arrive in Mindelo (São Vicente) under sail, and set course between Santa Lucia and São Nicolau.
Just below São Nicolau the wind dropped (as expected). After some help of the engine, we could sail again towards São Vicente, this time arriving from the north. While changing the watch, the wind dropped. We had already unpacked the mizzen topsail to set extra sail. But after a short while, this turned out to be unnecessary, the wind stopped completely. Frianko had t start the engine and we reached our anchorplace in Mindelo by engine. You can't have it al, but we have had a good sailing day.
In Mindelo we have bunkered for our way back towards Rotterdam, which will start in a few days. Meanwhile, our guests have wondered around in Mindelo. The weather wasn't very good, we even had some rain. On the next day, the guest crew went to Santo Antão, accompanied by Lukas, which is a great walk! Halfway through the walk the clouds disappeared and the view over the valley was stunning. On board we had some doubts if we could start painting, but as soon as the sky cleared we started.
This morning we left Mindelo towards São Nicolau. With a nice flat ocean and a wind between 10 and 15 knots, we sail towards the other Tarrafal. We have planned our last excursion for this season on São Nicolau and expect a very nice barbecue with live music in the evening.
 

Crewmember Lukas writes (this story covers a big part of our earlier message): After a whole day and half a night of sailing we arrived in Tarrafal at 04:00 o’clock. Our new first mate Frianko anchored the ship perfectly. We divided the anchor watches and then we went to bed, because the next day we where going to do an excursion on the island.
This excursion went to the prison, where between 1935 and 1974 Portuguese and Capeverdian political dissidents where held prisoner. After that we went to a park that is sponsored by the United Nations. We walked the mountain up with along the way beautiful panoramic views.
After a ride with the bus of an hour we had lunch in a little town called Santa Catarina. We ate some genuine Capeverdian food and it was very good. For me the nicest thing about the excursion was the enormous old tree, of about 10 metres broad and with a lot of twisted roots and as high as the ‘Oosterschelde’ the only thing that’s a pity is that a lot of people carved their names in the tree. Would all the couples still be together now?
Around 19:00 hours everyone was back on board and Wouter, our cook, surprised us with an Indonesian rice table. This was for a lot of our British guest something new but they liked it very much. After dinner some of our crewmembers ventured in to some swimming by night. First from the railing and later on also from the course.
Today we went further to São Vicente, with the harbour town Mindelo. We hope to arrive at 4 o’clock. We sailed close-hauled between the two islands Santa Luzia and São Nicolau, Tomorrow we are going to bunker diesel for our voyage back to Rotterdam and the day after that we have our excursion on Santo Antão.

This morning we have dropped the anchor around 05:00 o' clock in the bay of Tarrafal, Santiago, after leaving Palmeira, Sal the morning before. We have experienced a good sailing trip, with a fair north-eastern wind 4 Bft (which decreased a bit after a while). In the afternoon we were accompanied by a few dolphins.
Our guest crew is a nice group, with a mixture of Dutch, German, Swiss, Irish, Scottish and English persons.
We had an excursion today on Santiago, in which we visited a former prison, used by the Portuguese for political hostiles. We visited the huge 'Poilon', a centuries-old kapok tree. We also visit the town Santa Catharina and make a walk in the national park.
The forecast for tomorrow is good! With a wind of Bft 4 to 5, coming from the east, later on turning to east-northeast, we are expecting a nice sailing track.

The last few days the wind is strong and very Eastern. The Northeastern trade wind is of course not as stable as the name suggests. Sometimes the wind is almost north and sometimes, like now it’s almost Eastern. Due to this we could not sail in one straight line from São Nicolau to Boa Vista. But now from Boa Vista to Sal we can profit from it. Also the clouds are gone and the sun is out. The high waves and swell don’t seem so threatening anymore but beautiful. Within a few hours we hope to drop the anchor in the bay of Santa Maria.

There was also quite some wind on land. After our excursion in Pick-ups, we were all sandblasted, tired and even a bit cold. Therefore not everyone looked forward to go away for the evening. But as soon as we were on the beach with Bertoni's friends, a barbecue with great food and live music,  it turned out to be a very nice night.
While writing this, we are on our way to the next island. The strong wind has made the sea quite heavy, with many waves and contrary swell up to 3,5 meters. With some support of the engine we make a considerable progress, but every once in a while the speed is completely gone when the ship dips into a large wave. An ETA is therefore hard to tell.
 

