Mitte, Berlin, German, 13-SEP-2021 – The return to Homer was smooth and uneventful. We sailed when we could, three times, perhaps. Each time Caro Babbo coming into her own, sailing faster than I remember, reaching hull speed easily. This may be because we were in fairly protected waters each time, but most likely we had current helping us.
For the entire trip, we saw only three other sailboats. The first was a marina-mate from Ko’Olina marina on Oahu. Yes, it is a small world.
It is exciting to look on AIS and spot a name that one knows from thousands of miles away across an expanse of ocean. Jennifer and Ben spoke for a while about current weather conditions and the two ports we would visit, before signing off. The two other vessels Jennifer saw through binoculars, solely.
We shared anchorages three or so times with commercial fishing vessels, once en masse as they hid from weather with us. There is a feeling of security when the pros pick the same place to hide out.
Generally, (anchor) holding was good and got better as we returned to Homer, pulling up mud mixed with shells and gravel in our last anchorage before Homer.
In Homer, I contacted friend Tim Gervais asking if he would be in town. He was way out in the Bering Sea, tending to an unexpectedly good crab season (tending means he buys the catch and then resells it, or is paid, by the processors. Tenders generally also sell fuel, ice, and other necessaries to the boats fishing.).
Tim told us his children, Margaret and Rubis, would be with their mother, Meghan, but wouldn’t see us, most likely. Instead, Rubis, who we knew well from sharing a dock, spotted us. Meghan, who we had never met, was a wonderfully charming woman who actively encouraged us to use her car and her brand-, spanking-new house, which we did. They were all on their way away for the long Labor Day Weekend aboard Meghan’s fishing boat, Maru.
On our last day in the water, a woman with a German accent called to me as her boat headed towards its slip. Could I grab lines for them? Of course. I was certain that the boat, Hemingway, belonged to Don, the owner of Grace Ridge Brewery. As I snugged down a line to a cleat so that Hemingway would be pulled against the dock and stopped, Don stuck his head out from the enclosed cockpit.
There is a thrill encountering a friend in the setting you both have spoken about at length. The woman, Heke, was a neighbor moving to Homer from Fairbanks who wants to learn to sail. She has just bought a little Alien 21, an open transom catboat built in the Australian fashion for these small boats: huge sails and no reefing. Learning to sail this is very much like learning to drive on a Lotus with a sticky throttle and bad brakes. If you survive, you will be very good indeed.
While waiting to be lifted out of the water, a small square rigger under power came by us asking in a Russian accent whether we were waiting to be hauled out as well. Yes, we were. As they motored closer to the dock, Jennifer, Flora, and I agreed we needed to go see that boat. It looked as close to one of Columbus’s boats as I had ever seen.
We were lifted out and blocked uneventfully and went looking for the boat: It is a replica of an 18th century Russian White Sea freighter.
Would I like to crew when they cross the pacific next spring and try to do the North East Passage.? The Russian man, who called down to us from aboard was a friend of the owner, a green card holder, and an over-the-road truck driver. His friend, Sergei, and Sergei’s brother did this type of thing with replica’s of very old boats. This vessel, Pilgrim, had sailed across the Atlantic and then trucked across the US to Seattle, where she sailed and motored her way to Homer.
My online friends say I am nuts to consider such a thing. Me? Well, I said yes, but we’d keep in contact across the winter. A colleague of a friend at Predict Wind commented there is a reason boats like that are in museums.
Jennifer, Flora, and I went aboard. It is a gorgeous boat. Handmade, wooden, with display cases of model boats and buildings built by the owner and his brother.
In conversation, it was suggested that I sign on as far as Nome and then make a decision.
Flora flew back to Seattle to visit with her Dad for a few days; Jennifer and I flew to Berlin for Jennifer’s graduate school roommate’s wedding (her first).
Jennifer has been to Berlin many times, I have only been there once for a short visit. We both came away loving the city, which is small, very diverse in character, and remarkably affordable. We stayed in an Airbnb with a very interesting man named Moritz, who makes his money working on CGI for American movies and Tangos.
COVID kept us from visiting the Netherlands (five-day quarantine) but other than that it all felt remarkably like parts of the states. You must prove vaccination to get into a restaurant or similar setting where you will remove your mask. Testing is free everywhere. And they had a standardized proof of vaccination system set up instead of a handwritten note from the testing site (CVS and others do now as well – Oct-27-2021).
Germany is different in many ways from the US and similar in others: We went to the GDR museum and saw a replica East German apartment complete with furnishings, appliances, and utensils – All loose, none bolted or glued down – none were stolen! In the US they would be gone in a day. I spoke with a Moscow friend who told me the same thing would happen in Russia. This is different.
In Germany, it is very common to see retail businesses that do not accept plastic or are very reticent to do so. Just like many US ‘‘cash’’ businesses, cash does not go through the cash register, just into a pocket. I felt like I was right back in the states. I won’t editorialize about this.
Caro Babbo is asleep in Homer. She’ll have new canvas for her dodger made and will have an at-anchor room constructed for her cockpit. The list of maintenance items will grow across the winter as I think and dream.
I might have a sticky fuel injector. When I return I will see if someone in Homer can look at the injectors, or whether they need to be airfreighted to Seattle.
All feels well in the world.
