17/06/12 - Tenacious

We left Amsterdam at 2pm on Friday and headed for Oostende. All was calm until late evening when we hit choppier waters, quite an experience for those of us who hadn't found our sea legs. There was plenty of advice and support on hand from the old-timers, and the best advice was to get from deck to bed in five minutes flat!
Watch duty on deck continues throughout the night and plenty of layers were needed. Graham the Chef and his mess crew have kept us all going with some delicious dishes and home-made cakes at smokie After an evening in Oostende last night and a good night's sleep in dock, the highlight of the journey so far has been the assisted climbs that took place this morning.
Watching the sheer determination of some of our crew climbing the shrouds to the platforms was inspiring, enabled by the dedicated permanent crew and the hard working voyage crew on deck. "Emotional" and "touching" were some of the comments made, and Steve said "It felt wonderful to get up to the second platform - I've always wanted to get up that far". Well done to everyone who went up and to all those who helped.
This morning our engineers have worked hard in the engine room and the decision has just been made to leave. We are now preparing to depart Oostende and head for the North Sea, creating considerable interest for the Hungarian truck drivers parked nearby and the locals with their cameras.
We're underway to find the wind for more adventures!

FWD PORT