Chilling out in Portugal

Beautiful sailing!

I have now reached Lagos in southern Portugal and while sailing passed the crux of the coast I realized I had been sailing most of the west coast of Europe, which was an amazing realization and very fulfilling feeling. Of the coutries I've been visiting so far I reckon Portugal is the best. The people are awesome and I had some crazy nights in Lisbon. 

Sadly Malcolm had to go home but once again australian Neil were a crew member down to Lagos. Also I had company of nice guy called Jonathan. It istrange because while travelling you meet so many new people that you just leave and then probably never will meet again. I have made so many friends I wish I could take them all on the boat!

The winds have been close to non existant but still, the travelling has been great. I am not sure but it is most likely we saw a shark the other day! The boat had a small winged companion during the day. A sparrow found itself a long way from home so enjoyed a long rest sitting patiently on the starboard railing as we sailed through the atlantic. It was a beautiful thing to behold. 

Now the legs of sailing will get shorter and some swimming and exploring of caves are to come! Bring on beautiful Lagos. We came at a perfect time, the city is celebrating the end of the summer so it will be one big party during the coming days.

Also remember to check the facebook page out:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Awaiting-ForecastI-V%C3%A4ntan-P%C3%A5-Vinden/546135068741528?fref=ts

Bay Of Biscay

Whales and Dolphins

Me and new crew member Malcolm Skalin sailed out of Holland on the 1st of August and headed for Dover in England. Before we left I had to take bath and remove rests of the rope that had stuck into the propeller during the stormy night, when that was all done we left the port. We had a quite calm passage through the English Channel, but the traffic was crazy and for Malcolm sailing for the first time in his life by night it was a real challange. Though we had to watch out for the large ships we had a good trip to Dover except that we entered the wrong hole into the harbour and had to be guided to not crash into the ferries. It had been an advantage to have the VHF-channel to the port but unfortunately had not. We arrived in the pitch black night and couldn't see too much as we came closer to the harbour entrance we were met by a huge ferry. They shone on us with the searchlights and we backed off. Then three more ferries came in and out but after a while a boat came out to us and guided us in to the marina. 

After a couple of days in Dover we left, heading for Plymoth. Though when we had sailed for a while we decided that we didn't need to go that far westward before going south to Spain so we stayed a night in Portsmouth. Next day we sailed out and headed for Coruna, but when we had been sailing for about a day we found out that the propane for the stove had ran out so we went in to Dartmouth. Though when we reached the port we discoverd that it was still gas left in the tube (the pipe must have been clamed or something). The stop was not in vain though since Dartmouth was a really picturesque little town. Anyway now it was finally time for the fearful Bay of Biscay. 

When you have crossed the bay of Biscay you are well worthy a glass of Champange! We have now reached Coruna in nothern Spain and the trip went really well. For more than a day we had company of dolphins, who checked the boat out. One day we were sitting inside watching a movie (we hadn't seen a ship for 24 hours and the wind vane rudder did an excellent job) when Malcolm went out to take a leak. Suddenly he cried out "It's a whale". I was rushing out and thought to myself, did I really fall to that lousy trick. But never the less there was the massive animal not far from our boat. Crazy feeling I have to tell you. 

Tomorrow we will continue the journey down along the Spanish and Portugal coast.

So if you are looking for an adventure you know who to call!

The Northern Sea

Germany and beyond 

Now I have left Germany, it took a long time but since I was alone on the boat I could not do it so much faster. The journey was splended with sunny days and calm winds. When I came to the big channel in Kiel I was quite nervous about entering the large locks with the enormous container ships. When I came to the first lock the light was green so I rushed forward, then suddenly I heard a laud voice in the speakers from the control tower saying. "Swedish sailing boat get out of the way!" I would like to say I did not get less nervous when these words echoed over the water. I folllowed order and called them on the VHF-radio, they answered, talking perfect english and said in a real friendly tone how to do and when to enter the canal. Thank you staff of the Kiel-Canal for so friendly to a newbie like me!

