Today is the last day of sailing South. I will have to start my way home in a couple of days. From Leiden, where I will be joined by my cousin Renate, we are boating to my former hometown Voorschoten. Here is the turning point in the trip, and lots of people to visit. The weather is fantastic and Leiden has turned into a rather charming city. Well worth a visit.
This evening my position is 52°07.4’N 004°27.8’E yacht harbor Vlietopper Leidschendam, the Netherlands.
Since Cuxhaven the engine has run 50 hours. The sails have been up 38 hours since then. I have fulfilled one of my dreams and sailed 970 nautical miles to get here. And concluded that 1) this place is damn far from my home in Sweden, 2) I have to sail the same distance home, 3) I am still enjoying myself, 4) and in a few days it is time to sail home.
Right now the temperature in the boat is 32°C, outside still 25°C. As we got our appointed berth in this harbor, they forgot about the necessary depth to hold a sailboat with deep keel. The first place I got was nice, just missing half a meter of water depth. The second place was almost deep enough. Only missing maybe 10 cm of depth. But with full throttle and two strong men pulling lines from shore I got into the place… The way out of the mud will probably be accompanied by some violence as well. We’ll see in a few days. Goodnight!