Caroline's replacement

Update from Sven:

Yes, Caroline was temporarily replaced 😊 by my nephew Fabian.

Fabian joined a week after Caroline left Agios Nikolaos (Crete / Greece).

The week after Caroline’s departure, while waiting for Fabian, I used the time to make some more modifications to the boat (adding additional storage capacity). Yes, it is still possible to make improvements and there is no better time when Caroline is not on board (no complaints about the dust and stuff lying around 😊).

Unfortunately, due to bad weather, Fabian and I could not set sail straight away. We used the time / days for some hikes and attempted to visit the Psychro cave (the cave mentioned in our previous blog). However, the cave was covered with snow and was not accessible anymore😊.

Yeah, after waiting for 2 days, we got a good weather window and sailed to an island called Dia (north of Heraklion, capital of Crete). The trip was Fabian's first sailing experience and didn’t go so well at first 😆 (thank goodness for medication).

As planned, we stayed 2 nights on the south bay of the island.

After 2 quiet nights on anchor, we sailed / motored to Chania. We stayed on the old harbour wall (with water and electricity supply). Chania is a nice old harbour with an old harbour town. We finally found a real Japanese restaurant.

After waiting for 4 days for a good weather window, we were finally able to leave. We left Chania at midday. This meant that we would only arrive at our next anchorage at midnight. We couldn’t leave earlier because the swell / waves were too big in the morning and made it unsafe to exit the harbour. Luckily we knew from online reviews and satellite pictures that the anchorage / bay at Kythira island is big, without rocks and has a sandy sea bed. Unfortunately, the weather forced us yet again, to stay in the bay of Kapsali for 5 days. Due to strong winds (up to 40 knots), we were unable to leave the boat for 2 days, but we did feel safe at all times. We were able to do some hikes on the other 3 days.

We left Kythira at 3 am in the morning and headed to Methoni. We anchored in front of the castle for 2 nights. This town already gets a mention in 700 BC.

It was a short trip (44 NM / 7 hours) from Methoni to a tiny island called Strofades. This island was in the middle of nowhere but the perfect point to set off at 2 am the next morning. Check out the video below.

We arrived in Rocella Ionica, Italy after 36 hours / 227 NM (yes, a long journey). We checked into a Marina knowing well, that a big storm would hit the coast during the night.

The storm did hit 120km north /east from us and sadly a refugee boat hit a rock close to shore (they left Izmir / Turkey several days before). They will never know how many people were on board, but authorities did recover 60 bodies to date (including children and babies) and found 80 survivors. Incidents like this truly makes you reflect on how desperate these people must be, how blessed we are and not to take anything for granted!

The day after the tragedy, it was time for Fabian to say goodbye, I dropped him off at the airport where he boarded his flight back to Germany.

It was great to have Fabian on board. I really admired his courage to join me and had a good time with him (not sure about Fabian 🌝). He replaced Caroline well as a crew member, but couldn’t replace Caroline below deck. NO, NO what are you thinking? He just couldn’t cook as well (just kidding).

Many thanks to Fabian for all his help, the videos and pictures.

Even though we didn't manage to reach Malta as planned (because of the bad weather conditions), we were able to bring us and the boat safely to the south of Italy.

After Fabian’s departure I was forced to stay another 6 days in Rocella Ionica, I used the time for a hike and gave the boat a big clean inside out

Even our teddy mascot was not spared and got a spin in the washing machine.

My first single handed sail was from Rocella Ionica to Galati (nearly the most southern place on mainland Italy) and then the following day 65 NM (10hours) crossing over to Sicily, where I anchored in front of the nice city of Siracusa. I could see Mount Etna the entire day.

After 3 nights on anchor in Siracusa, I sailed a short 30 NM trip to Portopalo.

Lucky me😊.... whilst resetting my anchor for the night, I caught some ropes and nets...

I crossed the Malta channel the next morning, There were lots of boats in the channel (see plotter picture below). After 56 NM (10 hours) I finally arrived in Valletta / Malta

During the last 4 sailing trips, I was forced to sail without wind sensor instruments.

This meant no information on true wind speed, apparent wind speed, true wind direction, apparent wind direction and apparent wind angle. But apparently (so I was told by a 69 year young Scandinavian sailor), this information is not needed by a good sailor!

Luckily, my hang-gliding and paragliding experience helped me a little bit to assess the wind conditions. I still remember when I was flying backwards once due to the wind being too strong 😊.

Caroline will be back on board soon. Yes, I miss her (sorry Fabian 😊)

Meanwhile, here in Malta, I have to deal with some boat issues (repairs, warranty issues, maintenance and organising spare parts), In addition to this I now also need to deal with the insurance from another boat owner, as he has hit our boat in the marina (no major but still some damage).

Below a picture taken from the hop on and off bus. Wishing all the sailors fair winds.

Meanwhile from Switzerland, Dubai and Australia. A few lines from Caroline:

Grateful for Facetime to stay in contact with Sven and to be able to follow him on his AIS.

I flew from Greece to Switzerland to spend a few days with family and friends.

This was followed by a couple of days in Dubai to visit my sister, where we enjoyed a pedicure, walk along the beach and eating in some good restaurants. So nice to leave the cold behind and to enjoy a warm sisterly welcome.

Most of my time was spent in Australia. I needed to do some personal things but the main reason was really to spend quality time with my two favourite sons.

I struggled to sleep for the first 2 weeks (not just because of the jetlag). but I missed being rocked to sleep and not hearing waves..

Instead I was woken up by old/new noises... hissing Possums and chatter from Rosella Parrots (which is nice).

We celebrated my younger sons birthday and also my own. It was really good to catch up with family and friends, It felt like it was only yesterday that I saw you all.

Sending you all my LOVE ❤️ and looking forward to re-join Sven on our boat soon.