Friends - this report is from Nykoping where we are still fitting out in the Guest Harbour.
We left home on the 9th of May but travelled seeing friends and relatives before getting to our boat.
We went by way of North Norfolk to see friends and be shown round the area - quite lovely. We visited Cromer to see dughter Amada and family before driving to dover or the ferry. Our main stops were in Brussels (Turkish Brothel decor in the hotel) to see art collections. The Horta House was outstanding.
Thence by way of a dreadful drive through the Ruhr to Celle at the southern end of Luneberg Heath. Celle was a delight 400+ half timbered house with details picked out in careful paintwork and an interesting castle made it a good visit. Luneberg was its equal. A Hansa town very prosperous because of salt extraction with lovely stone houses all saggy because of subsidence from the salt. Apparently neither town expects foreign visitors but well well worth seeing.
We had to be very stern with Susan, our tomTom navigator at this point. She has a dreadful tendenc to get onto motorways and would have doubled our milage to take us to Lubeck via the Hamburg ring which is a plac I would prefer to avoid anyway. Next to Lubeck yet again and in good weather to wander round and admire. We found real old gas lamps alight in some of the smaller alleyways. Supper was in the Captains Club (shippergesellschaft) and a dramatic place to eat on long benches under vast model ships.
On the way to Copenhagen we stopped briefly with the Goudies, our hosts in Norfolk, to admire their fitting out base in Fehrman but had to go on to see friends in Copenhagen and catch up with their adventures in the Northern Frisian Islands last Summer. The rest of the trip accross Sweden was peaceful and Badger was ina goodstate when we found her.
Fitting out was mainly about taking the top off the mast to get a new aerial down through it as part of fitting a new aerial we were given for Xmas. We also polished the hull and patched the antiouling as it survived the season well enough to not need another full coat. The whole fit-out was a scramble as we were told at first that launch would be deayed by yard problems- the crane had broken down and further delays had been caused by water levels that were too low to allow deep keeled boats to be launched. Our pleas got us an early launch but there was still much to do on board, the aerial lead - again, getting the radio to talk to the VHF and so on - in addition to the usual boom, main tuning, sail fitting etc.etc.
We had one serious alarm on our first night afloat. When getting into bed we heard a gentle drip, drip .. but could find no source of problems and concluded it was water against the hull. However Kristin found at 3 am. that the loo comptment floor was "squelching". We investigated; no leak by the toilets, no leak into the stern by the prop shaft. We did have a lot of water on board as the pump ran for several minutes before it started to gurgle. Once stopped it wold not restart. Kristin then noted a small ripple in the water under the floor in the galley area - a clue. the engine and probably where I had refitted the raw water pump impeller. We turned off the engine inlet seacock andwent backto bed. In the morning it did prove to be the raw water pump cover leaking - easily fixed -but salutary.
Other than that it has been a peaceful time. We have been seeing friends and the weather has been wonderful. It is continuously sunny and warm but often cold at night, down to 3C at one point. this must infuriate people in the UK - I'm sorry. We have been eating all the things that go with being in Sweden (sour milk with our muesli, sild (marinated herring, smoked salmon nd so on) The Catering college gives us good cheap lunches with really imaginative salads.
We still have work to do. I have to remove our broomstick mounted aerial from last year and find a place to put the folding bike. the car is stuffed full of gear from the boat we will not need on passage. We do hope the weather improves soon in the UK
Regards,
Roger and Kristin
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