Anyway the rest of the canal trip went smooth and I turned up in Brunsbuttel where my father turned up to join me for a couple of days. It was a really nice to finally have some company and also to get some help with repairs and modifications of the boat. We saild out on Elbe where the boat suddenly picked up a speed of 10 knots on a shitty wind which is extremly fast for a boat like mine. Now I had one more thing to have in mind, the streams. 

We sailed out on the norhern sea and had a couple of days with hardly no wind the ocean was supringsily calm. But when we reached the coast of Holland we ran into a thunder storm in the middle of the night. I never been sailing in stronger winds and the waves were massive. We didn't sleep for the whole night and since the wind increased instead of went out we decided to retreat into Holland. Here we are now and my dad is flying home while a friend called Malcolm Skalin going to join me tomorrow. Thank you dad for all the help and for beeing an awesome crew member. On thursday the journey continues to England!

A crazy night

A crazy night

Sunday morning I left Bornholm, going towards Germany. The weather was not too good, strong winds and high waves even outside of Bornholms marina but I could do 6-7 knots in the right direction so I was really tempted to go anyway. That was probably the worst decision ever made this trip, the waves were increasing as I got out on the open ocean and I couldn’t put the wind vane rudder on because I had to dodge every single wave. Which was meaning I couldn’t make any food or do anything else than steering the boat. I was wet from top till toe and hungry obviously when suddenly our already broken genua-sail broke even more so I had to roll it in and start the engine. It went quite fine and I reached the German coast when I ran out of gas. After a few tries I managed to put some diesel in the tank during the big waves, but it turned out that I had made the engine totally dry and I couldn’t start it. I had no other choice than putting the large sail up, which went better than expected and I continued my trip. I took shelter behind the large island Rugen and the waves got a lot smaller, so I could put some warm clothes on and grabbed a couple of tins of corn. I decided to head for Sanssitz but it was starting to get dark and I realized I had to sail in to the narrow, unknown harbour by night. I actually did that really well and found a spot to moor on the inside of the large peer surrounding the town. I was really happy when had made the boat in to safety and went to sleep instantly.

Now I have fixed the engine, am rested and in a good mood so tomorrow I will continue my journey and head for Rostock. I’ve been learning many lessons out of this route so I hope I won’t do the same unnecessary mistakes again.

       

At last I want to say respect to all of you alone-sailors out there, you are mental!

Karl

13th of July

Chilling out in Bornholm

For the first time in my life I was sailing the boat alone this Thursday when I went from Karlskrona to here, Bornholm. I had a really nice time as well as the night was calm and quiet, and thanks to our wind vane rudder I could chill out a lot. It was an awesome feeling to be sitting in the boat reading and writing while heading out on the open sea with the wind blowing from behind. Yesterday I didn’t do that much in Rönne (Capital of Bornholm) because I had to sleep when I arrived at 8 am in the morning. Though when the evening came I went out for a couple of drinks and had a great time. Rönne is one the most beautiful towns I have been to, with the small houses made of wood and bricks. Tomorrow I will try to leave quite early and set the course for Germany, it seems like I will be doing that part of the trip alone as well but now I’m more confident so it won’t be problem.

Do not forget to check the facebook site out too

Karl 

All alone

In Karlskrona, heading for Bornholm

Last Sunday, we arrived in Karlskrona, here we have now been for a few days and we have for example picked up a life raft that had been commissioned here. Sailing here has gone well attributed to the constant headwind. Today Jonas went home to work and I will sadly sail alone on the ship until further notice. Tomorrow they have promised northern winds so I continue the journey towards Bornholm myself as I’m longing for the sea already. The stay in Karlskrona was very pleasant, but it is time to sail on. It is approximately 50 nautical miles to Bornholm from here so there should be no worries now that the wind vane rudder is installed.

If you want to follow for a bit, just send me an email to awaitingforecast@gmail.com Now I will fill up some gas and make the boat ready for the trip tomorrow.

