The weather is calm when the day starts in Baiona. Throughout the ship, crew and trainees are busy maintaining the rigging and the rest of the boat. The weather is good, everyone has their job, explanations are given to new trainees, internships are stretched, new supplies are cleared away and the cargo is neatly placed in the cargo hold. When Captain Wiebe returns on board around half past ten, he has retrieved the latest weather reports and thought about the plan we have up to that moment to leave the next morning, stay behind the anchor in the bay for the night and then continue on the next day. day to start the crossing to La Palma. Muster! he shouts: the sign that everyone must gather for an announcement. Everyone quietly drops their work, quickly grabs a cup of coffee and gathers on the aft deck. We're leaving today, Wiebe says softly to me. I start to laugh softly inside. It will be a few hours of hard work to get everything ready on time. But then we go sailing again: something I and the rest of the people on the ship are looking forward to after a week in Baiona.
Wiebe makes his announcement and the response is enthusiastic. It will be a busy few hours during which the freight still needs to be secured to the sea. The last jobs in the rigging still have to be done, water still has to be bunkered and the last food supplies still have to be brought on board. Everyone works hard and suddenly a lot of things happen at the same time. But it's ready when the tug docks at a few minutes past five. Everyone has a euphoric feeling and is happy to leave. There is little wind at that time: quite exciting on a ship without an engine. We slowly float out with some help from our own dinghy. The crew and trainees are still working hard to set all sails, after which a delicious meal awaits us from our ship's chef Soraia. We sail quietly into the night with about six knots away from the coast on our way to a new distance.