Hello again sailors, landlubbers, and the rest,

Day 17 is here and PG and Marianne unfortunately left us this morning :( . No, they didn’t fall overboard, but they did board a bus which should bring them a stretch closer to their home in Tønsberg. We’re excited for them to come back in a couple of weeks.

As some of you may remember we went on a dustbunny hunt a week ago. I thought I had been thorough in my search, but apparently not, because I found a few more that survived the first round. They seem to have duplicated with impressive efficiency in the past week, so I brought out the vacuum again. Petter will probably be happy when he comes on board in a couple hours. Hopefully Katarina (who’s coming with Petter), hasn’t gotten too used to her new glasses so she’ll also be satisfied. “Of course I’ve also washed the bathroom...” (showered it thoroughly with the shower head).

I’m excited to have Katarina and Petter on board for the journey ahead. Maybe I can have the sheets changed now too.

The sun is shining, shorts and short sleeves in well over 20 degrees in Brønnøysund. We’re staying put today; picking up some groceries, washing the boat, planning next week’s route, clean and work a bit (the latter word is admittedly stiff on the tongue).

Believe it or not, I actually cleaned some clothes earlier (and I did it solo!). Several kilos with woollen clothes hang from the side of the boat to dry. Please don’t tell Katarina, I would prefer if she remained oblivious to my hidden talent. If she were to comment that I smell nice and clean then I can just say my body odor is similar to washing powder when I’m on the sea. I’m also playing with the idea of investing in wool underwear in size extra small just so I can show it to her and say “look what happened when I tried to wash my underwear” (maybe i’m taking it a bit too far). A young boy from Halden with a solid upbringing should stick to the truth (at least most of the time).

By the way, they have a great candy store here (candy = sailing and fishing equipment). I picked up some hooks etc that I’ll probably be needing later on the trip (or not). They even had a curiously large fishhook, large enough for me to ask what it was for. The woman informed me with a smile (and these are not my own words), “we sell those to Swedes who want to fish larger cods.” (check out the picture). Needless to say more.

Last night Frode Nordfjellmark stopped by which was great company. He lives here in the North and watches the ryktet til Brønnøysund registeret. He’s also a rather talented fisher and hunter so there were of course a few hunting stories.

Petter and Katarina have finally arrived; groceries in place, sheets changed (yay!), og now we’re bringing out the crabs, shrimp and cheese out on the cockpit. The sun is persistent, calling for a humble glass of champagne. That’s my cue to leave the blog today.