Monday 14th November and I bade farewell to Piriapolis and, with my lovely hosts, we headed down a scorching road to Montevideo and the cool, civilised restaurant of the Yacht club of Uruguay in Montevideo.  A belt-popping lunch later, we entered the port area and drove along the quayside.  Right through the working fishing and container port!  Health and safety not an issue, then…

Sandwiched between a South Korean fishing vessel under repairs and a small container vessel, the Bark Europa sat alongside the stone quay, looking very smart, her huge Dutch ensign almost touching the rather filthy fishing boat.

The crew in their matching team shirts are young, chilled and largely Dutch.  Welcomed aboard, they carry my unreasonably heavy bags through the narrow corridors and down tiny steps as if they were full of rice cakes.  Must be healthy work, this tall-ship thing.  Once my 39 fellow ‘Voyage Crew’ were aboard, we met the 20 permanent crew (including naturalists) and went about shaking hands with everyone, aware that remembering a name you can’t even pronounce is going to need the next 6 weeks to master.  Everyone seems like-minded and we settle into hot drinks and more of those uber-sweet, ubiquitous Uruguayan pastries.  Hmm, that was a lots of ‘U’s !

Klaas Gaastra, the captain with an impossibly large white beard, matching flowing mane and sparkly earring (yes, he’s is a ‘Horner’ and been round there in Europa a few times) introduced himself.  We were welcomed aboard in suitably laid-back Dutch style, rounded off with a tot of some Dutch gin derivative to toast our voyage.  All good so far !  Supper was eaten on deck and we spent the rest of the evening getting to know each other and grappling with names.

Europa was at ‘Amsterdam Sail’ last year which is a big festival in the Netherlands, so many of my 39 new friends are Dutch, but we also have Germans, Americans (2), a couple of Spaniards, Swiss, a Czech, a Dane, a Swede, a Kiwi, two Aussies and more Brits.  Pictures were taken and all 60 crew are now smiling out from the walls of the bar, so we can get to recognise one another better.  One of many thoughtful things aboard Europa.  I suspect the bar is not going to be used that much.  This is too active a trip and there are rules, so my liver is grateful.  The beer tap handily dispenses cold water, so we can fill our water bottles whenever we wish.

Cabins allocated, I’m in a 6 berth, with 4 other women and all our bags (the 6th bunk).  One English, an Anglo Dutch and 2 German.  We have a little shower room/en-suite and a heating/air-con unit.  Sadly we didn’t find the latter until the morning by which point we had almost melted.  Lesson #1, check all the wooden boxes on the wall.  I get the porthole, which is nice, although I live to regret that thought.  The bunks are wider than me, which is good and all linen provided, including a duvet.  Luxury !

After arranging and re-arranging kit, I gave up & turned in early.  All 5 of us furiously writing our diaries.  Tomorrow we cast off the lines and head south.  A long way south…