Salamander - Frederik's Reflections on ARC 2022

I was the last person to join the boat and really appreciate all the preparations performed prior to leaving Las Palmas. It was amazing to see all the fruit to be washed and the freezer full of homemade food prepared in the dock in preparation for the crossing! Likewise the careful packing of all the food in available spaces throughout the vessel. This was done by Sue alone to ensure no locations would be forgotten during the sailing.

The careful preparations made cooking during the crossing easier, but still a significant job not to be taken lightly! Especially when serving fresh fruit salad every day! I'm really grateful for the excellent food prepared by Sue, and realize what an important part of the trip this constitutes. Meals become a highlight of the day, especially when there is little wind.

Structure is absolutely key. We kept CET for the crossing and divided the crew of 6 into three teams doing watches of 2 hours, followed by 4 hours rest. When manually helming, 2 hours watch was an optimum duration. Meals were served 06, 12 and 18 which worked very well. I was fearing not being able to sleep for the short breaks, but adapted quickly to the shift pattern and put "sleep in the bank" whenever possible / needed.

The weather started up with about 4 metre waves and up to 37 kts wind. This was quite a rough start, and a steep learning curve for how the vessel was to be helmed. It was a pleasure helming a 30 ton + long keeled vessel in aft quartering seas! The sail plan with two forsails (Genoa and staysail) on poles was great! However a new experience with such limited view forward. Despite careful planning and use of sophisticated weather models, we eventually ran out of wind and decided to do the final stretch on engine. This was a significant shift in routines as we were now also using the autopilot. We all miss sailing, but appreciate the significant tank capacity on the vessel allowed motoring all the way needed!

A large part of the journey is about team, culture and mental health. It is not given that one can handle the lack of communication with the outside world, long hours on and off watch, and weeks with new people from different nationalities with no escape! Again, I feel lucky to be on the Salamander where the set-up is optimised for such a trip based on a wealth of experience. I'm grateful for the good receipt from the other crew and have enjoyed getting to know them all better. Time has really passed swiftly!

The journey is now nearing the end, but I have made friends for life and learned a lot that I hope to use in another crossing later. This has truly been an amazing experience!


Fredrik


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