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

13.12.11 via SAILMAIL von SV Tuvalu, Dufour 40

Lieber Peter
Morgen sind wir in der Mitte des Atlantik. Und meine, unsere Bewunderung fuer Deinen Windpilot waechst immer noch tagelich. Seit ein paar Tagen steuert er uns souveraen uebr 4 Meter hohe Wellen. Bei normaler Fahrt von so um die 7 Knoten beschleunigt TUVALU dann ab und zu auf dem Wellenkamm, und kommt mit Spitzen bis zu 11 Knoten ins Gleiten. Unten vibrierts und schlingerts dann etwas, aber der WINPILOT meistert alles ohnen Probleme und ohne zu klagen. Definitiv die wichtigste Anschaffung die wir fuer die grosser Fahrt gemacht haben. Gratuliere!!!!

Mit lieben Gruessen
Hans

here is the link to SV Tuvalu

Dear Peter
Here are the photos of my Windpilot Pacific purchased in 1997
It has just returned from a 29,000ml trip including the Southern Ocean and functioned perfectly.There is a bit of wear in the Delrin joints and worm gear and the central stainless rod has developed a quite picturesque bend at its lower end.
Thank you for an excellent product.
Sincerely
Philip Latham

Living part time in Puerto Andratx since the nineties, there was no way to come around to meet Mary Synge and Paul Kinzelmann who settled in her old Finca “Es Roses” in ANDRATX de Mallorca. I often met them on my way to the open see where I had to pass the mooring of SV TULA.

Born in Bavaria in southern Germany, Paul Kinzelmann started sailing dinghies in the local lakes when he was 10 years old. In 1968, the 25 year old businessman, sailed his motorless 32ft Fähnrich sailing yacht “TEJA”, with various crew, from Travemünde in N. Germany, via South America to New York.

Thereafter, he spent a year on “S.Y. ISABELL”, a 90ft Fife, which was chartering in the Caribbean and then a year on the 62ft racing yacht, “SORCERY”, in the USA.

Back in Europe he took all his yachting licence exams, did deliveries for several yachts from Holland to the Mediterranean and worked as an advertising photographer.

In 1977 he started “Yacht Service Mallorca” in Palma de Mallorca and became known as the “Service Man” for Jongert yachts.
In addition to these professional activities, he had another dream – building his own ideal cruising yacht.

After years of drawing plans and building the hull, his self-designed and self-built dream yacht, a 42ft sloop named “TULA”, was launched in 1982.

It was also at this time that he met Mary Synge. For the 28 year old town planner, born in Scotland, sailing was not new. She crewed Fireball dinghies in the Thames Estuary and had spent the summer of 1979 sailing together on her twin sister’s boat, “CORALETTA”, a 1916 built gaff yawl, in the Ionian Islands.
In addition to the two young ladies, was the crew, “Polly”, an African Grey parrot.

Together, Paul and Mary worked on fitting-out “TULA” and the maiden voyage in summer 1985 was from Mallorca to Turkey and back.

In June 1989, they started their long voyage around the world, which took them as far away as New Zealand and Tasmania, and ended in June 1995 with their return to Mallorca.
Since then they have been living in their old finca, “Es Roses”, close to Andratx.
They also sell sails in Spain and worldwide for the Australian sailmaker “Rolly Tasker”. More info : www.VelasRollyTasker.es

After such a life, it was not possible to live without a boat and just on the land, and so the couple spend a few months each summer on “TULA” sailing around the Balearic Islands.

And that is how “Tula´s handy charts”.came to be.