After being towed back to Borkum we were recovering fast. Only the towing itself felt like a “walk of shame”. The Ferry from Emden was overtaking us while people took a lot of photos. And many people in the harbor stared at us. We would have stared as well – no doubt. In those moments it is hard to maintain self-confident. But after realizing just how lucky we have been, we started managing the situation. Benni instantly started to contact and google for 2nd hand masts. We had great support by Martin – a father of our good friend Jan – who owns himself a Plattbodenboot in the Netherlands. Thank you Martin! I was socializing with the firms in the industrial complex at the harbor to get rid of the 300kg of wood (with glossy paint on it). We had two low wind / sunny days, which helped a lot to dry mattresses and clothes. We build the boat to be prepared to run under engine to Emden. Why Emden? Well Borkum is an island with very little shipyards or mast / rigging companies… actually none, or only commercial. We needed to get to mainland Germany to handle this situation. And so we did a quick ride from Borkum to Emden. 55 km in 5 hours due to tidal current pushing us. Maybe it’s not all bad in the North Sea
Arriving in Emden on the 03rd of September we docked at Borssum Shipyard and are as of now in constant communications to find ourselves a new mast. The boss of the Shipyard – a cliché of a north German man – is a very precise guy who takes his job very serious. Let’s just say that he made himself clear that he is not willing to give us any mast, but actually only helping us if he wants to be liable for the montage. Since we know very little about rigging – from a security perspective – this is the best that could have happened to us. Only down side: The close-by marina is full and going back out to the tidal-influenced “Yacht Harbor” would mean to go in and out the locks all the time. So now we are in a shipyard… but there are no facilities likes toilets. Only fresh water. Thank god Jan is living in Emden. I think tonight we will visit him for some sanity.
