Letter No 2 sent on 30 July 2001 21:39
It’s me again, the devoted husband to my adventurous Karolina.
Yes, OK, I did support her to take part on the Mahina Expedition. But it was her idea after first having heard John Neal speaking at Hallberg-Rassy four years ago and then listening to an equally encouraging speech by Amanda Swan-Neal last year in Ellös, Sweden. I never believed she would apply for the adventure and could hardly believe it when she actually did. In deed, I have a “salty” wife and I am glad she is!
However, I did certainly not suggest leg number 4 from Tromsø to Göteborg, partly our home waters (that is the southern most part of the leg…). 1 300 nautical miles in 17 days… Why not pick a shorter and more comfortable leg, with warm winds and dry weather? No, when Karolina does something, then it is to a 100%. It’s learning what she is after, not sun-bathing (couldn’t you have had both?).
This is what John Neal writes about leg number 4 on his homepage www.mahina.com : “A combination of daysails and overnight passages in this land of the midnight sun will provide you the opportunity to master the skills of seamanship, weather and navigation plotting, as we weave our way through the spectacular Lofoten islands. We'll visit remote fishing villages and experience abundant wildlife. 1,300 miles.”
After her applying, I still did not believe she was going, until I left her at the airport in Copenhagen earlier today. Something could possibly get in between, I thought. She could get sick, Mahina Tiare III might not arrive in time from Spitsbergen to Tromsø, our children might get very sad that she is leaving or she might fall and break a leg while running, which she has been doing regularly now to get fit for the Mahina-expedition. Nothing the like happened. Well, it was me who fell instead at the Copenhagen airport this morning, when the trolley with the bags and back-pack ran into a tiny whole, stopping the front wheels with me continuing and flying over the trolley onto all the baggage and the capsized trolley (the life west did not inflate by the chock, fortunately). Karolina just smiled… I wonder who was the nervous one of us two? Karolina reminded me about Mahina’s instructions that the participants have to easily be able to carry all their luggage themselves. Her package exactly fulfilled maximum size and weight, so maybe it would have been better if she had carried it, but I wanted to be of some help and at least transport the bags to the check-in.
Now Karolina has called from Tromsø and explained happily that despite weather forecasts talking about rain, rain and rain, the sun was shining and there were comfortable 16 degrees Celsius. “Never trust pilots or meteorologists” the SAS-captain announced while landing, since, him too, was surprised about the nice weather. Excited, Karolina also said she had spotted Mahina lying in the tiny harbour of Tromsø while flying in for landing! She sounded very happy! It was all so very beautiful with snow on the tops of the mountains and the special light of high latitudes.
And for all of you who have been with us in the last nervous hours, I can now confirm that Karolina’s luggage has arrived safely in the hotel! Karolina can now sleep well dreaming about the adventures to come!
Back here, in the office, I am the “only survivor”, since Roland is off on holiday these three weeks while Karolina is sailing. So, I’ll be busy taking care of our company, our children our boat REGINA and to some extent also our house (hopefully it remains approximately in the same shape as it is now…)
I would have loved to be on this sailing adventure as well!
Leon
P.S. the weather forecast for area E4 around Tromsø is as follows: Southwesterly 6. In southern part westerly near gale 7. From early Tuesday morning northwesterly near gale 7 decreasing 6. Rain showers. Moderate. (Issued by DNMI, Monday 30.07.2001 at 10 UTC, Winds in Beaufort)
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