Author: beppe

At last an update! As everyone can see Yrvind is now at Porto Santo, Madeira. His sailing from Azores was a mixed experience. Light wind conditions one day and tuffer weather next day. The last days at sea he had a tremendous sailing with good speed running beam reach. He logged 5 to 6 knots. I was not prepared for that speed and missed his landfall and saw suddenly his tracker spot at Porto Santo, a day or two too late. The intense sailing had its price and Yrvind is now resting and hope he soon will find energy to be able to write about his last sailing experience on the website. Until then we had to make it with some photos taken by Laurent Gougeon, a french sailor, at Yrvinds arrival to Porto Santo harbour.

/Beppe

/Beppe

DEPARTING HORTA
After only a week or so I long to be back at sea. I have already gotten strong abstinence syndrome.

First my plan was to ship Exlex back to Sweden but that would not really have been fair to her. Also I decided that it will be better to spend the shipping money on my next boat Exlex Rex.

Now after having had the use of my legs and gotten new books from Amazon, eaten fruit, bread, cheese, the urge to go to sea again is possessing me.

Also I have here been lucky to be out on the whaleboats 3 times. The hull of the next boat, Exlex Rex will have a whaleboat shape.

Exlex my present boat is painted below the waterline with Copper Coat. There have been different reports on how well it works. In my case the result is excellent. Exlex bottom is as clean as the day she came out of my workshop. I am pleased.

I intend to sail down to Porto Santo, Madeira. If Exlex can have the same average speed as from Ålesund Norway to Horta, 2 knots it will take us 20 days, but the weather decides. Only God knows how long it will take to reach Porto Santo. I have no self steering, no motor. In calms I have to wait for wind or use my oar, but thats fine as I have plenty of food and water and like to spend time at sea especially now that I have so many more books to learn from.

Some internet people worry about me not sailing fast enough. They say 2 knots is to slow.
I say the sense of speed is like most human senses adaptiv.
Therefore there is laws stating that cars must have speedometers. There is no speedometer on Exlex. My sense of speed has adapted so that I feel fine sailing with 2 knots.

High speed attracts strong forces. Nothing has broken during my recent 78 days long sail. Exlex is gentle on her gear and crew. I feel fine sailing with two knots. 4 – 5 knots would be fine too.
Haste makes waste. I take it easy. To read a book slowly, to enjoy a meal slowly, to make love slowly, to slowly reflect on life is fine for an old man. 60 years ago I was more in a hurry. I have learnt some.

After spending time in Porto Santo with nice friendly people the idea is to fly back to Sweden.

In my workshop I will start on Exlex Rex. Her beam will be 1.22 meter, or 4 feet, same as the present boat. I do not need more beam.
Exlex Rex will be at least 6 beams long, hopefully even up to 7 beams long or 8.4 meter depending on space in my workshop.

Adding 2 meters my present boats length will add about 80 kilos to her weight. Her circumference is 4 meter.
4 meter times 2 meter is 8 square meter.
Each square meter is 10 kilos.
10 kilos times 8 square meters is 80 kilo.

Adding wave creating length to a boat reduces her resistans. It is a better alternative of creating speed.
It is better for the environment, it is also cheaper for the builder than adding sail area and ballast keel and winches and rigging, its also more gentle.

After working on next boat in Sweden, in the end of April 2021 the plan is to return to Porto santo and Exlex and sail her to Dingle in Ireland and from there to trail her to Sweden.

This is the prediction. What really will happen might be a different story.

I thank everyone that has contributed to my experiment. Hopefully my work will lead to small safe ocean going boats that do not use to much of the earths non renewable resources.
Regards Yrvind

Exilex is a fine boat.
Her problem is me.
My ambitions was to greedy. Sailing to New Zealand non stop was not realistic. Now I have learned that lesson.
Sailing an Atlantic circuit in her would have been no problem if I had not loaded her with water for 160 days and food for maybe 300 – 400 days.
Also Corona changed everything. Borders were closed. The plan was to depart from Ireland like I did in 2018. That was not possible year 2020.
While considering different options someone asked me what I was going to do in New Zealand.
After some thinking I realized that really I had no business in New Zealand it was the voyage I desired.
I said to myself: With all the hassels of Corona visas customs bureaucrats etc why not just float around on a nice piece of the deep blue endless eternal ocean that I love so much?
1983 I sailed my boat Bris to Museum of Yachting in Newport R.I. via the Sargasso sea.
I had a fantastic time. Sunshine a very very light breeze, the Sargasso sea was flat like a mirror. I enjoyed myself.
The new idea 2020 was to load up the boat with as much food and water as possible.
I overdid it. After 78 days at sea I still have 75 liter water of 130 having used 65 liter.
As for food even worse. I do not know how much food I loaded but I have hardly dented it. Probably there is still 80 or 90 % left. That is I have not eaten more than a fraction of it.
This time with boarders closed I left Ålesund, Norway 27 of June 2020.
It turned out to be a very cold, grey, windy voyage.
Finally after passing the latitude of Cape Finisterre I hoped to get god weather. The pilot chart showed 1% gales but then there was 3 days of gales and predictions for more just at the beginning of September.
There was also some problems with the boat. She sailed very slow with all the food. I had experimented with a new type of hatches that was not satisfactory. The steering system, The jammers did not work. There were other things also that could be improved on.
Besides I had such good ideas for a new boat, a canoe cruiser. The hull shape like a whale boat. In Horta Azores there are whale boats. I have been extremely lucky twice so far I have been out sailing whale boats.
I cut the voyage short mostly due to bad weather and winter coming.
I now have sailed from Norway west of Scotland and south three times, first in Bris  1973, then in Bris 1983, now in Exlex 2020.
1973 was very stormy
1983 was good weather
2020 was windy cold and gray.
I will try to ship Exlex back to Sweden if I can afford it and myself somehow get back.

About next boat more later.
Regards Yrvind