Departure day
At 17.30 today, we sailed aboard Barba out of Stavanger. If everything goes to plan, we will be back in port in southern Norway in about four months, on October 10.
The master plan includes swimming with whales, meeting polar bears and circumnavigating Svalbard. At the moment, however, this is all on the distant horizon.
For the last three days, it has been full-on preparation mode with the boat. Boxes loaded with gear have been arriving from remote corners of the world, and so has the crew. Jon found his way here from the dark forests of Western Norway, Daniel descended from the Alps and headed up here from Germany and Terry bid farewell to sunny Florida before joining us in Stavanger. We are one man short for the moment, but Ivan Kutasov, from Russia, will meet us in the port of Trondheim in central Norway in about eight days.
For now, we are recovering from our first test – getting the boat loaded and ready for the 6,300 kilometers of sailing before us. The first 20 kilometers, I am happy to report, have passed with little drama.
Stay tuned,
Andreas
From the left, Jon, Andreas and Terry. Photos by Daniel Hug/ Terragraphy.de
PS: The position tracker is strong and kicking!
PS PS: A big thank you to all friends in Stavanger that helped us out with final preparations!
