Return to Norway, a quick trip to Denmark and Germany before Sweden and boat sales in Norway 😮

Norway July 14th - September 19th 2023

We arrived in Norway and Mandal on July 14th and stayed for 3 days. Here we were visited by Nina, Anniken and André one afternoon. Dennis also came and joined us for the leg to Søgne where we visited Daniel, Sandra, Ask and Eira. It was so nice to see them all again. 😍

Ask and Eira are growing so fast and it will be nice to be able to see them a little more often now that we will be a little closer in distance.

Dennis went home and we sailed to Lillesand where we stayed for 5 whole days because we were waiting for a weather window to cross over to Denmark. In Lillesand we did some hilking and also cycled a bit. We cycled i.a. to Grimstad and back. A trip that was 43 km, phew 😅. We also went on a boat trip in Blindleia and the area around Lillesand with an acquaintance of Kai .

We also went to a concert with Jan Eggum, a Norwegian folk singer, at Hotel Norge 👍.

The crossing to Denmark took 22 hours and we arrived in Sæby in the morning.

We sailed on further south and visited Grenå, Århus, Nyhavn2 and Fynshav on our way to Kiel.

In Kiel we were picked up by Barbara and Stefan and spent 3 days with them in Hamburg. The last time we saw each other was in Culebra, Puerto Rico, in February.

We got to see a lot of Hamburg, both by car and on foot. We chatted, laughed and remembered, and we updated each other on everything we had experienced since the last time.

A very pleasant visit 😃😍.

Back in Kiel we prepared to sail north. We sailed via Spodsbjerg and also some slightly narrower waters under some bridges towards Stubbekøbing, before sailing north towards Copenhagen.

Along the way we decided to get a problem we have had with the gearbox checked. We have had problems getting the engine into forward gear after reversing, not ok when we are in narrow harbors 😏.

We stopped in Rødvig and a mechanic took a look at it. He adjusted the gearwire and it was somewhat better, but we still wanted to have it checked by Volvo Penta. While we were waiting for an answer (weekend), we had a nice trip along Stevns Klinter (cliffs), but we also experienced drama in the harbor - a boat on fire 😮. Fortunately, there were no injuries and no spread to other boats.

After several days and phone calls to various Volvo Penta workshops in Denmark and southern Sweden, all of which had days/weeks of waitingtime😕, we decided to carry out a full repair when the boat is taken up for the season.

We then sailed further north towards Copenhagen.

In Copenhagen, a possible boat buyer came from Norway to see the boat. After several hours of checking, including lifting the boat, the deal was concluded and Papaki was sold on August 23rd 😏.

A little sad, but also okay 😢😃. We agreed that we will sail the boat to the buyer's home port at Nesodden. It will be a new experience, as we have never sailed the entire Oslofjord in 😃.

We visited Lene and Søren before we left Copenhagen and Denmark. It was a very pleasant and late evening 😃. We also decided that they will come to Norway and visit us at the cabin this winter. 👍

We had a bumpy ride from Denmark. It was a trip of 28 hours, of which 24 hours felt like being in a "washing machine". It was very nice to moor in the harbor in Fiskebäckskil, Sweden 😅.

We had agreed with the buyer that we would try to get the gear repaired on the way to Oslo.

This turned out to be very difficult, as everyone had long waiting lists, but we finally got an appointment at a Volvo Penta workshop in Hamburgsund. We had a nice trip in "old" territory, in sheltered waters and through the Sotekanalen. There has been 6 years!! since the last time we sailed there.

We arrived in Hamburgsund on Thursday afternoon, parts were ordered, and we were to be lifted up on Tuesday. While we were waiting, we were able to go for a few walks. On Tuesday, Papaki was lifted, the engine was moved and the s-drive was picked out and the mechanic changed the slats on the s-drive. On Friday, everything was assembled in place and on Saturday, Papaki was lifted onto the water again. The engine was started, Kai put it in gear and NOTHING happened !!! 😱

What??

Back up on land and the engine was lifted forward and the s-drive taken out again. Something had been installed incorrectly and also something else had happened. So then we had another week on land 😩.

Friday afternoon we were again back on the water and on Saturday we could finally head north again.

Sunday afternoon, after an overnight stay in port, we arrived at the new owner's home port.

What remained was to pack up everything we had on board and wash Papaki inside and outside.

It was amazing to see how much stuff there was .

Where on earth has everything been? 🤷‍♀️

We ended up filling a small trailer, a small van and a trunk with the back seat down! 🙄.

Now we will "land" and family is waiting for a visit. And we look forward to winter at the cabin with Christmas visits and lots of skiing 😍.

Who knows, maybe there will be some trips on land eventually too 🤷.

Many thanks to Papaki who has been our home for 4 years and sailed us safely in the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic, in the Caribbean, the Irish Sea and across the North Sea back to Norway and Scandinavia 😍.

Monica og Kai Robert