Departing Scotland

We are currently sitting on a pontoon waiting to be let out of the sea lock on the west side of Scotland. We hope to be on the south coast of Ireland in about three days before a big blow comes in from the west. It has been a good stay!

Big Blue, By Finn

I was sailing the boat with Big Blue. It was on Loch Ness. I was watching for the Loch Ness Monster. I saw the Loch Ness Monster. It looked like waves. It was a nice day. We went through and out the castle and then we went back to the boat and sailed away with Big Blue.

Prime Meridian!

 

Thursday August 22, 6:53 A.M.

 

Why Norway?

When we began discussing a sailing trip, we had no hesitation about making Norway a destination. It is a place that has sparked my imagination from a very young age and I was fortunate enough to come here as a 22-year-old delegate of the International 4H Youth Exchange Program (IFYE). The fjords and mountains are incredibly beautiful and the friendships I have developed over the years are very special to me. In addition, I had dragged Bob here seven years ago on an all-too-short vacation and he shared my enthusiasm for seeing this amazing country at a slower pace and from the water.  

When I was in grade school I did a report on Norway and was intrigued. As an environmental engineering graduate from Cornell, I was considering an international trip either through the US Peace Corps (two-year program) or its predecessor organization, the IFYE program (six-month program), as a way to see a little bit of the world from something other than a tour bus… on zero budget. I was a ten-year 4Her, my Aunt Marlene and Uncle Wally had both participated in the IFYE program and my Mom and Dad had hosted several IFYEs through the years at the farm, so as I reviewed the pros and cons of IFYE and Peace Corps, IFYE had a lot of pros and familiarity. The deciding factor or ‘idea’ was that if I went as an IFYE for six months, and still had wanderlust, I would apply for the Peace Corps program upon my return.

I applied for, and was accepted to, the 1992 season of the IFYE program and I requested assignment in emerging Eastern Europe. In lieu of my primary request, I decided to write-in Norway in the secondary request portion of the application. Why not see the country I had read about way back when?   My assignment arrived in February and I departed for Norway in June, 1992.

 



Frosta, Norway
September, 1992

I had an incredible six months with IFYE in Norway with six homestays at two dairy farms, a sheep farm, a potato farm, and two non-farm families in two different regions of the country.  It did not cure my youthful wanderlust and sparked a lifetime interest in travel at a slower pace. Fortunately, I met Bob who had a similar experience with the SEA Education Association of Woods Hole, MA.

Amazingly enough, the idea for the IFYE program was sparked by four Cornellians, all 4Hers, who came up with the IFYE ideal of ‘Peace through Understanding.’ The program, upon inception known as the International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE), was started to promote international understanding and cooperation following World War II.  Page 4 of IFYE News reports on the start of IFYE: http://ifyeusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2006winter-color.pdf

Atlantic Crossing Additions

Yes we are way……way behind in blog writing.  Kim has ordered us to take turns because it is too much for one person to try and catch us up.  Anna was first to take a turn so now it’s my turn (Bob).  This blog is kind of a diary for us and there are certain things we don’t want to forget so you will have to suffer through some dated material.  I have been thinking about this one for over a month now and since everyone asks about the subject I will write a little about the trip between the Azores and Ireland where some big storms finally caught us. 

My Dad (grandpa) and I were crossing the Atlantic making fantastic time until we hit the Azores.  Up to this point we were able to sail an amazingly direct route with great boat speeds most of the time.  When we reached Flora we were three days ahead of my most optimistic projections.  One of a number of reasons for not actually landing in the Azores was that a large storm system was forecast to hit the area a few days later and it looked like we could escape the worst of it if we got far enough North.

While studying routes to Ireland I learned that there were two trains of thought for making the trip.  The first was simply sail a direct course North East, the second was to first sail north to approx. 47º North latitude and then sail northeast to Ireland.  The latter was to avoid getting set too far to the east and potentially getting trapped in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France (an infamous spot).

So north we went…  I covered the details in my blogs at the time.  Dad and I worked extremely hard at positioning the boat to stay out of the worst of it based on information from our satellite phone weather forecast and incessant badgering from Kim to go north.  It was exhausting and it cost us at least three extra days of travel but we made it through safely.  Below I have pasted in some stories of boats that were out there with us during these exact same storms but did not share the same luck.

Azores to Hebrides: Norwegian cruising couple rescued by Irish Navy

By Irish Independent - published by Cruising Compass — last modified Jun 09, 2013 09:17 AM

A Norwegian couple paid an emotional “thank you” last week to the Irish Naval Service for saving them from horrendous seas after a dream voyage turned into a nightmare.

Published: 2013-06-09 00:00:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yacht Alice II under tow: © Irish Independent

As reported by Cruising Compass

Erik (62) and Gretta (62) Ostberg from Haugesund in Norway were enjoying warm food and drinks in Castletownbere, Ireland after they were escorted there when their yacht was badly damaged by raging seas in the mid-Atlantic.

“We are very happy to be ashore. We were very worried when the mast came down,” Mr. Ostberg said. ”We are very grateful to the Irish Navy. I do not know what we would have done without them.”

Their yacht, the 10m wooden-hulled Alice II, lost both its bowsprit and main mast in raging seas three days ago.The accident happened as they were en route from the Azores to the Hebrides and then back to Norway.

