Peristera - Life and death

Is there a prize for "highest amount of birds that came toyour boat to die"?If so, we do announce that we have had two, almost three.The first little tiny bird we named Stellan. He was tired, but still quick to find his way down to the kitchen. We gave him boiled egg and water, that he didnt eat. We had heard that you should put tired birds in a box for the night, for them to rest undisterbed.And rested he did. The next morning, Stellan was a slow motion version of himself, and soon enough fell on the side and died. Stellan got a sea funeral, in his yellow cracker box.The next day little Stella landed on the guard rail. She was just as interested in the kitchen, so in the companion way, we hang long feathers and other shiny decorations that I have picked up the day after the carnival in. read more...

Peristera - A Swedish blogginlägg

Annika Thörn har förgyllt vår tillvaro med en dikt/haiku nästan varje dag. Varsågoda!Inpå höstkantenska denna tokiga tantensegla över Atlanten Oron förfärligförberedelsen besvärligseglingen härligInte bara presterautan planera, existerapå Peristera!Morgonsolen synsgenom turkosblå vågorMolntussar i skynStjärnklar natthimmelKarlavagnen visar tidklockan är halv treI vilda vågorblåmärken o andra plågormareldens lågorVågorna rullarSkåpens innehåll skramlarStiltje i sinnetPå båten är vi tryggaVi har ett spa på vår badbryggaså vi kan hålla oss snyggaTack, Annika, hälsar Linda. read more...

Peristera - Nostalgia

End of october. Night watch. No moon, I lower the light on the plotter and my eyes can sense the horizon.We are rolling hysterically in the northeast swell. At one spot the contour of the horizon is sharper, a faint light is arising. I cannot know if it is a boat a few miles away, or a star, millions of miles away. From my bumpy position they look the same. Contrast, december.All seven of us sit silently in the cockpit, watching the red moon rising over black silk. She turns up, hesitating first, up down, up down. Then further up on the sky, in a steady pace, while loosing more and more of her reddish tone. The moon beam points at us, and we are grateful to live on a turning globe in space, and right now being out on the ocean with an endless horizon that lets us see this.Linda and crew. read more...

Peristera - Tropical Low nr 28

This was not what my crew expected when they came onboard in Las Palmas. I had talked about downwind sailing, while air and water got warmer and warmer. I alsodescribed squalls, so they were prepared for sudden wind increase and heavy rain. For a short period, I said. 20 minutes.Not this. Not having rain for hours from a scary sky. Not needing to flee south when both wind and current come from south. Not getting mail from a younger brother asking: 2,8 knots? Can't you sail faster in a 47 feet boat???We had started preparing for landfall. We wanted to arrive to St Lucia Sunday afternoon, and we put a "Bonus report" on the wall. On the Bonus report, we wrote how many miles, over or under, the average amount we needed to do, to be in Rodney Bay at 16 hours on Sunday. The last row on the. read more...

Peristera - Skipper thoughts

What is being a skipper for me? I came to think of it tonight, when the disharmonious movements of the boat woke me up. I went out, rolled in both the main and the genua a bit, rolled out the genua again and trimmed Aina, my Hydrovane windvane. Named after a Swedish woman who travelled around Europe, in the 1940s, in a wooden boat with an old outboard.I said to the crew having the watch, that I loved doing that. Standing there, sensing the wind, the waves, blending together the speed and the course so the forces work together as much as possible.That is sailing to me. Creating a harmonious route that will put as little strain as possible on the boat, and the crew. I love the feeling of the boat just opening the waves, for us to come through./Linda. read more...