sy Timoneer

Monday September 13th

Position 56′ 44″N 16′ 55″ E

Course: 198′ T Speed: 11 Kts Days run: 198 miles (29 hours)

Wind: Direction 240’T Speed 25 Kts

Weather: Partly cloudy

News:

Timoneer is underway again after a very enjoyable trip to Sweden with guests aboard. The weather was cool and slightly overcast for most of our trip but we didn’t get much rain. The wind cooperated and we even had a nice Spinnaker run over to Finland where the guests visited the sailing ship Pommern. The guests departed Stockholm by plane on Saturday and Timoneer depart Sunday morning taking about 5 hours to weave our way through the Archipelago and into the open Baltic sea at Sandhamn. Our initial heading was 200’T which was straight up wind and had to motor straight into the waves. The breeze started out at 25 knots, dropped a bit at sunset and then came on full blast at night with sustained 30 knots and gusts to 35 kts. As the swell built we watched our boat speed drop from 9 knots at the beginning to 5.4 knots.

John

Monday August 8th,

Docked Saltsjobaden, Sweden

Position: 59′ 17″ N 18′ 19″ E

News:

Timoneer arrived in Saltsjobaden at 09:45 this morning after winding our way through the Skargard Archipelago for the last 3-1/2 hours. The area reminds me of a cross between the Thousand Islands in the Great Lakes and Maine. Some of the channels were fairly narrow coming in with picturesque scenery, lots of trees and summer homes. Everyone on board is well and glad to be at the conclusion of our 4,600 mile journey from the States.

John

Sunday August 8th

Noon position 55′ 46″N 16′ 03″E

Course 059’T Speed: 11.8 Kts Days Run: 286 miles (Noon – Noon)

Weather: Sunny and Clear Wind:12Kts 50’T

News:

Timoneer motored throughout the evening as the breeze continued from straight ahead no matter which direction we turned. The most notable part of this trip has been the unbelievable amount of ship traffic. Copenhagen was organized chaos, with pilot boats running in all directions and ships navigating the channel lined by giant windmills lit with red airplane lights. Sunday was another perfect day with light and variable breeze which has given the boys a chance to do a lot of cleaning and polishing. Given the current weather we expect to arrive in Saltsjobaden on Monday morning.

John

Saturday August 7th

Timoneer departed Skagen Denmark at 09:20 this morning in light winds for our 530 mile trip to Saltsjobaden, Sweden. We had a very productive couple of days and were very appreciative of everyone at Danish Yacht who helped us carry out the winch warranty work and other minor repairs.

John

Thursday August 4th

Noon position: 57′ 42″ N 10′ 35″ E

Anchored outside Skagen Harbor, Denmark

Weather: Sunny (finally) Wind: 158’T 10-12 Kts

News:

Timoneer arrived at Skagen Denmark this morning at 07:15. The remaining 185 miles of the trip were calm with only slight headwinds and fog throughout the evening. The technicians from Anderson winch were aboard by 09:00 to do the warranty work on the Port MPS winch. The girls went ashore to do a reconnoiter on the shopping and pick up some fresh bread and produce. Depending on how long the winch repairs take we would like to depart tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning for Sweden.

John

Wednesday August 4th

Noon position: 58′ 14″ N 4′ 46″ E

Course 107’T Speed: 10 Knots Days Run: 273 Miles (Noon – Noon)

Weather: Grey and overcast Wind: 200 7-9 Kts

News:

Timoneer passed through the Fair Isle Channel yesterday afternoon and entered the North Sea. Expecting rough seas and more South Easterlies we were pleasantly surprised to find it relatively calm with the breeze continuing to lighten as we motored in the fog. One nice thing about being this far North is that the ship traffic is at a minimum and you don’t have to contend with too many oil platforms. We crossed the prime meridian at 22:12 last night and the majority of the oil rigs on our course between 03:00 and 04:00, they lit up the fog with light looms similar to those of small cities. In the calm weather this morning the boys were working on deck until the rain started. Since then have been taking turns sewing the repairs on the head of the Staysail. We added two new longer spectra straps in addition to resewing the three whose stitching failed. Its a lot like hand sewing spectra webbing to 1/2 plywood and takes a lot more effort than you would think. At noon today we have 185 miles until we reach Skagen, Denmark.

John

Tuesday August 3rd

Noon position 59′ 32N 03′ 19W

Course 106’T Speed: 9.7 Kts Days Run: 209 miles (Noon – Noon)

Weather: Overcast Wind:24Kts 140’T

News:

Timoneer is currently 38 miles NNW of the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland. We have been beating into a heavy swell and waves towards our course through the Fair Isle channel. Always the optimist the more we get in the lee of the islands the smoother the sea gets, at least that is what I’m telling everyone. The speed has averaged a lack luster 8.7 kts for the last 24 hours so we are not setting any speed records at the moment. A few of the crew a bit green faced but generally in good spirits.

John

Monday August 2nd

Noon position: 60′ 42″ N 8′ 09″ W

Course 115’T Speed: 10 Knots Days Run: 243 Miles (Noon – Noon)

Weather: Grey and overcast Wind: 145 24 Kts

News:

Timoneer motor sailed for the evening as the weather improved moderately. The breeze couldn’t decide on strength or direction as it oscillated between 110′ T and 170′ and peaked at 28kts, dropping at times to18kts. The navigation in the old days must have been tough up here as we really haven’t seen the sun or the stars in the last 5 days. In fact it seems to be one rain shower after another with the occasional fog bank thrown in for good measure. Looks like we will have more of the same as the weather forecast for the next two days is breeze from the South East at 20 plus knots.

John

Sunday August 1st

Noon position: 62′ 17″W 16′ 04″ W

Course 112’T Speed: 9.5 Knots Days Run: 250Miles (Noon – Noon)

Weather: Grey and overcast Wind: 155 30 Kts

News:

The first day out of Iceland has been pretty rough, Timoneer departed Saturday as the Icelandic weather service said the weather was improving although still near gale force. The swell prior to our departure was recorded as 6.1 meters, predicted to decrease to 4.0 by the time we would reach the SW corner of Iceland to turn East on our course past Scotland and on to Denmark. We were pleasantly surprised as the wind diminished throughout the afternoon. Fortunately the ocean swells were really far apart, we weren’t so much pounding as going up one side and down the other. The only problem was that the wind was almost right on the nose so we had to motor sail with the staysail and reefed main. About 18:00 in the afternoon Saturday we had unrolled the staysail fully in 20kts and heard a loud bang as the webbing parted from the head of the sail. Looks like the sun has just gotten to the stitching and this hadn’t happen earlier because a lot of the time we have a few raps around the foil which take a lot of load off the head. It is something we can easily fix aboard with a lot of hand stitching. By 08:00 Sunday the wind was up to 40kts coming out of 155T and we were motor sailing with an apparent wind angle of about 35 degrees. The ride isn’t particularly comfortable but we are still making 9-10 kts across the ground with a bit of current helping us out. Everyone is well.

John

Saturday July 31st

Timoneer departed Reykjavík Harbor, Iceland Saturday July 31st at 08:55 for the 1054 mile journey to Skagen Denmark. A low pressure system 300 miles South West of Iceland has finally started moving off to the North West. The winds are starting to lighten and we have decided to make a break for it as we have already been delayed by a day and a half.

Best regards,

John