It is a rainy Saturday afternoon in the Flensburg Fjord. After three busy days in the marina, the best opportunity to make the last week briefly pass in review. After an extremely warm welcome of the Harbor Master Marina Sonwik, Herrn Holt, and our sailing friends Violetta and Martin from the SY Ganesha we felt from the first minute to well. What a contrast to the disappointing adoption of the Harbor Master in Grömitz(down to a more casual spoken “Have a nice trip” there was really no kind words). In Holt has us even 2 Hours before entering into a Sonwik “Welcome” sent by e-mail. That was a great feeling! Last Sunday we received the news, that my mother passed away unexpectedly for us. Of course, it was a depressing feeling to get such a message on the day, where we have cast off the lines in our home port and started our journey. This one but once again more aware on the other side, that life is a gift and we should try to make the best of it. The fulfillment of our dream has only further more get more weight and the family also is behind.
Martin is an experienced sailor and equips his ship also just for the trip to Portugal in July this year from. For this reason, and because he is a good guy, he gave us the best boating equipment “Skipper Paradiese” :-), Presented workshops and Violetta and his sailing friends. The result: Stainless steel fittings for the rear anchor, new linkage for the Bimini, Rettungsboje, 2 AIS transponder times if one of us falls overboard, an ingenious 2,4 KG 'heavy Shimano fishing reel (Endstufe!) for the thickest marine fish, various maintenance products and an invitation to a birthday party on Saturday evening. Yesterday evening there was already a small foretaste. After four bottles of delicious wine with Violetta, Martin, Uwe, Dirk + Woman and very entertaining “Doktor Gorch-Fock” Stories we were against 00:30 back on board with us. Today I was allowed for repair our broken toilet onboard to compensate. Einer der sehr wenigen Gelegenheiten an denen ich meine ansonsten blühende Fantasie und bildliche Vorstellungskraft zwanghaft unterdrückt habe 🙂
Was soll`s, the thing works again. In 20 Minutes we will be met and, therefore, is it a day.

Endlich Wind 🙂 Motiviert machen wir uns auf den Weg nach Flensburg, where we still want to spend a few days with friends in the port Sonwik. The 35 Nautical miles we sail with a fair wind from behind in just six hours. While Dietmar diligently cares the boat, I have a quite a hangover and slept through most of the day. Good, that we can rely on each other each other. When next time Dietmar can then relax and I'll take care of everything else.
In Flensburg, we are already expected and fast moored on our new berth. We feel right at home and we look forward, To spend time here. Tomorrow we will probably explore the city and of course perform work on last boot. Tonight it goes but first Italians to right on the harbor, to let the evening end comfortably.

After a relaxing night at anchor we were woken up at half past seven in a hell of a noise, came directly from our bed box. The generator was jumped J Nice, if the technology works, but it could also may be an hour later.
Our first morning at sea, we started with a hearty breakfast. Then we all left our cozy anchorage and sailed westward. All over the Bay of Kiel large area target practice of the Bundeswehr were sold today. For safety's sake, we made a big bow around it. Nevertheless, we were able to observe on the horizon the great warships and hear the shots.

In the afternoon we had to stop because of strong nachlassendem wind sailing and arrived at eight clock red herring in the loop with motor.

As Dietmar today despite "Fish Finders" had no luck fishing, there was for dinner only rice with Chinese vegetables (but was still tasty J) Let's see, if happiness is hold him tomorrow. So a fresh cod would have fit well on our menu. Tomorrow we will continue to Flensburg.

