Fabel's adventures on the Waddenzee
This summer I made my first voyage with the Rana, my dear vessel of dreams. Together with her builder, Mister Papi I sailed from Amsterdam via the IJsselmeer to the Waddenzee and we visited the Islands Texel and Vlieland. Mister Papi taught me so much about the boat. Sailing the Rana is like sailing a wild seahorse. She sails fantastically. She's alive! Everything on the boat is working perfectly, including all the navigation instruments. The only thing is that the mainsail has lost it's shape and needs to be changed. Then we still need a life raft and a stronger autopilot for the big voyage next spring. And some more little things need to be fixed before the great departure. If you have a spare instrument or equipment you don't use anymore but which is still in great condition and you would like to donate it to project fabel, it is more than welcome! Just send me an email or go to 'donations/equipment' and fill in what you want to donate. Thank you!
The first days of the trip we had very little wind and the wind came from North West, which means from the nose. So we had to use the engine quite a lot. The third day we had 12 to 20 knots of wind and the Rana was sailing up to her maximum speed, 6 to 6 and a half knots. She is pretty heavy and she doesn't have an enormous main sail surface, so 6 and a half knots on 20 knots of wind is fast. The advantage of not having a big main sail surface is that you hardly ever have to reef. Since she is pretty heavy the boat sits very comfortably and stable in the water and ploughs elegantly through the waves. I soon realized the Rana is indeed my perfect boat!
After 5 days we arrived on Texel. Everyday we opened the 'miraculous storymuseum' onboard of the Rana in the harbour of Oudeschild. The first days it was quiet in the museum. The people had to get used to that 'strange creature' Fabel on that little pirateboat. But after two days I had made many friends under the children and the museum was flourishing. I collected beautiful stories which you can find on this blogbook (search on 'stories') and then I met my two 'matrozen', crew members, Luuk and Lotte. They helped me to organize workshops for the children. Everyday I gave a workshop in the afternoon. With a group of 5 children between the age of 8 and 12 I worked for several hours and we would make a performance based on their own 'miraculous stories', which we would perform the same evening for the parents and friends in the harbour. After several days we left Texel and headed for Vlieland, where we did the same, the museum and the workshops. Then we already had to head back for Amsterdam since we had to prepare for SAIL. On the way back we had perfect sailing conditions and I enjoyed those days on the water to the fullest. I can't wait until the real departure in May.
This autumn I will make some more trips with mister Papi to train my skills as a captain and to become more and more comfortable on my Rana before we'll set sail for the great voyage next spring!
