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That evening, 14 June 2024, I went out to test the Winchers. Following my new tradition, sail out just beyond the marina. No engine. I even reefed a little at first, but the wind soon eased. Completely relaxed, at two or three knots, I reached Travemünde and sailed into the Baltic.
More breeze in open water: up to 4.5 knots. I aimed to round the safe-water mark, the red-and-white buoy marking the start of the Lübeck fairway. Large commercial ships passed, met and escorted by pilot boats. Deciphering their navigation lights and following them on the plotter’s AIS was a pleasure.
Night sailing is no more frightening than sailing by day. I’d go further: lovelier than sailing at sunset. A warm breeze from the land wraps round you, moonlight catches the wave crests. Magical. I wish I could describe more, but I was simply enjoying myself.
On the way back, the wind died completely. Sail furled, steaming light on, engine rattling. Homeward course. Time to calibrate the log against GNSS speed over ground. The boat glided through total darkness. Sleeping swans lay on either side, faint in the moonlight. A golden-lilac Milky Way filled half the sky, crossed now and then by aircraft and satellites. The highlight was a comet burning in the atmosphere with a bright orange flame.
Back at exactly two in the morning. Berthed like a ninja: quietly and carefully.
Track here.
#passage
More breeze in open water: up to 4.5 knots. I aimed to round the safe-water mark, the red-and-white buoy marking the start of the Lübeck fairway. Large commercial ships passed, met and escorted by pilot boats. Deciphering their navigation lights and following them on the plotter’s AIS was a pleasure.
Night sailing is no more frightening than sailing by day. I’d go further: lovelier than sailing at sunset. A warm breeze from the land wraps round you, moonlight catches the wave crests. Magical. I wish I could describe more, but I was simply enjoying myself.
On the way back, the wind died completely. Sail furled, steaming light on, engine rattling. Homeward course. Time to calibrate the log against GNSS speed over ground. The boat glided through total darkness. Sleeping swans lay on either side, faint in the moonlight. A golden-lilac Milky Way filled half the sky, crossed now and then by aircraft and satellites. The highlight was a comet burning in the atmosphere with a bright orange flame.
Back at exactly two in the morning. Berthed like a ninja: quietly and carefully.
Track here.
#passage
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