It is over. Ship in the Vindö Marine yard for the next two months. A small list for the yard, but important to know it’s in good hands. This is where the ship spent her first 10 years, and where I picked her up in September 2021. What a fantastic seven weeks we had. In […]
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In the sixth week, we managed to get from Alesund to Kristiansand. We did need the cart regularly, but sailing still worked very well too. For us, northern Norway was the pinnacle of beauty, rugged nature and good moorings and anchorages. But as we move further south again, we still see very beautiful islands like […]
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After the wonderful Lofoten week, we are heading south again. Two things are becoming clearer to me. First, it is still quite cold in Norway in April. We can dress well for that, fortunately the heater works and we also had very often dry and sunny days. The second is how big the country is, […]
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Meanwhile, after week 4 in the Lofoten Islands, we are making south again. But what a surprise the Lofoten Islands are! The weather is extremely kind to us. We decide to sail counter clockwise and thus stay on the fixed side, the Ofoten, for the first two nights. When we cross on Tuesday, it is […]
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We are here, the Lofoten Islands! We managed to crew chang in Bodø after three weeks. So no ticket changes. Now I write to you after a day of snow showers, a coming night of -5°C and a high chance of Northern Lights. The videos will be much of the same for you. Unknown happy […]
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The second week we sailed from Bergen to Trondheim as planned. The week brought us lulls and strong SE winds. Good sailing in this week, especially the last two days with 20-25 knots and gusts of 10-15 knots on top of that. We tapped the 40 mark. In the Netherlands we don’t see such gustiness […]
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Here speaks a once again happy skipper from Bulandet in western Norway, just north of the Sonjefjord. We have been underway for a good week, and in the process had the good fortune of a high over the German Bight. After Willemstad, we headed out at Hoek van Holland on Sunday 2 April. Wind 5-6 […]
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My last report already, after 7 weeks of a beautiful trip via Norway over the North Sea and around Scotland and England. Week 6 started with the homeward journey in mind. We wanted to sail the boat through the Caledonian Canal in week 6 and then back to Holland in week 7 over the North […]
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Week 5 just finished in Oban. The coming week 6 we will tour around the North of West Scotland. We are going to look at the possibility to go around the North, through the Pentland Firth back to the Netherlands. Important when deciding on routes is of course the weather and the routing. I followed […]
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Made quite some miles last week. From Bergen, Norway with a new crew to Ullapool in Scotland. The weather forecast indicated calm weather for the whole week and we had to put the “cart” in regularly. As a Hallberg-Rassy expert once told me: “These Rassy’s are also good motorsailers”. Two things to share Firstly, the […]
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The third week in Norway is over. We really wanted to visit the longest fjord, the Sognefjord, and we did. Not only that, we were also very lucky with the weather, which made the beauty of the area overwhelming in every way. Apart from photos and descriptions of places, I would also like to share […]
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We had a quiet crew change in Stavanger. In the lee of a large English troop transport ship, the HMS Albion, we moored well sheltered in the Børevika marina in the centre. Sunday we had an extensive safety briefing with the new crew of six, including my Caroline. We are becoming more and more careful […]
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I started early this season for a 7 weeks trip to Norway and Scotland. Last week, my “week 1”, brought me to Stavanger. Caroline and I started with the great HR54/40 6 years ago, but could not resist the HR62 that came onto our path. The HR62/25 had one owner for 10 years. He had […]
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Routes – week 6 Salcombe. Our last UK port before crossing to the channel islands. Safely moored , in good shelter, on the roads. Water taxi to takes us to shore and back. entering Salcombe harbor What beauty. After Salcombe we made the crossing to Guernsey. Then stopped in Cherbourg and went straight for Dieppe. […]
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Routes – week 4 Ailsa Craig – a rock in the middle of the sea. Impressive to sail close by, and see how the wind changed direction and force around this island rock. At first we missed this one on the Navionics charts on our Raymarine. So, zoom in and look at paper charts […]
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Routes – week 3 Crinan Canal 4.1 From Oban we sailed to the entrance of the Crinan canal. At anchor on the buoy for the night and then through the canal on a day with 35 knots wind. The canal staff said they had introduced more water to the canal, but we touched bottom several […]
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This chapter on the trip will probably not tell you a lot of new stuff. Pretty standard how we all navigate nowadays. But maybe still good to share. The electronics have really become very important in today’s navigation, also on Caroline. But in the end, I carry paper maps, tidal books and pilots on board. […]
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The trip We started on March 30st in Flushing and expected to end the first week in Inverness. We wanted to pass the Caledonian canal in week 2, but the maintenance work on the canal took longer so we were looking at a 10 day hold up in the vicinity on Inverness. And that is […]
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Dear Robbert-Jan A week ago, I called you to let you know that I cannot join the Annual General Meeting on May 7th in Loosdrecht. Reason is that I am sailing! I said I would update you on my trip, and will leave it to you if it is worth sharing this story with the […]
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