#Whatever

I have been following the Golden Globe Race (GGR). The fact that they are competing with boats that almost anyone could afford, at least if they were not rebuilt, makes it more interesting than following the racing machines of for example VOR. Using traditional navigation systems the competitors of the GGR are easy to identify with. I could be there with my boat, it is big and steady enough. Gradually it can be fixed and strengthened to cope with prevailing conditions. I have thought about wind vane steering, but it seems hard to find one fitting a Laurin koster.

Instead I have been using an electric autopilot, it comes handy when you are sailing alone and have to leave the rudder for a short while when you are hoisting the sails for example. But of course you cannot use it for a longer time unless the engine is running or you have other sufficient charging equipment. And when the weather gets rougher it is useless.

In the GGR some of the boats have already had to quit due to damaged equipment such as wind vane or mast. The finnish participant, Tapio Lehtinen, have problems with charging his batteries, he cannot use his electric devices as he would like to. As I´m writing this he is still struggling with his charging in the back of the fleet.

And now, the next day, I’m sitting in the train to Oulu. In Bennäs I will leap out and hopefully catch the bus to Jakobstad, Frejas current location.

I hope she will be were I left her. My friend Peter is supposed to join me later today, and tomorrow we’ll go for a sailing trip, the last one this season. On friday Freja will be dismasted, saturday we’ll spend at the Wooden Boat Festival in the Old Port of Jakobstad and on sunday the boat will be placed in a shed.1080124248779146/?ti=icl