Position: 2000 LT, 38° 05’N, 020°21’ W
Date:Sunday June 6, 2010

Whales

For days now the wind is holding her breath. It was good that we made good progress after departure from Cabo Verde. Now we can proceed on lower speeds under sail. We are sailing straight down wind but with a square rig and the studding sails set we make enough speed to be in Gibraltar on time.
 
The calm weather makes the whales visible from a large distance. The spray that the whales exhale are clear on the background of the flat sea. Yesterday evening one of the mammals scared us by approaching the Stad Amsterdam up to a few meters. Only a few weeks we had to slow the ship down in order not to collide with a pair of whales. A few years ago we felt a bump in the water. Aft of the ship the water turned red. We will never know if this was a sleeping or already dead animal that hit us.
 
There are even area’s where the anti-collision rules with whales are regulated. And not only for the whales that come from starboard.

Richard Slootweg
Captain Clipper Stad Amsterdam