Stories of sea and land
A travel must contain dramas. Why else should we have started? Ideally, the dramas come well-dosed. Here a missing sap, there a clogged filter. If many dramas occur at once, the traveler switches to survival mode. Eyes closed and get through. When everything is over, he or she may realize: I am traumatized. These were … Read more
Sail a fully rigged yacht over Dutch fields. Pass through more than fifty bridges. Cross the city centres of Groningen, Leeuwarden and Amsterdam. Look down on highways. Enjoy locks until falling over. We hadn’t planned this tour. But a storm was in the making, the North Sea did not seem a good place to be. … Read more
Practise blue water sailing: I want to sail long stretches in a row, anchor or let the ship drift. Only call at harbours, if necessary marinas, when electricity or food is scarce. Northernmost destination this summer are the sperm whales off Vesteraalen / Norway When I cast off from Burgstaaken, the plotter does not start. … Read more
Yes, dinghy and catamaran I have sailed from time to time. But no, I had no idea how to sail a yacht. In 2015 I set my foot on the first sailing ship that does not capsize immediately upon entering. 1000 obligatory Swiss-Offshore-Certificate-Miles later I know three yacht types after all: Hallberg-Rassy, Alubat Ovni, X-Yacht, … Read more
Twelve meters of steel, two masts, one ketch. Fifty years ago, the ideal blue-water yacht looked like this, the legendary JOSHUA by Bernard Moitessier for example. Today, the Ketch-Rigg is out of fashion, as are long keel and rudder skeg. PINJOE – built thirty years ago – has all the attributes of these classic sailors. … Read more