Salsa af Stavsnäs - How to behave among normal people 13.35N 58.03W

Somebody told me that they had friends thatseriously thought that when you sail over the atlantic you sort of park the boatat night and sleep. Well we could use one night of full sleep now. Ellinor ismore sensitive than I am, but I do feel that my watches are longer and sleeptimeshorter.The kids are starting some frentic movements and they jump/run/climbwhenever they go from one place to another. The laundry bag is almost exploding and my armpitssmell coliflower  I took Andreas to the shower today and he screamed like apig going to be slaughtered. He have really enjoyed being wild, dirty and let'snot talk about table manners, when there is no table! So today we had some HOWTOBEHAVEAMONGPEOPLEpractice. Do you go up to the cockpit withoutpants? NOOOO. Do you pick your nose.... and so. read more...

Salsa af Stavsnäs - Well it is always YOUR responsibilty!

What a nigh we had. No wind, no waves, just a silksmooth swell, stars all the way to the horizon. Some so low you thought theywhere lanterns from ships. One of the stars I named tonight, the Lantern Star.We are aiming for Orion of course, the star that leads sailors going west. Wehave not seen a boat or ship for more than 48 hours now.  My father died this date one year ago, so sittingwatching this bright stars, the milky way so grand, so vast, so...empty. Makes me feel small. This ocean makes me so small.Life is so small and short.  I do not think that my father and I reallyunderstood that when we spoke last time, a couple of days before the 15th ofDecember, that a year later just precise, we would be out in the Atlantic Ocean.He knew what it was about, in a way, he worked. read more...

Salsa af Stavsnäs - NO WIND and what have we learned 2?

This trip does not come easy. Escaping to the Westof 50degrees made us miss the thunderstorm but it left us with nowind. The engine has been running since last night and itmakes about 24 hours (Im writing at UTC 23). Local time on board is minus 3hours now from UTC. Makes it easier with daylight and when we get to StLucia. So today we had lovely sunshine, big swell, no windand 28 degrees C. Not sailing is boring but also less work, forsome. For the technician on board it is always check andcheck. And having a propeller rotating under the boat can mean a lot of messwith rope, fishing nets etc. So far the sea has looked extremely clean. We seeno floating debris or anything. But our friends on Kaminante have had a bigrope in their propeller. Diving off shore with a pounding 40 ton. read more...

Salsa af Stavsnäs - St Lucia, today!

Well, if you can't make it in time to her, she has to come to you!St Lucia is a big celebration in Sweden, I think it is a saint that brought us light and we thanked her by killing her.The 13th of December every year we dress in wihte gowns, light candles on somebodys head (yeah, sometimes it goes wrong), and walk gently singing her praise. Why? It is the darkest day of the year, sort of, from today the days will be longer. And up North they have no daylight at all now, in Stockholm we have from 10 am to 2pm. Well that's far away now from 13 degrees North to 57th North, one would think. Not Erika, she came up this morning and decorated the whole saloon with christmas stuff she has made herself (some look terrible but you are not supposed to say that, then you are a nasty father, but. read more...

Salsa af Stavsnäs - What a Gal!

Last night was the first night that our sleep cycles and watch got totally messed up.It all started with two squalls that passed on both sides of the boat and I smiled and thanked mother fortune.Next I see on radar is not a squall but a wall, an entire front.So i keep the genua reefed after being prepared for the squalls and decide to start the engine to keep us moving.There is hardly no wind in front of the front. The propulsion does not create any movement of the boat and I wake up Ellinor.She drives and I check the aft of the boat and realize that our problem child Hydrovane wind rudder is messing up itself in the waves. Has nothing to do with the engine but is an important issue for the boat.We have to get the rudder off again! Now in darkness and big waves pounding on the boat. The. read more...