From +30°C to -30°C

After 20 days of R&R at home upon my return from Las Palmas I will now cool off in Swedish Lapland. The quicksilver hit -30°C yesterday when i landed at Kiruna Airport. My dear ex Norwegian colleagues took really good care of me. (I must admit that I miss my great colleagues and my airline work at 10.000 meter above ground.)

During three weeks I will now stay at Ofelas farm in Poultsa as a farmhand/handymen. Guests from around the world visit the farm for a few hours or a full week. Main activities in the winter include horse back riding on Icelandic horses or snowmobile safaris, both with good chances to meet moose and reindeer in the forest. At night you can sometimes enjoy Northern Lights.

I help out as a transfer guide, many guests are staying at the worldfamous "Icehotel" in Jukkasjarvi. At the farm I fix broken fences and try to start diesel engines - both a challenge at -30°C! At a more pleasant temperature I clean the stable and prepare meals for our guests. At Ofelas it is possible to gain insight in Sami culture and traditions.

Pixel @ ARC 2017

Pixel and her crew under command of cpt Micke (Mikael Lindell) is doing well on her 4th day at sea. Her position in cruising cat. C is number one and she is just now 10th among all boats (including multihull).

All four More 55 are now on their way to St. Lucia. Two of Pixel's sister ships are doing well: "More Amore" is 3rd in cat. C and "Athene" is 7th in cat. C. Due to various technical problems the last boat in the family, "Solid White", was not able to leave Las Palmas until early this morning. Her position now is 15th in cat. C and 183rd among all boats. Let's hope that she will catch up with her sisters!

For more information and details about these and other participants in ARC 2017 please visit: www.worldcruising.com.

Atlantic crossings

It is now time for me to say goodbye to Pixel. On November 19 she will cross the Atlantic in a westerly direction to St. Lucia as a participant of the ARC 2017 race. ARC is an abbreviation of "Atlantic Rally for Cruisers". Her new crew will arrive Nov 11 but Micke, our captain, will continue to sail. Approximately 260 sailing boats of various sizes will participate in the rally out which 19 are sailing with Swedish crew. I wish Pixel favourable winds and a winning  position.

I will today leave Las Palmas and cross a corner of the Atlantic in a northeastern direction in order to reach my home near Stockholm, Sweden. But instead of sailing I will fly Norwegian. I am looking forward to meet former colleagues on duty on my flight home. I have been flying LPA-ARN many times in the past. Our crew hotel during the last couple of years was St. Catalina, a classic ☆☆☆☆☆ hotel. Yesterday I took a walk to the hotel together with Annika. I had then had a  chance to show her the beautiful garden behind the hotel - a favourite spot for taking  wedding photos.

Viva Las Palmas!

After 100 hours at sea - and 704 nm - after leaving Gibraltar, we have now arrived at our final destination, Las Palmas. Favourable winds from the right direction gave us good speed but bad sleep due to big waves hitting us from the side. But we have all arrived in good spirit and shape. Upon arriving in the harbour area we played the song "Sol, Vind och Vatten" by Swedish composer/musician Ted Gerdestad at full volume...

After custom and immigration formalities have been cleared we are now moored at our assigned position in the marina. Biggest head ace now is to choose between fish or meat for our big city dinner tonight.

Wave talk

03 Nov - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

Today I have noticed that the lenght of the waves on the Atlantic are different compared to the waves on Mediterranen water. The latter being more choppy due to a shorter wave length. The reason for this phenomenon, according to my wise crew mates, is the fact that the Atlantic covers a greater area and includes a larger water mass than the Mediterranean. The waves of the Atlantic are built up over longer distances while creating long, rolling waves. The result: a more comfortable voyage in our type of vessel - which is actually a sailing yacht.

Look at the Atlantic water wall behind Ebba in it's up and down position. (Both photos were taken at almost the same angle.)

World's best high sea adventure

Nov 7 - Las Palmas on line blog

The Mediterranean & Atlantic Sailing part of my blog is dedicated to my great fellow crew  mates onboard Pixel: Annika, Eva, Ebba, Jim, Stefan, Tore and our excellent captain Micke. Thank you for taking this kayaker under your sail and making this trip the world's greatest high sea adventure for him!

A special thank you goes to all the staff of  More Sailing in Gothenburg and Croatia for making this trip come true.

Special greetings and thanks also to family and friends around the world for your interest in my salty adventures.

A big hug goes to my happy and supportive wife Akane for taking care of home base logistics during my 25 days on-board Pixel,        the More 55 sailing yacht.   

Staffan - the kayaker 

PS. I take full responsibility for any mistakes, nonsense or grammatical errors on my blog pages. All opinions and observations are mine only and please don't take them too seriously!

Cross words and cross winds

03 Nov - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

We have now since yesterday noon been liberated from the chains of the Internet and social media. It is up to each crew member to make use of this freedom based on personal preferences and current wind conditions (0 - 18 m/s).

