Goosewinging and porpoises
Moondog
Brian Whitefoot
Sat 29 May 2010 08:52
Great day 2 of the adventure. We left our place on the roundabout pontoon ( traffic circle for our American friends) after a leisurely breakfast and more boatie talk with neighbours, and set off for Gedser in Denmark....another 30 mile run, (54:34.90N, 011:55.00E). Good news....clear blue skies and hot, bad news...no wind. However, we are still relishing the novelty of sun and warmth in Germany, so this was seen as a good day overall.
We motored for the first half of the trip, and took the opportunity to play with all the new toys and get used to them. At times we may as well have been Maverick and Goose....( I wish..), as we tracked ships on AIS, set our alarm limit to half a mile , were amused to see that one container ship was projected to get within 100 feet in 25 minutes, painted radar targets for tracking and overlaid our radar onto the chart so that we could actually interpret it. While we played Moondog proceeded merrily on her autopilot, and our final electronic achievement of the day was to work out how to make the stereo ( an ordinary car stereo) play on the outside speakers....Neil Young blasting as we passed a windfarm !
After all this electronics nonsense we then played with the rig as the wind picked up a bit, and we got some real sailing in, goosewinging the genoa on the very nifty telescopic pole fixed to the mast, and checking that my home made gybe preventer was the right length and could be rigged easily.....and it was fine. Then Paul turned suddenly, believing me to have fallen overboard, only to discover that we had porpoises playing around the boat....the splash was one of the little devils doing that tail flipper thing. Much excitement as we watched them at the bow getting a free ride on our little bow wave.
A while later, while sitting in the cockpit ( you can only watch a porpoise for so long), I saw that our log speed instrument recorded a breathtaking 20kts for a moment, and then quickly dropped. This happened a couple of times, and I can only assume that our little friend gave a hard flick of his tail as he brushed past the hull near the impeller ( a little paddle wheel that rotates in the water to record speed )....something I have never experienced before.
We then had a safe arrival into Gedser marina, which is a delightful little old harbour, and Moondog only just fits between the old wooden mooring posts, but I suspect they bend enough . Once moored we then went through the pleasant routine of conducting guided tours for our new neighbours, who were interested in the boat.....There then followed an abortive attempt to declare ourselves to Customs, by going to the nearby ferry terminal for the German ferry, to be greeted with ' we have no customs here'....Columbian Cartels take note. Not quite sure how I declare Moondog's prescence to a country without Customs offices, but I am sure they will find me !
All in all , an excellent day, and looking forward to forecast F3 to 4 for the weekend, with sunshine ( maybe the Danes don't ration sunshine to the same extent as the Germans!).
We motored for the first half of the trip, and took the opportunity to play with all the new toys and get used to them. At times we may as well have been Maverick and Goose....( I wish..), as we tracked ships on AIS, set our alarm limit to half a mile , were amused to see that one container ship was projected to get within 100 feet in 25 minutes, painted radar targets for tracking and overlaid our radar onto the chart so that we could actually interpret it. While we played Moondog proceeded merrily on her autopilot, and our final electronic achievement of the day was to work out how to make the stereo ( an ordinary car stereo) play on the outside speakers....Neil Young blasting as we passed a windfarm !
After all this electronics nonsense we then played with the rig as the wind picked up a bit, and we got some real sailing in, goosewinging the genoa on the very nifty telescopic pole fixed to the mast, and checking that my home made gybe preventer was the right length and could be rigged easily.....and it was fine. Then Paul turned suddenly, believing me to have fallen overboard, only to discover that we had porpoises playing around the boat....the splash was one of the little devils doing that tail flipper thing. Much excitement as we watched them at the bow getting a free ride on our little bow wave.
A while later, while sitting in the cockpit ( you can only watch a porpoise for so long), I saw that our log speed instrument recorded a breathtaking 20kts for a moment, and then quickly dropped. This happened a couple of times, and I can only assume that our little friend gave a hard flick of his tail as he brushed past the hull near the impeller ( a little paddle wheel that rotates in the water to record speed )....something I have never experienced before.
We then had a safe arrival into Gedser marina, which is a delightful little old harbour, and Moondog only just fits between the old wooden mooring posts, but I suspect they bend enough . Once moored we then went through the pleasant routine of conducting guided tours for our new neighbours, who were interested in the boat.....There then followed an abortive attempt to declare ourselves to Customs, by going to the nearby ferry terminal for the German ferry, to be greeted with ' we have no customs here'....Columbian Cartels take note. Not quite sure how I declare Moondog's prescence to a country without Customs offices, but I am sure they will find me !
All in all , an excellent day, and looking forward to forecast F3 to 4 for the weekend, with sunshine ( maybe the Danes don't ration sunshine to the same extent as the Germans!).