After a bumpy passage we have dropped anchor this morning at 07:40 on Sal Rei, on Boa Vista.

The voyage to São Vicente went prosperous. As soon as we passed the islands the wind decreased and the sea was calmer so we could get the reefs out. We had to sail pretty close-hauled to pass Santa Luzia on the upper side, but we succeeded and then we could sail with broad reach and with about 8 knots the rest of the journey was very pleasant. When the sun went down and we where almost there a fish bit our line, but we lost it again due to our speed. The sun goes under very fast here so when we dropped our anchor at Tarrafal it was already dark.

São Nicolau and Santo Antão are probably the most beautiful islands of the archipelago. Everybody was really impressed two days ago after the walk on Santo Antão. Today we have the opportunity to visit São Nicolau. With two vans we drive over the island. To the special lava structures on the southwest coast, to the top of Mont Gordo, the national park and the groque distillery that is situated on a beautiful spot and at the end of the day to the natural pool in the black rocks on the north coast. Tonight we are having a barbecue on the beach. Bertoni invited some musicians for the occasion, so it will be a nice evening…

On board we are busy with the strong wind. The wind blows strongly down from the mountains and with these gusts of wind the anchor doesn’t hold the ship in her place. On deck even the coffee cups blow away. We just lifted the anchor again to find a better place. We now dropped two anchors, let’s hope that this will work better.

‘Superman’, the mechanic who we asked to work on our generator couldn’t finish the job today. Because a small piece of iron from a bearing caused a short-circuit, he has a lot of work to fix it. We are on our way to São Nicolao and we hope that he will finish the job this evening. With a bit of luck he can give some parts along with the ‘Mar Liso’, which carries cargo between the islands. The ‘Mar Liso’ is an old wooden Danish cutter. Probably from the thirties and is currently living his third life we think. Every voyage could be his last, or will be his last, that is what you think when you see this ship. But I think this for years now and the time-table is much more reliable than the official ferry, from which you don’t know it at all if it goes at all.
Meanwhile we are sailing near the islands Santa Luzia and Ilhéu Branco, these islands are uninhabited. There was a lot of wind and high waves between São Vicente and Santo Antão, but now we can sail straight to São Nicolao and we are having a smooth journey.

The walk on San Antão exceeded all expectations. No matter what you tell about it beforehand; the landscape is more impressive than you can imagine. The weather was also good, so when the guests returned to the ship they were very fulfilled. Wouter prepared a barbeque and we enjoyed it on deck. It was a long day and soon after dinner a few guests returned to their cabins early. Around 22:00 o’clock only the watch was still on deck. At the moment we are preparing for our voyage to São Nicolau. Later on, after breakfast we will get clearance from customs and we will put a few reefs in the sails because the wind is pretty strong today.

It was a pretty heavy night. When the wind increased, we let some sails down and when is decreased we set more sail. And this happened a lot. We were pretty busy with this and you could see that the guests were having fun with it. So was the crew until the wind really started blowing from the wrong direction. After all the hard work it was frustrated to see that we were loosing the progress that we made. The last 20 miles of the 140-mile long journey we turned on the engine and this way we could sail directly to Mindelo. A few minutes before 20:00 o’clock we dropped the anchor in the bay. In the morning the wind decreased and the sun came out. While our guests were discovering São Vicente, we were busy with all kinds of small maintenance and repair. The old Murphy law has his eyes on the ‘Oosterschelde’ so it seems, because all the problems appear at the same time. But we are winning (we think), so we hope to finish the repairing tomorrow. For our guests there’s an excursion planned to Santo Antão. Maybe the highlight of the voyage. But we will tell you more about this tomorrow.

During the night the wind increased to 6 Bft. and soon we let down the topgallant. With increasing waves and with the wind in our backs the ship became hard to steer and due to that the mainsail jibed. Luckily the line that holds the mainsail didn’t break but this was our cue to let the sail down. With just the topsail and course we surfed further with about 8 knots. When the wind decreased a little and turned, we changed the course for the jib and set the main sail and the schooner again. We sailed the last 20 miles to Santiago and dropped our anchor at 04:00 o’clock in the bay at Tarrafal.
Today we sail further to São Vincente. The wind is still pretty heavy so we start with putting reefs in the mainsail, schooner and mizzen. We sail from the Leeward Islands towards the Windward Islands so this course is close-hauled. There’s still overcast but it is nice and warm. The wind is about 5 Bft. but more important, from the Northeast. With this wind we can sail directly to São Vicente.

