I have now been out for over a week working on the boat in preparation for the upcoming season, I am on my own as Brenda has stayed at home to attend the funeral of our good Freind Dennis Hill who with his wife Gill sailed the Gota canal with us last year. Having the extra time to prep the boat in is great and I'm getting through a list of jobs but it's also frustrating, the boat yard is a great place for meeting other yachtsman and discussing trips but then they launch and disappear. So far Andy and Pauline Smith on Od. they were first to leave on route to the CA rally that we are planning on joining, then James and Judy on Secret of Hurst they are heading for Stockholm and the Swedish archipelago. Today Ted and Kay left for Norway via Denmark then across the North Sea to overwinter in Scotland this year. Then on Friday new Friends Debi and Jack on their beautiful looking Ohlson 38, a classic 1968 yacht are leaving on a continuous 18 month voyage that will take them out of the Baltic via Keil though Holland, south Britain, France, Spain, South Atlantic Islands then across to the Caribbean then up the east coast of the USA and arriving home in the Great Lakes in the fall of next year. Good luck both of you and I will be following your trip. There is then a gap of a week before Des and Anne leave also going north to the Swedish archipelago. There is another guy Jurgen, who has been in the yard restoring a steel yacht as long as we have been here, it's almost finished but he's not leaving till August for a late cruise up to Denmark all in preparation for a possible North Atlantic trip via Norway, Scotland, Feros islands, Iceland, Greenland then the North west Passage failing that he will follow a similar route taken by Jack and Debi, all this to take place in 2 years time on his and his wife's retirement. That just leaves Mike and Helen on Yena who are having to do quite a few jobs this spring, two years ago we sailed together, following much the same route to Stockholm. We had decided for this year to sail a circular route anti-clockwise going from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden,Denmark and back to our German yard taking in the C A rally and a trip into St Petersburg but with our delayed start we are going to have to take a more direct route to Estonia to join the rally on the 23 June almost certainly missing Poland and some of Lithuania. The rest of the route should be the same. Today Wednesday 23 we have just been launched, great to be back in the water, all went very well and thanks to all the helpers to turned out early to help me. Just got to set the Rig up and get the sails on and we should be sailing as soon as Brenda arrives on Monday.