Back in the Real World™ again, I was able to post all the scriblings I made during the crossing. To keep things clear, I divided all the entries this site into two categories:

• those Posted in Real Time before, or during the crossing (thanks to Chris)
  
• Entries Posted later but written onboard, during the crossing.

Keep watching, for I will also add tons of pictures shortly.

29-12-2002 07.30h local time: Barbados it is!!!

Send a FREE SMS to KeeS! More info, read below...

Voicemessages available!.

Wanna see where they are? Take a look at this map.

And off the go again, hopefully this time a bit more wind so they will make it before NewYear. Bas sends his best regards and kisses to everybody and is very excited about the Cap Verdes...

Tenerife (Canaries) - Sao Vincente (Cap Verdes)
Fiona has published her diaryand some pictures (dutch).

Helaas en sorry,
Bellen met Vodafone is net zo duur als KPN!

Even een tussenstand van de prijsvraag:

22.14N 22.21W at 22:50 PM: e-mail...

And finally they set sail, last SMS from Bas at 5-12, 14.28 GMT: "And off we go! Around the world..."

Indeed, we´re still on the Canaries, Tenerife this time. We tried to leave for Barbados from Puerto Bianca, Cran Canaria but... We got our ´cohones´ kicked, in a bad way.

Unfortunately they are not so lucky with the swell, another e-mail in dutch.

Via this url (a trackingsystem from another sailingsite) it is possible to view the position of KeeS by moving your cursor on the map (you will see the coordinates in the little screen on the right). They will call daily/every other day (hopefully!) to give us their position which we will publish regularly.

The weather reports can be followed by clicking on the area (Atlantic-Route: Canary Islands - Trade Winds Zone 1 and 2).

Will they ever reach Barbados?!! Again the waves were a bit to heavy so they spend another night at Gran Canaria...the south side this time. Bas called this morning to let me know that they were planning to leave today...again. Perhaps with another pitstop at Tenerife or La Gomera?

This morning the KeeS finally set sail for Barbados. They will keep us updated every 2 days. Hereby the last e-mail...

Finaly, we´re in Las Palmas. After leaving Lanzarote after my previous update, we got a call that the package HAD arrived. But, as it turned out after we returned into port, it had not.

Like Bas mentioned before, you can reach KeeS by Iridium Satellite phone: 00 881631514274 (EUR 7,5684 incl BTW!).
It's also possible to send free SMS-messages via:
http://www.iridium.com (send a satellite message) or
http://www.mzcomm.com/iridium_msg.html

Puerto Calero, Lanzarote has been nice to us. But it´s been long enough. In - hopefully - an hour or so, we´re finally taking of to sea. Destination: Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Maybe.

Another day has passed in utterly relaxed Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. Jaap has left for Holland, Rob has joined the crew, KeeS is still mastless, and I became one year older.

Yep, Bas just turned 30+ (again)! Happy birthday dushi, I'm having one at your health! Hope you're having some birthdayfun out there!

XXX

This afternoon we will probably finish our work on the mast. If nothing goes wrong, we should be able to get it up tomorrow.

Puerto Calero boat shop - This is supposed to be the only wired place around here: A small shop with one PC to use for my online habits. Well, it will just have to do in absence of my GSM.

28°41'N, 14°08'W, Aboard KeeS - On arrival in Puerto Calero I was immediately overwhelmed by the ultra-relaxed atmosphere of the reasonably modern port: lots of 'liveaboards' and a handful of lost tourist, side by side enjoying the slow pace of a Spanish Sunday.

Basje has just arrived at Lanzarote. The weather is a bit better than it is in Holland and Germany, all the luggage and food-supplies arrived as well and Air Berlin is OK. Now he's on his way to meet KeeS.

Aboard Air Berlin 8568 - As we are passing Casablanca, the waves of the Atlantic Ocean seem almost frozen in the bright morning sun. They also look less impressive than they will be once I'm surrounded by them, instead of looking down on the ocean from 37,000 feet in the sky.

Since it's going to take a while to get the stays fixed, KeeS will have to remain in Lanzarote for at least a week. Therefore, a few minutes ago, I changed my ticket: I will fly to Lanzarote instead of Las Palmas.

If you happen to be one of those millions of MSN-Messenger users, you can be notified of Atlantic Shipslog's updates automaticly:

Fiona & Andre are experiencing a little trouble: Nothing serious, it's just that the mast of KeeS has been brought down. And who needs a mast on a sailing yacht anyway?

What to eat, when we're sailing the ocean for weeks in a row? I'm sure we will get tired of canned meat and easy pasta. That's why I bought something challenging.
For one, it will be a personal challenge, 'cause I've never ever caught a fish in my entire life. But secondly I'm daring my fellow crew members: Wanna bet who will catch the biggest tuna?

Chris found us a very nice site, with a lot of stories from a family who sailed plenty of oceans: Candide op reis. Currently, their beautiful yacht is for sale. (Now that would make a nice birthday present, people! ;-)

Just another three weeks and I'm off. So it's a good feeling Chris and EJ managed to get me my tickets.

Check out my complete travel schedule...

Some of the lovely photographs above this site are used with permission of the Barbados Photo Gallery. They are © Stephen E. Mendes, Barbados. Thanx, Steven. I hope to thank you in person when (if?!) we get to Barbados!

Right now, I'm not sure if we'll have the necessary communications equipment aboard to update this shipslog during the trip or not. In case Rob might be bringing an SSB-radio, I can e-mail the updates so Chris can post them. And we are now considering renting an Iridium satellite phone. These are just bloody expensive, but it would enable us to make a connection to the internet.

...blogging across the Atlantic this time. Together with Rob, I'll be tagging along with André and Fiona on the Kees, departing from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria around November 23.
Our first destination will be Barbados. Before, during, and after this trip I will try to maintain an online logbook, like I did previously on our sailing trips
around Greece. Only this time, Chris will not be by my side. :-(