Night sailing
Reidar had been sick since Gullholmen, and three nights on the boat in Gothenburg hadn't done much to make him better. The weather was miserable, and there was nothing better coming any time soon. He made the tough decision to sail back to Kristiansand as quickly as we could rather than sailing back the way we came. We had packed optimistically (some would say naively, others stupidl) and so I bought us these matching hats at the only place that was open, a Swedish souvenir and sweets shop. There are a lot of candy stores in Sweden. There is also a lot of ice cream being consumed. I am not sure how they all stay so svelte. Anyway, we had hoped not to need winter hats in July.
Reidar has spent many nights sailing on the open sea, but this was my first time. I was mixed doses of scared and excited, but after 2 weeks of storms and unpredictable weather and waves I felt like I was up for it. I like to say I am a Bruce Springsteen song, specifically "Tougher than the rest."
You have to sail out of Gothenburg on a river. According to the weather forecast, we should have been able to set sail right outside the marina. But, guess what? The forecast was wrong. Again. The current was strong, the waves were bad, the wind was in the wrong direction, there was a lot of ferry traffic and we burned 30% of our battery power just getting out of Gothenburg. It took us more than twice as long as expected. That is not a great start for a 24-hour-plus trip and I was already checking out booking a berth in Skagen.
Once we were out of Gothenburg, we got the best wind of the trip and set both sails. We flew over to Skagen, saw some dolphins and the most magnificent rainbow. Unfortunately, Reidar was fixing lanterns at the time so there is no picture of me steering the boat with a double rainbow behind me. With sailing, you have to capture the best moments in your mind because they happen so quickly and you are usually too busy to involve a camera.
We approached Skagen at about 7 pm and rain was forecasted for most of the night. I really thought we should stop for the night (envisioning a restaurant meal), but I am not the captain and this is not my call. It was not possible to pre-book and we could see from the webcams that the harbor was chock-a-block. Reidar decided to keep sailing. We were now about a third of the way back home. The wind was so strong that Reidar reefed the sails. Rain. Wind. Waves. Me on the verge of tears hoping that nothing whips him off deck while I am steering. Yes, I pray.
It got calm enough skirting Denmark for us to have cheese and crackers for dinner followed by berries for dessert. We changed into the warmest clothes we had for the night. For Reidar, this also involved wrapping a down comforter around his legs and feet. From now on, his regatta suit will be on board even though it is July. As we came around Denmark, the wind picked up again and the waves were also rougher than expected. I was hoping to be able to relieve Reidar for some of the time so that he could sleep, but it was very tricky steering for me and every time I took the wheel we lost a few knots of speed. Also, I am even worse at driving a boat than driving a car so Reidar can't really sleep with me steering any way.
The sun began to set at around 9:45. It was spectacular to be out in the sea with no land in sight and just the setting sun. The remnants of the sunset lasted until about 1 am, and then it became really dark. The water blends into the night sky and you start seeing all kinds of things coming toward you. Giant centipedes (a ferry), whales of course (waves), huge rocks (waves again) and then actual fishing boats. I learned a lot about lanterns. I had decided to stay up through the night with Reidar in solidarity, but actually I was quite useful in spotting other boats. Still, we started counting down until sun-up. I stayed awake until 6 am but then felt myself dropping off. Reidar got a second wind and said I could go down into the cabin and sleep. I slept until 7, asked him how he was. "Fine." If it was raining. "Yes." If he needed me. "No, go ahead and sleep. There is no need for us both to be miserable." Agreed. I slept until 8 when he shouted, "Clare, I think you're going to have to relieve me."
He had fallen asleep at the wheel and keeled over. Also, he needed to use the bathroom.
I steered for all of 15 minutes while Reidar stretched out a bit and concluded that it would take a lot longer with me steering than with him, so he had an iced coffee and took the wheel again. I went back to being DJ and solidarity.
I was kind of still waiting for the wind to disappear, which at this point would have been a crisis. We were lucky. We had wind to sail on until we had Kristiansand in sight. Kristiansand greets us with the two lighthouses of Oksøy and Grønningen. We could see them for three hours before we passed through. That is three hours on the remaining battery power, watching it go down gradually, saving the motor to be able to maneuver into dock. It is excruciating and no Tesla owner even has a clue. We had never tested the batteries below 20% and we didn't want to do that today either. We cruised into port at exactly 20% at 2 pm, a good 5 hours ahead of my projection and 2 hours off Reidar's. If there is one thing that this trip confirmed, it is Reidar's optimism especially in regard to time. It is undying. Entertaining. No longer surprising.
So, our four week adventure turned into two weeks. We are back at home in Grimstad with two weeks of vacation left. I have mastered some new knots and I have definitely improved a few skills. I think I have packed in enough learning on this vacation to space out for the rest of it, and that is my newest plan.
Reidar was delirious on the way in and was talking about burning the boat.
I am actually already hoping for a few nice days to motor out to nearby islands with friends.
I think the captain will come around.
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