The AVONTUUR is a very special cargo ship. Many things come together there that make every voyage, without exception, an intense experience. First of all, the AVONTUUR is a beautiful ship. Every time she is at anchor, when the dinghy goes ashore and she rolls very slowly in the long Atlantic waves, you see again what a proud sailor you are actually working on! An old, tried and tested ship. But not outdated. On the contrary. Our colleagues from EcoClipper in the Netherlands once put it very nicely in a nutshell: “Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. That’s what we do, and we do it with great pleasure. Transporting goods with a schooner-rigged two-master worked a hundred years ago (our ship is 103 years old). Our diesel-powered main engine is only used exceptionally or for emergencies, thanks to our sails. So we have two propulsion systems that are completely independent of each other: the diesel engine on the one hand and our nine sails on the other. In the long term, however, the main engine will be electric. We do not see ourselves as the solution to all problems. There have been countless other solutions for years. But we do give a concrete example of what environmentally friendly sea transport can look like. The experience on our cargo ship is also so special because we are living a new reality here. A reality in which it is quite natural to use electricity and fresh water sparingly, to consider the impact on our marine environment at all times and to sail as much as possible to save fuel. Operating a ship in itself requires environmental awareness.
Sailing on the AVONTUUR means sailing with a very special and motivated crew. This is because everyone here is committed to our goal: environmental protection. Sailing and the common challenge of covering the last nautical mile to the harbour or anchorage under sail not only forms a strong bond between us all, but also makes us a little proud every time we make it with the right technique. On Tenerife, we sailed out of the harbour, simply with the wind. A great manoeuvre that made for some spectators and tense looks on the pier. Of course, this only works if we work together perfectly as a crew.
After we left Santa Cruz, the wind alone took us and our ship over 3,100 nautical miles across the Atlantic. It’s worth watching the rushing bow wave (that is, the wave created at the front of the ship by its motion) from time to time. There you can see the power of the wind pushing our ship forward at speeds of sometimes over ten knots. Fascinating to see every time! Especially when luminous plankton give the wave a bright shimmer at night or dolphins swim back and forth in front of us.
For many of us it was the first “Atlantic Crossing”. With such a great crew, 43.50 metres is quite enough to live on for a few weeks. Our crew is very close-knit. We spend a lot of our free time together on deck, talking, knotting and playing music. The mood is consistently good and problems are addressed and quickly smoothed out. The general enthusiasm was great when we reached our anchorage in the Baie de Marigot on the caribbean island of Saint Martin after the crossing. After a last “all hands” manoeuvre, we even got some apple sweets for dinner that our cook Lara had just baked for the occasion. Thank you Lara!
On no other ship would Max, our assistant officer, rather complete the sailing time on his way to becoming a captain. It is a valuable experience and an inspiring time on the Avontuur. There is still a lot to be done in cargo sailing and we still have a long way to go before we have enough environmentally friendly ships to implement the energy transition in seafaring as well. We are committed to this every day here - and it’s big fun.
