15 May 2023
Current position while writing (diamond shape). The circles are the positions at previous blog posts, the black line is roughly the route we took (base map from 
ggplot2).
We are sailing in the middle of nowhere. Very, very rarely, another ship can be seen on the horizon. During the night, the stars are clearly visible due to the darkness around us even though the high humidity does affect the visibility. As the ship is rolling sometimes, it seems like the stars are moving across the sky as if we were in a planetarium. These movements, unfortunately, also make it difficult to take pictures of the stars..
You can find familiar star signs. (Picture: Rieke Schäfer)
I had to get used to the moon here. It is tilted differently than in Germany, and at least currently it is showing with its tips north not south as in Europe.
The moon is tilted. (Picture: Rieke Schäfer)
It is still warm, most of the time between 26 °C and 28 °C air temperature and nearly 28 °C water temperature. I know this precisely because we are our own little weather station. On the ship’s intranet, we get live information on air and water temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind direction and speed along with salinity.
Most of the time it’s sunny and warm. (Picture: Rieke Schäfer)
By the way, the "Sonne" gets its own weather report from the German Meteorological Service (DWD). This not only includes temperature, rain and wind – as we are familiar with from normal weather reports – but also information on the direction and height of waves. Knowing all of this is, of course, very important for planning, and therefore, the ship receives daily information and forecasts from the DWD.
Slightly worse weather for once. (Picture: Rieke Schäfer)
PTB doctoral student 
Rieke Schäfer is blogging here directly from the RV "Sonne" on her way west from South America across the Pacific Ocean.