tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89482107609632077852024-03-08T14:33:04.713-02:00The World is RoundS/V FREEFALL
Circumnavigation 2004 - 2007
-- Atlantic Crossing 2009Axel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-10704739958283802892012-04-29T16:56:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.206-02:00on the way to emdenafter a break in den helder, holland, where mama, susanne, siddy and emily visited us, we tried to get to emden yesterday. but it was a very hard day. winds were hi and we had to beat against the wind. we got drenched the whole way and decided to stop at an island for the night. now the wind has stopped and we are motoring to emden. we are hoping that there will be a breeze during the night. motoring sucks.
<br>90 NM to go.
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<br>AxelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-83171589878542147962012-04-25T03:23:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.254-02:00up and down24.04.
<br>after we were doing an average speed of 9 knots this morning for 6 h, we are now doing between 3-4 knots for the last 6 h. very exhausting! i miss the tradewinds...
<br>almost in dover now. we will decide later if we stop there or not. axel
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<br>25.04.
<br>passed dover last night, had customs for two hours on board in the middle of the night, they searched everything with 5 person but couldnt find anything. Now the wind is blowing again and we are fast. if the wind doesnt stop we should be in emden in two days time.
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<br>everything is fine on board.Axel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-49391243766051116492012-04-24T07:30:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.222-02:00stormy nightsafter two stormy nights (the coast guards warnings said 8 beaufaut) we are now heading for boulogne or dover for a rest. at the moment we are flying away, after a very slow day yesterday in the eye. ships everywhere so we have to hold a sharp outlook. chris is sleeping since hours, relaxing from the exhausting night. i think we will arrive in the harbour during the next night. axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-55761771106230917942012-04-23T09:17:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.232-02:00channel islandsafter a very windy night we are now in the eye of the low and the wind is almost gone...<br>we are just passing the channel islands, but too far away to see anything. everybody is fine and tired on board.<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-52805687172586951232012-04-23T03:50:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.229-02:00in the channelits windy since 3 this morning but everything is fine....<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-7026748230791994412012-04-22T12:18:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.248-02:00english canalwe just decided to keep on sailing... we will reach the channel in 3 h. The low what will pass our way looks quite weak, so we go for it.
<br>otherwise we have to stay in brest for too long. the next low is coming after this one and we will have no chance to get freefall to germany in time.
<br>everything is fine on board.
<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-58749259382524391362012-04-22T06:16:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.236-02:00heading for brestwe will sail to brest and wait for better weather there. a depression is passing our way...so no lymington.<br>we should arrive in brest by this evening... everything fine on board.Axel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-50816112298341132762012-04-21T14:05:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.227-02:00windy and wetwe are getting closer to the english channel...winds are high and its a tough trip...
<br>everyone and everything is fine on board...
<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-65634538600593019152012-04-20T15:16:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.246-02:00kap finisterre / bay of biscaywe started the trip at 1000h and were beating against wind and current for the first 20 h with average speed of 4 knots. now we are away from land and getting faster. bumpy and windy but fine. freefall doing well. <p>couldnt get propagation to send e-mails. Now we have 300 NM to go to Brest, 500NM to Lymington. <p>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-65041194401944148862012-04-18T13:22:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.243-02:00Bay of BiscayFreefall is ready to set sail to England and Germany!<p>We (Chris and I) are trying to get going by tommorrow morning. Weather is wet and windy but the forecast is good to get North.<p>AxelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-64910888160269946342009-07-31T16:56:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.241-02:00we did it!!!!!!!!!yipieeeehhhhh, after 23 days, 3010 NM (5580 KM or 3460 Miles) with an average speed of 5.5 knots we arrived save and happy at the beautiful island "islas cies". we are anchored direct at a nice white beach with a little bar. tomorrow we are continuing sailing to vigo (only on the other side 10 NM from here!! we had already our san miguel and are longing for a full night sleep. the last two day we had to handsteer the boat and that is exhausting with only two persons on board.<p>trey and axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-31550333148215679942009-07-30T16:44:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.218-02:00ole ole ole oleeeeeeeewe are motoring since yesterday and have no wind but we are happy to have only 64 NM to go. tomorrow morning we will be in spain....Axel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-56575303640129776972009-07-28T08:39:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.234-02:00390 to go....since yesterday afternoon we have favorable winds from the SW and are doing good mileages. if the wind blows its always strong and variable so we have to be careful. the waves are choppy and its a tough ride, but we are happy to get closer and closer...<br>everything fine on board,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-76642309188770256252009-07-27T14:55:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.251-02:00506 NM to gothe last 500 miles!! thats good, we are exhausted and would like to have a good nightsleep.<br>the last 20 h we had almost no wind but just enough to get her going with around 4 knots, not worth to turn on the engine! The sails were flapping and it was not too nice. just 30 min ago the wind picked up and we are goosewinging now with around 6 knots towards vigo. hope we have wind for the last little bit of the passage, then we will see land on the 31. of july...fingers crossed.