On Pixel's entertainment menu today - for off duty crew - I have noticed cross word puzzle solving, quality readings, artistic drawing, deep sea discussions, music head phoning, no luck fishing or simply cat napping.

Good coffee and winds ...

Nov 5 - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas 

... is a winning combination when you sail the Atlantic as we are at the time of writing this blog text.

Stefan (here in command at the wheel and assisted by Pixel's hostess Ebba) is a quality coffee lover. He has kindly provided us all with enough espresso capsules to last the whole trip.

Unfortunately you can't operate the espresso machine on direct wind power. In order to get a good brew we need to start our ship's diesel generator to get the necessary voltage for the coffee maker.

Shortly after leaving Gibraltar we hit favourable winds of 12-13 m/s from the North. We can now make good progress as we are heading in a south easterly direction towards Las Palmas. Average speed just now is 9 kn but our speed record is16 kn.

Las Palmas - 50 years later

In December 1967 I spent one week in Las Palmas. Shortly before X-mas that year I arrived here from a cold and dark Stockholm onboard a Spantax Coronado 880 - the fastest jet liner at the time.

In those days I couldn't even in my wildest dream imagine that I would return here onboard a sailing yacht half a century later. Life is wonderful and full of possibilities - if you take them!

Sailor food

Nov 4 - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

On a long sea journey it is important to eat well in order to stay healthy and happy. During one week prior to my arrival in Croatia, Ebba and her colleagues had been working hard to prepare and cook a large variety of food to fill the freezer onboard Pixel.
In each port along our voyage, Ebba went shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables. The quality of food onboard is really 1:st class! A big thank you goes to Ebba!

Banana pancakes for breakfast - yummy!

Salt water showers

Nov 5 - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

Onboard Pixel we have two types of salt water showers:
(1) Voluntary type
(2) Involuntary type

(1) Crawl or walk to aft deck and sit down. Scoop up a bucket of sea water. Pour it gently over yourself or a fellow crew mate. Rinse afterwards with carry on water from Pixel's reservoir.

(2) Crawl into bed and go to sleep. Leave the skylight over your head slightly open for fresh night air. Wake up at 3 AM with salt water all over your face, pillow and bedding thanks to a wind change only seconds before the alarm tells you to wake up for duty. After drying, put all salty textiles in your laundry bag!

Early this morning I tried type (2) without a smile. I prefer type (1) ...

We are not alone ...

... at sea. Just off the coast of Morocco, North of Tanger, we passed this local fishing boat. We have already tried fishing for tuna a few times without any luck. The fishermen on this boat with registration in Arabic letters knew what they were doing! They waved happily to us as they were securing their catch.

Bye bye Europe ...

... and a last glimpse of the European continent now and we have North Africa on the opposite side, clearly visible in the South.

Ad hoc sailor chat

At 07.45 we crossed over the airport runway using the sea way in order to reach Alcaidesa Marina on the Spanish side of the border for oil change and  general engine check before heading out to sea again. While the Spanish technician was busy I had a long chat with Haakan, a Swedish guy from Stockholm.

Haakan bought his boat in the water in Nantes, France. Buying a boat in the water means a big chance of getting unexpected surprises - like in Haakan's case. He is now working hard to fix all 530 problems on his 33 ft Taylor wharf (UK) built in 1973 - one of only 13 built. Haakan fell in love with her beautiful curves... His partner is working as an accountant in Gibraltar but once she has completed her contract they will sail to Portugal for next summer. Latet they plan to cross over the Atlantic to Mexico.

On our way to Las Palmas

After topping up with water and fuel on the Gibraltar side (diesel here is tax free)
we are now poiting Pixel's nose towards Las Palmas.

Run way and sea ways ...

... are locted next to each other in Gibraltar due to limited space on land. Our home away from home is actually moored only 200 meters away from the runway. For me, as an old airline guy with a short spell at sea in younger days (as 2:nd cook on a passenger ferry serving the island of Gotland from the Swedish mainland), it is a nice feeling to sleep so close to my former working elements.

The airport runway in Gibraltar actually crosses a major city street with traffic lights showing red during take off's and landing's - like a traditional railway crossing.

Gibraltar

We arrived at Gibraltar's Ocean Village Marina today at 00.05 after 62 hours at sea after leaving Ibiza. From time to time good sailing but also many hours using diesel power. It was at times very much of a roller coaster ride - actually enough to last for a life time.

Around breakfast time our three sister ships docked at the same pier. A technician will take care of engine oil changes and problem solving as needed before all ships are ready for the next and longest leg to Las Palmas.

Today I have been exploring the city on foot during six hours. Gibraltar is too crowded for my taste. Millions of tourists visit this tax free haven every year, many arriving on cruise ships. After only a few hours I now wish to be back on the open ocean as soon as possible. Dolphins and sea turtles at sea is preferable to lots of people on land.