Karl

I Karlskrona, siktar mot Bornholm

I söndags anlände vi i Karlskrona, här har vi nu legat i några dagar och bland annat plockat upp en livflotte som blivit beställd hit. Seglingen hit har gått bra trotts den ständiga motvinden. Idag mönstrade Jonas av och jag blir dessvärre ensam på skutan tills vidare. Imorgon har de lovat nordliga friska vindar så jag fortsätter färden ner mot Bornholm på egen hand då längtan till havet redan har gjort sig påtaglig. Vistelsen i Karlskrona var mycket angenäm, det är dock dags att segla vidare. Det är ungefär 50 sjömil till Bornholm härifrån så det ska inte vara någon fara nu när vindrodret är installerat.

Är det så att du är intresserad av att följa med en bit så är det bara att dra iväg ett mail till awaitingforecast@gmail.com Nu ska jag tanka upp lite diesel och göra båten redo för färden imorgon.

Karl

On our way/På väg

Ahoy!

Finally we are on our way! Yesterday we began our jurney and headed out from Gävle Bay, we got a very beautiful farewell from the dock in Gavleån, thank you to everyone who came, and waved. We were very tired when we left Gavle and went down against Bjorn's Lighthouse with sails. Jonas had to take the first watch and I fell asleep almost immediately. 

After a wonderful night sailing with distant thunder clouds that blotted their for us silent lightings we came out on the Åland Sea, here, it was worse, the wind was still coming from the South, and not surprisingly, we had to start going towards the wind. After many hours, we had sailed between Åland and Sweden two or three times without taking us significantly in the right direction. 

When we finally got down to the southern tip of Åland the wind became considerably stronger and huge walls of water were washing over the boat. She resists very well and we were not concerned in any way but sailing towards the wind by that force from Åland to Öland in the worn condition we were in, was not a good idea, we docked in Mariehamn instead, awaiting forecast. A wise decision, dinner and shower tasted really good, 

tomorrow we head for Öland again!

Karl

Position: Mariehamn Marina N 60° 05' 57” E 29° 56' 55”

Articles and interviews in Swedish media:

http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/svtgavleborg/baten-som-ska-ta-dem-jorden-runt

http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/ska-segla-jorden-runt-2389217

http://arbetarbladet.se/nyheter/gavle/1.6036001-nu-ar-de-ute-pa-havet

http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/karl-oskar-och-jonas-ska-segla-jorden-runt-2382494

http://gd.se/nyheter/gavle/1.6032862-halla-dar-jonas-olsson-

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=99&artikel=5577379

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=99&artikel=5554570

 Skepp och hoj!

Äntligen är vi på väg! Igår lossade vi förtöjningarna och styrde ut från Gävlebukten, vi fick ett väldigt härligt avsked från kajen i Gavleån, tack alla ni som kom dit och vinkade av. Vi var mycket trötta när vi lämnade Gävle och gick ner mot Björns fyr med hissade segel. Jonas fick ta första vakten och jag somnade ganska omgående. 

Efter en härlig nattsegling med avlägsna åskmoln som blottade sina blixtar mot havet så kom vi ut på Ålands Hav, här gick det sämre, vinden låg fortfarande på Syd och inte helt oväntat fick vi lov att börja kryssa. Efter många timmar hade vi seglat mellan Åland och Sverige två-tre gånger utan att ha tagit oss märkbart i rätt riktning. 

När vi till slut kommer ner till Ålands sydspets börjar det blåsa upp rejält och stora väggar av vatten sköljer över båten. Hon står emot väldigt bra och någon oro är inte att fråga om men att kryssa i denna vind från Åland till Öland i det slitna skick vi befann oss i var det inte tal om, vi länsade istället in i Mariehamn i väntan på vinden. Ett klokt beslut, då middag och dusch smakade, imorgon tar vi nya tag!

Karl

Position: Mariehamns Gästhamn N 60° 05' 57” E 29° 56' 55”

Media:

http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/svtgavleborg/baten-som-ska-ta-dem-jorden-runt

http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/ska-segla-jorden-runt-2389217

http://arbetarbladet.se/nyheter/gavle/1.6036001-nu-ar-de-ute-pa-havet

http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/karl-oskar-och-jonas-ska-segla-jorden-runt-2382494

http://gd.se/nyheter/gavle/1.6032862-halla-dar-jonas-olsson-

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=99&artikel=5577379

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=99&artikel=5554570