The decision to
go
It took several years to make the decision to go. There are to of us. Eva and Bjørn. We had many good talks over dinner and red wine. We had many summers of sailinf vaccations and some more common hollidays to exotic places. We walked many miles in the mountains. We paid most of what we owned to the bank. We saw the kids leaving their childhood home and grow up, so that we dear leave them. All of this were preparations. Suddenly we felt the time was running out because of the age. Particulally when Bjørn reaced 60 two years ago. Then we made the decision. We like to believe we are mature people. We like to make mature decisions. But to be honest, we are not really sure that we know what we are about to do. We plan and make our preparations as good as we can. Then we hope that the unknowns will fall out to the positive side. We quoted Astri Lindgren: "Some times in life one has to do something even if it is frightening, otherwise one will not be a human beeing, just a little shit. Astri Lindgren obviously had a more altruistic basis for the quote. Ours is of course a more egocentric one, but let it be.
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Where do we go?
Ous choice is very ordinary. And that makes us feel safer. First via Kattegat and the Kiel-canal. Down to Gibraltar and into the Meditterranian. Maybe to the Eastern Med. Out of the Strait of Gibraltar in September, setting course for The Canaries. In Las Plamas we will prepare for the ARC, starting 23.November. We expect to reach StLucia mid December. Then cruising the Caribbean four months before we go to Bermuda and the Azores and Bayona. The summer we plan to spend along the inner shores of Bay of Biscay, and maybe on the canals in the Netherlands. We plan to return to our home harbour in the middle of August 2009.
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The boat and the
equipment
The boat was built in 2006. We bought it new. It is a Sun Odyssey 45. We now feel that we know the boat. It had the necessary equipment for Norwegian and Swedish coastal waters. We had to recognize that ther was a way to go to make it into a ocean going cruising boat. Both regarding work and money spent (or "invested" has a better sound...). Besides we have experienced that outfitting a boat cost you a great deal more when you are 50-60 than when you were 30. Why? Because the demand for comfort and maybe also security has grown with age. Bjørn does most of the installations himself. In addition to the economic side, it makes him more acquainted with the boat.
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