The sailor’s sailor is dreaming of faraway horizons.
(Centkievicz)
He docked at Pta.Della
Penna, evening of 2006. September 29, that’s where he
sent this report from.
The first pictures of the voyage!
I started to write this story today, 2006. September 24, at
I departed Koper an
hour ago, and so far made 2 miles, still ahead of me: 30,000 miles!
Many do not understand why I undertook this
long and dangerous voyage. Sometimes I don’t understand it myself. I have no
concrete answer to this question. Perhaps this Log will provide an answer.
Many thanks to my Father and Bogi for their great and continuing assistance.
Thanks to them and about another 30
acquaintances, friends and relatives.
09.24.
(1st day)
I have no wristwatch; or rather there is
one in the GPS and computer, but these I rarely use. In part
intentionally, because here, time doesn’t really count. I am in no
hurry; it wouldn’t make any sense to. My way depends on the sea and the winds.
This morning is calm, which is what gave me such thoughts. Cruising
slowly in the
Because there is no wind all forenoon, I am
passing my time with bathing/swimming in the sea. Not so selfishly though, I’m
pushing the ship at the same time. In cases like these I pay a long line out
from the stern, so that any sudden puff of wind won’t leave me in the middle of
the sea. I swim anytime I can because it’s very refreshing and if I didn’t, I
could get a sunstroke as well. Around
After
The wind has picked up, around
Around 3 P.M. Carina is making 2.7 knots
already, cutting the whitecaps. She’s very stable; meanwhile I am making videos
and taking pictures. Contacts with home (
First night:
Went by calmly. Force 3 wind,
sailing with a speed of 3 knots near the beaches of
First day Carina sailed herself 23 hours and me just 1 hour. A very good ratio.
(I don’t have wind assisted self-steering; they didn’t design one for such small vessels. The electric autopilot uses too much energy therefore I try to avoid using it).
9.25.
(2nd day)
I am listening to weather info on ch.68
(VHF DSP Cobra Radio) generally twice a day, morning and evening. They
broadcast the present situation over the
They forecast storm for today, which does arrive. Force 7 winds, meaning 27-32 knots. In addition it’s raining all night lowering the visibility!
Hoisted the storm jib and reefed the mainsail. (2 – 3 square meters). This way we can move stably and can manage the waves as well. Didn’t sleep much, only kept nodding as usual.
Briefly about sleep:
There are rules in ships that I always adhere to. Always sleep in the cockpit with safety line wearing a lifejacket. This is important, so I can react quickly, no matter what happens. Of course, it isn’t too comfortable, but at least it’s wet J
(Dawn, always, everything is wet, of course I’m wearing foul weather gear while sleeping with pullover, pants underneath but even so everything gets wet regardless. This helps me to wake up early and also with the sleeplessness)
Every morning I start with a dose of vitamins, after that my mood is much better too.
Everybody philosophizes at sea, me too, but very carefully. The reason is the sea that has a profound effect on a man! Here too, the mood is very special: the sea, Carina and I…
Everything seems to drop into the sea, in my case 2 chamber pots were the greatest and most
painful losses.
When the ship is galloping at 5 knots and normally waves are 4-5 meters all
around, then by the time we turn around, the chamber pots are gone.
Technical difficulties:
1. The bolt securing the wind generator fell out; this is the second one already. The first one fell out at the Háros Yacht Club.
Luckily it didn’t fall into the sea; I only have to screw it back.
(09.30 in Penna I screwed it back because I couldn’t do it in the heaving sea).
2. The boom’s (lower mast) mount came apart a little, the boom fell down.
No big problem because usually the sail is holding it.
3. The rudder’s mount assembly loosened and also fell off the rudder.
(I repaired it several times by glue, finally strengthened it better in Penna).
9.26.
(3rd day)
I found a caterpillar in the ship, can’t quite understand how it got here, but I am glad. Unfortunately it climbed out of it’s box and now wandering around the ship somewhere…The original little favorites, the spiders are gone from the ship, but possibly they’re hiding somewhere and will turn up when the weather improves….
My technical difficulties:
4. There is a leak at the forward opening, unfortunately everything got wet.
True, at least the batteries escaped it.
I repaired the seal while in the open water, but re-caulked it in Penna, because it kept leaking continuously.
5. One of the holding corners of the radar reflector fell apart. Unfortunately this can damage the mainsail in beam winds.
The repair wasn’t successful at sea but was in Penna.
The sea is heaving so much that one couldn’t stay on deck….
09.27.
(4th day)
Nothing special happens on the 4th day, which means a good day at sea!
Very heavy fishing boat traffic in the evening, the situation is critical on 2 occasions. They weren’t watching and noticed me too late only, while handling their nets. (Their ship was partially unmanageable). I had to use the engine to avoid collision. Plenty of yelling.
In the other case, the fishing vessel didn’t even notice me, just went by very closely. I turned on all my lights and wanted to blow my horn too, but the engine made so much noise that it would’ve been useless. Even unhooked myself from the safety belt so that I can leave the sinking ship…but luckily we didn’t collide.
9.28.
(5th day)
Alone at sea. I am still receiving SMS from acquaintances and also from unknowns. Thank you all, this helps a lot J
The niece of one of my old colleagues is also named Karina, who was just born, I hope they’re doing well! (Got this one through SMS too).
I feel strongly that there are many who press and cheer for me!
My difficulty is that I’m unable to let Carina steer herself in broad winds, there is no tiller position that would provide a stable course: one or two large wave can always divert her. For this reason I sleep very little and only rarely.
My mood is at standstill in the morning, by evening however I’m generally cheered up. I react and think slowly…
Tidiness: I am trying, but sometimes it’s not possible. And then there is chaos, absolute chaos. Every thing of mine... is naturally wet or at least damp.
Splashing waves: Sometimes there are, which is normal with smaller vessels.
There are some, coming from nowhere and splash in, then everything gets wet of course. In general I keep the door closed, so there was no major wetness inside the cabin as yet.
My hallucinations: I sometimes feel there is someone else in the ship. Sometimes I feel Bogi, sometimes my Father. Nightly and at dawn I can hear the voices of several of my relatives. At first this felt good, but gradually it became disturbing.
I’m imagining even the bumpers, line and lifejacket as people.
At night: everything went OK. I had no detailed maps, so rather proceeded slower, then at dawn through a strait, I followed a large ship.
9.29.
(6th day)
This morning I used the HF radio with
I was kind of dull at dawn, and navigation went slowly and poorly. In the future I will pay more attention to navigation. So far I set the goal to sail 360 miles on the 139° course (but the thing isn’t so simple though!).
Docked in Penna at
9.30.
(7th day)
Worked on ship repairs all day and tidied up too. I.e. the rudder was chattering, a bolt is getting loose all the time. Checking for leaks: there still are some, but in fewer places and not as much, the situation is getting better!
I’ll cook myself some bio-food for dinner
and will depart tomorrow around
Bussed into Vasto because there is no interned in the smaller town. In Vasto, there is a big happening so I shall stay until evening…