It is not always easy to get to Cape Verde. Crewmembers Frianko and Anouk made an unexpected stopover on Santiago, but luckily they where able to fly the next day to Sal and everybody was on board in time for the fifth voyage. All the guests already arrived a day earlier and spend a night in a hotel, so everyone was well rested when they arrived on the ship. A little bit uneasy the guests climbed from the dinghy the ladder up to the ship. Last night we anchored just outside of the harbour of Palmeira. After breakfast, the safety instructions and the explanation about the ship and the sails, Wouter (our chef) came on board with a fresh load of vegetables. At 11:00 o’clock we lifted the anchor. The wind is moderate, with 4 to 5 Bft. and with this course we have the wind in our back. Beside the mainsail we set the course, topsail, and the topgallant and we sail softly swaying towards Santiago. Though it’s cloudy the weather is good and while I’m writing this, I hear the bell for lunch and this also means the end of my watch. Life is good!

Early in the morning we had breakfast and we left for Mindelo. On our way we made the last appointments with our agent so we can bunker. We arrive in Mindelo around 13:00 hours, it is weird being on quayside; the last time was nine weeks ago in Funchal, Madeira. After bunkering we decided to anchor because the first rope already broke. The guests had some time to go to town and to have lunch during bunkering. They visited the grave of the recently passed singer Cesaria and did some sightseeing in town. That night everyone went to bed early so they were well rested for the hike on San Antão. We took some more time so after the walk there was enough time to do the sightseeing tour over the island before returning to the ferry.

The weather reports for the next day are promising, with a nice northeastern wind of 10-15 knots. After departure we went on engine for a small hour and after that we set sail and with 9 knots we sail by Santa Lucia and São Vicente. Our destination is São Nicolau and we arrive there before sunset.
Yesterday we did another excursion; this one is for the most part by pickup truck. Everyone is still feeling their muscles for the hike on San Antão, but when they return everyone is full of enthusiasm about the different elements on the island, like the rocks and the influence of the sea on shore and the green paradise-like heart of the island. A few guests also experienced the local drink Grock. That night we enjoyed a barbeque organized by Bertoni.

Tired but fulfilled we returned to the ship around 24:00 hrs. This morning we left for Boa Vista and the wind is favorable. We won’t make it before sunset because the wind decreased along the way. The sailing is great and even our guests from Hamburg who experienced seasickness up till now are now enjoying them selves on deck. Our ETA is 20:30 hrs.

Today our christmas voyage starts in Cape Verde. A nice group of crew and guest crew member are celebrating Christmas and New Year on board 'Oosterschelde' in a sunny Cape Verde.
You can join us in Cape Verde for the voyages, starting on January 2, 13 or 24. We still have a few places available. And you can follow their adventures online on www.facebook.com/oosterschelde.

Our plans for 2012 are getting more complete. We have several day trips on board 'Oosterschelde' and 'Helena', North Sea trips during Ascension and Whitsun and visit Normandy and the Channel Islands in may. You can find our program in 'destinations' on the website.

After a few nice days of sailing on Gulf of Biskay, unfortunately the wind expectations have changed. Coming days there will be hardly any wind, and we already forgot our earlier hope for a record time Ouessant – Finisterre. We look forward to less waves and more wind at the moment. The atmosphere on board is very good, and allmost all seasickness is gone by now. We decide to drop our anchor in the Bay of Bayonne, until the heavy wind from the south drops. We hope to be able to leave towards Lisbon soon.  

On november 2nd the milemaker started with fabulous weather. After a cup of coffee and a few goodbye kisses we left the ‘Veerhaven’ at noon. As soon as we finished the Maas, we set sails and went into the night with quite some wind and at good speed. We sail without any problems all the way up to Calais, because of the good circumstances. We sail along the English south coast while the wind increases. A bit later the wind decreases ansd after a while we decide that it is best to stay anchored in Tor Bay, since there is no wind and we take some rest before crossing the Gulf of Biscay.

The next morning we left in the direction of Ouessant and make use of the wind from the north, that is expected for the next two days. We sail with some support from the engine and later on we we sail fully without the engine. At this point the wind seems to be good and we quietly hope a record time Ouessant – Finisterre.  

