Gaining confidence

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Donnerstag, 10 Mai 2012 | english

Provisioning for rural areas in Canadas North Channel

When I came into LaSalle last fall it was not for a visit. I was forced to stop where I was about to fly by at night. None of the people here might have noticed the german boat motoring up the river in sunset. Maybe I would have send out a position report using the shortwave radio when I passed Fighting Island and some of those reading this website might have seen the name „LaSalle“ next to it until the next report drags their attention away.

But I had to stop. The engine broke, the voyage came to a stop. I thought this would be for a few weeks, then, facing the fact that I was looking on what would become full rebuild, it turned out taht I was facing the end of the adventure. Gus, who always welcomed me with a „Guten Tag, wie geht‘s“ in his english accent, put it in the plain logical way: It is a technical device so it is supposed to failure. But I was not prepared to have that happen. Weiterlesen… »

Just a thought away

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Montag, 19 März 2012 | english

View over lake Zurich towards the Alps

Among other historic town parts, one of the most beautiful insights to Zurich gives a walk along the Limmatquai. The street follows the Limmat which flows out of the Lake heading north into the city. Framed in walls of stone there is not much left of a natural river but with medieval buildings surrounding the shallow and crystal clear water it is a walk through history.

As many rivers in the past and today have been used for transportation in early days the Limmat was an important route for merchants too. They used „Biäschen“ a kind of small boats to carry goods down the way from Zurich towards the Aare River and to where it continues into the Rhein. The latter still is an important inland waterway for central Europe where barges carry goods from maybe Rotterdam or even Hamburgs huge container ports inland.

Pauilinchen waiting at Detroit River. Foto: Ben Bright

But a traveler can not use the Limmat anymore. Gates, controlling the water level, block the way for boats today and only allowing the connection to be virtual. So it does not carry goods anymore but thoughts can still travel on it.

It‘s about a thousand miles to go from here and about four hundred meters (1200 ft) of hight difference until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean sea level. But sooner or later every drop of water ends in the North Sea to mix with water from all over the world. Maybe some of it takes its way across the Northern Atlantic Ocean and meets the currents from St. Lorenz River. Much of this water comes from across Lake Ontario, down Niagra Falls and out of Lake Erie.

This way the water filling the lake in front of Zurich is somehow connected even to LaSalle in Canada, where my boat „Paulinchen“ wintered a few footsteps away from Detroit River while I was looking over the Lake here in Switzerland.

The winter is almost over. And as spring is on arrival in Canada and Europe it became time  to think about heading on with my trip into the Great Lakes of North America. It will be the  third attempt to follow what is called the Great Loop.

Podcasting about sailing

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Sonntag, 4 Dezember 2011 | english

Screenshot www.segelradio.de

As some might have seen on my german Website and in Facebook I startet a new Web project last week. The „Segelradio“ wich is directly best translated into „sailradio“. It is an idea to create a platform for podcasts about sailing. Besides the content I pruduce the main concept is that others who are interested in joining this idea can put their own podcasts here and together we build a variety of formats and topics about sailing i different „podcasts“. As it is my passion cruising is my focus in that program. But I am sure to find some people beeing more into different topics like racing, boatbuilding or whatever else settles around sailing, travelling and sailors. Weiterlesen… »

This way to The Bahamas?

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Sonntag, 23 Oktober 2011 | english

The way to the sun: Up!

As winter arrives in Switzerland fog fills the valleys. Like in most parts of the world it covers towns and villages to tint them in pale colors. But here people have a way to get to the sun: going up.

This way “up” is an ascending slope climbing 40-50 percent. The comfort of the worlds steepst cog railroad puts us in less then one hour 2132 Meters (6995 feet) above sea level. The unexpected for the unprepared was walking around, climbing stairs and following pathways. The air in this altitude is about 20 percent thinner than it is at sea level. My body, after years at the oceans surface, was not used to this. – Every step was harder than usual and the resulting dizziness sometimes was worse… I am still sure this white around must have been a special kind of coral sand and just a few steps beyond there where palm trees…

Indian summer

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Freitag, 7 Oktober 2011 | english

Sailors life - sometimes it's not even about sailing...

LaSalle, Ontario, Canada. – Leaving Germany I had an outline for my voyage. And along the trip whenever I was asked where I come from and how I got there I was also asked where I am going to. Last time this happened speaking to a fifth grade in Amhersburg public school. Preparing my presentation required me to look on aspects of my travel through the view of ten years old. I tried to think about what I would have thought 25 years ago when I was at that age and if someone would come to present me a lifestyle light years away from the reality around me. After a while I realized, that living on a sailboat to travel around the world was probably way more imaginable than everything my parents did for living. So I presented them exactly what my life is: A constant change with few anchors and ongoing motion through countries and oceans full of dolphins, sea turtles and all kinds of other fascinating things.

Weiterlesen… »