Wind, wind, wind(?)

Can't barely remember were we left off last time I wrote. Hopefully You have a better memory of this... or hopefully you don't. Depends on how one sees it I guess.

Jonathan have joined the boat. Amazing! Finally the full crew are on board the Colon and we are living it to its' fullest! Maybe a bit to much...?

It all started great! We had a good sail to Guernsey, a small channel island. Tax free they said. We sat down with a couple of locals, and they did agree. However they also said that the rates on absolutely everything on the other hand have increased. So pretty much the same. Just less taxes to the queen (as it is to some extend Brittish territory?). Oh, well. Diesel was "cheap" at least. According to the same olderly man in the bar. This is just a way to keep Sailors to come by and spend their money. Fair enough. We did. We finished the beers and decided to set sail the next day.

... Once again. Setting sail on the Colon is more like starting the engine and let it go for hours and hours...

Halfway through the motoring from Guernsey to Roscoff we got a sudden surprise!

I've been very optimistic about the boat, the sturdiness and how it just easily flows through the water (well - don't they all fly when the engine is running?). I was taking a smaller, if not even petite, power nap in the midst of the boat. Straight on the floor. Quite rolly seas, but not more than the boat could handle. I was looking out, backwards to the arch behind the boat.

"Aren't the arch moving quite a lot side ways?"

Didn't really pay it more attention. Must be a mirage or just the waves making it look like that.

"Jonte, I don't think that looks quite alright..."

"What do you mean?"

"Here, come, take a look!"

What probably struck Jonte in the same way as it struck me just a moment earlier were the fact that the arch did NOT look alright at all. (I would even assume that you reader are looking at the picture somewhat like: "Okay - I have no idea what I am looking at. But sure. That is not alright at all!" - And this is all you need to know right now. Will fill you in later!) It was no mirage. It was not the waves. It was not just the motion of the boat getting some extra movement to the arch or anything like it. For some reason, the welding had just "popped" off. More or less it seem, now with the facts, the calmer seas etc. at hand that the welding have been quite loosely done and not perhaps in the best kind of way (Can't really blame us though, we didn't do it - We just bought the boat as is!).

So in rough waves, tough conditions and with Jonathan for the first time really getting the hands on the steering wheel, I, Ludvig, climbed up into the spraying waves and high seas. No really sure what could really be done. What can be done really? 6 hours back to Guernsey, where we know no really good shops to fix this were to be found. Or traveling further to Roscoff and hope for the best?

"Colon, Colon, Colon this is the sailing vessel Marzimino"

"Ludvig, Nils is calling on the VHF"

"Just let it be..."

"Colon, Colon, Colon this is the sailing vessel Marzimino"

"Ludvig, Nils is calling on the VHF again"

"Can't really do anything about it right now"

"Colon, Colon, Colon this is the sailing vessel Marzimino"

"Ludvig, should I just reply to him?"

"Yeah, well that is a great idea actually"

Jonathan did a great job stearing the boat, against the waves, with the waves, towards the horizons and sometimes away from it. All after the instructions from a yelling Captain trying to maintain is cool on the aft deck. No only did he steer the boat, but at the same time handling getting me some tools and what ever was needed from downstairs. As well as talking to Nils on the VHF. Jonathan are from this day called "the Octopus" (Not really - But it should be!) Great teamwork led to the first temporary "Macgyver" solution. Most likely it was never needed. But it felt like we really got it to work in the end. The boat still floats. Most of the equipment still there. All good. Let's move on!

We ended the "sail", night time in Roscoff. All had worked out fine (well... fine and fine... You get my point!). Soaked by the ocean, the rain and perhaps the mood a little. We got a great night sleep until the next day showed up and we started boat work. And much was done. In a short while. Extreme boat makeover!

De-mounted the one side of the arch, including the solar panels and wind generator, got the entire Sprayhood and the cockpit tent looked after and also got some sightseeing and grocery shopping done. After there, it quite stagnated with the proceedings. Now what? What should we do now? We were scratching our heads and beards trying to just get a smaller insight in the way forward. No welder to be found according to all ship yards around (which was weird to hear i would say... anyways... could have been a "lost in translation"-case here...). And all of a sudden, The Swedish sailors on "Joyride" entered the harbor. Saviours if not to say the least. Double set of welders appeared from nowhere. They had a look. Fixed it to a new setup and we are now pretty much "up and running" again. We have some further fixes to do. But as with so much else, "We'll do it in Portugal later on!".

So here we are. Back on track and ready for the Bay of Biscay. Or ready to wait for the winds. But I really do not want to push anything here. But it looks like we actually will get a good 72 hours of sailing in on Tuesday, just going more or less directly for Spain. Spain for me is just Sun, good weather, great adventures, lots of "no issues at all" and cheap wine. Let's see if the true case is really so.

I would also have liked to link here to the other boats blogs, for those who are interested in what kind of people we meet. But Nils (on the boat Marzemino) are only writing in German and the people of Joyride i haven't asked for this. So you just have to continue reading this if you want to know more about them. No reason trying to get you readers to other blogs. You just like this one anyways. I know! Thank you!

Either way, where were I?

Spain!

Soon there (Crossing fingers!)!

If now the new rig is setup correct and the winds appear. Still some days to go. A lot can happen! I would have liked to post more pictures. We have a bunch actually. For once. However, the internet are as usual. Quite crap... So please check:

https://www.instagram.com/sailing_colon/

and you have the latest in terms of pictures!

Stay tuned for some serious recap from the first week, directly from Jonathan. How is it really to join a ship out of the blue, and just head straight in to the weather goods of the English channel? Well... You'll soon find out! Very inspirational if you ask me - And i haven't even read it yet!

Over and out!

//Ludvig