The last few weeks we have been busy with maintenance on board. A few of the maintenance jobs we have done sofar:

We have taken down the yard arms and put them on shore for a new layer of varnish. Four sails have been brought to the sailmaker; the topgallant sail, the fore mainsail, the topsail and the mainsail have been repaired. All three masts have been set straight. The bob stay was blasted. The main generator got a new damper. (After almost twenty years of salty sea water, that was necessary) The bow thruster was revised and got new heads. The fore peak and engine room were painted.
The water storage tank got new level gauges and valves, man holes were taken off, the storage tank was cleaned an cemented.
The showers in the back of the ship have been renewed (new fours and tiles), so that looks clean and fresh again. There was plenty of work to do.

The whole ship has been cleaned and prepared for our three-day journey with a group of young people, which starts today.

Last Thursday the shipping company held an information evening for the Cape Verde voyages. At seven o’clock the first guests came on board to see the Oosterschelde and meet the crew. Gerben Nab, captain of the ship, gave a presentation. With beautiful pictures, maps, the route and information about what to see and what to do on the different Islands, he painted a picture of the voyages. After the presentation questions where answered and some travel stories where told from first hand. And even a few bookings where noted.

Where you not able to come to our information evening, but would you like more information? Please contact us because we are happy to answer all your questions. Click here to order the Cabo Verde brochure.

Both the ‘Oosterschelde’ and the 'Helena' have attended several nautic events in the area. The ‘Oosterschelde’ attended Vlissingen Maritime and the ‘Helena’ organised a picknick and sailing experience during the World Port Days in Rotterdam.

Last week the ‘Helena’ was quite an eyecatcher during the Riverday in Schoonhoven. Approximately 11.000 visitors came to this event and have been able to see our ship. The days prior to and after the event guests could join the ship to have a delivery to and from Schoonhoven.

The ‘Oosterschelde’ visited a three days maritime event in Dordrecht ‘Vaart in Dordt’. The ship was open for visits and also sailed two short trips with guests, attending the maritime event.

Upcoming period both ships have been booked several times for charters. And of course the ‘Oosterschelde’ is already preparing for the voyage to Cape Verde.

Due to a rather busy period we’ve not been really keen on updating our news on the website the last few days. After the festival in Vlissingen the Oosterschelde set sail for Rotterdam. During our days here we had a lot of daytrips. Also during the World Port Days the Oosterschelde sailed around. Today we visited the Tweede Maasvlakte. This is a big project for the expansion of the Port of Rotterdam. This piece of new land is so new that it is not even on the navigation charts. For this occasion we could use the survey maps of the dredging companies to find our way. If we where really the first ones there we don’t know but besides the dredggingships there couldn’t have been a lot of other ships before us. Unfortunately for the people from the company that hired us the weather was not that good. Tomorrow we will head for England. Our destination is Great Yarmouth.

After a great night sailing on the North Sea, showers came along with some more wind in the morning, so the last piece went pretty fast. As planned, we sailed in the morning on the River Orwell. This is always a nice view of the river with many boats, birds and rolling hills on the back. Just after lunch we went under the bridge and through the lock in Ipswich. All guest crew went into the village and in the evening everyone was back on board. After dinner we enjoyed some music and a drink with a couple of our guests.

The next morning everyone had some time for shopping and then we left. After the lock and the bridge we passed the village Pin Mill with the "world famous" bar "Butt and Oyster". This is a pub since 1535. Even though the pub has been re-built several times, the pub is still named Butt and Oyster. Of course, we had to have a look there. So we tied the ship to some old buoys and everyone stepped on land. Some people immediately went to the terrace, where others first began exploring the village. In the evening we departed again. Just before dark, we have been able to hoist the sails and sailed into the night. The wind turned a little, so we went a little too far north. After a little help of the engine, we were back on track with full sails into the Westerschelde. Just before the port we lowered the sails and net through the lock at Vlissingen. A few people were in a hurry to catch their train, and therefor left us right after arrival. The others have had a delicious chicken meal and we have all had a very nice farewell to the host crew.

Now we are in Vlissingen. Yesterday we have sailed two short trips and today we host the ship for everyone who is interested in visiting the ship in the harbour.
 

58.29'N, 005°43.70'E. Compass 090. Knots 0,0.

