Sea literature: We open the white horses

On the website of sailing freighter the Tres Hombres, there are regular accounts of how the ship and those on board fare. Anne-Flore is captain when the Tres Hombres leaves the Caribbean for the crossing to the Netherlands.

After a long and arduous journey of almost six months, the sailing freighter the Tres Hombres is welcomed with open arms at Chocolatemakers in Amsterdam’s western port area. In the hold: 143 bags of cocoa, which is a whopping 10 tonnes of organic Trinitario cocoa beans. Good for around 200,000 delicious Tres Hombres bars!
Fierce storms, a lot of headwind, it was not easy this year, yet captain Anne-Flore of the Tres Hombres managed to sail the sailing ship safely to Europe. Every year since 2012, the Tres Hombres brings a hefty cargo of cocoa to Chocolatemakers‘ chocolate factory. Once again, it took six months to complete the journey. A journey that amounts to 4143 nautical miles (7673 km) from the Dominican Republic to the Netherlands.

Anne-Flore recounts:
“As expected, we have been hit by a front. We shut the door on the Caribbean and opened the white horses.
Royal (a sail, red.) furled by late afternoon. Mainsail furled for the night. And for the night, we heard some thunderstorms. Just in time to start putting the extra safety lines on deck, harnesses on and a big wind shift blows our heads clean. Everything squared off, and so we run away before the wind.

Exploding chests
The barrel in the port corner of the galley roof quickly fills up with rainwater. Lightning continues to chase and bombard us for a few hours. The sound is extremely loud, seems to come deep from a cave where rumbling waves end their course. The earth lets us know that its heart beats, so does ours, on the verge of exploding chests of true joy. Witness again, and always be true to the sea. From the sea to the campfire, or the bar where we will meet fellow sailors, to reminisce and revive.

Stamps
We make a starboard tack for a few days as the wind comes from north-northeast. Two reefs in the mainsail. The wind is not that strong but the sea is quite choppy so as we pound, with less sail the forces in the rigging, hull and rudder are also less. Few of us can enjoy showers, and do a bit of laundry with the night’s rainwater.
The general mood is high. With Bermuda behind us and less than 1,800 miles to go, we are making firm strides in our journey across the ocean.

Happy spring, happy Aries!!!”

Read Anne-Flora’s log and more on the Tres Hombres‘ site.

Windassist sponsor