There may be some who have a keen eye for detail and have noted that this is a post from day 21.5. There’s a simple explanation. After a lovely swim in lovely warm water (15 degrees) and a lovely dinner of fresh cod, we started to discuss the midnight sun and if we were going to see it at harbours that are often behind islets and sheaves that block the sun when it almost meets the ocean. We got creative and started to play with the idea of crossing Vestfjorden at night.. tonight? Being the spontaneous teenagers we are, we thought, why not? Lofoten here we come. The night is still young at 10pm and at 60nm we’re expecting 8-9 hours of smooth sailing.

Most sailors have heard that when you sail from Gran Canaria to the Caribbean, you should go south until the butter melts (for those who don’t have a fridge. For those who do have a fridge, this could take very long depending on the time it takes for the fridge to break) and then follow the trade winds. Very few sailors have heard “sail north till the chocolate melts and then follow Vestfjorden.” As far as I know, there are only three sailors who know this saying (and they happen to be onboard Capraia). The chocolate melted in the cupboard last night, therefore shorts and short sleeves have been switched out with wool, on wool, on wool with something windproof over, and our caps were switched out for our gorgeous wool hats and gloves. Then we finally cast off and much to the Frenchmen’s confusion. They were expecting us for a dance on the dock...

We are well on our wayWe launched our Code Zero in the midle of the night which means full sun shine up here. Code zero went down, foresail up, foresail down and code zero up, motor, no motor, peanuts, chocolate, more layers, code zero up and foresail down and bam, we’re almost half ways there and mission accomplished. The midnight sun hovered just above the crests of the waves. I hope the pictures can give a little justice. Life is worth living. Vi had a great time (mostly Katarina in her sweet dreams) while Petter and I solved some world problems that Donald seems to be struggling with. If we had service we’d probably have attempted giving him a call. We could just say that we are presidents from somewhere or another (don’t think he knows so many). But it’s probably for the best that we didn’t call, we wouldn’t want to risk getting fired, from what, we don’t know, but who likes to be fired.

We passed a large patch right in the middle of the ocean where the water boiled. Millions of fish hopped and flopped around us. Scary almost, but what an incredible natural phenomenon.

It’s now 2:30 am and I just remembered that I promised to write a public apology for my earlier post today where I showed a picture of the crew sleeping. They weren’t too happy. The crew taking a well deserved nap after a strenuous lunch and fishing session should not be photographed. There’s probably an agreement about it somewhere… My motivation to apologize, however, is mostly reasoned by the fact that these agreements don’t apply to captains, and that if I hypothetically had been photographed in my sleep, that picture would eventually be published too. But don’t tell them that motivated my will to say sorry- I’m sorry.

We’re alternating between sail and motor at around 7 - 8 knop and we assume that we’ll be at harbour at around 6:30 am if we stay at the same pace. Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep our eyes open til then so we can get the fenders out before we hit shore. Shore is Lofoten, at a nice harbour called Sørvangen. But it’s time to stop writing and keep Petter company on the cockpit. Perhaps a cup of coffee would be suitable.

At last, we have arrived. After a couple hours sleep and some breakfast, we are heading out for a bit, so this is the last of today’s sail and blogging.