can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Equinox - Herman’s post



So I’ve actually never done sailing before. Well I “test-sailed” for a few hours before coming here in my hometown Stockholm but that was in a closed archipelago, nothing like the Atlantic! So what am I doing here you may wonder. Well, back in Spring my dad told me about my far away relative uncle who was sailing around the world and that he wondered if we wanted to join a short distance. “Sure” said the bored fifteen year old also refered as me. I didn’t have a clue about boats but thought it would be a nice change from the every day life in school. A few months, three skippers exams and several knots later I’m sitting on the plane from rainy Stockholm to Las Palmas. Things doesn’t start to feel real until a couple of hours after setting sail to Cape Verde. My English feels a bit rusty, I don’t know any sailing terms and I’m basically trying to understand which sheet Richard wants me to pull in. After a day or two I start to get my head around the system of the sheets and sails etc. I’m thrilled and exited over all of this. Meanwhile my friends are back in Sweden and stressing over exams, I’m sitting in a sailing boat at open sea. I feel liberated. That feeling would eventually transform into the opposite. The night shifts started to weaken my mental strength. At day four I stared at the sea, laughing for myself, and said over and over again that we would never see land again. The ETA triggered it I think. Seeing that the destination is in reach within 130 hours would make anyone crazy. I had my ups and downs but my mind adjusted to the slow paced life on a cruiser and now suddenly it’s day 6 and Mindelo is only a few hours away. I’ve learned a lot from this trip especially about English sailing terms that I probably won’t have any use for at home. This has been an adventure and I feel very lucky for being a part of it.





Previous | Next