Himinglaeva - log day 1 - return to sender! retour a l'envoyeur!

what excitment sailing himinglaeva's heaven blue hull through the waves at the rally start this morning! and what disappointment having to turn her around for an autopilot repair, back in las palmas! caramba! and shame on you, ye unfaithfull gods of the electronics... quelle mierda! un départ superbe, coque bleue ciel fendant les vagues, toutes voiles dehors, puis retour à l'envoyeur, à las palmas, pour réparation d'urgence du pilote automatique.ETDepart/prévu: 24.11adios harald / jean pierre. read more...

Himinglaeva - log day 1 - return to sender! retour a l'envoyeur!

what excitment sailing himinglaeva's heaven blue hull through the waves at the rally start this morning! and what disappointment having to turn her around for an autopilot repair, back in las palmas! caramba! and shame onyou, ye unfaithfull gods of the electronics...quelle mierda! un départ superbe, coque bleue ciel fendant les vagues, toutes voiles dehors, puis retour à l'envoyeur, à las palmas, pour réparation d'urgence du pilote automatique.ETDepart/prévu: 24.11adios harald / jean pierre. read more...

Himinglaeva - log day 2 en attendant godot - wait and see

waiting in las palmas for autopilot spare part; Hanse ship yard reluctant to apply guarantee, although boat only 7 months old. total clean up of bilge; water and oil leaks seem repaired. chantier Hanse traine des pieds pour faire jouer la garantie (bateau a 7 mois). maña est un autre jour, mais il semble peu probable que la pièce arrive à temps pour nous permettre de continuer la course.harald et jean pierre. read more...

Himinglaeva - log day 3 - en avant la musique, the show must go on

what can be repaired, has been repaired, so i decided we would leave at midday, after replacing the jib with a big "downwind" genoa, WH40'ing everything that needed a bit more ease of operation, and getting jean pierre new shoes to help healing, his heel... meteo looked good 10-15 kn ese, but once we got going at 13.45 the sea was a mirror, and remained so for the whole of our beautiful trip down the canarian coast, on engine and autopilot. engine on slow revs, so i wasn't too worried about our diesel reserves, especially since i'd just brought another 80 litres in cans on board (total reserve:300L) what a gorgeous feeling though, to be on my way again, singing and humming at sacha distel's "c'est la belle vie" with what singing voice the years have left me, then making the few last. read more...

Himinglaeva - log day 4 - mister diesel and doctor gegene

the night went by like a beauty, lit up by a half smiling, half waxing moon, the sea a lake despite quite big swells (2-3 m?), no wind, therefore some more engine. jean pierre and i took watches of three hours each through the night, worked fine, neither feeling particularly tired this morning. some wind came up, so after breakfast we outfurled the especially acquired big, overlapping "gégéne", as the french call the genoa, stuck out the spi rod to keep it from flagging, and this increased our speed to a steady 6 knots, with no additional discomfort (the main sail remained in itslazybag). looks like it will do wonders in the trade winds!all the best from harald and jean pierre. read more...