Well I guess this is one of the last posts for a very long time on this blog. Sometimes you make a lot of plans and then things happen that change everything. Luckily here it’s not a life changing issue or something horrible. No I’ve been hired as a Flotilla Skipper in Greece and the work out there will be until November at least. So by the time I’m back it’s winter in Holland, that is: If I even come back at all. As this company operates in several regions around the world. So what about BAIA then?
As you can see on the photo above I’m preparing her for winter already. Sails off, lines and blocks off, spray hood and lazybag off.
IJmuiden is an OK place to have your boat if you can clean it on a weekly basis. You will need to if you want to keep it nice as the wind blows up loads of salt and sand. And with a bit of easterly wind a lot of metal from steelworks.
The photo below illustrates the metal problem. I have a cleaner that turns purple if it comes into contact with metal oxide and cleans it off. So I washed the deck today and this is what it looks like after only a couple of weeks since the last wash. I don’t even wash my car this much.
So I really dislike the place and I spend more time cleaning the boat than sailing! And as I’m gone for the entire season I’m storing her somewhere with less of all that stuff that annoys me out here. Next week I’ll sail BAIA to an inland location where she will be hauled out and stored ashore. This is a better option than leaving her in the water at the seaside. I can also have a berth in the water there if I need to next season.
So I’m guess this is goodbye IJmuiden.
Obviously with the boat out of the water I’ll no longer be participating in the Silverrudder. I have sent an e-mail to the organization with my withdrawal. I only have one week holiday during the season and it’s not enough time to fly back, prep the boat, sail to Denmark, do the race, sail back again, winterize the boat and fly back to Greece. So it’s not happening.