Cantare in the local newspaper HD

This morning we could dream ourselves back to the sailing adventure with an article in the local newspaper HD, "Har vi seglat med den här till Västindien?"

You fing the article here: http://hd.se/angelholm/2010/07/31/langseglare-tillfalligt-i-hamn

Enjoy! /First Mate Sofia

Equipment for sale

Some of the things that we bought especially for this trip is now on sale. If you’re interested send me an email, mariaingerup@hotmail.com, and I will tell you more about the them.

* Satellite phone Motorola 9555 with external antenna
* DuoGen-2 (water/wind generator) with service kit
* Watermaker Pur PowerSurviver 40E (5 liters/5 amps/hour)
* Zodiac 4 persons liferaft, coastal (found it floating outside England, no serial number)

* Navionics charts on SD-card
1 x Caribbean + Bermuda
1 x Europe + Cape Verde, Canaries, Azores

Pilot books
* Shell Channel guide
* Cuba
* Cruising Almanac 2009-2010 tidetables 2010

* Cruisers guide to fishing

* Paper charts northeast Cuba reaches to Varadero

Real life

Why they call the land life real life I have yet to figure out. After almost a week in Sweden I still miss my life on Cantare. The first night in an ordinary bed was difficult, I couldn’t fall asleep, there were no water sounds, no movements and the air was dry and filled with pollen, which I’m allergic to. After one restless night I gave up and returned to Cantare, together with Sandra, Emelie and Alan (from Starfire) I sailed to our favourite harbour in Denmark, Hornbaeck. When the barbeque was loaded and the food was getting ready we could see the first lightning, the clouds were dark and threatening so we hurried back to Cantare. All of us were tired, when we’d finished the wine we went to bed. What a pleasure to fall asleep in Cantare’s fore cabin to the sound of raindrops on deck. When I woke up the next morning the others were barely stirring and it was already 11 am. Alan said it was his best night since he came to Sweden, I agreed. Although I tried to pretend that we were still on our big adventure I knew that we had to return to Sweden again. Back home real life according to my dad started two days ago, the alarm went off at 6 am and marked the beginning of my first work day. 8 hours in my dad’s workshop, welding, drilling and sawing, my feet hurt a lot when I was free to take a shower in the afternoon, I’m not used to standing up that much. The worst part though, everyone that came to visit laughed when they saw me and told me it was time to pay the price. Another thing that has fully hit me is how organized life is ashore, people plan ahead, not only for the coming week but months from now and they want responses to whether I’ll attend a party or not. The usual phrase, we’ll see how the weather is and if the wind is with us isn’t a good answer, they don’t seem to understand the concept of living for the moment. How I long for my real life, life on Cantare, freedom and adventure, when will I be able to get it back?

There is no place like home, or is there?

A last update in Swedish about our homecoming is now to be found on the insurance company Europeiska's webpage, you find it here: http://www.europeiska.se/sv/blogg/?p=2102
Enjoy and have a really nice weekend! /First Mate Sofia

Thank You!

Thank you so very much for the beautiful welcome we got in Höganäs when we arrived home! It was a wonderful day which we will remember forever. More updates and pictures will follow when we get the time and have woken up to the reality again... Until then, thanks for a wonderful year!/First Mate Sofia & Captain Maria

The 10th of July

Shit, less than three days until we are coming home, crazy! As I think I have said a thousand of times, sailing and planning don't equal, but we will try to arrive in Höganäs harbor on time the 10th of July. However, to have a bit of margin we have set the time to sometime between 15.00 and 16.00 local time! I repeat, some time between 15.00 and 16.00 local time we will arrive in Höganäs! If you would like to come down to the harbor and wave when we are arrving please be there at 15.00! Thereafter Maria and I are looking forward to loads of hugs and kisses and a party in true sailor's style. Maria has just refilled our rum storage on Helgoland and throughout the afternoon and evening Carribean rum drinks will be served! We are hoping on glorious summer weather but the yacht club is booked in case of rain. Towards the evening we are planning to eat something together and to those of you who have the opportunity to stay the whole night and party with us (which we hope are all of you :)), please bring your own picnic food (and if you want something else than rum to drink, bring that as well)!

Looking forward to seeing you again!!!

