The end of Part 1

Moondog
Brian Whitefoot
Sat 3 Jul 2010 17:35
We said goodbye to Nic and Chris, and hello to Ali's friend Amy on the 30 June in Hanko, and would set off for Holmestrand ( 55:35.7N, 012:40.9E ) on Thurday.
 
However, we were happy to stay in Hanko for Wednesday, and Ali and Amy found a spa hotel with pool, which seemed to be appreciated. They also discovered that the ' football academy' we had seen knocking a ball around on a pitch at the hotel was in fact the Norwegian football squad on a training week. This probably explains why I did not see the girls for hours in the afternoon....
 
Thursday was yet another hot sunny day, but unfortunately there was virtually no wind, so mainly motoring the 25 miles or so  up the fjord to Moss and then across towards Holmestrand. Amy and Ali sunbathed most of the way ; all very chilled. We were able to sail for the last hour as the wind picked up, with Amy on the helm, as we rendezvoused with our friends Knut and Greta , in their sports boat. Then it was follow the leader into a snug berth in the marina, marred only by sticky tar on the mooring posts, which has got onto the mooring lines and in turn gets everywhere. We will clean off the decks when we leave and ditch the ropes...makes you think that the marina store does this on purpose to boost rope sales !
 
Amy and Ali then went out with Knut and Greta in their motor boat and promptly caught 4 large mackrel  which were grilled for supper....fantastic !
 
Friday brought some good breeze, so we took Knut and Greta for a sail out into the fjord, and were getting over 7 knots in a good F4 with enough chop to give some spray over the decks. Amy at the helm most of the time and beginning to get a real feel for the wind.....a great short sail, and then back to the marina to put Moondog 'to bed' for a week, before I return with friends Berwyn and Chris for 'Part2', being the sail to Kristiansand and then over to Inverness.
 
Moondog has done almost 600 miles over the last 6 weeks and has turned out to be  a very comfortable boat, with a perhaps surprisingly good sailing performance, in view of its deck saloon design and fairly small rig. We have certainly been grateful for its modest size when exploring the Swedish West Coast archipelago, but also glad of its seakeeping in rougher seas off Denmark and Southern Sweden....and she continues to attract admirers here in Holmestrand, as has been the case everywhere we have visited...so far so good !
 
The pics illustrate the present crew's diligent approach to sailing !

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