Tres Hombres is always a pretty boat and the sea is always a charming place but some days and nights on board are simply too ridiculously beautiful to believe it.

When we reached Getaria I got reacquainted with the chaotic life on land that seems to follow reaching port on Tres. A few days of carnage; fiestas, friends, delicious meals and drinks in gorgeous locations and I started longing for the wide and open sea again. “We set sail tomorrow?” I asked the captain. “Yes, it’s time to go, isn’t it?” he replied. There was a twinkle in his eyes.

The bay of Biscay so far has not lived up to its notorious reputation. Although we are not moving fast, we are sailing steadily in the right direction. Ahead of us lies the complicated manoeuvring through the English Channel, but out here we just bump into sea birds, jumping tunas and a friendly cloud in the sky every now and then. The wind visits us upon occasion. And when the wind comes we sail smoothly and powerfully over a flat sea. At five knots headed West we charged straight towards the setting sun. With not a cloud in sight, I sent the trainees of my watch up the bowsprit and woke the others in anticipation. The sun dropped below the horizon. It was like a bell rang in the distance as her final rays lit up green.

Our fully loaded ship ploughed on gracefully. No need to touch the helm – in these conditions, she steers herself. The colours withdrawing from the sky and the stars of the Northern Summer Triangle already visible in the blue above I switched off the wind turbines for a moment to enjoy the peaceful setting. I started to feel overwhelmed. The Tanka is an ancient Japanese form of poetry, a predecessor to the Haiku. Here’s what I came up with sitting on top of the nav room enjoying the breeze.

After the green flash
all colours above the sea
slowly converge West.
Our heading is that chalice
from which Neptune drinks the sky.

After preparing the bread, I stepped out of the galley into a dome of constellations. With a new moon, the stars shone gloriously upon us. Currently the sun is in Cancer, but from the tail of Leo to the mischievous peak above the horizon by Gemini, we found every other Zodiac. With binoculars we could spot Uranus, the Andromeda galaxy and count the stars of the Pleiads. When the others came up for the dog watch, I geeked out leading them on a tour across the Northern Hemisphere. Of course there was a meteor… it was such a night. A ball of fire the size I have never seen before soared straight over us, from the aft to the bow, leading our way.

Orion came up accompanied by another set of pastel rainbow colours. As the wind had veered and we had followed, the sun set above the starboard bow. I was lucky enough to be tapped on the shoulders by one of the trainees during breakfast preparation when it rose. The bread had risen too. It was perfect.

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