25 to 30kn pushing us against the jetty, welcoming us to the new sunny and windy day. The day of our departure from Port Stanley and the start of a voyage that will bring us to visit Falklands for a handful of days, South Georgia and Antarctica. Our next port is Ushuaia in over 40 days. 

Breakfast and a good cup of coffee first, then it was time for safety drills and instructions, mandatory prior to setting sail from the port. Which we actually did straight afterwards. 

It was not the easiest manoeuvre to get off the pier with the wind blowing us inland, but soon we were free from our moorings and getting off Port Stanley, motoring into the larger bay of Port William. The wind blows a good 30 to 40kn North-northwesterly, and as soon as the ship clears the Tussac islets, we set sail and steer her between the large Seal Rocks and the barely visible Billy Rock, under Top Sails and Lower Staysails. Once in more open waters it is the moment to change course, bracing the yards a couple of times as we fall off gradually to a Southwesterly direction. And off we went on a first day of great sailing! 

35, 40kn blow hard, the seas are growing too, not to very tall long swell but enough waves to splash now and then over the main deck bulwarks. She heels to Portside reaching a good speed too, between 6 and 9 kn, now braced broad reach, then beam reach. 

A bit of a shock for some going straight from being at port to a bit of tough sailing, but that is what the ship is built for, that is what she enjoys. 

And in-between the sail handling and amongst one water splash and another, today was the day also for the familiarisation with everyone duties on board. With the decks made mess of coils and ropes thrown off their pins and having been used to pull on braces or set sail, first it made sense to start with the rope-handling, coiling and the lines positions at the pin-rails. Until now we have been pulling or easing them under the permanent crew instructions, with just short explanations about what we were doing. Sure there will be time for much more sail training during the trip and for us to get to know the spiderweb maze of ropes that run from the decks to the masts and stays aloft. 

With tidy decks, then the group is split between the aft and fore ends of the ship. At the Poop deck we all have a taste on the wheel and we get the instructions on steering, one of the most important of everyone’s duties during the watches. At the Fore deck the others get instructions on how to conduct a proper look out, an introduction to being the eyes of the ship. 

Before we are even done with it, first one, then two, three, four, then more have already fallen seasick, the others were ready for a good lunch before returning out on deck for more sail handling, now also to put in practise what we learned before and get on the wheel and lookout positions. 

The strong winds continued all day long, which made it difficult to do anything else than joining on deck to help the crew pulling ropes now and then, or to sit or lay down to get over the motion sickness. At sustained 45kn of northerlies, gusting way over the 50kn as the evening approached, just before dinner it was time to strike all sails and motor into the wind looking for some sort of shelter along the southern coasts of the main Eastern Island, somewhere close to our goal for tomorrow morning landing, Bleaker Island.

Both engines full ahead pushing us against the hard seas and wind blasts just could get a couple of knots of speed as the ship pitches facing this adverse conditions. 

The day that was supposed to be used for familiarisations with our duties and a bit of good sailing ended up being an adventurous journey of fantastic sailing until the late afternoon, and a good introduction and familiarisation with the quite usual conditions of the seas around Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica… guess what, the areas where we plan to spend the next 40 days. 

With many seasick it was not the day either for doing the mandatory briefings and biosecurity cleaning, necessary before stepping ashore anywhere in Falklands. Tomorrow morning will be abetter moment if the conditions abate. 

Later at night the anchor chain rattled down and the ship spends a quite steady night while the seas and winds eased down. 

Sure the night was a good relief for the many that fell seasick during the harsh day.