We had some busy times the last few days. Yesterday we had a daytrip with a Norwegian Company. The wind was pretty strong and especially during the evening it was a challenge to try to keep the glasses in one piece. Today we have a wedding on board. After a few wonderful hours of sailing we are now back in the harbour where our guest are enjoying a nice diner. At the same time our trainees for the next voyage to Halmstadt are arriving. The ship is still occupied so Anouk and Amaury took the mainly Swedish trainees for some diner in Stavanger. Luckily the weather today is nice. Before we depart tomorrow for the race we have another daytrip. About 100 older passengers from a cruise ship will sail with the ‘Oosterschelde’ for a few hours. At 11:30 hrs they disembark and we will depart for the ‘Parade of Sail. The start of the race is at sea at around 16:00 utc (18:00 local time). On the website of the STI (sailtraininginternational)you can follow us and the other ships. Each ship has a satellite responder and on the website you can find the up to date positions of the ships. Stavanger is fun, but after the fireworks tonight and the daytrip tomorrow we are happy to join the other ships.

59°04.45'N, 005°40.25'E. Compass 090. Knots 0,0

In Ålesund we learned about the bomb attack in Oslo. People standing in front of tv screens, in the lobby of hotels and in the streets talking in groups. When we asked what was going on, we saw they were shocked. Noone at the moment knew anything of the attack on the youth camp island Utø Our stories of the voyage of course are of seconday importance in the light of those events. But, when you are at open sea in a storm, it is different. We left Ålesund at 06:00. We planned a short stop at the island of Runde, but when we came close it was clear that this would not be possible at all, the waves being much to high for a safe landing. The forecast promised us a notherly 6 Bft, which would make it a fast crossing. First we went 8 knopts, then 9 and then 10, even while taking away sails. At the height of the wind (40 knots, with 55 knots gusts). In the end we just used the staysail and the topsail, going 9 knots. At midnight the worst was over and after 02:00 the wind decreased to almost nothing. We even had to start the engine to make some progress. In the afternoon we went 'inside' again, entering the Haugesund. And now we have our last stop of theis voyage, in a small bay on Mosterøy, close to Stavanger. Tomorrow at 06:00 we will hoist anchor and go to Stavanger.

For the third year in a row the ‘Helena’ will sail over the Rhine to Germany. This year we offer the unique possibility to travel back with the ‘Helena’ to Rotterdam on a two-day river cruise. The 2^nd of July we depart from Arnhem and we will arrive in Rotterdam on the 3^rd of July. The voyage will take us down the Nederrijn through the impressive rive landscape. We will spend the night in a hotel in Wijk bij Duurstede. On day two, after passing charming Kinderdijk and the Port of Rotterdam we will arrive in the ‘Leuvehaven’, the homeport of the ‘Helena’. The price of this unique two-day voyage is € 250,00 per person, including meals and overnight stay in the hotel.

On the 10^th of July the ‘Helena’ will make a sailing trip through the Harbour of Rotterdam. On this voyage you can experience the city from a whole new side. Price € 55,00, including lunch (children 37,50).

After the Kieler Woche the ‘Oosterschelde’ will set sail to the ‘High North’. During this unique voyage from the 26th of June until the 5th of July we will discover the west coast of Sweden and the south coast of Norway. We will make a stop at Skärhamn. This city was the homeport of the ‘Oosterschelde’ from 1954 until 1980, when she sailed under the Swedish flag. For a last-minute offer you can contact the office.

At the 20:30 low tide we left Alderney. After 3 tacks the wind creeps to the Westnorthwest and we plough to against the westerly swell with one reef and the stormjib on the outerjibstay. Now we are sailing fully rigged full and by. Thirty miles to go to Ouessant.

Now spring is finally here we are preparing the ship for the new season. One of the bigger jobs is maintenance on the main engine of the Oosterschelde. Also on the Helena we are kept busy. Sep and Clicia are back onboard and are now checking everything to see if there are things that are not yet in tip top shape.

The Oosterschelde is now back on her spot in Rotterdam. Yesterday afternoon the ship was welcomed back by a group of family, friends and colleagues. As soon as the Oosterschelde was properly moored everyone came onboard to welcome the crew and guest-crew back home. The coming period will be used for maintenance to prepare the ship for the season.

We just received word that the Oosterschelde anchored at Lulworth Cove, on the south coast of England. This means the ship is slightly ahead of schedule and is expected to arrive at the Veerhaven on Wednesday morning, 23 February.

On Monday 31 January the Oosterschelde left the Capeverdian Islands, for the voyage back to Rotterdam. Past Tuesday the Oosterschelde reached the Azores and after a short stop the ship will continue the voyage back home. We expect the ship back in the homeport on 24 February.

