Hello from the midst of a rainy Euro winter

[_andi_]

Hi folks!

I created this account last march but it took some time for the first posting, I was kind of busy, sorry :-)

The idea of sailing for some time has been with me for a couple of years. I just didn’t know how to sail and didn’t own a boat. Both issues seemed manageable so last year I fixed them.

Starting point was the 26th of March ’16, a two week sailing course on the baltic, coastal sailing around kiel (Germany) and the danish southern coast. Quite a learning curve but fun as well. Finished the course with a german SKS license (read: “Yachtmaster Coastal Light”)

After that I spent a couple of weeks for searching for a boat and another couple of weeks fixing her up. At the end of May I shoved off from Hamburg, Germany in a lovely and “serviceable” IW-31, S&S Design 1899, build by IW-Varvet in Sweden in 1970. Classic IOR ½ ton Cruiser-Racer. Awesome boat, especially in rough conditions she excels in racing the big boys.

IW-31 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

The next months I spent sailing the baltic, going from Kiel(Germany) to Stockholm(Sweden) and back to Greifswald(Germany). All in all a 2000nm season, 1500nm of which sailed single-handed because none of my folks hat the time to join in. Sigh…

Since early November the boat is on the hard and I’m working my ass off for funding the next season. The big question is where to go and what to do. I’m thinking to go liveaboard but my boat is sort of small for that and switching to a warmer climate would also be nice. (And I’m not the sailor to single-hand the Atlantic yet).

I’m thinking about flying to St. Maarten for a couple of weeks in May, for testing the waters, so to speak. Have a look around, maybe crew on some boat(s), check out classified ads and infrastructure. And most importantly: Get the final bit of inspiration to get rid of all my stuff in good old germany and sail the world :-)

Some pictures and texts from former adventures, if somebody is interested. Sadly I stopped posting on my blog mid season and haven't come around to translate the rest of the journey to english :-(

anditainment.de | Stuff that entertains Andi…

Any insights for my quest are very much appreciated. I’ll also post some questions in the appropriate sub-forums like Crew Positions and Boats for sale :-).

Cheers, Andi

[South Bound]

Hi Andi and greetings from another newbie on this forum! We are also sailing in the Baltic on a S&S design, smaller than yours. What a nice boat you have!

I quickly checked out your website and will definitely return to read more, as we're thinking about sailing to Sweden this coming summer. Last year was our first season and we made it as far as Hiiumaa in Estonia, as well as sailing a lot in our home waters on the southern coast of Finland.

Fair winds for your travels!
South Bound from Compass Heading 180°

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum

[Pete7]

Andi, very pretty boat with nice lines

On the TV weather last week they gave some stats out for the weather last week. Seems int he UK its been warmer than average, drier than average with less storms and more sunshine. Not quite as I remember it perhaps but we have had worse in recent years.

I have nicked your picture for the forum because I wasn't sure what an IW-31 looked like and its nice to see what everyone else is sailing.

Things are just starting to thaw out in southern UK and folk are busy down the boatyards with paints, oils and greases, fingers crossed for a good season in Europe.

Pete