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Gedser. Sunday, 21 May 2023. I was too tired to want to leave, but tomorrow’s forecast promised gusts to 29 knots. Today’s 25 seemed positively kind. Overcast sky. Humming masts. An oppressive atmosphere.
Fuelled by instant noodles, I cast off. The wind pinned us against the pier, so I needed some throttle to get clear.
I surfed down waves all the way. Many had whitecaps, with crests above my head. Each swung the yacht sideways by nearly 40 degrees, and the autopilot corrected with almost as much swing the other way. From outside, we must have looked drunk, zigzagging along. I’d prepared the second reef in advance. Speed kept varying between five and ten knots.
It was frightening. I clipped on with two safety tethers. After a few hours, though, I realised the situation was steady and the boat was behaving well.
Every 15 minutes, a timer prompted me to check our course, sail trim and the plentiful traffic around us. Then I dozed until the next alarm.
At nine in the evening, I berthed in Lübeck. Lyosha met me, having come home by FlixBus yesterday and had a good sleep. He collected his bag; I stayed aboard. After a proper rest, I got the marina facilities keys from the harbourmaster, had breakfast in a café, packed, and waited for my wife.
59.8 miles in ten hours: https://boating.page.link/6yzkBe22u8BVE44s7
#passage
Fuelled by instant noodles, I cast off. The wind pinned us against the pier, so I needed some throttle to get clear.
I surfed down waves all the way. Many had whitecaps, with crests above my head. Each swung the yacht sideways by nearly 40 degrees, and the autopilot corrected with almost as much swing the other way. From outside, we must have looked drunk, zigzagging along. I’d prepared the second reef in advance. Speed kept varying between five and ten knots.
It was frightening. I clipped on with two safety tethers. After a few hours, though, I realised the situation was steady and the boat was behaving well.
Every 15 minutes, a timer prompted me to check our course, sail trim and the plentiful traffic around us. Then I dozed until the next alarm.
At nine in the evening, I berthed in Lübeck. Lyosha met me, having come home by FlixBus yesterday and had a good sleep. He collected his bag; I stayed aboard. After a proper rest, I got the marina facilities keys from the harbourmaster, had breakfast in a café, packed, and waited for my wife.
59.8 miles in ten hours: https://boating.page.link/6yzkBe22u8BVE44s7
#passage
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