Love/First Mate Sofia & Captain Maria

Polishing Cantare and Ourselves

Maria and I are now preparing ourselves and Cantare to be ready to come home on Saturday. Among other things, stainless steel polishing is on the meny, Cantare is going to shine in the sun! Until we meet on Saturday there is an update in Swedish about our last adventures on the insurance company Europeiska's blog, you find it here:

http://www.europeiska.se/sv/blogg

For those of you who missed the article in NST/HD yesterday, a new chance is given here:

http://hd.se/angelholm/2010/07/07/cantare-tjejerna-tillbaka-efter-ar

Back to work! Over and Out!! /First Mate Sofia

Now, bring me that horizon

After a few days with the lovely company of our Norwegean friends Lina 4 and Cintra, we were going in different directions after Aerösköping. It had been days with sun-drenched sailing, world cup games watched in harbour pubs and late dinners in Lina 4 with the never-ending supplies of sparkling wine that Arne kept popping. Lina 4 invited us out for dinner in picturesque Aerösköping on our last night together, with amazing food and an ending just as nice as the previous days had been. I have discovered that one of the upsides of sailing is that people of all ages and backgrounds meet.
The day after, we left for Köpenhamn, roads end for us on Cantare. As always, we bought lots of food for the last days onboard, including freshly smoked butterfish, shrimps and mussels in the harbour. The last leg was amazing. Sunshine over a calm sea, the quietness only disturbed by the many dolphins around us. Unfortunately, we immediately ran out of gas, so the treats we had bought were left uncooked. But, with a captain aware of the importance of sweets and snacks to keep her crew happy, we managed. I had a last swim from the boat just before arrival (we didn’t count on showers before going out in Köpenhamn, so it was also strategic), but the others didn’t believe me when I told them how warm the water was. We have had amazing weeks of summer onboard, and we are both eager to sail some more. Maria and I are already planning the next sailing trip, possibly with our own families by then. Who knows, long distance sailing just seems like something me and Erik haven’t seen the last of.
Köpenhamn greeted us good. Mooring in beautiful Nyhavn, we celebrated an amazing trip with snacks and beers before leaving Cantare for some city life. It was jazz festival in town, and an endless supply of restaurants and bars for sailors to enjoy. So, here our adventure comes to an end, and we will see Cantare in Höganäs on Saturday. And, of course, keep planning for some more sailing.

Love, Sailor Sandy

Bye bye Copenhagen

Time to leave Copenhagen, too bad, it is a very nice city! Have had some great days here together with good friends I haven't seen for a long while. Thanks Eva and Jonas for hosting me while staying here! Cantare arrived yesterday and tomorrow Maria and I are off for some very last adventures before coming home on Saturday. The countdown has started! Until we see each other on Saturday, enjoy some of the last pictures you find here: http://picasaweb.google.com/SailingCantare/NorthSeaNorwayDenmarkALotOfFun

Nighty Night! /First Mate Sofia

Norway - Thank You!

-Norway, thank you! Thank you for giving me so many wonderful friends and fun experiences during this year. The Sailing Cantare adventure would not have been the same without you! The Norwegian fairytale started already in Dover almost a year ago when we met the three Norwegian yachts, Johanna, Time Out and Escape. And as you all know that was just the beginning of what would be a year full of new friendships and fantastic memories. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to sail with first Odin and then Safari to arrive in Norway and finally experience little of our beautiful neighbor country. For me Norway used to be skiing in Hemsedal where you bring your own food in order to afford the after ski, I didn’t know much else. Norway is indeed very expensive, kind of frustrating for a close to ruined sailor whose current is SEK, however I have now experienced a country with a lot more than expensive beers and good skiing.

I arrived in Oslo last Monday and have then met friends from Johanna, Time Out, Fortia and Skamlös. The guys on Johanna looked sort of the same, a little less tanned though, but it was still so strange seeing them in a non sailing environment and instead meeting them in their daily life. They told me to really enjoy the last week of the adventure, after a couple of weeks at home you will be back in the normal routine-like life with a lot of must do things... I took their advice to my heart and had some wonderful days in Oslo. Sort of living the true Sex and the City life with shopping (budget shopping though, no designer shopping as in the series), nice dinners and partying. Geir from s/y Johanna is running a restaurant called Lille Herbern on Bygdøy in Oslo. Terrific food in fantastic atmosphere! Lille Herbern is situated on a little islet outside Bygdøy with a nice view of the Oslofjord. They have a little boat transporting the guest to the restaurant from Bygdöy to Lille Herbern, very cosy! So if you happen to be in Oslo, the sun is shining and you are looking for a place to dine, take the ferry from Aker Brygge to Bygdøy! Have had a great time in Oslo, thanks Geir and Co for hosting me!

