We set sail from the Rota marina this morning, as planned. The sun gave us a break, hiding behind some clouds and there was more of a breeze today, thankfully.
We had a full day’s work ahead of us: ROV, dredge, divers, photography and video, both underwater and on land and, to top it off, the World Cup semi-final between Spain and Germany.
We set off from Ostia in the early morning, after having a shower and filling our tanks.
Heading south, to the Island of Ponza, sailing along the line of one thousand metres’ depth, which is where the fishermen put out their driftnets at the end of the day and pull then in a little before dawn. This timetable permits us to document the entire process by video and photograph as, although the light is not ideal, it is sufficient for us to be able to take some photographs and film clearly, for example, how they catch a fish that is sadly trapped in this blanket of death.
Today is my last day onboard the Ranger, after crossing the Atlantic from Bermudas to Azores. Tomorrow, Ester Casado, Executive Assistant at the European office of Oceana will come onboard, to continue narrating the events on this Transoceanic Expedition that began last January 17th.
Starting tomorrow, I will be at the office again, coordinating the European section of our webpage, together with the rest of the departments, and facilitating the process so thte work we carry out at Oceana for the research and protection of the oceans may be instantly known by anyone who needs it, thanks to internet, this transmission tool capable of reaching the entire world.
During our second day in Horta, we were visited by Duncan, one of the more than 300.000 Oceana collaborators from around the world. As soon as he knew, that the Ranger would be in Azores, he got in touch with us, to offer his collaboration
After my latest night guard duty in this Atlantic crossing, I have been able to sleep a few hours before Nuño and Carlos played the bugle.
What are the chances of two catamaran ships refueling, one after the other, on an island at one the extrems of the Atlantic? And, what are the chances that both catamarans coincide in the middle of that ocean six days later? And that they have the same destination port?
After three days of sailing, the wind dropped below 10 knots, and we were forced to use the motors again. We alternate between them every twelve hours so they make the same effort and we can balance the use of fuel in both hulls (in the three days of navigating by sail we saved 600 liters of fuel).
When I was in the middle of one of my daily guard duties, Nuño and Carlos began-by surprise-a drill to abandon ship. They sounded the siren and announced through a megaphone: “Attention, attention, this is an emergency drill, abandon ship, this is an emergency drill, abandon ship, please, leave your posts at once”. In a split second, the entire crew dashed about. Some of them were sleeping, others on deck or in the messroom, but the reaction was instant.
At then in the morning, everything is ready to set sails.
Nuño has gone to customs to pick up the documentation we got when the Oceana Ranger arrived in Saint George’s Harbour in Bermuda, then on to gather supplies like flare guns to signal in case of emergency. We were required to leave a deposit upon entering to the country and submit a list of names of new crew members.
Once we passed the last buoy on the channel, Carlos gave new crew members instructions about safety measures onboard. He told us what each of us had to do in case of emergency, how to act, under whose orders we would be, and where to go in case of abandoning ship. Some “veterans” also participated in this talk, since it does never too redundant to know this type of information.
It is funny how human behavior can resemble that of animals.
In my first day onboard the Ranger, I have the feeling that I have been to an anthill. Ever since Nuño and Carlos sounded the bugle at 7 this morning, the crew, like “working ants” began to take care of the tasks assigned to them previously.
