The first longer trip with the SAN has begun.
Shortly before departure, there was a small problem: the freezer did not work. The light was on, but it didn’t get cold. Since there would be four of us on board for the first few days and we didn’t plan to stay in port for a long time, this was a problem. Besides, who expected a new freezer box not to work. Emails and telephone enquiries were successful. Technicians came by the day before we left and took down the ceiling panels in the downstairs bathroom. So that’s how you get to the compressor unit! Good to know. It turned out that the freezer was not properly connected to ground. Now it’s running and we were able to stock up on supplies.
Saturday, 20.4.19, it was time to cast off from La Rochelle!
First destination: Brest.
Easter breakfast at sea:
In Brest, Lukas had to disembark again to be able to travel back to Aachen on Easter Monday. That meant a night journey straight away. The watch changes worked, but Mathias got the least sleep. Adjusting the sails well and reefing still took some getting used to. The mainsheet consists of two lines and the reefs are also two-line systems, so different from what we had before. Mathias has the most experience with this boat and as skipper has the last word anyway, so was always consulted.
Sunday evening we arrived in Brest, Marina du Chateau. Mooring manoeuvres went well. As a helmsman, you don’t have so much to do. It was quite pleasant to watch the others deploying the fenders and hopping onto the jetty.
From Brest, we continued to Cherbourg. During the day there was often little wind, at night it blew with 15 to 24 knots. Often we had to be underway with engine support. But between Brest and Cherbourg there are hardly any larger ports and we didn’t want to call at the Channel Islands either, as we didn’t feel like clearing in and out. After all, this is not a pleasure trip but a transfer trip.
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Stowaway
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“Don’t use so much electricity” has been declared the no-no word on the SAN. The solar cells do a good job, the batteries are mostly full. So we got two portable induction hotplates and can now cook with electricity. It even works to set them up in a wave-proof way.„Nicht soviel Strom verbrauchen“ wurde zum Unwort auf der SAN erklärt. Die Solarzellen leisten gute Dienste, die Batterien sind meist voll. Deshalb haben wir zwei tragbare Induktionskochplatten besorgt und können nun auch mit Strom kochen. Es funktioniert sogar, sie wellensicher aufzustellen.
