After spending a month around Darwin, waiting for our cruising permit for Indonesia while checking out the outback and arranging for crew to sail with Rolf, we were finally able to set sail again. I write we, but Boukje actually flew over to Bali and spend a week in a retreat being spoiled (being pregnant isn’t so bad). Rolf on the other hand motored Helena for 850 windless miles over the Indian Ocean. His great consolation: once on Bali he would finally be able to eat a kroket again!
Archive for 2011|Yearly archive page
In Indonesia
In Voyages on 26/12/2011 at 08:54Scary [somewhat]
In Voyages on 29/11/2011 at 01:18
People often ask us what our most scary moment has been at sea. Usually we answer that we haven’t really been in any scary situations, as we try to avoid storms and rough seas and that kind of stuff. Oh sure, we’ve sailed out of an atoll, along the wrecks of two big cargo ships, with 48 knots winds (10 beaufort) on the bow, heavy waves, an engine held together by superglue and cable ties and sails that were damaged and barely holding on; but that was a calculated risk. 😉 But now for the first time in 2,5 years of sailing Rolf ran into something he really considered somewhat scary.
Read the rest of this entry »
A much needed update
In Voyages on 13/09/2011 at 08:57
We have arrived in our final port of call in Australia: Darwin. As we have been very, very lazy in updating this website, I will try and bring you up to speed on the developments on board of Helena since July quickly: The repairs in Cairns have gone well, the boat looks and feels great again. We had Eric en Maxine crew with us for 2 months. Boukje returned on board in the beginning of August. We sailed from Cairns, via Cooktown, Barrier Reef and Torres Strait to Darwin. In a couple of weeks we’ll leave Darwin to sail to Bali and Singapore.
And now some pictures Read the rest of this entry »
Eric and Maxine
In Crew on 12/09/2011 at 08:57
They were supposed to sail with us to Singapore, but we only got as far as Darwin… Maybe that’s for the better though, because coming from the Canadian arctic region they might not have been able to cope with real tropic temperatures. Suffice to say that the ice cream consumption on this boat has never been this high before.
Proudly introducing
In People on 08/07/2011 at 09:17
Happy news! While we’re sailing around the world, life doesn’t just go on back home, it also starts. On Wednesday July 6 our little nephew Julius Wijnstein was born, son of Boukje’s sister Karin and her partner Sergio. Read the rest of this entry »
On dry land
In Helena, Voyages on 23/06/2011 at 02:39
We’re back in Australia. This time we brought Helena along! Our original plans were to go from the Solomons along the coast of PNG through the Torres Strait to end up in Darwin. However, due to an unreliable engine, two furling systems in need of repair and a broken genoa, we decided to take the easiest and quickest route to a place for repairs and sailed to Cairns. Read the rest of this entry »
Cruising Solomon style
In Voyages on 28/04/2011 at 08:05
It took us three weeks of blood, sweat and tears to get the boat fixed and running again. But, we are on the move again. A short stop in Gizo ensured of us supplies for the next months or so and in Noro we took in enough fuel to motor through the Solomon and Coral Sea if we so please. For now however, we are happily cruising around the Solomon Islands for a bit. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re engaged!
In Crew on 12/04/2011 at 07:43
Although to keep things simple here in the Pacific we refer to each other as husband and wife, we aren’t actually married yet. Rolf decided it was time to make us honest people again and proposed. Off course Boukje said yes. So now we are very happy to announce: we’re engaged to be married! Hurray!
Down under
In Voyages on 02/04/2011 at 07:21
We liked it there, in Australia. So, as our shipment of spare parts for the boat was delayed getting to the Solomons, we decided to stay a bit longer. That gave us time to see some more of this country, meet some real Aussies and go looking for ‘wild’ koalas.
Happy b’day, mate!
In Crew on 08/02/2011 at 00:17
Being in Australia and all, we thought the best way to spend Rolfs birthday would be by cuddling a koala. So we spend the afternoon in the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and met all Australia’s cutest (and weirdest looking) animals. Read the rest of this entry »
sailing yacht Helena 