All good

Sorry about missing updates. Time has just passed so much quicker than expected :) We're enjoying landlife, although still not quite organized yet. However within the next two weeks we'll be moving into a rented flat and leave my mum will get her house back to herself. Jorn is in the proscess of negotiating for a good position in a company which has offices close by, and will hopefully start this week or next week. While applying for a "real" job, Jorn has been working as a temp. teacher, giving school kids a strict regime demanding hard work. Behind his back they call him "the genereal", but judging from all the drawings and presents they bring him, they're quite happy with his teaching-style :) I'm a full time student at the university, but due to the birth in early january, I won't get my exams until next year (2011). This means I'll be home with the baby for a while, without having earned any sort of financial support, so money is going to be tight for still another few years. We've had good training in managing on a budget by now, so it should be possible. My belly has grown to unimaginable propostions. Had no idea I could ever get this big, and still move (which I hardly can anymore :)). Wathcing the alianated big bump with tiny knees and feets moving around just under the skin is quite amusing. Do we miss cruising?? There are days where we miss parts of it; our friends, the freedom, beautiful places etc, but we're still thrilled to be back home. We've found that we actually like routines and find it nice to be in closer range of family and friends at home. Also we have a whole new adventure ahead of us with the baby coming, so we're very excited about the future. xxx E&J

High & dry

"Silene" has been hauled out for the winter. Jorn invited his dad for a weekend with materials and tools, and within a day and a half, they'd built a perfect cradle. A mechanic has prosmised to service Faryman during the winter. Apparently he (the engine) may survive another few years :) I'm now a student again, enjoying it very much.... Jorn is job-hunting and trying to sort out all our belongings which were spread all over the country (and now all over my mum's house). Tummy is getting bigger and baby is moving -a lot :) All perfectly well!

Craving for attention

Silene must have felt a bit left alone the last few weeks and decided to make bit of trouble to get our full attention again. Jorn was just getting everything ready for an after-summer-sail in the area when he discovered that one of the seacocks was badly damaged by corrosion (they were all new 2 years ago). He decided to close it to be on the safe side, but when doing so, the whole thing dissolved and the handle broke off... With a bit of help, a wetsuit and a wooden plug, he managed to seal the hole trough the hull. He keeps telling me he is confident it will hold, but I see him looking out the window all the time -too see if the mast is still upright and sticking up between the trees. So our most urgent project for tomorrow is to find out how and where to haul her out. As we're taking her out anyway, we might as well find a winter storage and work on the engine trough the winter. Seems like the dramas of cruising life is still with us, and believe it or not, it feels kind of nice (knowing it is not all over). Till next time E&J

Update

Life ashore is good. Amazingly, summer is coming to an end, and we've been back a whole month already. It feels like we arrived yesterday. We've spent most of the time having catching up with family and friends. The rest of the time' we've been going trough our old stuff (clothing, furnitures etc) to decide what to keep and what to give away. Also, we're cleaning our my mums storage area -to make room for our own stuff ;) We're slowly adjusting to land life -meaning we're not saving water anymore, we go to bed AFTER 22, we struggle to get up early in the morning, we take showers every day, we eat fresh food, we drive cars for transportation etc. We even have separate e-mail adresses and mobile phone numbers. The weather has all summer been dominated by one big Low coming in after the other. Turns out that rushing home while weather was still calm, was a very good thing for us. Besides, living with mum all summer is less expensive than cruising Europe. We've startet the lenghty process of emptying Silene. A good load of equipment, sails, clothes, books, food etc has been taken out -and she's floating a lot higher now, looking real good (although a bit strange with all the gear on the stern). Jorn has planned to have another look at the engine today, so that we can take her out for a coastal sail next week. We're excited to feel the difference in performance sailing with several hundred kilos less load onboard. Job hunting is still slow as most companies still runs on holiday scedule. We had a routing ultrasound sceduled yesterday and were very excited to see the baby and maybe know wether it's a boy or a girl ;) To our dissapointment, hospital called up a few hours before our appointment and cancelled. Cause; sick midwife... Hopefully we'll get one next week. Wish you all a good weekend :)

