During the last days we have crisscrossed the sea of Skagerrak. We got all the way down to Mandal before we discovered a leak and decided that it was best to turn around.
We got help with fixing it at the Swedish shipyard who built the boat, so we went back to Munkeby at the Swedish coast. Nothing wrong with all this, but it did take a while…
For one year we have prepared for gales and rough waves over the North sea. We have been dreaming about traveling through Scotland via the Caledonian canal. But guess where we are heading now? Towards the danish islands Læsø, Anholt and Fyn. Germany, Holland and Belgium. Den Engelske Kanal with all it’s terrifying ship traffic, extremely strong currents and scary tide differences.
Skagen
We were docked in Skagen, on the tip of Denmark when we were realising that we were more than 2 weeks late on our plan.
With a little sadness we were considering the option of swapping the Caledonian canal with the Kiel canal. We had been looking forward to experiencing the Scottish pubs, the traditional irish flutes, picturesque english villages, pint and kidney pie, and family visits. Courageous adventurers in the path of the vikings…
But to sail down the Irish sea now seemed very uncertain. Would we just have to hurry down to be able to cross the Bay of Biscay before the first half of September?
Indecisive
Is it at all a good idea to just make an about turn and go for a route that we don’t have any knowledge about what so ever? What alternatives are best. Which direction would be the safest right now? What can the crew handle and where does the wind blow?
“We can’t just listen to our gut feeling…” – We should make decisions that are well thought through, says the captain. We must consider pros and cons of solid arguments. But none of us has ever done this before so we are desperately browsing the most accountable guidebooks to find the correct answer, the pros and cons. We search in arbitrary forums, we google and find 10 year old articles… the answer is not to be found! One of us is doubting. We disagree. Then we agrees, this will be good!!! No, someone is doubting our decision yet again. The world is so big. And dangerous! One is changing his mind; what if the first alternative was the best anyway? Then another on changes her mind when the first one is getting reconciled with the last decision… and now the wind has turned.
But we are on our way. Out in the world. Motoring…
