Since last Saturday we are moored at the Serdijn ship yard in the Waal port in Rotterdam. Here we will, just like last year, start our major maintenance period. Amongst many things the jobs will be: taking down the three lowest yards in the main mast; dismantling and servicing the two Jarvis winches; complete overhaul of our two main generators; exchanging of our washing machines and dryers that have served us so well during the last eight years and an immense load of pipe-fitters work will keep us off the streets (or off the sea really) for the coming three weeks. Although a long period like this is pretty heavy and faraway from sailing pleasure we take joy in the fact that we are now able start working on these little frustrating errors that bothered us for the last year. The work list that only seemed to be growing for the last twelve months is now, point after point, getting smaller. That creates the right energy to take pleasure in the outlook to next month’s sailing again.

Cosmo Wassenaar
Captain Stad Amsterdam