Der Arbeitsalltag ist wieder eingekehrt – wie immer viel zu schnell. Nachdem die Mädels uns in Kristiansand verlassen haben, galt es für uns, ein gutes Wetterfenster für die Überfahrt nach Holland zu finden. An nächsten Tag ging es aber zunächst nach Mandal, der südlichsten Stadt Norwegens. Der Morgen begann holprig: beide Gasflaschen leer, und der Adapter für norwegisches Gas irgendwo zuhause. Zum Glück wusste eine holländische Crew von einer Esso-Tankstelle, an der man die eigenen Gasflaschen auffüllen lassen konnte. Einziger Nachteil: Taxikosten von 60 Euro ... Nachdem das Gas gefüllt war, konnten wir nur mit Müh und Not unsere Festmacher von der Heckboje befreien (diese lag ca. einen halben Meter unter Wasser) und haben dann kurz noch an der Diesel-Tankstelle im Schlick gesteckt. Da waren wir eigentlich schon kaputt, bevor wir überhaupt losgesegelt waren! Nach einem eher ungemütlichen und nassen 30sm Schlag endete der Tag dann ähnlich holprig wie er begonnen hatte: beim Anlegen (Schwimmsteg mit Ausleger) war ich bereits auf den Schwimmsteg gesprungen, Georg aber an der anderen Seite auf den Ausleger – dieser gab leider so nach, dass er bis zu den Knien im Wasser stand und sich gerade noch an der Reling hochziehen konnte ... Das ganze Anlegemanöver fand (natürlich) im strömenden Regen statt. Mandal an sich scheint ein netter Ort zu sein, die Marina liegt super geschützt in einer Flussmündung und bietet sehr moderne Einrichtungen. Der ereignisreiche Tag hat außerdem eine willkommene Ablenkung von der Planung der vor uns liegenden Nordsee-Überquerung geboten.

As some of you probably know, our trip this year began in Gothenburg. Since my sister and my brother couldn’t join us for the whole trip this year, we had a bed to spare and decided to take a friend of mine, Aileen. Packing is always the beginning of the journey, when you realize that the time for holidays has finally come. In my whole life I have probably never done such a bad job on packing. After we put the (at this time I still believed) well packed bags into the car, my friend’s mom took us to the airport and dropped us of early in the morning. That’s when I realized that I had left my favorite pullover, that says Lyonesse on the right, on the table at home. On a boat a good pullover is almost as important as food or water. As I said I did a bad job on packing this year. We had a nice flight and arrived safely in Gothenburg and then later that day on the boat. To be honest, I didn’t think much about how Sweden might look like before we got out of the plane (although I have been to Gotland last year, but only for 2 days). However, as soon as we were in Sweden I was extremely impressed by the nature and the (sometimes a little scary looking) rocks that are literally everywhere. The first days on the boat we spent a little differently than we do usually. At least Aileen and I did. We went to the city of Gothenburg and to a Rollercoaster park. It was a lot of fun, but not exactly the kind of stuff we usually do on the boat. After we basically just relaxed and prepared the boat for the first couple of days, we decided that it was time to get going. We were prepared, we were excited, we were ready, aaaanndd we hit a rock. I guess every sailor especially in Sweden, will hit a rock now and then but let’s be honest, it sucked. So we went right back to Gothenburg where (of course!) someone had already taken our spot. 

To start off this years summer trip, Lyonesse had to be brought from Kiel in Germany to Gothenburg in Sweden. Starting the trip already presented difficulties, with a lost suitcase and no car to bring provisions. The crew of four arrived on Wednesday night and we left Kiel the next morning, after somewhat successfully leaving the marina (it took two tries, since we forgot to disconnect the shore power). The weather forecast was not in our favour, with little to no wind on Thursday morning, then increasing and coming from behind, leaving us in danger of jibing unintentionally. Despite of the wind, the morning was not uneventful, as we spotted a submarine, probably from the German navy, next to us. After passing under the impressive Storebælt bridge, which spans an incredible 6.7 km, the wind turned, resulting in a close hauled course, and increased to about 20 knots (predicted to increase even more). This made us decide to seek shelter in Samsø, which gave us the opportunity to regain strength and sleep in (and take a much appreciated shower).