With wife #1 and wife #2
on our first sailing week-end this year.


To Slevik! (13-14 May 2000)

This is a screenshot of my navigation program. I was exited to see the GPS without Selective Availability. It was accurate, but not as much as I expected. But I think it comes from my rounding routines. Hum, I'll have to work on it.

Note that the program with digital charts makes life so much easier. I can even find out the time of high water at Dover, at my position, or at my destination (last waypoint). But who cares in these waters without tidal differences?

Still, it's a comfort to be able to say to Britt (wife #1) that we will be in the harbour in 2 hours, 34 minutes and 15 seconds. It makes me look like a great navigator. :-)

Mogador (wife #2) instrument panel. The GPS, echo sounder, radar, VHF, and to the right, the Mac PowerBook running my navigation software.

Now, I still need a vertical speed indicator and turn coordinator, but ... who cares at 4 to 5 knots! :-)

Note that the radar is seldom used. But it really nice to have when one meets drifting fog patches, in a traffic separation lane, ... in the middle of the night, with the engine not working, and a snow storm, ... and a broken leg.

Just kidding.

Marie is the name of my wind vane. Good old lady. We have been together in many hard conditions. But when things get though, best to leave Mogador and Marie to do the dirty work. She kindly ask me to stay inside and she takes over. It's a joy to see her working.

It works this way: The wind presses the vane on one, or the other side. A mechanical link make a balanced pendulum blade to swing one way or the other. At the end of the pendulum arm, a rope is attached. This one leads through some blocks to the tiller. As a result, the actual correction given to the tiller is not coming from the wind, but from the pressure on the pendulum. More wind, more speed, more pressure and more correction. It works beautifully in any kind of weather ... as long as there is some wind.

Wife #1, also known as the galley slave, and in some rare occasions as the Admiral. Together with Marie, they make my life at sea a pleasure.

Note that at that moment, we were about to eat lunch. Marie is steering. Nice, but with time one should not forget to look out because the situation can change rapidly as ferries sails in and out of the fjord at a speed exceeding 20 knots.

So, we crossed the fjord with a nice South Westerly force 2 to 3. Marie keeps us on a steady course to Slevik, on the other side of the fjord.
This is Slevik. If you think it is easy navigation, try this one with a near gale wind, at night! A real adrenalin booster!

The sector lights work very well. Stay in the white sector and you're safe. And you need good nerves.

But if you make it safely, then a nice mooring waits for you. The local sailors have build a nice pontoon and, once the anchor rests on the mud and clay bottom, any gale can come.
The island is really beautiful. Here is a view toward the south and high sea. Although many people visit this place every year, they keep it clean and you won't find any rubbish.
The return on Sunday started with morning fog and ... chilly. It was motoring until half way in the fjord. Then the sea breeze came and the sun warmed the otherwise cold air.
Even if there is no wind, don't believe I can be bothered to steer. While it may looks like I do so, the arrow will point at James the Third, our auto-pilot.
Then came some wind, and we came to a nice reach, which ended with a broad reach once inside the archipelago.