In ca 1,5 H It is time. Family and friends will be the same on the web. We are pleased and spend tonight in a bay off Fehmarn anchor. Let the Show begin 🙂
16:40: After a windy first passage we have before 40 Minutes reached our anchorage. We are sheltered south from the north-west winds on the island Fehmarn. Katja has successfully run today her first mooring buoys maneuver and since my Capitana not only good tax, but also can cook, issue it after feasting as a delicious noodle soup. The two nice girls from our favorite cafe “BEACH BLISS” in the marina have Grömitz goodbye an incredibly delicious eggnog cake (natural homemade :-)) given. Many thanks to your great crew! It was always a pleasure to have breakfast with you and then for coffee a piece of delicious cake, Almond croissant or just to eat pot pie! In general, the last two days were fantastic and moving. We have spoken with so many nice and love people, New Cute Bekantschaften closed and get a lot of nice wishes on the way. Thanks for that!
Yesterday we still had some great experiences. In the morning jan brought from Yacht Service Gutowski professional cameraman Hinnerk to us on board, to view a video about our SUMMER and the work carried out by his company conversions for his website, to rotate. The recordings will probably have become sensational. Especially beautiful are the exterior shots of the SUMMER have become sailing. We are curious if we will see the result for the first time. In the afternoon we were going to my old friend Christian on his motorcycle past. His visit was totally unexpected and I was looking forward twice, I prior to Christian's sailboat 23 Years have endeckt the love of sailing and really like him as a human also. Last but not least, we also have with Katie's mother Beate our first guest on board had.

Thank you for your visit and the beautiful adoption in Grömitz! It was a lot to us, that yours today “Tschüß” You said.
Morning is to rotate the wind south-west, and then we will have a quick pass to our next destination port in Flensburg.

The last few days we have continued to be used diligently, to prepare for our Summer piece by piece. My Capitana has called for further clothes hooks in the bathroom, so that we can hang our towels and our rain gear to dry. The pain was great, as I made clear the drill, to spared in the hitherto immaculate walls of holes and, To put holes for the screws. Nach dem 4.ten Kleiderhaken und der 8.ten Bohrung hat es dann auch gar nicht mehr weh getan 🙂 Das Ergebnis war am Ende aber perfekt und die fiesen Perforationen somit für mich entschuldbar. Even the forward cabin, which was almost hopelessly filled with all kinds of equipment a few days ago up to the ceiling, was thoroughly cleaned. The specification of the Capitana stood namely, that my mother in law by Beate 3. to 4. May, be on board with us as a guest and for the bow is prepare habitable. Done!!!

Tuesday morning, 9:00 Clock was a test drive to check the machine and electrical systems on the plan. The sea was calm and pleasant temperatures it went out into the Bay of Lübeck. After the engine to operating temperature was, it was then “Lever on the table” and at full throttle for 5 Minutes full speed ahead. If the screw already drops or the engine dies, then it should happen please now, not at a critical control. Drive, Radar, Fishfinder and autopilot have passed the tests behaved and no abnormalities. To conclude our preparations that was a nice confirmation of all troubles and clean work from YACHT SERVICE Gutowski. Thank you!!!
Thus, our departure date was fixed. At the 4. May around noon we want to leave Grömitz Flensburg. Our parents want us again personally “Tschüß” say and dismiss us in our adventure. A beautiful feeling! If we were worn in Bavaria, the web would certainly have been well packed. Aber erstens hat Bayern keine offene See 🙂 und zweitens haben wir uns ja bei unseren Freunden gebührend verabschiedet. Katja is now down again to Leverkusen on Wednesday and is on 1. Celebrate May your mother Beate's birthday. Also not easy for a mom, when the beloved daughter of the man only to Bavaria and then follows with him, wants to sail around the world. But we will do everything, that we will return back safely and thank our equipment, can the two communicate with each other as usual, continue every day. Beate has set out with us the Panama Canal, the connection between the Atlantic and Pacific, to pass through. Na dann kann ja nichts mehr schief gehen 🙂

Crowds at the ship crane in front of the 1. More. The last boats go to water

It was a quiet last night in our comfortable “Kingsize-Bettchen” Leverkusen. Katja is sitting together with our family doctor and can advise regarding vaccinations in our future travel destinations. By the time we end Europe 2015 will leave, , the subject of important.
Meanwhile, I'm sitting in the living room and still waiting for the parcel service, is supposed to bring some important spare parts for on-board toilets. Hardly imagine what happens, wenn die Pumpen ausfallen sollten 🙂
Katja will soon again “home” go and do things familar. For me, it is today a farewell and at the same time a new beginning. I'm going to live from now permanently on our SUMMER. Last night I had the feeling short “get cold feet”. Funny actually, where I have this moment but more than 1000x desired and presented in a dream…. I have been told, das sei normal 🙂
Nevertheless, the joy and curiosity is large. A little proud I am to Katja and me, that we have our dream realized so consistently. It is and remains a magical moment, when you see, that the air castle of yesterday is real in front of a suddenly!
The next few days we will see yes, how it feels like, if a “Vacation Ship” a barge is. One thing is certain: Das Bett wird nie wieder so ruhig stehen wie in der letzten Nacht 🙂

