Preparation:
Decided before Christmas to buy a sailboat and sail to Canada to pick up my brother Rune, Vikingbiker, who is biking around the world. I bought just about every book on the market about sailing, navigation, explorers etc. These books were read 24/7 in addition to contacting other sailors by phone and e-mail. At work, I spoke to a Swedish co-worker, that had built 10 sailboats, just about every break. I got in touch with a sailor on the internet that recommended a route, England, Azores and then Canada, this was recommended to avoid face wind and icebergs. I wrote my boat license at Arsile in Tjoeme (Norway) had a great teacher (Lars). Only one mistake on the final test, pretty proud :).
The Vessel:
A 31 foot Alo 96 was purchased in Stavanger after some shopping around, I wanted a boat with standing room in the cabin, and a large rear deck. The boat was appraised at 50.000 but after giving the owners an offer of USD 25.000,00 the boat was mine. The boat was not well maintained and required a fair amount of work, my carpentry skills came in handy, and a purchase of some extra equipment before it was ready for the water. My friend Tom joined me for the maiden voyage from Stavanger to Arendal on the Norwegian south coast. Went to look at the boat a few days later and the boat was covered in 5 ft. of snow.
Departure:
Daniel and myself finally hit the water April 2, our first leg of the journey went like a charm Toensberg to Arendal in 12 hours. Daniel got seasick during the night, last nights supper gone in 5 seconds :0.
Finally...
Daniel stomach adventure.
Daniel
Decided before Christmas to buy a sailboat and sail to Canada to pick up my brother Rune, Vikingbiker, who is biking around the world. I bought just about every book on the market about sailing, navigation, explorers etc. These books were read 24/7 in addition to contacting other sailors by phone and e-mail. At work, I spoke to a Swedish co-worker, that had built 10 sailboats, just about every break. I got in touch with a sailor on the internet that recommended a route, England, Azores and then Canada, this was recommended to avoid face wind and icebergs. I wrote my boat license at Arsile in Tjoeme (Norway) had a great teacher (Lars). Only one mistake on the final test, pretty proud :).
The Vessel:
A 31 foot Alo 96 was purchased in Stavanger after some shopping around, I wanted a boat with standing room in the cabin, and a large rear deck. The boat was appraised at 50.000 but after giving the owners an offer of USD 25.000,00 the boat was mine. The boat was not well maintained and required a fair amount of work, my carpentry skills came in handy, and a purchase of some extra equipment before it was ready for the water. My friend Tom joined me for the maiden voyage from Stavanger to Arendal on the Norwegian south coast. Went to look at the boat a few days later and the boat was covered in 5 ft. of snow.
Equipment:
Was surprised to learn how much equipment I needed for a long trip. Items like: Sailomat (autopilot), Radar Equipment, Emergency locator, life raft, survival suits, extra battery driven short wave radio and GPS in case of electrical failure, emergency bag with first aid equipment and flares, floating anchor, ssb radio, wather radio and…. and ….
Tom is installing the radar reflector.
Departure:
Daniel and myself finally hit the water April 2, our first leg of the journey went like a charm Toensberg to Arendal in 12 hours. Daniel got seasick during the night, last nights supper gone in 5 seconds :0.
Finally...
Daniel stomach adventure.
Daniel
2 comments:
Hej ! Viking Sailor! You are brave to sail across the Atlantic! I've been to Norway and Sweden ...LOVE Scandinavia!! (Birkebeiner and Vasaloppet) I send you and your brother light and love ,
Peggy
:)
Det finnes mange maater aa begaa selvmord paa....du maa ikke finne paa aa seile over Atlanter'n paa denne tiden av aaret i saer! Dette har ikke med MOT aa gjoere men er rene galskapen...ikke gjoer det!!! Ta fly! Haaper aa se deg i live i Nefoundland i slutten av mai....? Beste hilsner fra en meget bekymret Margaret Wiig.
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