Henning 4148
08-09-2003, 06:54 PM
Yes, it was plastic. I have to say this to make sure you are not reading this under false assumptions. So much for the confession.
Work was pretty busy from spring on and in July my wife and I decided it was time for a holiday. I did manage to get the first week in August off and my wife did manage to charter a boat for the two of us in the baltic - a 32 feeter.
Well, with some rescheduling around a broken down engine etc. the charterer send us onto our weeks holiday with a 37 feeter.
Now a 37 feeter for two people is huge - which doesn't matter a lot if you are sailing and is nice when you are laying in the harbour or at anchor, but 37 feet is especially huge when entering a berth in a harbour. It probably feels a bit like berthing an aircraft carrier. To enter a berth comfortably you would appreciate one person on the foredeck, one to two on the side and one at the helm. That made approx. two positions for each of us ;). Another thing we found out by try and error is, that some berths in the baltic are not wide enough for a minitiure aircraft carrier - you enter the berth between two wooden posts, now if your boat is wider than the posts, you get stuck ... no problem, put the engine in reverse, pull her out again and start looking for a wider berth! To small again? Well, by now you know the game ... engine reverse, ... .
Apart from the berthing excitements we had a week of sunshine, light to moderate winds, a light boat that ran like the clappers and made a tour through the south western corner of the baltic with 5 harbours in 7 days. We even saw dolphins (twice)
In weather like this the south western baltic is relatively easy to navigate as there is so little tide that you do not have to worry about tidal hights or streams. The only "interesting" bit are shallow areas, especially in Danish waters. Where we were the navigational channels in the shallow areas were well bouyed, but if you want you can also navigate by chart and take shortcuts and detours depending on your draft or select a quite bay for anchoring and bathing.
Next time I hope we will be able to bring more time, especially for the Danish waters. It is called the Danish South Sea and with weather like we had, the islands realy look tropical - yellow beaches, blue water, blue sky ... and temperatures in the area of 30 Celsius.
Also, we have started to think about personal boat ownership again. Does anybody know a Folkeboat or similar size for sale in Europe? We realy should wait another 2 or 3 years, but I guess the bug may bite sooner.
Work was pretty busy from spring on and in July my wife and I decided it was time for a holiday. I did manage to get the first week in August off and my wife did manage to charter a boat for the two of us in the baltic - a 32 feeter.
Well, with some rescheduling around a broken down engine etc. the charterer send us onto our weeks holiday with a 37 feeter.
Now a 37 feeter for two people is huge - which doesn't matter a lot if you are sailing and is nice when you are laying in the harbour or at anchor, but 37 feet is especially huge when entering a berth in a harbour. It probably feels a bit like berthing an aircraft carrier. To enter a berth comfortably you would appreciate one person on the foredeck, one to two on the side and one at the helm. That made approx. two positions for each of us ;). Another thing we found out by try and error is, that some berths in the baltic are not wide enough for a minitiure aircraft carrier - you enter the berth between two wooden posts, now if your boat is wider than the posts, you get stuck ... no problem, put the engine in reverse, pull her out again and start looking for a wider berth! To small again? Well, by now you know the game ... engine reverse, ... .
Apart from the berthing excitements we had a week of sunshine, light to moderate winds, a light boat that ran like the clappers and made a tour through the south western corner of the baltic with 5 harbours in 7 days. We even saw dolphins (twice)
In weather like this the south western baltic is relatively easy to navigate as there is so little tide that you do not have to worry about tidal hights or streams. The only "interesting" bit are shallow areas, especially in Danish waters. Where we were the navigational channels in the shallow areas were well bouyed, but if you want you can also navigate by chart and take shortcuts and detours depending on your draft or select a quite bay for anchoring and bathing.
Next time I hope we will be able to bring more time, especially for the Danish waters. It is called the Danish South Sea and with weather like we had, the islands realy look tropical - yellow beaches, blue water, blue sky ... and temperatures in the area of 30 Celsius.
Also, we have started to think about personal boat ownership again. Does anybody know a Folkeboat or similar size for sale in Europe? We realy should wait another 2 or 3 years, but I guess the bug may bite sooner.