After 6 Ordinary days, physical work and organizational excellence, Katja through sensible storage of 8 full packing boxes laid with equipment of the day, are now almost all the cabinets and lockers be carefully assigned. At the beginning of the week we were from a true chaos in the form of tools, Spare parts, Seekarten, Books, Linen, Pump, Dishes, Engines and paraphernalia surrounded. In the salon and in the so-called “Owner's cabin” has everything stacked and distributed on tables and floors. The challenge was, to capture every part in lists, to label and then be stowed so, that you can find things again later, if needed. We have discovered in the employee of the Yacht Services faces a twinge of pity, as we have brought at last our diving compressor for filling scuba tanks and a farther outboard on board, the aim was also to stow below deck. Difficult to understand for ordinary Baltic sailors, has to fill in the rule so only the refrigerator and the on-board bar. We have divided the large cake into small bites and then executed systematically. According to this method, we have also worked successfully earlier in professional life, when it was, to handle a large workload of challenges. Mit einem klaren Ziel vor Augen geht es auch viel einfacher 🙂

Amazing findings have also arise: 1. To feel a nice feeling once again, that Katja and I complement each other wonderfully and function as a team. 2. Evening, tired and happy to drop a satisfying feeling with a slight soreness in the arms in the bunk. 3. Very pleasant, to indulge every day plenty of delicious cakes and other culinary excesses, fat without (because of the physical activities) zu werden 🙂
Today, on the Saturday before Easter, we then leave Grömitz, to the multitudes of “Oster-terrorist” to escape this weekend. First, however, we still have some work to be done transferred to the Yacht Service Gutowski. It must still installed gas detectors, Are wooden shelves and Plan prepared and connected electrical equipment. We are very pleased with the results this week, because we left a tidy ship and our start times are come a great deal closer again. Until our return we will be at home, Doctor and vaccinations perceive and our “Family-Office” continue to prepare for our upcoming trip. I do not want to forget to mention, that we are truly excited about the many, sehr netten Mail, Were pleased guestbook entries and congratulations from friends. So kann es gern weiter gehen 🙂

On Monday we started, to make our Summer ready: All the beautiful things, Dietmar has shopped in his free time for our long journey, should be stowed so, that a life on board is possible again.
Fortunately, our Summer but more storage space than we expected and we managed to clean up already so far today, we our dinner (Fresh, North German asparagus with hollandaise sauce) could prepare back on board. The wonderful weather the last two days we were very motivated: Not only in the interior of the Summer you can move again, also prevails now in our locker finally exemplary order and the Sails are also struck again.
But is was not only diligent in the last three days. On Tuesday evening we were invited in Kiel with Ingeborg and Wolfgang, to get from experienced Weltumseglern a few valuable tips for the Caribbean. The two sailing since 43 Years with their STELLA MARIS on the world's oceans and have an infinitely large experience. Therefore, we have made ourselves yesterday afternoon on the way to Aerobatic Bay Marina of Laboe, there to meet Birgit and Franz from the CAYLUNA, which should be one of the party. They both have a 40 Foot catamaran, with which they want to break in July to the Caribbean. So we had the opportunity not only, to admire her beautiful interior of the ship, we were allowed to stay overnight, to us to spare the wide return to Grömitz.

