We were prepared for a rather unspectacular day of cruising. Medium winds (like 15 kt. max) mostly from behind. We crossed wind parks and had almost too much sun. It was the first time we worked with the sextant to do some astro navigation. It worked better than we thought. In the afternoon we crossed the Fehrmanbelt (a tight area that seperates westen from eastern Baltic Sea north of the island of Fehmarn). Wind picked up (from east) and we wanted to hide-anchor at Fehmarns west coast. But we did not take into account that other than Rügen and Hiddensee Fehmarn ist flat like a pan cake. The wind was basically the same and there was no more waves. Since we had the main and the big jib up and running, why not test how fast the boat can go? Oh wow, 8 knots, not even riding down a wave, ok lets maybe stop, it feels like we are pushing the old lady a little. We tried to roll up the jib, but did not properly pay attention that it is in a proper wind shade from the main sail. Applying to much pressure and we fucked her up. It was rolled in only on its lower side and we couldn’t get it to unfurl. So lets try to reef the main. Did not work either, because the half open jib would not let us turn into the wind properly. Yeah yeah yeah…. “woooohoooo lets try to go super fast”…. classic karma police.
In the end we solved the problem by not rolling but just lowering the entire jib. And then reefing the main while under engine. Embarrassing.
Then we figured out that between Fehmarns west coast and Kiel there is a military zone that except for Sundays is closed to pass through… except during night. We still had easterly wind and figured, that after prepping some food and getting the security measures up, we could give it a try. And at first we were flying straight through until out of nowhere (well we kind of expected it later) but lets just say OUT OF NOWHERE the wind died. And that was the moment a strong easterly wind died that was constant for two weeks in the Baltic Sea this August 2020. Ever since that moment, we actually have to check the weather to progress 😀 We made it thorugh the zone (Todendorf is its name) until 6 in the morning under engine. Super enjoying night shift. Dropped the anchor somewhere random and fell asleep instantly.
