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The following weekend, on 17 July, I arranged a short fuel run into Lübeck Bay with Lyosha. Without a fuel gauge, I had no idea how much diesel remained since my passage from Denmark.
Gusts to 27 knots were forecast after lunch, but the morning sun was scorching. I handed my crewmate the tiller. At the engine’s two knots, Travemünde took two hours.
A queue had formed at the fuel berth, so we circled slowly. A small motorboat tried to slip ahead, but the attendant pointed at us and said something, then waved us in. The skipper nodded and shouted ‘Entschuldigung!’ I approached at almost 90 degrees: a large two-deck motorboat occupied the pier ahead, and there was little space behind. Berthed on only the second attempt. Eleven litres filled the tank, another sixteen went into cans. €2.40 a litre.
Then out to open water. I hoisted the sail and enjoyed the quiet and the heel. Lyosha became sleepy and went below for a nap. Seasickness takes that form for some people. Clouds approached from the town and the wind built. There were noticeably fewer boats around. I furled the sail and turned homewards. But the yacht wouldn’t go: the plotter showed 0.7 knots, not even enough to bring the bow through the wind. In the end, I bore away and began tacking. That got us moving. We sailed that way right back to the marina.
#notes
Gusts to 27 knots were forecast after lunch, but the morning sun was scorching. I handed my crewmate the tiller. At the engine’s two knots, Travemünde took two hours.
A queue had formed at the fuel berth, so we circled slowly. A small motorboat tried to slip ahead, but the attendant pointed at us and said something, then waved us in. The skipper nodded and shouted ‘Entschuldigung!’ I approached at almost 90 degrees: a large two-deck motorboat occupied the pier ahead, and there was little space behind. Berthed on only the second attempt. Eleven litres filled the tank, another sixteen went into cans. €2.40 a litre.
Then out to open water. I hoisted the sail and enjoyed the quiet and the heel. Lyosha became sleepy and went below for a nap. Seasickness takes that form for some people. Clouds approached from the town and the wind built. There were noticeably fewer boats around. I furled the sail and turned homewards. But the yacht wouldn’t go: the plotter showed 0.7 knots, not even enough to bring the bow through the wind. In the end, I bore away and began tacking. That got us moving. We sailed that way right back to the marina.
#notes
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