" Alas! It did start raining during the night. It didn't stop anybody from having a wonderful party though. It started with the crews' party which seemed to be very nice. Only the "younger" members of the crew went there but they seemed to have been enjoying themselves. We had some visitors on board and we had a little party with the fiddles and lots of singing. the space is rather limited for otherwise I am quite sure they would have been dancing as well. One of our guests was so grateful for having had such a pleasant time that about eleven o'clock this morning he came along with two dozen of sweet rolls. They were gladly accepted and tasted very well. We will be leaving tomorrow morning so we are preparing to get ready for the next leg. Willie and I made an inventory of the stores we have. I think the best thing to do is cook an onion and garlic soup. There is some much of them! while making the inventory we cleared up the storage space and found we suddenly had enough space for all the goods we would still have to get. Andrew went down for the instuctions for the race to Esbjerg. The forecast is surprisingly good. They are expecting a Westerly wind, force 5 to 6 to begin with. Both the direction and the force are ideal considering our course. It is still raining which makes it quite difficult to climb through the hatch into the main saloon. The cover has to be closed from stopping the rain coming in so you really have to aim to through your legs down. Andrew found a solution to that by hanging some of the sail over the entrance. That made it possible to open the cover a little more.

Murdanie has just come back from the shops with some fresh whale meat! Would anybody be so kind to fry it. We all suggested him to put it into the freezer and have it done when we arrive in Esbjerg. People are still coming and going, hoping to have found the right size of oilring. Sofar nobody has been very succesful. But they are all doing their utmost and keep on doing it. The main engine has just been started and in stead of stopping after 3 seconds like before, it seems to be going on now. Does this mean that the proper ring has been found? That would certainly take a burden off Andrew's shoulders. We just had a nice intermezzo. A ship with a group from Oman came by and played the drums and an instrument similar to a bagpipe. It was a very happy sight in spite of the rain! Meanwhile Sarah and Murdanie have already started preparing supper. Half of the crew will be participating in the crews' parade and the others are going to a concert. There won't be much time to prepare a meal later on. Andrew just came up. Still no success! The ticking of the rain has stopped so I think it will be dry enough do go out to get the shopping done. You'll read more about us when we arrive in Esbjerg!!"

Martha - "Well the crew parade was wet and wild, just as many water bombs and water pistols as Alesund, if not more! The Swan picked up a prize for the sailing at the presentation. All thanks to the crafty skippering of Reidar the Norwegian. The boat now has a very ornate (and probably expensive) fruit bowl. The new crew have settled in and it's time for the rest of us to head off. If they're lucky the wind will be in the right direction for a good reach down to Esbjerg with the 'Green Flash'. Splendid!"

We might not be able to update this site for the next few days while we are actually racing between Bergen and Esbjerg. If you want to check on the positions of any of the ships in the race try logging on to the ISTA website at www.tallshipsraces.com