In 2024 we plan to head west.
The question of a dinghy is one that all cruisers need to answer. There are multiple options available and you need to pick the one for your requirements and budget. Our budget and needs lead us to the world of self-built hard dinghys, and we chose the Spindrift 9 nesting dinghy from B&B Yacht Designs as the one.
The long project season is coming to an end, and the sun has started shining for a bit longer again. To celebrate, we went out for the long Easter weekend with some of our Berlin cruising buddies.
Yesterday we completed the haulout task list, and were able to splash the boat this morning. After clearing the chaos on board that this always created, now we can focus on replenishing the ship’s stores for the trip ahead.
Morning started with last of the packing and a breakfast at the Gothia terasse with our local sailing buddies. Coffee, croisants and various pastries were consumed before firing up the engine and going through the last checklists if we had forgotten something. Based on the lists we were all set to leave and we were sent off with a cacophony of fog horns! The voyage had started!
We left the ship elevator sport boat dock at sunrise, and started our journey through the Oder river valley.
The day started early with hoisting up the mast. We moved over to the crane and prepared all tools and removed all now unnecessary ties from the mast. Only few hours later, the rig was tuned and all sails were on. We are a sailboat again!
The first night’s sail was delightful under a starlit sky. Very little traffic, and a nice slow broad reach got us abeam of the island of Rügen and the scenic Königsstuhl cliffs at sunrise.
Sailing lasted for about 4 hours until the wind died again. At this point we turned on the motor and headed in to Copenhagen. Entering a new harbour at night is always exiting.
We spent a lovely tourism day in Copenhagen - toast skagen, looking at the historical sailing vessels in Nyhavn, the bog bodies and sun disk at the National Museum, and finally some wandering around the beautifully lit Tivoli gardens.
Weather prognosis held true, 20 kn gusting to 30, waves around 1.5 meters. Wind beam to broad reach for us, so a perfect opportunity to head towards Sweden and the Archipelago on the west coast. The weather called for staysail and main in 1st reef. We were expecting a fast and bumpy ride and we got it.
At sunrise we woke up to a drizzly, misty weather. Heavy weather was on forecast, and after many consultations with charts and satellite pictures, we had picked our storm hole. So, motor on and release the boat from the buoy.
Morning started relatively early as we needed to get Jon to shore before his first meeting. We enjoyed the breakfast outside in the glassy calm that was the weather after the storm. Our anchorage proved to be a nice shelter. Yesterday we saw only 20 kn gusts instead of the 48 that the closest weather station reported.
At Ellös we ended up chatting with our dock neighbour. He had a very similar boat to ours, a 31ft double ender that he had sailed around the world, including Cape Horn. He recommended the island of Bassholmen as our next destination.
After waking up we started a project morning. We added a new filter to the water maker and water filter and finally added the runner gasket to the front hatch. After all things were done, we said goodbye to the lovely Bassholmen and headed towards Lysekil to fill up our diesel tank. We are expecting some cold weather for the next week, so reserves need to be full to be able to run the diesel heater at anchor.
Based on the forecasts, we expected a nice easy night sail across to Norway. The forecast got some parts right. The wind direction was spot-on, as was the current. Wind strength, on the other hand…
When the winds are favourable, one must sail!
We were waiting for a good weather window for rounding the famous Cape Lindesnes - the southernmost point in Norway. Today it all matched up: low but sailable winds, small waves, and wind with current. And so we filled our water tank and headed west under full sail.
Day started with slow winds as we motored out of the harbour. After we had passed the narrow fairway out, we deemed the 5kn of wind to be enough to sail with. The sea was nearly waveless and we could use even the lightest winds to sail further with a comfortable crawling speed. It doesn’t always need to be high winds and adrenaline.
Yesterday’s project day went quite nicely - both of the electric bilge pumps are now installed. Suski also built a new grating to cover the cockpit drains. In the evening the rain ended and we enjoyed making some pancakes on a fire and well deserved project beers, thanks to Karsten.
We woke up an hour before the sunrise to be able to start at day break. We motored quietly out of the beautiful anchorage and hoisted the main inside the sheltered bay. We motor sailed out and waited for the wind to decide from where it is coming before rolling out the genoa. We made slow and steady progress aided by the 1- 1,5 knot current.
The weather forecast promised a bit frustrating passage past the shallows of Jærens Rev. First some downwind sailing, then windstill, and finally short tacking in sleet. Luckily for us, forecasts can be wrong.
