SIRENA IV 2018

Nic came down to the boat today to watch me and the Rodvig harbour master Jens put her in a safe mooring for a couple of months.  (See pic) Other than that we have had a quiet day while Nic takes painkillers and moves carefully to avoid jolts to the ribs or shoulder.  The guest house has a view of the lapis coloured Baltic and deep green fields. (See pic) The air is full of birdsong and someone has placed a stem of headily-perfumed lilac in a glass in the kitchen. And everywhere people are kind and polite. So it was a culture shock to start phoning our UK insurance company. They referred me to a claims management company. I phoned them and spent an hour recounting what happened and all our details including grandmothers maiden  names (well almost). I photographed and sent 6 pages of Danish hospital notes. And then the claims manager called me to say there had been a mistake and another company should be handling our case. Goodbye and good luck. Back to square one. It make...

This blog for once is not about sailing. It's about the amazing Danish Health service. Why do we know this? Because we got chance to sample it over the last 30 hours. We were approaching Rodvig yesterday after an easy crossing with some sweet beam- reach sailing when Nic stepped off the bow towards the quayside as we moored in a box berth. Somehow he slipped and hit the dock very hard and fell into the water.  His lifejacket inflated but he was in a lot of pain and it took a long time to get him out of the water, and dragged up a ladder at the end of the dock by strong German sailors. The ambulance roared up soon after and took us the 30 minute drive to Koge hospital where Nic was treated like visiting royalty.  After x-rays and a CT scan, the news came that he had mashed his shoulder blade into various pieces and broken four ribs. They considered surgery but decided not to take that route. But they kept him in for observation overnight in case of a pneumothorax ..or collapsed...

Today we got up at 6 to sail to Rodvig as a step on the way to Copenhagen, having realised going east to Sweden is a nonstarter given the direction of the winds. But caution prevailed. We didnt go. The blasted easterly winds were bigger than forecast and threatened to be in our faces some of the way. Getting into Rodvig would have been fraught as it is subject to a long 'fetch' of wind and waves all the way from Poland.  We had a jobs day in Klintholm instead. Whoop. Best of all, Nic got into the deep starboard locker and had successfully replaced the old water pump (see pic of the offending article) by 0930. It works! We have running water again and can wash up and wash ourselves. What a step forward for mankind. And it's a damn sight quieter than the old beast. That was just the start. We ordered the new windlass motor which we need to raise the anchor. It will be delivered when we are home in June. We did other small jobs which are too boring to mention and crossed off h...

One flashback to Fehmarn; 2 pics of that submarine  outside and in. One more note on Gedser which is a very functional routing stop; it has plagues of mosquitoes. Oh, and there is a 100 boat rally arriving there tonight - thankfully by luck we are one day ahead of them. Another picture perfect day of weather; a steady breeze, clear sky, sparkling sea ... but the damn wind is still in the East, and it's East we want to go! Us yachties are so hard to please. So another motor-sail day, although we did get an hour of proper sailing at the end when the wind veered slightly. 32nm in 6.5 hours, the standard 5nm per hour which is what we always estimate.  We passed a large Norwegian tall ship  Sørlandet sailing  extremely close hauled and doing all of 2 knots. We think it's the one we toured over in Greenwich during the tall ships week there. We are tied up in Klintholm now, on the Danish island of Mons, preparing dinner ... and she is still out there heading this way. Klint...

Yesterday was our last day in Fehmarn and we found time to visit the Uboot museum- a 1960s German submarine which is forever beached. It was interesting enough - only one heads for the entire crew! This morning we fell back into the old routine of preparing for sea although doing everything for the first time in 8 months is slightly nerve racking. We were setting off from Germany with no water pump - hence no washing up or washing hands or faces- and no motor for the anchor windlass so we can't anchor unless we can drag the heavy beast up ourselves without ricking  our poor old backs. Nic has a new water pump but no time as yet to fit it. But the windlass motor is kyboshed and no replacement yet identified. We set off anyway and raised the main sail quickly to check we'd put it all back together correctly- which we had! Much joy. But the sail was no damn use,  as we motored directly into the northeast wind for most of the 32 miles to Gedser in Denmark. Still it was sunny, if b...

This will be our last night in the most excellent apartment in Susan's Ole Schoolhus in the hamlet of Gammendorf. It's a perfect country setting as an alternative to a hard day in the boatyard. We will be coming here again. Opposite the house is a heavily be-frogged pond which provides the most amazing chorus of croaking morn and night. An attempt has been made to attach an audio file. If it works this might be a whole new thing. Sirena IV is now in the marina near the yard and today's main tasks were oil changes (old hands at this) and reconnecting the mast electrics (first time). All went ok though the mast stuff needed some cut & thrust.

Today we got the sails back on Sirena IV. Sounds easy but in fact it's backbreaking work wrestling with heavy sails, long battens and recalcitrant reefing lines.  In the course of the day we motored over to the marina where we used our new easy-to-hop-over pulpit.  It was a positive day though. Which brings me to the subject of boatyard blues  We suffer this every year - and this year was more torrid than most. It is the low feeling you get when there is a lot to do to the boat, multiple things break or go wrong and you are tired and a bit worried. It is usually in the first day or two we feel this - but when things becone clearer or you throw money at the problems, it starts to get better. We are still waiting for a water pump and a windlass motor. But we are over the worst for this year at least. Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2

Big day, early start at 8am in the yard preparing for launch. Booked for 11 but her bottom hit the Baltic briny at 1030 and the mast was on by 11. Our first time putting the mast back on - we're keel-stepped so it comes through the cabin roof and seats in a slot through the floor - the guys here at Weilandt handle a 1,000 boats a year and they are brilliant.  Christian the rigger jumped on board to tension the new rigging he had supplied. We attached the boom and the spinnaker pole, not without a little swearing. And she's looking more like herself as you can see. The engine started on the button and the cabin is looking more cabin than workshop. Now it's 1900 and were sitting in the pub opposite the boat and wolfing down fish & potatoes various - wow it tastes good. After the rigours of the yardwork this is a good feeling. 

Today Sirena IV emerged blinking into the German sunlight after 8 months in her warm shed.  It was a bright day that began with a hare and 2 deer running across the road in front of the car as we drove to the Weilandt boatyard. The boss Detleff moved her as promised when we arrived. Slowly the tractor pulled  her bow out of the shed. It looked as though she was sticking her nose around the door to sniff the air. Once out she was thoroughly washed and then came the grim task of tackling the yellow grime which built up last season over a thousand mile journey to the Baltic much of it in oily canals. Nic mixed up a lethal concentration of oxalic acid and hot water and sloshed it on. It worked a treat. Except for the stern (see pic) which needed further work with rubbing compound. You can see which bit we left for tomorrow.  Now we are tired out but happy with progress. We've had a fine 4 course meal back at the flat after a glass of sekt in the garden. The bruises and sorene...

Not in the water yet, not even out of the shed, though work going according to the rough plan. The little apartment we have for 12 days is perfect, and in the quiet countryside which makes a nice contrast with the boatyard. The drive over was uneventful but long due to much German roadworks and a couple of accidents that caused long queues. We have met Michie who worked on our bow thruster, job done, paid. Christian who has modified our pulpit (to make getting off the bow easier), and replaced our mast rigging, is now working on a problem with the steering bearing. This might cause a big delay. Meanwhile we have been fixing the smaller things we can tackle, gradually putting things back in order. The weather is picture perfect again today.