The end of a perfect sailing week

The weather has just been perfect – mostly sunny, around 16° Celsius and usually 4 – 6 Beaufort wind. “Man-over-board” at 6 Beaufort and about 0.7 meters of significant wave height has been loads of fun! I got some good tan and even a little sunburn – Who would have imagined this to be possible in northern Germany at the end of September? The predicted rain usually kicked in at night, adding the sound of raindrops falling on the hatch to the already lulling environment of a bow-cabin.

Happy Sailing Season End 2013
can’t it be March 2014 already?!

Even better, I passed the practical SKS exam today (German equivalent to RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate of Competence). I started first by casting off the box and driving to our exam area. Few good maneuvers under sail and motor, few questions and that’s been it. My favorite was “Mobs Taste drücken” though. Meaning “press the pug dog key”. I was concentrating so hard not to say Mops (pug dog) – the German “b” sounds a lot like “p”, and you just have to add an “s” to end up at pug dog — of course it slipped at the man-over-board maneuver.

This concludes my sailing season 2013. It’s time to complete the equipment for my Seascape and make all the arrangements now.