It is midnight, the beginning of the new day. It is overcast, drizzling, and dark outside; the wind is changing and easing.

Crew walk the decks preparing all for manoeuvring. Lee gear is slacked, Hady-billies or small purchases for the course tacks are taken off, they make sure too that the lee braces are ready to run free.

The wind has been slowly veering during the last hours and now, when it becomes easterly, it is time to change tack. Our course has been bending southwards, and after Tacking or Wearing ship, we will head on a north-northeasterly direction.

A short explanatory meeting on the poop deck first, and then teams are posted on the Poop, Main, and Fore decks.

Our first attempt was to bring the bow of the ship through the wind to get to the new course. Pressure is taken off the front, Spanker is tightened to push the aft. Courses are clewed up.

Brace around Main that backs as we go through the wind, then the plan is to brace the Fore. Head-rig is slack. The lower staysails are pulled down.

But when the ship starts turning, she decides to fall off again with the wind. Oh well, not much of a deal, in the middle of the operation we change mind then and we Wear ship, now turning with the wind. It is the stern now that goes through the easterly in an easier manoeuvre.

Before the watch change at 02:00h, decks are tidied. Trimming braces and sails after the manoeuvre is what is left.

From then on, the Europa sails heeling now to Port side and pitching as well on the moderate seas.

The day continues with sail training talks and lectures, and not having much of sail handling on deck, watches are spent steering, doing the lookouts, and having some free time in the deckhouse for a cup of coffee or to write our experiences at sea in our diaries.

It was just in the morning with an increase in the wind to about 30kn when the Royals come down and are furled, just to be set before lunch in slightly decreasing winds. It didn’t take long, though, for the 30kn to come back, and hands are called again in the afternoon to strike them down once more.

The barometer has remained pretty steady during the whole day, which means that we follow the same windfield blowing from the southeast and have similar grey cold weather throughout the day, overcast and drizzling, even snowing for a while. Europa keeps sailing but not changing her relative position with a slow-moving Low-pressure system that caught up with us and now slows down its progress northeast of us.

Under these circumstances and at 325nm from South Georgia, we are just in one of those areas and one of those occasions when the sustained easterlies blow in what is considered, and even called, the belt of westerlies around the world at high latitudes.

As usual, half an hour before the meals, some of us gather on the poop deck for the project on identifying and counting seabirds. Today with fewer numbers of them around, but an increase in their diversity, including the first sights of the beautiful Grey-headed albatrosses. Of a similar size to the more common Black-browed, they show a distinctive grey-coloured head and, when adults, a striking yellow line along the top of their beaks. They don’t usually follow ships for a long time and often pass by and shortly check the vessels to continue on their long wanderings afterwards. Luckily enough, today a couple of them decided to stay with us for a bit longer.

It is cold and windy on deck, but nevertheless, it is always interesting to keep practicing our identification skills and continue to be amazed by the gliding capabilities and techniques of albatrosses and petrels, now flying pretty far from any landmass.