Almost a week at sea. Almost 1 week at the Europa. Almost 2 weeks since I left my boyfriend at Schiphol and just over a year since I thought I was destined to already be aboard this ship. Fate had a different path for me in mind last year when I did not make it to the Falklands where I was set to meet Europa, which results in me being here right now instead of a year ago. I guess fate wanted me to meet this amazing crew… This amazing permanent crew who knows all about sailing and is very patient with us asking the same questions over and over. The crew that serves us delicious meals that we sometimes taste twice without taking a second serving. The crew that cleans our yellow buckets that we did (luckily) not need in the last 2 days. The crew that helps us out whenever they see we might need a piece of toast inbetween mealtimes, enlightens us with their always friendly faces, or shouts 2-6 at us for that extra pull on the halyard. The also amazing voyage crew that will take that cookie out for you at coffee time when you are helming, that pours each other hot tea with too much sugar (because Hans told us so), that keeps asking one another how we are doing when sitting in the corner, that informs the others that the lecture was indeed worthwile going to, that speaks mostly Oz and Dutch, that has teams of red white and blue and that waits patiently in 
line for the galley and lets you go first if you are on watch. So while the sea seems the be quiet for now and the passengers are getting along quite cheerful as we are trying to learn how to wake each 
other up without shouting, we can only try prepare ourselves for the most amazing nature of South Georgia and Antarctica. I guess we will be hearing the vacuum cleaner a lot in the next couple of days. While talking about meaningful filosofical things at the helm, gossiping hopefull about whales on lookout and joking over dinner. And brace not only sails, but ourselves as we might see those highest waves of the world at the end of this trip, or even some relative high ones earlier in already. What I see happening is that in the next month, this random selection of people will be my voyage family and not just my voyage crew members as we will have shared soon much good and bad together. And yesterday we were even all present for the 8'oclocky! I guess the plans are still on that we will make it to South Georgia. Now that I am off my seasicknesspills (did they even work or just made me into a vague version of myself?), I see much clearer without a headache and I am becoming my happy self much more. I am excited for what the rest of this trip will bring and will hopefully not be better friends with the yellow bucket and my bunk than with you guys, my new 
crew family. Oh and ICEBERG straight ahead!!!! On this sunny Wednesday morning.