Shakedown of the trimaran Zephyr

[SY-Headwind]

Ahoy there.

I could tell the story about when me and a frind of mine was picking up he's newly bought boat. This happened just a few weeks after I bought my Offshore 8 that also is my first boat ever. Had no sailing experience or anything when I bought SY Headwind. My friend Bjørn bought he's boat, the trimaran Zephyr a few week's before I bought Headwind but as there was heavy Ice where Zephyr was moored I got my boat delivered first. Anyways....

The ice had just newly departured and the sun slightly started to warm when we traveled to Langesunds fjord to pic up the boat. At this point I have a few weeks of sailing experience and my friend Bjørn has some but hasen't been sailing since he was a kid. We arrive at the boat dock and quickly unload the car so our driver could get back home. We are left at the dock with 2 sleeping bags, food for 2 days, some beer and 10 liters of water. We had both full sailing suits and regular life jackets and a spare change of clothing.

Continues under the picture



We did a survey of the boat to see if all was in good running order and after a couple of houres we where ready to go.
The wather forecast was as follows; Sunny, light winds, +8 degrees C.
We started the outboard engine threw the lines and headed out the fjord. After motoring for about 45 minutes we start to reach the outer edge of the Langesund fjord, only two rather big islands stands between us and Skagerrak (sea between Norway and Denmark) After another 10 minutes the winds starts picking up rapidly. The kind that makes you say; "It came out of no where". We are at this point only 5 minutes from the two island marking the outer archapeligo. Then as the wind roars trough the rigging an equaly silence comes from our 8HK outboard engine. We take a quick look at eachoter and as of a weird instinct I dive for the engine and Bjørn haste inside to find a sail. I quickly see that the strong outgoing current from the tide drives us towards one of the massiv rockfaces from the right island now beeing a towering mass of doom wioth it's breaking waves thundering around its base. That is when I feel the nausea of pure fear. Franticly I pull adn adjust to get the outboard running while Bjørn has allready gotn himself on deck with a fok trying to attach. After some seconds the sail is on the wire and I yells back at me to hoist it. I abandon the engine atempt and starts pulling for my life. I struggle with the sail but the wind keeps us from getting it up.
It's a no go, I pull, I use the vinch, everything I could imagine without a result. The wind just cast's the sail in pulsaiting motion reaking havoc with the rigging wich moans and groans from the strain.
We quickly pull the sail down again, not realising that we both are on the fordeck with no safety lines and only simple lifejackets. Bjørn starts taking the sail of the line agian reaching for the storm sail and I dive back in to the cokpit and I try to find a anchor to throw overboard without luck I take a last look up and see now this masive wall of rock only 50 meter's away... The hoplessness falls over me, I turn towards the engine a last time pulls the string as hard as I could and the outboard spits to life in a cloud of grey smoke. I keep my calm and waits a few more seconds forever looking at that towering rockface before I it hops in gear and we could with inches stear away from danger. . .

At this point my heart pounds and the adrenalin surges trough my body as that feeling of a weird happynes and extacy flows trough me. We secure the sail and starts pounding against the wind and sea to try making it back to the dock's where we came from. A few minutes of this we realise it's not going to happen and turn's yet again towards the two islands. This time, the engine keeps going at we can safely traverse the islands, on the otherside we turns in in "shelter of one of the island taking a visual check of the engine and secures a sail. I check the navigation charts and we find a harbour not so far away and heads for that.



We get to the harbor without insident jsut a little wet after a whole lot of spray. We can't fit in the guest harbour and since the guest harbour is towards the winds and the waves we decide to move deeper in to the harbour. We find a sweet spot and ties down there always watched from 4 old sea dogs sitting on a bench one smoking a pipe and two smoking sigarets raising eyebrows towards us.



After securing the boat tightly the old sea dog with the pipe stands up and walk towards us saing calmly: "You cant lie there, you have to go over to the guest harbour" Me and Bjørn look's over at the guest harbour and after an uncomfortable silence he says again; "Nevermind, I'll let the harbour master know you are here for the night" taking some breaths from his pipe. The whole gang of sea dogs then rises and walks away leaving us securing a couple more lines just in case.



We settle for the evening and finds some of that beer we had with us, and let me tell you; beer has never before nor after tasted so good. We also made some simple dinner and quickly fell to sleep.



The morning after I was talking to my dad and he could tell me that on the news the Ferry between Norway and Denmark had turned around the night before due to high and dangerous winds. In contrast this day is Sunny, warm and just a slight breeze. I had to take a quick jogg to warm up after a cold night and a cup of hot coffe to get my body back in to pace. We wasted no time that morning quickly casting off setting sail and make it out in to Skagerrak.





We use houres to get anywhere due to the ligh winds but It's a good feeling after last days terror.



After several houres dipping aound becalmed we start our 4HK reserve engine since we switched out the 8HK after all the trouble with it the day before and started to motor the last part to Tjøme. (Big inhabited island in the Oslo fjord where Bjørn lives)



As it get's darker we nears our destination in dead calm seas and no wind at all. . . It was simply beutifull and after this trip I was totaly lost in sailing and everything that comes with it.





The trip was terrifying and beutifull the big contrast of sailing, the right ingreedience for a big adventure and the only right way to trawel this blue marble we live on.





I just can't wait for the next big adventure!!!!



Hope you enjoyed Typo's and all.

A video of the trimaran Zephyr can be seen here:

Sailing the Trimaran Zephyr. 24 april 2012 - YouTube

Calm seas
Morten

[SY-Headwind]

I will by the way, be more than happy for comments.

and or comments on my youtube channel and videos for that matter

[El_Guero]

Morten,

You seemed to have been too busy to take photos of the storm ....



May you have following seas.

Wayne

[SY-Headwind]

Indeed I was El_Guero, the whole harbour is on the lee side of a land tip.
It wasent the sheer shize of the waves but that almost everyone of them did break. And after experience, picture's and video's doesen't give storms or generaly bad weather credit.