The heat is unbearable. All the sails that we can hoist are hoisted, but when the sun is at his highest peak, there is almost no shadow on deck. The wind provide us barely any cooling. The wind is decreasing and with a seawater temperature of 29 degrees Celsius, there is barely the chance that the wind will be cool.

All work goes slower than we are used to, and with a West European working mentality you will collapse soon here. Also the Clipper begins to protest. At least her internal organs. The inside of the ship is getting really warm and a lot of the machines do not like that. In the most modern machines, electronics is very important. And with temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius, electronics will do what they want instead what you want.

Also our cooling systems are driven by advanced electronics, so when they began to fail we end up in a vicious circle. Failing cooling systems means rising temperatures, rising temperatures means more system failures.

The mechanics are the ones on board which have to work on a West European pace, this to ensure the viability. The battle grounds of these mechanics are in the hottest parts of the ship, they do not have a enviable task at the moment.

We could use a little bit of the cold from the Netherlands, but there will be readers who will suggests a trade; a little cold for a little heat.

Richard Slootweg
Captain Clipper Stad Amsterdam