At home with Ingeborg and we Wolfgang was excellent hosts and could in funny round many interesting stories from sailing in general and the Caribbean in particular, hear, which have definitely helped us.
Then it was back to the port on the CAYLUNA. We arrived on the big catamaran
so alone almost lost something before, but still have a great night. After a joint breakfast with Birgit and Franz, seamlessly joined to the 5-star cuisine dinner, it went way too early back to Grömitz.
Again many thanks to the four, it was a great time. When we come to the ship in Kiel on the way to the North Sea-Baltic Canal, we are very excited, See you again. Mit Birgit und Frank haben wir uns vorsorglich an irgend einem schönen Ort auf dem Weg von Deutschland in die Karibik verabredet 🙂

Last week Katie has your “Wutzi” again brought to the Rhineland home. Katja has been used to some years quite successfully with Flagranti at tournaments in the M-dressage. She has him before 11 Taken years to Bavaria, when we decided, to deny our future life together. Now Flagranti is also known as “Wutzi” 23 Years old and the OAPs now lives back in his old home NRW. He has survived the long ride in the trailer with no problems and amazingly relaxed. Nach dem Aussteigen und dem Gang in die Box hat er sich ohne zu zögern sofort über einige leckere Karotten hergemacht 🙂

While Katie has spent the Friday and Saturday with Melissa (it has the Wutzi 11 Accompanied years with supervised and has Katja on the ride), I have made myself once again on the way to my beloved Nordschleife. Since I myself in the VLN race series (Association Endurance Championship) since 2008 Races and drove many beautiful weekends on “Ring” spent with friends, I wanted to say goodbye again personally. So I've put together with Walli and Flea from the team “Walli Motorsport” spent a weekend at the VLN ring. With the boys and girls from the team “Walli” I 3 experienced great years Motorsport, as one can possibly want him. Were used, “Renault Clio Cup”-Racing car, with which we even twice the legendary 24 Have successfully challenged hour race. Winning of Virus “Motorsport” once caught, is after a few years either cured forever thereof or infected forever. My problem is probably, I to Category 2 am. As long as we are still in Europe, I'll try, to drive one or the other race. How this can be implemented, will show. The images above show the first start group flying in formation at the section “Brünnchen” and the cockpit of the Valais new “Opel OPC Cup- Racing car” mmmhhh lecker 🙂
'm Curious, how the 360 PS “feel” will. I will certainly miss the ring, yes especially since we now live nearby. But our SUMMER will carry us into new worlds for. Auch toll, or?

Last weekend, we looked at things “First aid” at the “SeaDocs” trained in Mönchengladbach. We were very pleasantly surprised, about the composition of the high-profile 21 Students and the high “Level” the course content. The aim of this course is to, to provide laypersons the specifics of supply on board.
Our Instructors, Dr. Fabian Steffen, himself is an avid sailor and has 15 Years of professional experience as an emergency physician on an ambulance. We have also felt!One must not forget, that we will be far away from the land to put ourselves at sea. Therefore, we have considered the seriousness of all these exercises from a different perspective.
The goal is, that medical problems on board are controlled by the availability of professional help, minor mishaps can be supplied on board without any interruption of a journey. Through a simple structured diagnostic assessment which communication is to be made possible with helpers, only as a meaningful planning of further steps is possible.
At the end of 2 Days we have given each other syringes, added a tube(to a doll, since it is only possible if the patient is deeply unconscious), Powered Brand-/Platz-/Schnittwunden, created a defibrillator, Etc applied resuscitation by cardiac massage.
Those were our learning objectives:
• Important activities: Associations, Wound Care, Immobilization, Salvage
• A guide to systematic Investigate (with and without aids), Approaching a diagnosis
• The implementation of revivals (with and without aids)
•Typische Notfallsituationen an Bord: Hypothermia, Drowning, Hand infection, Sunstroke, Burns
• The administration of drugs into the muscle and under the skin
• The communication with helpers
• Features a first-aid kit and a first aid kit, Literaturhinweise
• Tropical diseases, Impfhinweise

It was a really brilliant course gives us the feeling, structured to act in the event of a fall. To prepare for a long trip, we rate this course as an absolute “MUST”. Quite apart from, that we have some very nice people met, mit denen wir das gleiche Hobby teilen 🙂
On Easter Sunday, it's back up to the Baltic Sea. We meet with Wolfgang and Ingeborg of the “Stella Maris” as well as with Brigit and Frank from the catamaran “CAYLUNA”. Ingeborg and Wolfgang are the TO base manager Cuxhafen and are with your “Stella Maris” in 5 Sailed years around the world. Insanely cute and experienced sailors, of which we “Four” Tips and advice can be obtained for our trip to the Caribbean. Birgit and Frank have invited us to stay on your catamaran. For us, premiere. Life can be so wonderful 🙂