Position: 23:00 LT 21˚24’S, 074°20’E
Date:Tuesday March 30, 2010

Poker night

Patience is a virtue I always learned. This is not only the case when waiting for wind or weather to improve. Unfortunately we needed to engage the “sail boost”. This means that we maximize the pitch of the controllable pitch propeller and engage the engine on a slow speed. Together with the performance of our sails we then are able to reach the required average speed. Fortunately the weather forecast looks promising. The advantage of this calm weather is that the ship does not work much. This facilitates work and we have no people suffering from seasickness anymore.
Yesterday we had a great assembly of the poker friends. The UNO game remained in the closet and the poker chips and playing cards were put on the tables. We counted seventeen players on two tables for the exchange of colored chips. Depending on what cards fate has in stock for you, you may retain your chips, or the other one obtains them. Really exciting. Quite some spectators turned up. They stood by silently, as silent as the players at the tables. At such an engaging game one tends to empathize. Or rather, one tends to empathize with the first to lose everything.
Incomprehensible what emotions emerge at such a game. No wonder no arms are allowed in the casino. After two hours the survivors sat at one table to play on in silence. One must be able to read the body language to sense the payer’s thoughts. Every time one may stack the colored disks in front of him you see true gladness in his face. Hopefully this balances the disappointment of losing them all.
I’d rather enjoy the full moon, round as a poker chip. How many points would that one add up to? More than the entire game of poker, as far as I am concerned.
 
Andi Manser
Captain Clipper Stad Amsterdam