I love the life of contrasts so after some days of city life I put on some working clothes and ended up harvesting hay at my aunts farm. My mother’s oldest sister, Agneta, is not only my aunt and godmother also one of Cantare’s sponsors! She is pure girl power running a huge farm on her own! Since she is living next to the Norwegian boarder I just couldn’t pass her and her family on my way to Copenhagen without a short visit. Therefore yesterday was spent hay harvesting and barbequing on the countryside. It was a true flying visit, little too short but seeing her, my cousin Tina and other relatives was amazing!

Now I am on my way to Copenhagen visiting some good friends before finally meeting Maria and Cantare again! Looks like Cantare will arrive in Copenhagen on Monday. Really looking forward to seeing my Skipper again, we have a lot of gossiping to do…:-)

Have a nice weekend!

Love First Mate Sofia

Turning around

The Kielkanal (Nordostseekanal) is behind us, we are in Holtenau now. Together with Lina 4 we've had a couple of lovely days. Arne (the skipper on Lina 4) and I are seriously considering going the other way. We play music from the Caribbean and dream about warmer water, do we really want to return to cold Scandinavia? I'm not so sure. There is not much more than a week left of this adventure. Sandra and I have already started to plan a new trip, how about Cape Horn or maybe an Arctic circuit, the plans are big as always. Here in Holtenau we have met a Norwegian couple who have been on a circumnavigation for seven years, inspiration is close by. The others are watching football while I use the free WIFI. I think we have another perfect evening ahead of us, and it's a very warm one so I guess that if we drink enough beers Arne and I can pretend that we are back in the Caribbean. See you on the 10th or maybe not...

New pictures can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/SailingCantare/EnglishChannelNorthSeaAndKielcanal#

/ The Captain

If I was his girlfriend.

I was supposed to publish this yesterday, but WIFI in Germany seems to be very hard to get. Some places do have it but then they don't know the password or don't understand English well enough to understand what I need. Today we have motored on the canal and are now in Rendsburg, moored next to Norwegian Lina 4, we have invited them for tapas and champagne in Cantare tonight.

Helgoland is a German tax free island and inevitably attracts a big tourist crowd. Most of them seem to be retired couples who stroll around on the few streets looking for bargains in the many shops. The village isn't very beautiful, it looks soulless and boring, yet it felt good to be ashore again. Since the trip from Brighton to Helgoland took four days we decided to stay in harbour a whole day. Yesterday we spend a lazy morning in bed before we took the small ferry to the neighbouring island which is a nature reserve. There we could swim with "seehunden", the seals where playing and sunbathing all over the island's beaches. They were even inside the for human reserved swimming area, maybe they couldn't read signs. We had a lovely afternoon on the beach, read, slept and walked a bit. Sandra and Erik actually took a short swim, but I only dipped my toes because it was freezing, how I miss the warm Caribbean water. When we returned to the main island we went shopping, the fore cabin is now full of bottles, some of them for the homecoming party.

We had dinner in the cockpit when our closest neighbour on the outside of us wanted to leave. He had two other yachts on his outside which now were to moor on us. A rope was sent over from the German yacht, when we weren't quick enough to attach it he yelled at us from a distance of 5 meters. We looked at each other and frowned, no need to shout. When it was time for the move I went on deck to help the German yacht tie up alongside Cantare. When the bow and stern ropes were secured I asked him to move a fender to the middle where our yachts were close. He then said to me:

"If you were my girlfriend you would be in big trouble, wearing no shoes, that's unacceptable. Your vacation could end quickly."

Like I would be his girlfriend, he was older than my dad, even had his grandson with him. He didn't say hello or thanked me for helping out with the ropes, all he did was criticising me for not wearing shoes on my own yacht while I was having dinner in the harbour. I don't wear shoes while sailing either but that's non of his business, I prefer to feel the deck under my feet. I told him I wasn't on vacation, that I'd been away for a year and that on my yacht we didn't wear shoes. He shook his head and muttered about crazy Vikings. Then I said that we would be leaving at 8 am next morning, he said in a grumpy voice that it was very early and went down to check his tidetables. Returned and agreed that it was a good time to leave for Brunsbüttel. Again, if I wanted his opinion I would have asked. I guess it's time to get used to the know-it-all-vacation-sailing men, who think they ought to teach the little girl a thing or two about sailing. Or should I start wearing a T-shirt with the text: I've sailed more than 10 000 nm, shut up!

Today we have motored to Brunsbüttel on river Elbe. The timing was perfect, thanks to another much nicer German neighbour we had the tide with us during the entire trip, sometimes we did more than 8 knots. Now we have passed the lock that leads into the Nordostseekanal and are moored for the night. Time for a beer ashore before it's dinner in the cockpit. / The Captain