The seafaring adventure begins...

30^th June 2005 ~ Leanne and Tony Ray

Tony arrived in Greifswald on the North Eastern German coast to collect the yacht a Hanse 371 from the boat builders yard on the 6^th May 2005. It was in the water waiting for him. There were also the 25 cartons of equipment clothing and household effects required to convert a standard production boat into a liveaboard cruiser. After two weeks in Greifswald, busy carrying out the modifcations and sea trials, Ian Grieves a friend from Lymington, UK arrived to help Tony deliver the boat to Kiel about 150 miles to the West. There he fitted the German made “windpilot” vane self-steering gear. Ian then returned home.

Tony was then joined by Kevin Oliver and Kevin's daughter Sara. Kevin and Tony are old friends having sailed around the world over 30 years ago on “Ben Gunn” a Herreschoff 28. Together they sailed to Denmark and Sweden via the Danish island of Fyn and up as far as Marstrand on the Swedish West coast, returning to Copenhagen at the end of June to meet Leanne, Sophie and Olivia who had flown in from New Zealand via Singapore. We had decided to keep the girls in School for as long as possible. Kevin and Sara flew off to the US via Paris and London.

Tony's comments on their yacht “Hullabaloo”:

Although I had been aboard a Hanse 371 in Auckland, I had not actually sailed on one. The opportunity I had was on a completely windless morning at Gulf Harbour. The yacht has a reputation for being quite quick and this has proved to be the case. At seven tonnes it is reasonably substantial. The hull is designed by Judel Vrolijk, the same people who designed Alinghi. The yacht was moulded in Poland and trucked to Germany to be finished. It has a spacious interior and although it is a production boat it is laid out in a sensible fashion and will be quite workable in the ocean. At this stage it seems big enough for the four of us, but then we have been used to much smaller yachts. There are three seperate cabins, two aft used by the girls, and a forward one used by Leanne and me. We have a conventional u-shaped dinette with large table that can be used for charts, and a full length settee opposite. The galley is the normal L shape and opposite that is the heads which is roomy and has a hot water shower. There is a second hot water shower in the cockpit. Leanne had not seen a Hanse 371 at all before Copenhagen, but she seems happy with it. She will comment on it herself.

Denmark and Sweden with Kevin and Sara.

It was great to be back sailing with the Olivers again. Having done over 40,000 miles with Kevin meant that I didn't have to worry about anything. The weather initially was fairly ordinary. Cold, windy and wet, but picked up from about the middle of June. We worked our way up the Western side of the island of Fyn and crossed to Sweden via Anholt to Varborg. The navigation, expecially in Sweden, is quite precise. It's all rocks and plenty of it! With good charts and some care we managed not to hit anything. The Swedes told us that they owned more boats (per head of population) than anyone else and we believe them. The harbours intend to be incredibly crowded, everyone rafts up, sometimes five or six deep. Only rarely do yachts anchor out, particularly in Denmark or Germany. Only very occasionally do you see a boat with a dinghy. Last stop was Copenhagen in Denmark, a delightful city, with friendly, helpful people.

Leanne, Sophie and Olivia's arrival.

First stop for Leanne and the girls was “Legoland”. We took the train from Copenhagen across to the “Mainland”. All the main islands are linked either by bridges or tunnels. There is also a major bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo in Sweden. After they had had a look around Copenhagen for a few days we headed South through the lower Danish islands, back to Kiel and Germany, then on to Cuxhaven on the North Sea coast via the Kiel canal. While the tidal range in the Baltic sea is negligible, the opposite is the case on the North Sea coast. Here you must time all your passages according to the tides, which at the entrance to the Cuxhaven marina run at about 3 knots. There is nothing quite like approaching a 25 metre wide walled marina entrance at about 10 knots, going significantly sideways and judging the right moment to make the left hand turn. After Cuxhaven we plan to sail outside the Frisian Islands and into the Dutch canal system via the large inland sea called the Ijsselmeer. The overall plan is to be across the Bay of Biscay, if possible by the end of August and then look for a place in Spain to stop for the winter.

Leanne's comments on Copenhagen, Denmark.

We flew into Copenhagen after 23 hours flying. Olivia managed to time a vomiting bug for the first of the two flights, clutching a sick bag as we walked the concourse in Singapore at 02:00 hrs, it assured us a quick passage through the crowds. I have always associated Copenhagen with fairytales. I imagined this would be reflected in the City. It is of course. Hans Christian Andersen is the most famous of Danes, and was voted as such over stiff competition. It was a magical place to start our trip. We wandered the streets with the girls, injecting as much culture into them as they could absorb. The streets were all cobbled and teaming with performers and musicians. We loved the Danes. Naturally we visited the statue of the Little Mermaid, the Palace and Nord. The temperature soared to 28 degrees centigrade and we would hit the beach back at the marina by mid afternoon. Although we never indulged, the ultimate “Danish ice-cream beside the beach”, it was a five scoop wonder with jam/cream and marshmellow on top.

Being a keen cyclist I was impressed by the fact that everyone seemed to ride bikes. They were attached to all sorts of trolleys and canopied trailers for dogs, children etc. Their bikes were very different to my road bike. The more “naff” the cooler they were. Black, square handle bars, basket adorned with roses, and bell was the superlative choice of the Danes. I wanted one on sight! I could quite happily live in Copenhagen if they stretched out summer a teensy bit more.

Danes are attracted to the New Zealanders, they recognise the flag and the yacht's registration, we always had people coming aboard for a chat. Many had visited NZ. One had even bought his sails in Kerikeri from a guy named Simon Willis. Did we know him?