Travelogue: slowly leaving the storm

Greenland Waters – September 5
Date and time: 05.09.25, 11:00 (UTC -4)
Location: LAT 58.24°, LON 45.32°
SOG (speed over ground): 7.5 knots
Wind: 33 knots

The storm has finally begun to ease. Yesterday was relentless, with winds above 50 knots and seas that were both impressive and frightening. We crawled along at barely two to three knots while the low front stalled instead of moving on as forecast. The crew, calm and good-humoured throughout, treated it as the weather they had expected, but to me it felt like endurance.

Today, even with gusts still reaching 40, it feels as if the worst has passed. We are making headway again, and two vessels crossed our path this morning, a reminder that we are not entirely alone out here. The word is that we will unload in Gijón, northern Spain, once this long passage comes to its end.

I am grateful that my legs and stomach held steady. Perhaps it was the size of the ship, or perhaps it was following my father’s old trick of eating a dry cracker every hour. Either way, I managed fine, though the ship shook, rolled, and groaned through the night. At one point the autopilot could not cope, and the crew had to steer manually for hours on end.

Last night I stepped out and caught sight of a scattering of stars, the first in days. This morning the sky is cloudy and heavy with mist, but even so it feels like we are crawling out of the storm.