It's the start of another summer of cruising on Far and Away! I'm doing a little test run before I leave tomorrow to join Nico in Norway. He left on May 17 to join the boat in Amoy Havn, near Stavanger. She spent the winter there, in the luxury of indoor storage, while she received a new Beta engine, rigging, and mainsail. We have been working her hard the last few years, and she deserved some Scandinavian spa treatment. Nico took her out on some test runs, and after a little tweaking, she was ready. Nico's brother Philip then joined him, and the two of them have spent the last ten days sailing Far and Away to Oslo.

Back to Scandinavian food - pickled herring

                                             

and whale meat at a party with some new friends.

 

                 He took a walk and saved this poor sheep whose head was stuck.

He also rescued this old dog whose owners sailed off by mistake without him. Nico held on to him until they sailed back.

Nico sailed up the Lysebotn Fjord and hiked. Far and Away is down at the bottom.

It is a place famous for BASE jumping. Nico saw someone hurl themselves off the cliff.

Then his brother Philip joined him, and they had a mix of head winds, lumpy seas, and some good sailing on their way to Oslo.

 

The beautiful new mainsail in action.

After multiple texts and pictures of part numbers, I rounded up the needed boat parts at hardware stores and Hamilton Marine. My backpack is now filled with oil filters, shower heads,  pressure switches, and electrical connectors, as well as fancy clothes for Italy (More about that later!).TSA is going to go wild tomorrow.