2007 is upon us

We've clocked in to the New Year and at the moment of writing we now have 2 years 11 months 11 days 6 hours 37 minutes and 18 seconds before 2010 is upon us. I've looked at the things I need to do and then started counting backwards. The plan is to start the circumnavigation in 2010. Prior to that I want to have sailed the boat for a year, giving me time to break it in and get comfortable with sailing it. This means buying the boat in 2009. As I’ll be buying a new Ovni this means that I need to order it in 2008, because it takes a year for them to build it. In order to order the boat next year, I need to have freed up some cash and that means selling my apartment before then, so though 2010 seems far away all the preparation that needs to happen before then means that the preparation has to start now … and luckily it has.

My preparation so far:

1. Boat … I'm emailing back and forth with Hans Lange at Lange Maritime discussing details about the boat. When I was in Norway for New Years I made time to go down to their office and showroom, where they had an Ovni 395 on display. I was able to crawl around on it and take lots of pictures and see how it was put together. Compared to the Bavaria 40 Ocean I last had, this is night and day difference. This boat is made for World cruising, the Bavaria for weekend trips. It was love at first sight. I am convinced that within the price-range I can afford, this is the best boat there is. I'll be writing an entry on the Ovni soon.

2. Crew … Steffie definitely wants to do it, but since she hasn’t sailed before it is a bit intimidating for her to commit wholeheartedly. We’re going to remedy this by chartering a boat in Thailand at the end of March for a week of sailing. It’ll be a great way to introduce her to sailing and hopefully make her feel the same way I do about it.

3. Sailing Plan … When I was visiting my father in December 2006, I had a stack of books waiting for me. Amongst them books by Jimmy Cornell and Hal Roth, both very knowledgeable sailors that have circumnavigated the globe at least 3 times each. In addition I’m now waiting for a book by Beth Leonard, because I’ve heard good things about that as well. In essence I’m not too concerned with planning the route yet, now I’m reading about planning the trip, the boat, the equipment, the finances … I’m also spending a lot of time online reading about ongoing or finished circumnavigations. I’m trying to learn from their mistakes, so that I hopefully won’t make as many myself.

4. Sailing Skills … I was hoping to rent an Ovni 435 when I was in St. Maarten in December 2006, but that fell through. Instead I ended up sailing on an Americas Cup boat. Though it was fun, it wasn’t exactly the practice I was hoping for. The bareboat charter in March in Thailand should be that and a whole lot more. We’ll be on an Oceanis 32 sailing out for Koh Chang in the Gulf of Thailand. I’m really looking forward to that. I’m also hoping that Seilsamvirket or some other circumnavigators will take me on as crew for a vacation. We’ll see. I’m working on it.

5. Finances … In terms of financing, things are progressing as well. My original plan was to sell my house in Stavanger and use that money to buy the boat. The only problem was that I could only afford the boat and wouldn't have anything left for sailing. Needless to say there wouldn't be much point in doing that. Since I'll be sailing with Steffie who will also bring money to the table, the numbers quickly add up. The thought now is to section the house and only sell the top apartment and keep the rest of the house for renting out. That way I have some money coming in and also have something to come home to. I have already spoken to Ole Morten Dreyer, a partner at Otttesen&Dreyer, about sectioning the house and selling the top. It helps that he is a friend of mine, so I have absolute confidence that the sale will work out well.

I’m happy to say that things are moving forward on all fronts. As we move forward I’m hoping to write entries on pretty much everything that is going through my head that needs planning. The first big one is the boat. I’ll be writing an entry on it very soon. … Oh, working name for the boat is “Aurora Borealis” … It’s kind of long and a little difficult, but we’ll see … A new update will follow soon.