Midsummer is the holiday in June when people flock away from their workplaces and city apartments towards their summer cottages and boats. The weather looked nice so we thought this would be the perfect time to go out sailing, all of us, and see what it would feel like, to spend a few days, as well as nights, on the boat.
“Let’s just go somewhere without planning it too much,” Charlotte said. “You know, without trying to reach some specific destination. Let’s just go and see where we end up.”
I thought that was a good idea. I’ve never been very keen on reaching places, anyway, more into just being out there.
Food, Books, Toys … Lots to Pack!
In our normal everyday life, we usually go to the nearby shop once a day. Buying five days worth of everything at once, for six persons and a dog, that was certainly a different experience. Adding clothes, some toys, books, toiletries, and suddenly we had quite a lot of stuff to carry aboard.
And to store somewhere!
I’m tempted to use the well-known phrase we need a bigger boat (just to get all the stuff to fit), but, frankly, we’re just in the early stages of figuring the boat out. There’s a lot of storage space we haven’t used (behind and under the saloon couches), and probably some we haven’t even found yet.
Still, with six persons and a dog, we were filling up the boat quite nicely and quite quickly.
And We’re Away!
We had wanted to leave before noon, but finally, a few hours later, a bit after two o’clock, we cast off the lines and embarked on our small Midsummer journey.
The first time we took the boat out with the children we only motored (to keep everything nice and uneventful), but this time I wanted to hoist the sails as soon as possible. “It is, after all, a sailboat”, I kept telling the children. (Trying to be a bit funny but I’m not sure they noticed that.)
“But what if it will be really tilted and then it will tip over?,” M asked frightfully. “Will we sink?” she said with worry in her eyes.
“No no!” I tried to explain. “It’s not going to tip over at all!”
“Why?”
“Because, you know, under the boat there is this huge and heavy piece of metal that prevents it,” I said, and continued to try to explain the fundamental principles of a sailboat to M, who was watching with a somewhat doubtful look on her face.
We hoisted the main, turned the boat slightly and felt the gentle wind filling the sail. Rolled out the jib and turned off the engine.
Didn’t tip over 😊
Dingying Around
Our first stop was just a couple of hours from home. We thought it was a good idea to start off with a short sail and then leave plenty of time to settle in before the first night.
Also, we wanted to try our latest gear addition: a Quicksilver 250 Air Deck dinghy.
It turned out to be a great evening for all. The children loved the dingy. First, they took turns to go out rowing with me. Then, the bigger ones went out rowing themselves, with a long painter line attached to our boat.
I got some cool pictures, as well, of our new hull color at sunset.
Night Crazies
So, going to sleep that first night turned out to be quite a challenge.
I guess a combination of everything new and all things exciting (with lots of jitters and nervousness) made the children (at least M and little L) go into overdrive mode when they were supposed to go to bed.
“Can I get some water?”
“Can I go to pee?”
“Are you sure the boat won’t sink?” (giggles giggles)
“I want to sleep with mom!” (giggles giggles)
“Can I get some more water?”
“Do you know what my favourite toy is?” (giggles)
“It’s too hot!”
“It’s too cold!”
“Can I get some more water?”
And on and on. At home, the children usually go to sleep between eight and nine in the evening. I think it was closer to eleven when they finally ran out of energy and went to sleep mode. Phew!
Relief
Charlotte and I went to sleep mode, as well. I fell asleep quite quickly, for Charlotte it took a bit longer.
Actually, I think I’ve never slept that good at anchor. Usually, I stress about this and that and wake up several times to check that everything is alright.
That night I didn’t wake up at all. Or at most, maybe once.
No Rapu?
No rapu 😄