Home, sweet home

Saturday, 4. of July "Silene" sailed in the entrance to Lilleand harbour. Weather was fantastic, warm, sunny and with a nice breeze. We were met at the dock with happy greetings and homemade bread & strawberry jam. In the evenening, we enjoyed a good old-fashion BBQ with friends. The last few months have been going so fast... We raced trough the Med and even managed to put in a two week repair- stop in Mallorca. With extensive use of weather forecasts (faxes and e-mails), we sailed from Port Said in Egypt to Lagos in Portugal withouth getting any nasty westerlies (although we had to motorsail trough a few light ones). Our stops were nice. Except for morning sickness (baby due early January) and extensive engine- and hydraulic oil leaks, we had no problems. From Lagos to Dover, England, Jorn sailed non-stop with his brother as crew while I had a 10-days break from the sick-bucket in the comfort of landbased life at home. The boys had a nice trip and sailed/motorsailed along the Portugese coast and across the Bay of Biscay in light conditions and north-going current (according to the books, very unusual). Unfortunately, our spinnaker is now in two pieces, but the boys are claiming it was an accident and had nothing to do with sailing with too much canvas..... Our original plan was to sail to Irland and go trough the canals in Scotland, but with pelvic pain (due to pregnancy), going double handed trough the locks didn't seem like the best idea. We therefore decided to go trough the canal to Kiel and sail the east coast of Denmark. However, when I got back to Jorn and "Silene" in Dover, the forecast was excellent for a calm passage across the north sea, and we decided to go all the way to Lillesand in Norway. We did have a real good trip, a nice ending of our journey. Making the route back hom shorter proved to be a good decision, as Farrymann (our engine) now seems to have given up completely. The last few hours motoring, we spent more oil than diesel. We're not complaining though, as he's from -72 and has been doing a fantastic job helping Silene bring us safely aroud the world. "Silene" is in good shape, and does not look like she's just come home from a 31 000 mile voyage.... We'll haul-out to get some work done down below -and keep her for vacation- sailing along the Norwegian coast. As soon as we're a bit more organized, we'll sell off some of our cruising equipment, but for now we're busy looking for jobs, house etc. We'll keep on writing a blog to let you know how we're coping with "normality" again. But for now, we'll like to thank you all for keeping us company in our fantastic adventure. Till next time....

Ismailia< New photos published

We had an exceptional sail from Hurghada to Suez last week. Took a few days to organize the first canal transit to Ismailia, where we're still waiting for good winds in the Med. Hopefully we'll be able to go soon. New photos published on our website today.

Red Sea cruising

From Aden in yemen, we sailed trough the trait of Bab el Mandeb and north along the Eritrean coast in very strong winds from the SE. It was a fast ride, and we decided to keep going while the wind was in our favour. Our first stop was beautiful Khor Nawarat in Sudan. Since that, we’ve spent a lot of time wating for the weather, but the waiting paid off, and we had easy and comfortable hops up to Suakin (which was an amazing stop) and further on to Marsa Hamsiat. In Hamsiat, we were anchored in the middle of the desert, in very strong winds for 10-11 days before we were able to move on north. Crossing Foul Bay was (thankfully) an uneventful ”sail” in very light southerlies, flat seas and nice northgoing current. At this point we bacame a bit too anxious to keep going north and pushed on a bit too hard –to keep going to Hurghada in stead of stopping in Port Ghalib (as paperwork to check-in would take days –and we were scared of getting stuFrom Aden in yemen, we sailed trough the trait of Bab el Mandeb and north along the Eritrean coast in very strong winds from the SE. It was a fast ride, and we decided to keep going while the wind was in our favour. Our first stop was beautiful Khor Nawarat in Sudan. Since that, we’ve spent a lot of time wating for the weather, but the waiting paid off, and we had easy and comfortable hops up to Suakin (which was an amazing stop) and further on to Marsa Hamsiat. In Hamsiat, we were anchored in the middle of the desert, in very strong winds for 10-11 days before we were able to move on north. Crossing Foul Bay was (thankfully) an uneventful ”sail” in very light southerlies, flat seas and nice northgoing current. At this point we bacame a bit too anxious to keep going north and pushed on a bit too hard –to keep going to Hurghada in stead of stopping in Port Ghalib (as paperwork to check-in would take days –and we were scared of getting stuck there for another 10 days). Weather got rough and we paid off our pushing with a drowned engine (were litterly submerged for hours and water came in tough the ventilation for the fuel tank), broken engine mounting (now replaced with loading straps supporting the engine) and a crushed dodger (from a wave). We managed to get the engine working again after a few hours and diverted to Port Ghalib for rest and damage control. Paperwork did go a lot smoother than we’d feared and after 2 days, we were ready to go –and weather was good. We were rewarded with an easy passage in light southerlies to Hurghada were we are now in a marina for a few days. It is a treat to be able to walk on a dock, have fresh water, be able to buy fresh fruit and veggies etc. Love it. We’ll keep going –to Suez, when a weather window opens up again. Whether this can be done in one leg, or has to be done in shorter hops, will be a result of weather. ck there for another 10 days). Weather got rough and we paid off our pushing with a drowned engine (were litterly submerged for hours and water came in tough the ventilation for the fuel tank), broken engine mounting (now replaced with loading straps supporting the engine) and a crushed dodger (from a wave). We managed to get the engine working again after a few hours and diverted to Port Ghalib for rest and damage control. Paperwork did go a lot smoother than we’d feared and after 2 days, we were ready to go –and weather was good. We were rewarded with an easy passage in light southerlies to Hurghada were we are now in a marina for a few days. It is a treat to be able to walk on a dock, have fresh water, be able to buy fresh fruit and veggies etc. Love it. We’ll keep going –to Suez, when a weather window opens up again. Whether this can be done in one leg, or has to be done in shorter hops, will be a result of weather.