This blog post is long overdue. The last month has just flown by. With Martin being busy with other administrative work, I realize that it is my job to get to the keyboard to share our journey from Azores to home.
The Azores proved to be just as wonderful as we had heard. After the grand welcome party at Peter’s Sports Café, we decided to just rest and enjoy the fantastic sailing atmosphere around Horta for a while. We did some beautiful hikes among the clouds and around a volcano, had loads of ice-cream and Barracuda sushi. We left for Terceira, just a day cruise away, to start our preparation for the next crossing. Another round of grocery shopping and cocking, Martin helping our friends on LinneaX with some autopilot installation, picking up Ola, our friend and new crew, and eventually also his bag. The last evening, we got to experience a proper Bull race in the streets of Angro do Heroismo. It was quite a show.
The next morning, all three boats; Ocean Crosser, LinneaX and us, were ready to go. There are always mixed feelings when leaving for a longer crossing. Parts of you are dreading going, and parts of you just want to get it over with. But there is also the longing for the amazing nights filled with stars and the solitude of the night shift with just you and the moon, the visits of dolphins and whales, and the company of your crew creating yet more memories out on the big ocean. We started as usual with sea sickness for 3 days for most of us, and then we were all fit for fight. This passage involved a lot of weather: planning around it, talking about it and experiencing it. We had two proper gales with winds up to 40 knots and 2 days of trying to sail slowly (can be frustrating) to escape worse weather. We sailed with 3 reefs in the main and Frenesi performed well in the strong winds. Weather-wise, it was the most challenging crossing so far and it was lucky we had built confidence during the previous passages. Ola was solid as a rock and really helped us. We did 3-hour shifts during the nights and a bit longer in daylight. It was colder than previously, and we had to put all our clothes on for the night shifts. We had hoped to invite Ola to fresh sushi, but still no luck with the fishing. But we had a great “middle of the ocean” swim.
Arriving on Scilly Isles felt so good! We had endured our second Atlantic crossing. Scilly Isles greeted us with sunshine and were bustling with lovely, scented flowers. It felt like spring and summer at the same time. We relaxed and enjoyed the islands in the company of our friends. One evening, we had a joint dinner with the three boats, and Calle from Ocean Crosser gave diplomas to all the kids from the three boats for having crossed the Atlantic Ocean once again. It really is an achievement. We left Scilly Isles and continued to explore the English coast for a couple of weeks, where we stopped to enjoy the sailing week in Falmouth, a calm anchorage outside Plymouth, the Tivoli Pier in Brighton, shopping at Prymark, and some cliff exploring on Isle of Wight.
We decided to show our dear Norwegian friends how to celebrate a proper Midsommar in Weymouth. Martin prepared the food: pies, meatballs, sausages, “Gubbröra” and “Skagenröra” for almost 2 days. After this delicious lunch, with accompanying “snapsvisor”, we went on to demonstrate the games of “stövelkast”, “potatis på sked”, “norsk fylla”, and tug of war. The day ended with not one but two proper strawberry cakes and the last song of ”små grodorna”.
The kids had their eyes set on a new country, so we set sail again and crossed the English Channel towards Belgium. Here we were surprised by the beaches that seemed to go on forever. We had a great visit from Ernest (his third on our year;) and his 2 daughters. Together we explored the old town of Brugge, had gorgeous chocolate and Belgian Waffles.
Continuing towards the Netherlands, where we were lucky to have 2 more reunions. First, we met our Dutch sailing friends on the boat Faro that we met on Guernsey for an evening with activities and fun. Then Martin’s Dutch cousin with family took us to see the beautiful town of Delft. It felt like a small Amsterdam, with a similar canal system, tiny bridges and cozy cafés. Here we tried raw herring, which was not bad, but the kids liked the poffertjes (miniature pancakes) more. The day was filled with laughter as always. Another Dutch highlight was Vlieland. We didn’t realize how much we had missed biking. Crossing the island on soft paths, it felt like we could go on forever.
Reluctantly, we left for the Kiel Canal. This time we really experienced the canal and ended up staying 3 nights in a small marina in the middle of the canal just to enjoy the quiet… and doing some cleaning of Frenesi for photos and visits. We have decided to sell our wonderful boat that has taken such good care of us during this year and brought us safely back to Europe. It is a lump in our throat, but she is too big for us at home and belongs out on the big seas.
We left Kiel behind us and saw Denmark again after more than a year. We are now back in Scandinavia, and it is with mixed feelings that we get closer and closer to home. 2 days to go and then the plan is to close the circle and come back to Lomma, where it all started, and see friends and family again. The kids are super excited to come home! For me and Martin, it is more of a mixture of emotions. It feels sad that the year, our family year has come to an end. This project, which has taken up most of our time for the last 8 years is now done. We are filled with gratitude for everything we have experienced, all the wonderful people we have met, and all the memories that we have created for our family. We feel proud that we had a goal, we worked hard and we did it. And just like the kids we also feel super excited to come home and see family and friends again. There is always a new adventure out there. So Sweden, here we come.
Välkomna hem till vardagen igen och för att vi har kunnat följa er fantastiska resa. Så mycket ni har fått uppleva tillsammans som familj.
VÄLKOMNA hem! Grattis till att ni vågat genomföra ett otroligt ”upplevelseprojekt”! Lycka till med att hantera kulturchocken framöver🤞🏼!
TACK för ett spännande år med massor av underbara bilder och intressanta redogörelser! Det har avsevärt förbättrat mina geografi-, mm kunskaper genom allt googlande jag har gjort för att följa er ordentligt.
Varma välkomstkramar från Ingegerd
VÄLKOMNA hem! Grattis till att ni vågat genomföra ett otroligt ”upplevelseprojekt”! Lycka till med att hantera kulturchocken framöver🤞🏼! Tack för ett spännande år med massor av underbara bilder och intressanta redogörelser! Det har avsevärt förbättrat mina geografi-, mm kunskaper genom allt googlande jag har gjort för att följa er ordentligt.
Varma välkomstkramar