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| When is it that we leave ?? |
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| -- January to May 2018 -- |
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Clearly defined seasons
are great. There is something fascinating in feeling the Earth
oscillating around its vertical axis under these high latitudes. The
almost endless days at the end of June progressively become for 5 short
hours of a pale dim light in December. Not enough to get warm,
temperatures drop, the boats climb up on land, the sea freezes, it
snows.
It snows, it snows, it snows.
Cubic meters upon cubic meters.
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It’s
our sixth winter in Norway, and in the previous years spring clearly
came in March, allowing us to start working on Saltimbanque, sometimes
between 2 snowstorms, but with a decent temperature.
But this
year we are very eager to get ready to leave, and of course it snows 3
to 4 times more than normally al winter long, then in March the cold
settles in to maintain a situation pretty much adverse to mechanics and
aluminium painting. April 3rd, back from the Easter break, it is still
-8°C in the morning… |
Nice, they shoveled the snow off the pontoons! |
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Conditions not compatible
with sanding machines, but perfect for administrative formalities! The
main challenge of this trip lies in getting a visa to visit
Saint-Petersburg. For those interested, here is – in the right order –
the different steps to follow:
- Get an
insurance, which covers the boat in Russia. We have discovered that
many French insurances are only valid up to 60°N, and have no intention
of delivering exemptions for the Baltic Sea. Luckily, Norwegians are
less afraid on cold remote places… so we switched to “Sparebanken”
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In order to get a Russian visa, you need to be officially invited by a
local yacht club. In Saint-Petersburg, one man runs the show. His name
is Vladimir Ivankiv (vladimir@sailrussia.spb.ru). Efficient, friendly,
fluent in English. We received the invitation in a few days.
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With Vladimir’s invitation in hand, you can go to the embassy to apply
for the visa. You need passport pictures and classical forms that prove
that you have a travel insurance. In our case, the DNB Saga Insurance
was enough for both of us.
In the end, this all lasted a good two months, with the most complicated (surprisingly enough) being to get the insurance.
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Readings from the weather station at Bygdøy, -16°C to +18°C in less than a month
-4°C to +18°C in 4 days !!
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Then, like
every year, spring finally comes in. Like every year, it’s a sudden
change of seasons. On the 14th April, we are in shorts and t-shirt and
getting tanned under a warm sun! Only a few weeks left to complete
Saltimbanque’s preparations.
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In addition
to our favorite yearly artistic activity (painting the hull – in a
different shade of blue every season), we work on the engine
compartment: new isolation layers, new power cables, new tying up of
the electrical cables.
And then, there is the usual maintenance
operations : engine, deck paintings and door varnish, small pulleys and
cleats to change, a new lifeline (we don’t trust the old one after
years exposed to UV radiations), 20 meters of new chain to replace the
rustiest 20 meters of the existing chain…
Only addition to our
equipment, made to accommodate the high latitudes and cold
temperatures: a small heater!! Small boat = small heater. We hope it
will suffice, with rather pleasant temperatures in the Baltic Sea in
the summer. And we always have woolen hats and pullovers… |
Antifouling with obstacles - slippery obstacles...
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The
boat is back in the water on May 3rd. It sounds late according to
European standards – but we were amongst the first ones out for the
season. No sooner is the hull wet than the deck gets wet as well. It
feels so good to rinse off the mud and dust of the winter.
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Saltimbanque in great company |
You see,
Saltimbanque needs to be all clean and ready for the goodbye party we
are planning to host for our Oslo friends on the following Sunday. The
weather too is in a bright shining mood. We are happy to hoist the
flags collected during our previous trips and put as much color as
possible everywhere in the mast.
Our friends are happy. We
discuss Finnish archipelagos and French cakes recipes. At that point, a
rib comes alongside on the next berth. Onboard are several young men
and one clearly more senior. The latter says “hi” and asks – in
Norwegian – what is happening. We don’t really understand the question
and let them pass, before realizing: this guy with his life jacket and
white hat is Harald! Harald the Fifth, King of Norway. Nothing less.
The King is fond of sailing, and he owns a beautiful wooden 8mR Sira in
the harbor. In the same harbor as Saltimbanque. And so, the King comes
by and says hi on his way back from his boat. Amazing…
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Once our
guests (famous or not) are gone, the final sprint can start: we need to
close off some professional matters, tidy and clean the house. Friends
will live at our place for a month, so it needs to be in a decent
shape. Also need to pack our stuff for 4 months and top up on food.
Finally,
the weather forecast. Hopefully warm and sunny. And the wind is
forecasted variable, with thermal breeze from the South. That is to
say, right in the face. We are looking to leave, as always, against the
wind, or under engine power... |
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