Coming up on Lives Less Ordinary, Hold Fast continues.
This would be a thing that in any ordinary case scenario would absolutely be forbidden.
But because everything was going insane, why don't we go insane with it?
This is the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship the Avantour.
and its crew of 15, on a wind-powered mission to transport olive oil,
cacao, coffee and rum between Europe and Central America.
But before they even make it halfway, everything they're counting on is thrown to the winds.
I'm Siobhan McSweeney, and you're listening to Lives Less Ordinary presents Hold Fast,
from the BBC World Service.
Episode 4 Taking the Biscuit It's early April 2020 and the Avantour is heading for Honduras in Central America,
on schedule to pick up 23 tonnes of coffee.
After being turned away from their last port of call,
they are hopeful of docking in their next destination.
The crew are still reeling from the news that the world has gone into a global lockdown.
Their world is confined to the 300 square metres of the ship.
And all of their time is accounted for by a rigid 24-7 schedule.
With a couple of exceptions, the crew are divided into watches, all working four hours on,
eight hours off, four hours on, eight hours off, in varying shifts across the day and night.
The only time they get days off is during shore leave or at anchor,
which they've now been denied for over a month.