We are fully into moving the boat now. Sixty miles Saturday, eighty miles Sunday, and fifty miles today. Since Germany, we’ve stopped in two Polish port towns, Kolobrzeg (pronounced Co-wob-jec) and Leba (Weh-ba), and our next destination is Hel, just ten miles across the bay from Gdansk. (Hence the title of this blog entry.)

Our experience going to Hel has been varied. We’ve managed to correct several problems and create a few new ones.

On the plus side, some of our earlier issues appear fully resolved. The Furuno NavNet and MaxSea Time Zero navigation units are performing well, as is the iPad iNavX app, so we have yet to use the paper charts I bought in Copenhagen, except for passage planning. The downloaded driver for the GPS USB antenna failed to install properly, but this is not a critical concern.

The wind is going our way, which is also a plus. Saturday the wind held steady at 20 knots, allowing us to surf downwind at up to 11 knots! Yesterday, the wind gusted to 33 knots early and we set out under a reefed headsail only, still making six knots. The seas were quite heavy, causing discomfort among the crew. The gusts diminished as the day progressed, and we were able to set both sails 50 percent reefed. Today (Monday), the winds are light and we are flying our new gennaker, which keeps us moving six knots in an eight knot wind. Fantastic!

On the downside, we managed to break our new whisker pole on its first deployment. Twenty miles east of Greifswalder Oie, miles from anywhere, we were somehow able to clip a lone navigational buoy with the pole, causing it to snap at the mast. A fair bit of seamanship ensued to retrieve and secure the pole safely. It appears the only damage is to the part that holds the pole to the mast, so we hope repair will not be too difficult or expensive. The pole is now lashed to the deck until Helsinki where we will try to find a Selden repair shop.

After our eighty mile day to Leba, I noticed the SSB antenna wire had become disconnected from the aft shroud, rendering our SSB radio useless. I should be able to effect repair without difficulty, but will need to hoist myself up the shroud using the topping lift to access the attachment point. This will have to wait until Gdansk.

Our first Polish port towns – Kolobrzeg and Leba – are a distinct contrast from the other places we have been further west. Our schedule allowed only a brief walking tour of each town. One’s first impression of both is of urban blight. Rusting hulks that pass for fishing boats line the canal labyrinth that serves as a harbor. On shore, piles of rubble litter empty lots bordered by chain link fences. In each lot is a decrepit 1960’s vintage building with broken windows. Dogs patrol inside the fences, guarding some unseen valuable (what, I don’t know). In the town centers, blocky three story structures painted institutional green or taupe line the streets. A few buildings appear abandoned during construction, likely because of inadequate financing. Craggy faced old women wearing scarves over their heads walk purposefully down the sidewalks, and men young and old are dressed in camo trousers with Che Guevara hats. Almost no one speaks English.

The only exception to this drabness is the beautiful new marina built in Leba in 1998. A short stroll in the opposite direction from the center of town takes one through a pine forest and onto a broad, white sand beach. The natural world here can be quite attractive, even if the manmade world is not.

Back at the boat, we move through what has now become a comfortable evening routine. After buttoning up the boat, two of us search for wifi signals, sometimes successfully, while the third prepares supper. It’s Phil’s turn as galley master on Sunday night, and he prepares a delicious chicken and red pepper crepe dish. We are exhausted from the long tortuous day in two meter seas and 30 knot winds, so we retire at sundown – 10 p.m. – but not before learning that the United States tied England one to one in their World Cup soccer match.

On Monday, while lollygagging at five knots under gennaker I ask Phil and Martin an open ended question. “What was your one biggest learning on this voyage?”

After a pause, Phil says, “To not let my guard down.” Then, not able to limit himself to one learning, he adds a few more, about docking, knot tying, and other sailing skills.

A bit later, Martin responds, “To stay alert.”

It seems both crew members find cruising to be quite demanding. And so it is. When under way, it’s imperative to always be aware of one’s surroundings – depth, sail trim, other vessels, etc. To relax one’s attentiveness at all invites trouble.

Which leads me to my biggest learning of this trip – appreciation of shipmates.
When aboard a cruising sailboat, you create your own world. The quality of that world depends on the attitude and performance of all aboard. When everyone takes their fair share of the work and looks out for each other, an atmosphere of friendship, cooperation, and support develops, obviously the preferred circumstance given the close quarters aboard ship. In this situation, the pride of accomplishment can be shared by all. This is particularly true given that, with all due respect to single handers, no one person should be expected to handle everything. (The best example is our shared watch schedule on overnight crossings.) Teamwork is critical to getting the job done.

And this is how it has been on Leg 1. My hat is off to Martin and Phil who both now have an equal claim to the success of this voyage. I am forever grateful for their assistance, and for their friendship. Thanks, Martin and Phil.

We are now approaching Hel, a small port just inside the tip of an 18 mile peninsula forming Zatoka Gdanska (Gdansk Bay). The peninsula is a line of wooded dunes no higher than 30 meters and only 250 meters wide in places. The port handles fishing vessels and yachts, which have their own basin where we will dock.

According to Phil, going to Hel sometimes felt like purgatory.(He said this during a bout of seasickness as I recall.) None-the-less, we anticipate an enjoyable time upon arrival in Hel.

Whether this confirms our status as sinners is not certain. None-the-less, we intend to make the best of it.