Below, the watches give you a flavour of what they have been up to. They have neglected to mention my getting the prop fouled (fortunately a very temporary state of affairs and more inconvenient than serious) and it’s better that I come clean rather than wait to be outed!! After a challenging start we have settled into a more congenial life style although some are not yet all used to the challenges of community living and are adjusting from passenger mode to crew member. Yesterday the crew started the hover unprompted and today have turned out and cleaned the fridges. There has also been some excellent food emerging from the galley. On deck I see a growing confidence and competence with their rope and sail handling. Both individually and collectively the crew continues to gain in stature and although we have had our “teething difficulties” We are all now enjoying the experience and its hard to believe that we are half way through the expedition. Richard Pattison Port Watch (Peter, Laura, Kate, Valerie, Stephen & Molly) write: After we crossed the North Sea, we spent the morning of the Friday sailing down the langenuen fjord. We suddenly heard a splash on the other side of the boat, and realised that Richard had gone overboard. Having already been briefed on what to do if someone goes overboard we had to put it into practice. One person shouted ‘MAN OVERBOARD!’ and pointed at the casualty for the whole time, while others lowered the guard rail. We then assembled the scramble net and threw out the life ring, danbouy and floating line out to Richard. Robert had to steer the boat close to Richard with the help of relays and lookouts from the bow. The harness was then attached to the safety line which he put around himself, and we pulled him up. Once he was safely on deck we had to re-establish the boat to working order. It helped us to learn to take care when working on deck, and understand the need for good communication an emergency occurs. With Richard safely on board we proceeded down the fjord to Leirvik. We found comfort in the shops, the wifi and the showers and were able to take part in Stordfest. On Saturday night we were invited on board the Statsraad Lehmkuhl – which had recently been in Lerwick. On Sunday, Jan Saetre and Wenche invited us to their house on Stord. It’s the oldest house on Stord. In 1975 Jan was rescued by the Lerwick lifeboat when the keel bolts of his yacht loosened and the boat began to take in water. Back aboard the boat, in late afternoon, we set sail for Espevaer. We have been in Norway for quite a while now, Starting of in Leirvik on the island of Stord, we were able to see a Norwegian festival where we saw many different ships, listened to music and took in the beautiful Norwegian landscape. We also did quite a bit of shopping! On leaving Leirvik, we travelled on a nearby island and were shown around a house, which the owner had bought and built up in its original 300 year old style. This was interesting as we learnt some Norwegian history, and found out what its really like to live here. We then sailed to the islands of Espever, and we sailed of without the use of the engine. To raise all the sails and move off in this way was challenging but definitely worth the effort. Diana Norway has been an experience to say the least. Had hot sun and bucketing with rain. Its gorgeous country with lovely people. But the crew of the swan is what has made the trip after all the good and bad we have gelled like a family. I have now become a master cook of mince through this trip. Only a few days left but can’t get much better ! Georgia (Gloria) Although the weather is worse at changing then Shetland it has been a great first week. It has been very wet at times and very cold at others. We are starting to get better at understanding the ropes and what it needed to sail the boat. Sea sickness has got in the way of helping some of the time but I am trying to make up for that through helping with the cleaning. It has been so great so far but it can only get better as we learn more throughout the trip. Emma The whole trip so far has been an adventure. I got to go up the mast which was very exciting and I got an amazing view of Norway. The weather has been very different, one minute it is sunbathing weather and the next it is pouring with rain but it has all been great fun. I think we have all enjoyed ourselves and learnt new skills and will be sad when it is over but we will all have great memories. Eve I’ve enjoyed some of the food onboard, especially the meal that was made up with all the left overs. I have felt a little sea sick but mainly in the form of a head ache, doing stuff helped. It was good fun learning how to make knots, such as hitch knots and handmans noose. Some of the knots I learnt out of a book. We walked to a UFO site, the walk there was good but the site just looked like a campsite. Orren
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 19:59:36 +0000