SV Hokus Pokus II is a NAJAD 420 who started from her homeport in Sweden sometime in summer 2007, crossed the Atlantic in winter time and spent most of the year 2008 in caribbean waters, crossed the Panama canal by end of 2008 and headed further West in 2009. They spent full two years in pacific waters continued to go west in sprint 2011, currently they are in South Africa
Please visit their website here

Brandnew OVNI 365 left her homeport Longyearbyen in Norway during summer 2011 to head South towards the Canaries where they spent some weeks be until end of the year. The idea is to do the Atlantic circle and returning to their homeport in 2012 to restart work again.
Please visit their website here

Motiva 41 underway to the West, just arrived in Caribbean waters some weeks ago. The owners purchased the steel boat in Danmark, moved South towards the Med during 2008 / 9 retired in 2010 and are liveaboards since end of 2010.
Please follow their website here

Kelt 707 with her Skipper Gerhard just ahead of Helgoland. Gerhard just recently has changed his boat to a slightly larger vessel. He is now owning an AMEL MARAMU and will start his bluewater experiences soon. He just passed some picture impressions of his summer cruises in 2011.

I have been in contact with the Stuemer family some 12 years ago, when they have decided to head for a circumnavigation, as Diane, mother of 2 lovely children has got the bad diagnosis of cancer and wanted to spend as much time with her family as possible. The entire Stuemer family enabled the trip of Diane, who died in the meantime. The wonderful website however will remain active for ever.

STRANDED ON SVALBARD
It all got a little tense when the polar bear came strolling towards us while the boat was safely up on the beach. High up on the beach. in fact. The start of our Svalbard adventure was a bit more dramatic than we had hoped for.

We cast off from Tromsø at 12 on the first Saturday in August and set our course North. We took the quickest way out in the open sea and slipped out in to the open sea six hours later. Bear Island next. Continue reading →

Congratulation Laura, that you made it!  SPIEGEL ONLINE

ZEILEN INTERVIEW

Dutch VICTOIRE 933 sails to Spitsbergen (Svalbard)

The Dutch author of many books on sailing Ben Hoekendijk celebrated his 70th birtday and boarded his Koopmans designed Shalom IV, a Victoire 933, to sail single handed to the Lofoten and Spitsbergen. He writes:

The Lofoten are named ‘the Norwegian crown jewels’. They are situated 150 kilometers above the Polar Circle and consist a string of steep islands. I sailed single Handed to this sailors paradise and from there on with my son and later another friend as crew over the Barentszzee to Spitsbergen and back to Holland. The whole three month trip covered 3926 seamiles. My boat is 30 years old and sails like a baby. On my solotrip to the Caribbean some years ago my motor broke down mid Atlantic (without electricity for 850 mile), so I installed a new Yanmar three cylinder diesel for this arctic adventure. And I needed it, because the winds were north from the south of Norway all the way until Spitsbergen. Only on the Northsea and the Barentszzee I could sail wonderfull, while my cherished Windpilot steered. A narrow escape when I slept and almost ran into a tanker made me unsure about crossing long distances within Europa single handed. Continue reading →

Alle Jahre wiieder
schickt die forty-two,
Euuch Weihnachtsbiildeer
und auch Grüße dazuuu.

Diese Weihnachten erreichen Euch
die Grüße schon das zweite Mal aus
dem Pazifik, diesmal aus der Südsee,
genauer aus dem Königreich Tonga,
genauer aus dem Archipel Vava’u,
genauer aus dem Ort Neiafu,
genauer aus 18°39,51W 173°58,96W

Das Bild stammt von unserem
“Lieblingsankerplatz” etwa
2 Segelstunden südlich von hier,
wo um diese Jahreszeit außer uns
keiner mehr ist.

Die Weihnachtstage selber verbringen
wir hier in Neiafu, wo wir von Mike
zu einer Party eingeladen sind.

Wir wünschen Euch ruhige und nicht zu
kalte, doch hoffentlich weisse Weihnachten

Liebe Grüße

Mercedes und Carsten Borchardt
https://www.sy-fortytwo.de

STORM, STRESS AND COMPULSON – BUT FIRST A LITTLE BIT MORE SCGOOLING
Returning home from the sea with my tail between my legs, my first obligation was to keep a rather lower profile around the adults in my life. While undoubtedly very happy to see her lost son around the house again, my ever-shrewd mother could not help dishing me up a daily reminder of my career mistake and reiterating, complete with gestures of wisdom, that mothers know best. “I always knew a seaman’s life would not sit well with you!” If I heard that pearl once I heard it a thousand times – and there was nothing I could say in retort as I had given her an open goal by coming home.

Life for a time was thus largely a matter of keeping my head down and going with the flow. Resistance was unhelpful, not to say unreasonable.

So I became the very model of politeness and did my best in every way to fit back into my old school class after 18 months of absence. Sweetness and light it was not. The headmistress of my school, Erna Stahl (who it seemed had a soft spot for me) had instructed that I go straight back in with my old classmates, an idea our class teacher found quite unacceptable. She saw me as a problem, a thorn in her side, a provocation in the purest sense of the word: deeply tanned, unruly hair, a full beard – I was nothing short of an outrage to this elderly lady for whom decorum was everything. The beard disappeared, but the affront behind it remained – and continued to rankle.

Come the end of the year I thought I had done enough to move up with the rest of my class, but now the old lady brought her influence to bear to try and compel me to resit. That, I felt, was quite out of the question and all educational levers were duly exploited.

continue reading here please

An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the world.
So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to Orlando, thinking that he would start by working his way across the USA from South to North. On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read ‘$10,000 per call’.

The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what the Telephone was used for. The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God. The American thanked the priest and went along his way.

Next stop was in Atlanta . There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same looking golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in Orlando and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 he could talk to God. O.K., thank you,’ said the American ..

He then travelled all across America, Europe, England, Japan, Australia. In every church he saw the same looking golden telephone with the same ‘$US10,000 per call’ sign under it.

The American decided to travel to New Zealand to see if New Zealanders had the same phone.

He arrived at Auckland, in New Zealand and again, in the first church he entered, There was the same looking golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read ’40 cents per call..’ The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. ‘Father, I’ve travelled all over the world and I’ve seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I’m told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but in all of them price was $10,000 per call.

Why is it so cheap here?’

The priest smiled and answered, ‘You’re in New Zealand now, son – “This is heaven,” so it’s a local call’.

Merry X-Mas