You can follow the news of the 'Oosterschelde' here.

At the end of June the Helena will set sail for Germany for her annual visit to the Ruhr area. From 21 June until 23 June the Helena can be found in Duisburg. Then she will sail on to Düsseldorf, where she will be moored in the ‘Atstadt’ until 30 June. During her stay the Helena will be sailing trips on the Rhine and hosting parties and reception for several companies and organisations.

During the trip back it is possible to step onboard in Arnhem for a 2-day voyage over the Lower Rhine, the Lek and the Nieuwe Maas to the homeport in Rotterdam.

From 22 January until 30 January we will be present at Boot Düsseldorf in Germany, on the combined stand of 'Sail Holland 2011'. Boot Düsseldorf is a fair trade on everything that has to do with sailing and water. At the fair trade we will be presenting our program for 2011 to the German public. If you would like to visit us, we will be more than happy to welcome you at the stand.

On behalf of the crews of the ships and our shipping company we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!

An old saying goes "when it rains - it pours". This saying is not applicable to the weather here on Cape Verde as we have only seen a rain shower in the distance one single time so far and are experiencing a row of perfectly sunny days (how is the weather in Holland?). It is, however, applicable to the various technical challenges we have been facing lately. With the change of carrying common cargo to accommodating up to 24 trainees/guests the ship has also changed from fairly simple to rather technical. As examples we have two different engine rooms, at least 26 different pumps, some 16 different tanks for water, diesel and grey/black water, four different diesel engines, several hydraulic systems, some five coolers and two freezers, a water heater, ventilation systems, a water maker (from salt to drinking water), loads of navigation systems and computers and properly several kilometers of cables running through the ship. Although we are constantly servicing and maintaining these systems, inevitably things will occasionally break down.
This week a clog in the de-airation pipe from a grey water tank resulted in bad smell in some cabins. We tried to flush the pipes from outside yet in the end we had to open the tank and by hand remove the dirt from inside the pipes. Just finished a problem with our small generator arose when a nasty grinding noise came from the dynamo part. It was shut down and problem shooting began. Advise was asked from colleagues at home, manuals read cover to cover and the problem isolated to a run down bearing. Our big generator took over the job of providing power to the ship yet at night time when we run on batteries alone a block for light had given up on us and so had one battery charger... When it rains - it certainly pours!
As we arrived to Mindelo, Sao Vicente, the generator had been disassembled and a local marine electrician was waiting on the pier. A "search party" was dispatched for batteries and charger and "los dres engineros" Mate Maarten, Engineer Max and deckhand Ewout were hard at work while our guests enjoyed a hike in the mountains of the neighbor island Santa Antao.
With a slight delay we departed Mindelo yesterday as soon as the generator had been reassembled with a fresh bearing and new cobber wiring, that turned out to be damaged, on the dynamo, new batteries and charger already installed.
As the final touch was laid on the repairs and the Oosterschelde back in perfect ship shape we heard the sweet sound from our fish line running out. Maarten, emerged from the engine room to pull in a beautifully colored Dorade (also known as Dolphin fish, "Gold Makerel" or Mahi Mahi) of 1.25 meters and 12 kilo's!

And so, overworked, tired, covered in oil and grease from top to toe and smelling like a fish factory our Mate Maarten, and everybody on board, still ended the day with a enourmous smile on his face.

Such is sailing life - as the waves around us - sometimes down, sometimes up

 "In '97 I was crewing on a small Danish scouting ship and just as the Oosterschelde we were participating in a Tall Ships’ Race from Hongkong to Japan. Due to some 'scouting' planning issues we pretty much ran out of food (and lots of other stuff) halfway over the South Chinese sea. As it was the only ship within the horizon we turned to the Oosterschelde for extra provisions, which the cook Jan Korver was kind enough to spare us. This was the first time I came on board the Oosterschelde and little did I know she would have such a dramatic impact on my later life. After the race ended in Osaka I left the scouting ship and joined the Oosterschelde as a volunteer crewmember. The next ten years I was involved with the Oosterschelde only interrupted by a few periods in school and sailing on other ships. After an almost three year break now, where I mainly worked a regular job ashore, I find myself back onboard for yet another adventure. Funny enough it was the same cook as it was then, Jan Korver, who was here to greet our new deckhand Thijs and myself with freshly baked bread and delicious soup when we arrived to the ship yesterday. It seems to me a lot of good people stick around on the Oosterschelde and I was very happy to find a great crew and atmosphere onboard. We have now welcomed our first guests onboard and will get the last ones tonight from the airport. We plan to set sail for Santiago tomorrow around lunch, after clearing out with the authorities. The freshly caught fish we just bought from a passing fisherman is now on the barbeque and it is time for me to go. It is great to be back!"

