Soon we will go sailing

We are getting very close to what we have been counting down to since fall last year: Going sailing again.

The last few weeks have been very hectic: June is now an acupuncturist, and Nanna got her A-level, finishing High School. With this behind us, we have 3 working days left, and at home all focus is on packing, tide tables, todo-lists, etc.

3 weeks of sailing. With this kind of vacation we don’t need the first few days to put work behind us. This happens right away, as there are so many things to plan and do, and a lot to experience.

Nanna celebrates her graduation and takes care of house and pets, while the rest of us travel to Lisbon to meet with Thea and Lennarth, who will be joining us on the first week of sailing. When we get to La Coruña (or somewhere near) Thea, Lennarth and Freja will fly back home to Denmark. Freja will then look after house and pets while Nanna will meet us in La Coruña for the rest of the trip this year.

Double disance, same duration
So we will be crusing from Lisbon, along the coast of Portugal and up to La Coruña. From here we will start our longest offshore sailing to cross the Bay of Biscay up to southern England. We aim at the Isles of Scilly, but going here requires very good timing when it comes to tide, wind and visibility. So it might very well be an alternative like Penzance in Cornwall. The rest of the trip we will plan as we get there, but the target of this years sailing is Carlingford north of Dublin at the border of Ireland and Nothern Ireland. We have booked a spot for Carpe Diem at their marina during the winter. In total a distance of at least 1000 nautical miles, which is double up from last years sailing.

Engine again, at a new gadget
A few things have taken place on the boat since I was at it earlier in the spring. My last night at the boat, I realized that the engine  was leaking oil. The fact that the engine again had an issue took a little to accept. I asked the shipyard to assess how bad it was and what to do. It wasn’t too bad, but with the plans we have we need the engine to be reliable, and it was also a sign of service being required. So we decided to give the engine a full service, with the engine taken out and brought to a workshop. When fixed in Lagos, the focus was on the injection pump and fuel tanks. Today the engine has been installed back in the boat, so we expect it to be spinning like a cat…

We have also decided to buy AIS. With this we will be able to see surrounding ships with AIS, which the big ships must use. And they can see us if they want to . We will be able to see direction and speed even though we can’t see the boat with our eyes. This can come in handy along Portugal and Galicia where fog is often encountered, but also in many other situations. A bonus is, that you will be able to follow our position, at least when we are close to land. More on this later.

It is time to pack the last items. Luckily June is a master when it comes to packing and ensuring we can have it all, including fish rod, holding tank, chickpea flour, acupuncture needles, cinamon for pancakes, etc. etc.