Voyage 2024

The tension is growing: will the Tres Hombres make it to Amsterdam in time? Today, Tuesday morning (April 30), she is sailing north of Le Havre in the English Channel to the east. The speed over ground has dropped to less than 4 knots. Apparently the ship has the strong tidal current in the Channel against her. Low water will be reached at midday, then the current will change direction and hopefully provide thrust until half past five.

Seamens Center Amsterdam. Two (presumably) Filipinos are playing billiards. A jazz piano plays from the loudspeaker. Sunday. Sun outside.

Cold. Quickly back into the cabin to put on another layer under the jacket. Hood over the hat, the gloves are a blessing. A May night on the North Sea.

Wednesday in the port of La Rochelle. Everyone on board is working: the hold needs to be cleaned for the cargo arriving on Friday. And there is always something to repair on deck. Then we are told to gather on portside. Captain Arthur reports: "The Gallant is no more." The ship, owned by the French Blue Schooner Company, apparently encountered a squall south of the Bahamas, capsized and sank within half an hour. Of the eight people on board, the coast guard was able to rescue six by helicopter. A video from the helicopter shows that the crew had still found time to put on their survival suits. These keep the body warm in the water.

After leaving Blankenberge, we sailed across the English Channel with mostly favorable winds. As soon as we were "around the corner" in Brittany, the weather became calm. Circulating and sometimes completely calm winds dispelled our fears that we might arrive in La Rochelle too early.

The atmosphere became increasingly divided. On the one hand, there was a party on Saturday with wine producers and an exuberant atmosphere. One of the winegrowers played the accordion brilliantly, an old instrument with some buttons missing and a neck strap made from knotted kitchen towels. He got us all dancing with it. On the other side, thoughts of the sunken Gallant, of the dead. Cook Giulia's face grew gloomier by the day.

Three days after the impromptu memorial service for the sunken Gallant, we left the port of La Rochelle. The emotional burden was a little lighter and we could concentrate on sailing. We crossed free from the coast against the north-westerly wind. At sea, the waves were not high, but they were short and steep. The ship pitched, the foredeck reared up and dipped, and occasionally the vertical movement reached around five meters. Our stomachs rebelled. But little by little, our sense of balance got used to these conditions. A shift in the wind allowed us to sail closer to the coast with an offshore wind, which also meant less swell.

June 24. Glorious weather, summer at last - for the next few days too. But tomorrow the Tres Hombres will sail the few kilometers to Gudhjem without me to deliver the last boxes of wine bottles, because I'm leaving for home at eight o'clock.