The Oosterschelde has left Rotterdam and is sailing towards Cape Verde. Regularly the crew keeps us posted on where they are and what is happening on board. See here to find out about these adventures on the Oosterschelde website.

The crew is very busy with the last preparations to get the Oosterschelde ready for the winter season. The pressure is on as the ship leaves on 18 October for the voyage to the Capeverdean islands. The sailtrip begins with the mile maker Rotterdam - Viggo - Sal which will get the ship to Cape Verde in 27 days. From there 6 12-day voyages will be undertaken around these magnificent islands.

The Oosterschelde is currently in Bremerhaven for the International Festival of Tall Ships. She will stay there for several days to do day-trips with companies and individuals before returning to Rotterdam for the World Port Days during the first weekend in September.

After a successful Kiel Week the Oosterschelde has left the Baltic on Monday. This event has been busy, fun and satisfying for the guests as well as for the crew. This is emphasised by the following story from captain Bernt:

"The Kiel Week is almost finished. For those who wonder what we do during these days, I will give you a description of our daily routine: at 08:00 we have breakfast and usually the foond and drink deliveries arrive during breakfast. We are moored with four ships next to each other, which have about the same routine. Up to half past 9 there is a lot of walking around of the crews, catering personnel and many more. Meanwhile we have a final check if the ship is ready: cleaning up breakfast, hosing of the deck, checking the toilets, the final touch on all the copper. And of course making sure that the crew is ready by 09:45 hours. At 10:00 hours the guests come onboard. One of the crewmembers will be counting the number of guests, the agent and the captain welcome the guests and the catering provides some delicious drinks. When everyone is onboard we discuss with our neighbour-ships about which of the ships will leave first and which will be back first at the end of the trip. The weather has been wonderful this entire week, with little wind and much sunshine. Usually we put up the sails straight away so we can leave the quay with the sails up. After departure the host of the party gives a word of welcome and introduces the captain. I tell them about what makes the ‘Oosterschelde’ special and about the emergency procedures. Of course I invite them all to help. The crew works like a well-adjusted machine so we are fully rigged within 15 minutes. The guests enjoy participating and the enthusiasm of the crew. About 65 other ships join us, so it is a remarkable sight with all those sails. Around lunchtime we anchor to witness the races between the small boats, so that the guests can enjoy their lunches quietly and enjoy the view. When the lunch is done we find a good moment to hoist the anchor and set sail again, preferably a moment so we can leave fully rigged. The enthusiasm of the crew catches on and the guests are more than happy to hoist the entire wardrobe. Around a quarter to five we are almost back at the quay and try remove all the sails so we can properly moor next to our neighbours. As soon as we are moored the gangway is put out and by ten past five the ship is empty. The music goes on, the toilets are cleaned, the floor and deck are scrubbed, all the copper is polished and around i18:00 hours the ship is clean again and leaves a wonderful quiet. Then we sit on talking with the agent and the catering crew while enjoying a cold drink. Unless we also have a trip planned in the evening, because then the whole circus starts again from the top. I have to say, during this Kiel Week with this crew it is an absolute pleasure to be sailing on the Oosterschelde."

After a successful visit to Düsseldorf, the Helena has returned to Rotterdam. On 14 May the ship left Rotterdam to participate in the harbourdays in Neuss-Düsseldorf. A busy, but fullfilling visit, with many people and companies onboard. The 'Helena' received press coverage in many German newspaper and appeared in a special on television. A fun visit to a fun city!

The tourism on Cape Verde seems to be progressing steadily. Whereas it was difficult to find a suitable flight only a few years ago, nowadays one can choose from several airlines to fly to this tropical destination. This winter the Oosterschelde will once again offer voyages on this beautiful destination. Please see here for more information.

Since the start of this year skipper Sebastian Bouma and his partner Clicia Lima are in charge of the daily life onboard of the Helena. The past weeks they have worked very hard to prepare the ship for the coming season. Improvements have been made on the ship and everyone is looking forward to this new season. For more information on the ship see here.