Born Free.

There are times in life when finding a new friend sets in motion a chain reaction of events. Meeting Michael in Kalmar, Sweden, whilst stuck due to inclement weather, was a moment of great fortune.

The summer of 2019 was a gruelling battle south through the Kalmarsund, that troublesome stretch of water between mainland Sweden and the long thin island of Öland. Kalmar is like a honey trap being one of the few refuges when the winds are wrong or weather impossible. Extremely expensive and some unhelpful harbour staff cast me in a despondent mood until I met Michael who was homeward bound to Marstal in Denmark. He helped me avoid paying the extortionate harbour fees along with the other German sailors on the jetty.

Meeting Michael and Petra again in Marstal was a joy.

We were destined to meet again, this time in Ystad on the south Swedish coast. Here, I met Petra, Michael’s wife, who is like a sister from a past life. We connected immediately, and have been writing to each other ever since; therefore it was an ambition of mine to sail to their beautiful Island home on Aerø in Denmark.
The Covid saga has presented many obstacles and it was not until July of this year that I finally made it to my friends’ home in the quaint wee town of Marstal.

Finally, I made it to Marstal!

My visit to Denmark was postponed from last year and I felt this was the perfect opportunity to conduct sea trials before an attempted North Sea Crossing. Having my German residency has given me access to these waters without the implications of these violations and the bureaucracy due to Brexit. I have worked tirelessly on Free preparing her for sea but she has been stationary in Bad Schwartau for longer than I would like and there is a lot of weed growth underneath her waterline. How fortunate to have been on such an economic mooring with decent kind folk. I have been forced to learn German in a very short time, enough to get by and deal with technical and bureaucratic issues. I cannot impress upon you how difficult the language is to learn, especially at the ripe old age of sixty four!

The sea trials have begun

Sea trials began with by motoring up the Trave River from Bad Schwartau to a favourite anchorage just south of Travemünde. The following day found me at sea with my course set for Fehmarn Island, a difficult slightly frustrating dance with a north-easterly breeze which was just too fine for me to sail without running the engine. I was rewarded as I altered course towards the end of the day with a few hours of fine closehauled sailing. Plenty of opportunities to check engine conditions and the running gear and rig on deck; by the time I reached Fehmarn Island, I was fully satisfied.

My decision to run under the German flag was tested as I lay at anchor off Fehmarn Island. The Polizei boarded me and asked to check my documents. All proved to be well and after a few questions they wished me a good trip and welcomed me back to Germany in the future. I can only imagine the awful predicament were I flying a British flag and the potential for testing and quarantine.

A delightful sail between Fehmarn Island and Langeland Island in Denmark.

Now it is time to depart from Aerø and goodness only knows when, if ever, I will see my dear friends again. My government and its supporters have driven a wedge between my friends and I after all these years living and sailing in Europe. I feel a pang of despair at the way the world is going and can only hope that it is temporary without further culls of the freedom to lead a nomadic life. One has to ask what right a government has to curtail basic freedom when we have such little time on this beautiful planet.

Petra is like a sister to me. I will miss her terribly, but we will always live in each other’s hearts.

I hope to pick up a brisk nor-westerly breeze on departure that should take me down to Kiel and the beginning of the great canal that connects the Baltic with the mighty River Elbe and the North Sea. After that, who knows? How long can I remain free from the oppressive reign of medical fascism and the cloying, sickly, health and safety culture that seems too have turned adults back into infants.

This kind of world cannot hold true, free folk like me and those who walk the walk. We are not born for the whims of others… we are born free.