The main mast destroyed their VHF antenna as it fell, so the couple were unable to issue a mayday alert.

They eventually spotted the French trawler, Bikain, by using flares to signal their distress. The trawler escorted them to the Naval Service vessel, LE Aoife, under Lt Cdr Aoife Downing.

Both Norwegians were taken on board the Irish ship and two sailors were placed on the stricken yacht which was towed to shore.

Courtesy of the Irish Independent

Northern Atlantic: Please find my boat

By Yachting Monthly — last modified Jun 28, 2013 01:12 PM

A solo sailor rescued from his 35ft sloop in mid-Atlantic has asked Yachting Monthly to help him locate his boat.

 

Published: 2013-06-28 00:00:00

As reported by Yachting Monthly

Dino Silva, 41, was on passage from his home in the Azores to Iceland when the rudder of his aluminium yacht, Lua, failed. He managed to repair it five times before it became inoperable.

Then, using a satellite phone, he called Falmouth Coastguard and asked for help. A German freighter was directed to his position, took him off and dropped him in Philadelphia, USA.

"All my life is on that boat. I sold my house to build her. She is part of me, she's like a child to me," he said.

He was on Lat 53 when he abandoned her and believes she is now somewhere between Scotland and Iceland. Her EPIRB was taken off the boat at the Coastguard's recommendation, but in any case it only had 48 hours' worth of battery.

The yacht is uninsured.

Finnish yacht "Serena" abandoned: Crew tell their story

By Sue Richards — last modified Jul 09, 2013 02:10 PM

Contributors: Arja and Henrik Hankalahti

Malo '50, Serena, currently floating somewhere off the coast of Portugal after her crew had to abandon ship on the 17 June, 2013.

Published: 2013-07-09 15:00:00

 

 

 

 

 

Yacht Serena, a Malo 50 (32ft)

For Arja and Henrik Hankalahti it's been an upsetting and stressful 3 weeks. Not only did the Finnish couple have to abandon their much loved yacht "Serena" during a heavy storm off the coast of NW Spain on the 17th June, but the yacht has still not been located after the EPIRB stopped transmitting on the 22nd June.

Here is a short synopsis of the events that led up to them making the decision to abandon ship;

 

"On the 17th June at 13.00 a huge wave demolished the doghouse and everything which was in the centre cockpit. We were also flushed in to the water, but luckily we had lifejackets on and life lines. 20 meter high waves continued flushing the centre cockpit and we had only one lifejacket left, 2 went into the water and one was damaged during the accident.

"After this, most of the electrical equipment on board started breaking down one by one. So we decided to ask for help. We set off our EPIRB and a helicopter rescued us after 8 hours struggling".

 

Serena's EPIRB stopped sending signals on the 22nd June and the boat is thought to be floating somewhere off the coast of Portugal. The Hankalahtis are offering a 15.000 Euro reward for whoever finds their boat.

  

Amazingly, we shared a lock with the Alice II from Norway in the Caledonian Canal…it’s a small world!

 

So if my Dad tells you those waves were damned big (halfway up the mast or better) he probably isn’t exaggerating!

Capt. Bob

NAMDAL AKVASENTER

This will be the first day of fourth grade. We went to the Namdal Aquaculture Center to learn about salmon farming. We went on a boat ride and saw the salmon.

The Rib Boat at the Dock

 We were in Flatanger Norway. We were visiting the Skei family. On August 2, 2013, we walked to the Aquaculture Center to learn about salmon farming. When we got there my mom, dad and I watched a movie about smolts, a fish that eats lice off the salmon, and salmon. It was also about how they grow and how they sell the salmon. At the end we asked questions.

Me at 45 knots

The next thing we did was get into GIANT suits and I felt fat! Then we went to the dock and went on a rib boat (40 - 45 KTS/ 45 – 50 MPH!) Then we went to another boat that was called the feed barge. We got to see video from cameras, they were in the fish pens, and then we went back to the rib.

At the net pen

We then went to the fish pens. There were 11 pens but only nine had fish in them but the other two were going to be filled when they move the salmon into them, when they become too big and fill the pens. After that we landed and watched the salmon jump, then we got to feed them it was so fun because the salmon were jumping and jumping and jumping.

 
 
By,

Anna

My new friend Emilie who turned 9 the day after me!

 

Heading South

After reaching our furthest point north, we untied the dock lines this morning and pointed the bow (figuratively) south. In reality, we are motoring our way through the islands, fjords and skerries and could be heading in any compass direction at any time.
We have had an absolutely fantastic time here in Mid-Norway. From the moment we left Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas, we have pushed to get here and we finally were able to sit back and relax, if only for a few days. In the 13 days we were here in Lauvsnes (Pronounced 'Loves Ness', AKA, 'The Love Nest') we were able to kick back and relax, Norwegian Summer Vacation style. This means we burned a lot of calories and consumed a lot of calories and took in a whole heck of a lot of beautiful scenery in the most beautiful weather of the summer, all in fantastic company.
Alas, the nights are getting noticeably shorter already and the Bay of Biscay (France) is that big scary spot that keeps us moving, pushing south once again to beat the fall storms that ravage the area. We still have a lot of visiting to do but that fall push feels very real when we are actually moving.
We have many, many stories to tell, and I have a feeling we will be metering them on over the course of the next month as we have time and internet availability.

Happy ninth birthday to Anna!