Live Update: January 24, 2023 (Patreon)

Hello from Budapest :)

I arrived here safe and sound and getting used to the cold again! Just when I thought I was done with it for a while. 

Here is a quick update on the crossing. As Mads has told you in the last post, the new crew has arrived! In the photo above, that's Mark in the center (we met him and his wife in Gosport last winter :) Then to the right is Julian, my brother-in-law (the reason Mads and I are together. More on that later!)

They wanted to leave yesterday but would have hit some nasty weather at the start of the passage. So instead of having a rough start, they decided to wait out the bad weather, and it looks like they will leave this weekend. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, they will get more jobs done aboard, like painting meter markings on the chain and installing the last hatch screen in the saloon. Putting them to work! A great way to get some crew bonding in! 

Going back before the guys got there, Mads wasted no time at all once I left, turning the inside of the boat into his workshop ;) He was able to get the wind vane rudder copper coated. Check out his painting contraption below!

The air conditioning has finally arrived! You can imagine Mads is itching to get this baby installed!

Mads sewed a new lee cloth for the aft. It looks pretty cozy in there. That will be Julian's bunk for the passage.

He also made a privacy curtain for the aft and the settee bunk (see below). Mark will be on the settee, and Mads will be in the forward. 

If you can believe it, all the stickies are moved to the done section! (Except for testing the downwind set-up, which they will do this week now) Mads worked his butt off to finish everything before this past weekend because they thought they would leave on Monday. That's sailing for you! Fingers crossed for an excellent upcoming weather window.