<br>everything is fine on board,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-60197367785705313332009-07-26T07:04:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.239-02:00wind changewe had two days of good weather and wind from SW with good milage! 640 NM to go!! but yesterday afternoon from one to the other minute the wind changed from SW to NNE and we had the whole night rain. now the wind is still from N but the rain just stopped and i can see the front moving from us and the blue sky is coming. we are sailing close haul at the moment but i hope that the wind turns a bit to NNW and we can sail easy to spain...<br>everything is fine on board,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-9617051580962883332009-07-24T19:57:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.263-02:00heading east...we have nice wind and i think we got around that low...everything is fine, 850 NM to vigo, axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-15523802397242722972009-07-24T08:58:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.209-02:00lowtwo nights ago i checked the weather forecast and had a not so good feeling with a low building in the west. so we decided to go south. we ran away from the depression. we did that for 30 h although we have lost a day because of that. but when i checked the weather fax yesterday and they had storm force winds in this depression of more than 60 knots, i was no more sad about the lost day...<br>at the moment it looks like we just got around the depression and i hope it will not get to bad for the next hours. we are not on course for vigo right now, but we are going ESE for the moment and are getting closer to spain. 925 NM to go.<br>everything is fine,<p>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-4987834607421089862009-07-22T18:14:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.225-02:00some wind...we did not motor too much this morning and have had a light breeze for the day, sailing with around 5 knots, now its nice wind, and we do 6-7 knots, would be nice if we would have that a bit longer...<br>we said hello to warship 42 today, who were on the way to florida...thats all,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-83951667118341444962009-07-22T09:58:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.259-02:00motoring againits unbelieable, the gale stops and now we have no wind again and are motoring!! <br>rest is fine,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-8348384354739007432009-07-21T11:01:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.256-02:00no between...the calm days are over and the gale days are back...triple reef, little cutter sail and we are getting blown away...during the night the wind was getting stronger and stronger and now we are again in the upper 30, lower forties...i wish we would get sometimes wind around 20 knots but nothing yet. the wind is blowing from NW and we are surfing down the waves with 10+ knots! the fastest surf so far was 14.2 knots! its bumpy and unpleasant but we are doing progress.<br>i wonder who is doing the weather forecast, it hasn´t once been right yet...<p>everything else is fine,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-22718979980132635152009-07-20T13:09:00.000-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.211-02:00motoringhmmmm, still no wind so we turned on the motor and are moving with around 5 knots towards spain...no sun, humid and 25°C. we ran over a turtle she was not so happy and was flapping around when she came out at the back of the boat...she was probably sleeping and i hope she didn´t got into the prob.<br>everything else is fine..<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-30428291405236334462009-07-20T08:41:00.002-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.215-02:00HalftimeWe did sail now 1430 NM and have another 1410 NM to go!! its halftime. yipieheee...<br>we will have a little glas of wine on that and have hopefully a good and peaceful night. not much wind at the moment. this morning there was almost nothing and we were doing between 3-4.5 KN. now we are around 5 knots and its easy sailing. no sun today, only clouds and little rainshowers..<br>axel<p>update: we had no wind for the night and still have none! at the moment we are not motoring because the wind is coming from the west and we only would move away from the wind...hope we get some wind soon! <br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-33383228518455986442009-07-20T08:41:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.220-02:00HalftimeWe did sail now 1430 NM and have another 1410 NM to go!! its halftime. yipieheee...<br>we will have a little glas of wine on that and have hopefully a good and peaceful night. not much wind at the moment. this morning there was almost nothing and we were doing between 3-4.5 KN. now we are around 5 knots and its easy sailing. no sun today, only clouds and little rainshowers..<br>axel<p>update: we had no wind for the night and still have none! at the moment we are not motoring because the wind is coming from the west and we only would move away from the wind...hope we get some wind soon! <br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-30389828499437407402009-07-19T06:13:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.213-02:00we got the westerliesfinally we got the westerlies, very light though but better than nothing. after an raining start yesterday, the weather was getting better. the wind was changing from east to west and now we are sailing butterfly to the right direction. the pole is out for the first time on this voyage...and we are fishing. but i think for fishing the wind is too low and we are not fast enough. 1450 NM to go to Spain! in 20 NM its halftime...and we both hope that the second half will be better than the first.<br>rest is fine on board,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8948210760963207785.post-85678169358130892182009-07-17T13:55:00.001-02:002016-12-07T06:16:31.261-02:00weatheri never had some many weather changes in one week during a long passage! yesterday afternoon we were cruising along, before we were hitting a second time the cold labrador current. fog fog fog and no wind! we are motoring now since yesterday evening for the last 17 h. it is unbelievable cold and most of the night the visibility was around 10-20 m. good to have a radar. the sea is flat like a mirror with a bit of movement. quite nice and strange. since two hours the fog is gone and we have beautiful sunshine but still no wind.<br>The first 8 days of that trip we had all kind of wind blowing or not blowing, but we couldn´t find the westerlies yet, which should blow here constantly and make it a nice passage. The good thing is, the trip is not boring and eventful and time is running quicker. <br>The autopilot during motoring is not working so we are changing shifts on the helm.<br>everything is fine on board,<br>axelAxel & Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17569372446894090060noreply@blogger.com0