January 1st 2002 found us in the frozen harbour of Middelharnis in the south of Holland, where we spent christmas and new years' eve. It was beautifull, romantic and cold outside. During 2002 many things will change for us. In mai we intend to start our trip to the baltic states, Finland and Sweden.

Mai.

A difficult part of the trip is now behind us: the beginning. During the past few weeks we stopped working, said goodbye to the company after 18 years, sold the house, moved onto the boat and settled there, did a lot of shopping plus a few other items.

During the 2nd week of Mai we sailed from the Haringvliet in Holland into the German Bight. There was a fog but the wind was in the right corner. We stayed in Hooksiel near Wilhelmshaven untill after Whitsunday. Visited friends and toured Friesland. A quiet start.

The Eider river is part of an old trade route across this narrow part of Germany. The Vikings hauled their boats and cargo from the Schlei river on the Baltic side 20Km overland and then followed the Treene and Eider rivers into the North sea. We followed the bends in the river and stayed together overnight at anchor. A very nice route through a beautifull landscape.

An absolute highlight was walking to Neuwerk, an island off the German coast, across the shoals, together with our sailing club secretary.

Our next goal was Helgoland but for a short stay only since we wanted to go east.

But as usual, the wind was in the wrong corner to go to the river Elbe and so we decided to go through the river Eider, together with Hennie and Josée on their Libertad.

June

After leaving the Eider river and the Kiel canal, we day-tripped east for a few days. Our first city was Warnemünde, a small harbour at the mouth of the river Warnow, near Rostock. We spent some days touring the neighbourhood and enjoyed the weather and the good infrastructure. There is a lot of building activity in the East. Rostock is a good looking city with lots of beautifull buildings. In the old days, Rostock was part of the Hanse, the trade association which covered the entire North Sea and the Baltic deep into Russia in the 15-16th centuries.

Stralsund was our next destination. Located at the link between the German mainland and the island of Rügen, Stralsund also was an important partner in the Hanse and therefore has a considerable number of beautifull houses and churches. Stralsund is an organ city.

After Stralsund we made a break. At the numerous stops we gathered so many impressions that we stopped over at the island of Rügen for a week to digest. We went to Lauterbach, a small and cosy harbour in the south with good connections to visit the island. Here we also met Eva and Gerald Kinze. Gerald is Trans-Ocean representative at Rügen. We enjoyed seeing them and they enjoyed seeing us.

A highlight was a trip with 'Roaring Roland'. 20 miles one way by train and back by bike. Roaring Roland is a steam-hauled narrow gauge (30ins) railway, but not the mickey mouse type. Serious 1E1 tender locomotives haul 130tons of load across the country at 15-20mph with lots of smoke.

After leaving Lauterbach we sailed east to Poland with a stop at the island of Ruden. Our first port in Poland was Kolobrzeg, a large fishing harbour at the north coast. Beside the fishing, Kolobrzeg ist also the largest Baltic resort of Poland, and that was good for us because Els urgently needed a dentist to get a tooth nerve treated. And Kolobrzeg has it all, including many and good dentists. For us prices in Poland are low because of the high buying value of the Zloty. For daily food the Zloty buys you the same as a Swiss Franc in Switserland. Only luxury like coffee, harbour dues or hotels have western pricelevels.

Therefore we visited Gdansk during a 2-days trip by train. It was a splendid trip. Contrary to Kolobrzeg, Gdansk was rebuilt in old style. Due to the strong links to the Hanse, we often got similar impressions as in Stralsund and many buildings and streets have a strong resemblance to Amsterdam.

Looking at the beautifull city center one tends to forget that in 1945 not one stone stood on the other in this place.

We did enjoy the luxury of the Hotel. (onboard we miss the bath tub).

In Kolobrzeg we stayed 10 days in the yacht harbour behind the fort. People are very friendly and helpfull here. Kolobrzeg is a relatively modern city because after the war it was rebuilt in modern style. For us it was very interesting to see Poland again after 30 years.

During this week we made a big change in plans. Instead of sailing eastward towards Gdansk and Lithuania, we decided to go to Sweden first. Els want to be in Holland together with Monique and that is easier together by car from Sweden.

So we said goodbye to Poland again after 11 days and sailed north first. From Poland to southern Sweden is a 24hr trip. In the Kalmar sound we had lots of wind but the sailing was fantastic. Sometimes too fantastic. Now we are north of Kalmar in Pataholm. Nature only, no boats, no people. (smack in the holiday season!!). The weather is fine, sun and clouds, average temperatures but lots and lots of wind. We did not swim yet. The water is 17 degrees.

We went to Oskarshamn and stayed there for more than a week. Els went to Holland for 5 days and Liesje and myself kept us busy. Chipping rust, painting, the laundry, boat maintenance, grilling and coffeedrinking with the family. The week went fast.