Møn
As the sunset is approaching, the sky flames up. Sunset is just around the corner. It’s gonna be beautiful, and a night sail to Møn awaits. I’ve been awake for 14 hours already and ahead lies 10 more. “This is really not a good idea” keeps repeating itself in my head…
This is a story about testing yourself and sinking into the pleasure and hard times of sailing. Enjpying your destination and enjoying what nature brings you
As we back out of the slip and the mooring lines fall to their dark corner in storage, I feel the old girl drifting in the wind. Lack of wind will not be a problem tonight.
The mainsail goes up and I must face my own pride; I have not sailed for too long. I make stupid mistakes raising the main, and what i’ve done a 100 times now seems full of rooky mistakes. But at lass, the main is up and the engine gives way to the jJb and we are flying.
I’m leaving Copenhagen and I have the pleasure of being greeted with the approaching aircraft heading for Kastrup Airport. At this little stretch of Øresund, the strait between Sweden and Denmark, you have a good cocktail of things to look at. Airplanes over you, a rock solid lighthouse and a steady stream of goliaths in the traffic lanes.
The route is around 50 nm and after the first 2 hours, you are out of the part that requires your full attention. Now comes the part that I feel can be controversial to a handful of sailors… Sleeping!
Sleeping
My approach is to have the greatest respect for your mind and body when it comes to sleep. Both are affected by lack of sleep, and the way you get it.
My recipe is this
- Position yourself 30 minutes away from any attention-seeking objects on the charts.
- Be conservative with your sails. Allow there to be a buffer for a sudden blow, without your boat being overpowered.
- Find a crappy place in the cockpit to crawl into. Getting too comfy makes your body want to stay.
- Set a high volume alarm to 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes wake up and take a look at the horizon, instruments, and plotter (seacharts). Take your time, because when it’s dark, you are likely to miss something.
- Get some power napping done, but after 4 sleeps (1 hour in total) spend 5-10 minutes to shake off the groocyness. Then repeat
This is my recipe for when you are close to land and sailing in the darkness. In larger crossings where there is more elbow room, you could opp for longer rests. Reading up on long distance sailors, it is common to mix throughout the day with 15-20 minutes power naps and then have a go at a long 4 hour sleep.
The night went with power napping, the wind was stable and the silent wind vane in the back kept the old girl in it’s firm grip. Your mind turns into mush with only short power naps to fuel it. This is a part of the night sail, to sink into a dull and mushy mood within the confines of a stable boat moving through the darkness. Having not slept 14 hours before leaving Copenhagen does not add to the equation of sleep.
When the first rays of the sun hit the deck, the mushyness lifts. My body starts to crave that black brew. Who am i to do hold it back!
Basic emotions are often the strongest. Sitting comfy on the companionway stairs, trying not to spill coffee and water all over the place as you make the mocca master ready…
Close your eyes and imagine this… Sitting there on the companionway, the mocca master over the blue gas flame, the faint of gas hitting your nose, the heat emanating from the stove, chilly left overnight air, and then new sunshine trying to shine its way into the companionway. The old lady gliding through a calm sea. Life little pleasures!
The white cliffs of Møn is straight ahead. Hidden by the night, but now illuminated by the sun, they seem much more close and welcoming.
I feel a sense of awe for this landscape. Unique to the Danish landscape, these giants are only found here, and smaller cliffs 50 km’s north of Møn. The sea wants them! And almost every year there are big chunks of the white chalk cliff giving in to the wear of the sea. Taking old secrets with it. Apparently, there is a history to be discovered about our globe in fossils and layers embedded in the cliffs.
For some, a sailboat becomes and extension of yourself and therefore the main objective is to keep her well maintained and safe. Knowing she is docked well, i’m off to explore Møn’s landscape.
The fresh, salty but bland smell and sensation of being on the sea makes being in lush forest at stark contrast. High and proud trees with the brightest of green, sore above me and provide a cover from a high hanging sun. In my level, there is beauty in every sight. My camera is hanging from my side; but some beauty cannot be photographed. It becomes a snapshot, a cliche, a bland interpretation of the world. The senses, however, can make something much more heavyweight. A memory of the shine, colors, smells and the sensation of seeing history and life in one “frame” of the life. LIfe doesn’t have to be all photographed; just lived and remembered. I see two Asian tourist snapping selfies on a cliff edge. They are sweaty, and with a quick wipe of their skin, they are ready to snap a perfect selfie. 30 seconds and they have multiple, properly the perfect shot. Friends at home must be happy. I’m 20 meters away staring at a handful of trees, trying to feel how they still cling on to the cliff. Taking in the experience of being a human in nature and trying to connect.
That is one of the things i like about travelling, short or long distance, to be in nature and really try to connect. Nature holds wisdom if you listen and try to understand. With the trees im am reminded of a saying that goes something like this “Life is not about worrying about death, but about living so strong that death will be welcome tomorrow, if it decides to show”. The trees are just living and adapting even though they might fall to the sea tomorrow.
Nature also brings small joys. Like laying on a massive tree log that for a long time have been lying there, being white washed by wind and sea.
Nature brings downtime, peace and a boyish wonder to all.
Back to sailing
Before a passage, i can find it hard to get myself together. I postpone to let go of the mooring lines, I constantly check the weather for no reason; I already know what lies out there. With my mind ever so seeking distractions from real life… It cannot escape itself when at sea. In periods I become “addicted” to distractions that social media, youtube, and films can provide. A 10-hour passage is like a hard detox of the soul.
Way to late in the afternoon I cast of and immediately after exiting the harbors protective arms the old lady starts going up and down like a roller coaster. I point her to the wind and unwrap the mainsail. Standing on the mast, looking up and down into the valley of the waves, my mind goes from a sense “I have to do this” to “I’ve missed this” and my smile goes wide and large. I get a sense of feeling that the sea welcomes me again and wants to play. 1st reef in the main and we are already howling with an aft beam reach as the jib eagerly unfurls. Welcome back.
We round the white cliffs again set a course for copenhagen. This course will hold for 7 or so hours, so the wind vane has the steering. I bring out a book that I have been eager to complete. Snippets of Troels Kløvedal best passages from a long line of books. I open the page with a folded corner. The first headline touches; written for my exact state of mind.
“The secret of seafaring is the slowness”.
10 hours as we glide in and drop anchor in front of a moonlit beach, later my mind feels ventilated, fresh, happy and eager to see, feel and live more.
