Getting a taste of ocean sailing
A couple of months ago, our friends Andy and Mia from 59 North sailing had a bunk open on their boat on their passage from Marstrand to Orkney.
Very few times in my life have I felt so strongly that an opportunity shall not be missed. Ryan and I delayed our departure so I could join Andy and Mia in Marstrand, and get some offshore sailing experience before our own sailing adventure.
Two months later, I'm in Marstrand, ready to set sail. For the anecdote, right behind Isbjörn, Andy and Mia's boat, was Mary av Rövharhamn, a sailboat well known to me. Back in 2015, when we first started thinking about sailing, I watched "Familjer på äventyr", a swedish TV program that showed the lives of Swedish families who chose to live an adventourous life. One of those families were the Hammarbergs, who sailed around the World on Mary, the white boat in the picture.
I even got to meet them, as they invited Andy, Mia and the crew for tea. Meeting some of the people who inspired me to go sail 4 weeks to our own departure felt really special! Not to mention, they are extremely nice people.
Yesterday, we officially started our sail from Marstrand to Orkney, and the passage was a real shakedown.
The conditions we sailed in were the roughest I had experienced over the course of my very short 2 years sailing career. I am the least experienced sailor onboard, and if no one was shocked by the waves, I felt grateful to be surrounded by such an experienced crew, under outstanding leadership. Had I have to go through this for the first time aboard Polar Seal, I would have felt really nervous.
But the cheery presence of Andy, Mia and the rest of the crew made me feel safe and took a lot of the nervousness away. I even had a lot of fun steering in the 5-foot waves. Isbjörn truly is an ocean sailboat and rides those waves beautifully. The hull of Polar Seal is a lot flatter, which makes her bang against the water upon crashing into the waves. Lot less pleasant.
On our passage from Marstrand to Orkney, there is no such thing as a weather window. The forecast doesn't look very good, but watching and listening to Andy analyzing it and adjusting the decisions is a great learning experience. As of now, we don’t really know when and where we are going to end-up, which adds to the excitement!
I write this from the cabin of Isbjörn, in Skagen, Denmark, where we are currently spending the day at port waiting some weather out. The wind is gusting up to 46 knots (that I’ve seen), and Isbjörn is heeling in her slip as the halyard bangs against the mast.
I am learning A LOT. I’ve already learned tons about the weather, how to read a weather forecast and how to factor weather forecast in decision making.
I have also learned way more than I wish I had about… seasickness. Yesterday, as we left the harbor, I was in such a state of excitement that I did not think about making my gear accessible. After an hour at sea, I started feeling queasy and it was already too late to go down all the way to the V-berth to dig in my locker and my fetch my foul weather jacket, my bags of lemon- ginger tea, my hot pads, my big gloves and my hat.
I spent the rest of the crossing to Denmark miserable. I wish I would die, I missed Ryan a lot, and I was grateful we were going to spend the night in port. For some weird reasons, my mind kept forcing me into thinking about the grossest things that exist. Rotten fish, the smell of old engine oil, pickled herrings, moldy cheese (I hate cheese) ect… It was like... my mind wanted me to just empty my stomach. Interesting phenomenon.
As soon as we hit port, nausea wore off, but I was tired, cold and shaky. We ate a late dinner and I slept for 10 hours straight, waking up at 10.30 this morning feeling much better.
Tomorrow we head out again, and it looks like we will be beating the whole day.
“Beating” for the non-sailors, means that the head will be blowing in our faces. The also means the boat will be heeling (leaning on her side). Heeling typically makes me a little nervous on Polar Seal. Isbjörn is an ocean sailboat, that heels far more than Polar Seal. Beating also means that my bunk will turn into a trampoline, as the wind blowing in our nose makes the boat go up and down, and I sleep right at the bow of the boat. That being said, I might trade my bunk in the V-berth for one of the couches by the mast :)
I am extremely happy to be here and to experience ocean sailing with Andy and Mia. Andy and Mia are an awesome combination of professionalism and friendliness. It truly is wonderful to learn from Andy’s decision-making process and listen to their stories. It’s only been three days, and I’ve already tried to jump in the water in a dry suit (pictures coming), learnt a LOT of about weather, improved my steering, learned more about safety gear…. I'm having the time of my life.
Tonight, I’ll take some sea sickness medicine and make my gear accessible for tomorrow’s sail. I will also make sure to eat enough food and drink enough water for my blood sugar to be happy with me throughout the night and morning.
If sea-sickness and heeling make me nervous, I am excited as ever, and enjoying every moment of this adventure! The best part? It's just the beginning!!!