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For a week we were on board together with our friends Petra and Jörg. Due to the low pressure forecast for the middle of the week, we cast off immediately. Our destination was Skjervøy, as a base for whale watching. It was quite impressive to watch the humpback whales slapping the water with their huge fins. At the beginning we only saw one group, but then we caught more and more spots on the water with small water fountains. The spectacle was even more beautiful when orcas c

We are currently in a great location in the city harbour. A jetty further is the sauna - just wonderful to jump directly into the harbor basin. Picture: Pust (Sauna) There is quite some traffic in the harbor there with coming and going of fishermen and expedition yachts. As we will stay here for longer, we will take our time to explore Tromsø. A nice little town that becomes more Christmassy every day with its fairy lights, stars and Christmas trees. It's fun to live 5 minute

Gregor's motto for our first sailing trip with the Aegir to the north is: We test the ship and the crew! We had a very intense start - be it through strenuous sailing days, the weather, great impressions of the country, great fishing experiences. In addition, there are some technical issues that keep us very busy and push us to our limits. You could also say that we move between eustress and distress. However - the learning curve is steep. We try to develop a certain serenity

Food, its preparation and enjoyment are also part of our everyday life on board. With our reduced kitchen items, supplies and a selection of seasonal freshness, we want to make the menu as varied as possible. The focus has shifted to pre-cooking for the crossings or sailing stages. We already know what works best: the pressure cooker and the potato bag for the microwave. We are fans of barley soup, chilli sin carne and pasta bolognese (with meat or without soy). We noticed th

We are getting to know our Aegir in detail and slowly gather ship technicians skills on the job. Loose screws on the diesel supply meant that the generator no longer ran. Suck in diesel, fix the screw and it runs again. Dismantle the toilet pump and put it back into operation. Replace the converter for the navigation electronics. It got wet - shit happens - because water dripped through the heating chimney directly onto the electronics during heavy rain... We are further on o

The refit of Aegir is done. We are grateful and relieved. The weather window fits. With our fellow sailor Lea we run on 21.9. from the tram port in Hellevoetsluis. Pleasant conditions await us for the start. We are really looking forward to sailing, to us with the Aegir and the fjords in Norway. After the hot summer, first in Switzerland and then here in Holland, we are relaxed about the rougher weather with intact heating and good outdoor clothing. So the three of us start a

Arriving on board is not so easy in that many projects are not yet completed. In addition, there is always something to do behind the cupboards or under the bow lockers. Advantage: We are slowly gaining an overview of where we can best store our things. Unexpected additional problems also arise, of course. But the motto still applies: Better now than on the go! Thanks to the great summer weather, we could finish a lot of paint and teak work. On the weekends we travelled to Ge

At the last yoga in the park, Lea guided the "warrior" with a look backwards and forwards as an image for the past and the future. We are left with wonderful experiences and memories of our life so far. We loved the brown-kites soaring just above our patio. Gulls have been mingling in the sky lately. This interesting spectacle fits with our shift. And at the end even a brown-kite landed in front of us on the garden lawn. Wonderful! From now on we will encounter other landscap

...has definitely started. The anticipation is growing and also slowly the impatience and expectation that we will finally move to the Aegir and off we go. In May we spent another 2 weeks on the Aegir and dealt with a teak strip around the ship. It was a huge effort to remove this and the joint adhesive. Armed like dentists, we then took care of the rust spots and finally painted and painted and painted with the help of our Dutch harbor master.... This process made us realize

Various projects are still ongoing. Delays in the supply chain are part of it at the moment, and so are we. But the radar, radio, stove and oven seem to be coming now. The Aegir was able to get out of the water for a short time and now we have a depth gauge again. We cleaned hole ship in 18 working hours - thanks to Petra & Merle. The first few days of this year felt very good again and it's good to be on board with the projects from time to time. Easter was then sailing star

Our winter break on the Aegir is being used to let Thomas Zjinschitz and his team update, check and add a few things. I am most looking forward to our new mainsail and the additional oven. Everything is going according to plan and we hope to be able to start on August 1st. There is still some time until then and we will soon be back on board and starting our work. In the meantime, we'll get fit. We don't want to leave without a dry suit and appropriate training. We completed

The departure and leaving Switzerland occupies us more and more. Passing on things to family and friends, disposing of unusable items, selling them on Ricardo, sorting them for the ship and keeping certain parts and thus temporarily storing them with family and friends. The cats are expected to move to Alsace. A well-known person is interested in taking her. The thought of saying goodbye is slowly becoming more concrete and easier because we know the person. Today I read an a

1. Stage: Around the "World Happiness Day" 2021 the time has come, finally we go to our ship. A week before departure we plan and pack what we will need on the Aegir. In glorious weather we arrive on OUR ship - together with the first craftsmen. The upholstery should be redone. Measures are taken and the order is placed. The ship feels good right away and we start cleaning. The next day, the handover of the ship can finally take place "live". For half a day we receive explana

...and we couldn't go. In the pandemic it is important to remain flexible. We were not able to implement our plans to go to Holland in January and then also in February. A cold front with storms and freezing rain in the north made us a little nervous. Was Aegir well acquainted? Was the heating still on? The harbor master kindly got an overview on board and sent us reassuring words and photos.

After a night drive with our friends Béatrice and Alain we reach the port of Monnickendamm at 5.30 am. We treat ourselves to an hour of sleep and a good breakfast. In glorious weather and without wind we set off. Gregor masters the first parking maneuver brilliantly. We cruise through Amsterdam and pass two bridges and locks. The first mooring maneuvers are successful and we find that we still have room for improvement when it comes to line handling and the choice of the righ

We continued to have family visits and were able to spend a few nice sailing days and anchor nights on the Haringvliet to test one or the other on the ship. In October it was time to start thinking about winter. The sails came down - mega big! And now some winter projects are running with Thomas Zinschitz (mast down - new rigging, running and standing rigging; new navigation electronics - plotter, radar, autopilot, displays; new mainsail; diesel stove in the saloon, watermake

A few insights In mid-2019 we started taking a closer look at various used ships. We were looking for an aluminum or steel ship with a stable rudder, good engine and sufficient tank capacity. Also very important for us: a deckhouse. In the end we had 10 yachts on the longlist. After a thorough inspection, it was clear what wasn't right for us. Poorly maintained, too expensive, too small, etc... Four models remained and all of them had their strengths but also disadvantages.

From May to August 2021, we visited Aegir a few times. We had quite some DIY project to handle. For example the installation of stronger and more durable anchor chain and a heavy anchor on top. With help from von Petra and Jörg all went well. Happy to have quite some visitors on Aegir (Magda, Ingo, Lisa, Traudi and Teresa). The furling main sail was a bit difficult to handle. The sail got jammed when furling out an a climb into the mast was required to solve the issue. The u