Anrikt fartyg har sålts till USA


Den gamla livräddningskryssaren A E Appelberg lämnar Sverige för USA; fr v Jim Dezelle, Mike Brough, Keith Dezelle och Bill Eppenstein. bild: pontus persson
Förstora bild >>
Publicerad: 29. November 2005 04:30


På måndagen kom den gamla livräddningskryssaren A E Appelberg från Stockholm via Arkösund till Simrishamn.

Anledningen är att en amerikan, Trevor Seal, som är bosatt i Seattle, har köpt båten av en svensk privatperson.

Den nye ägaren har anlitat en amerikansk besättning för att få hem båten till USA.

– Vi har fått problem med hydrauliken, som måste repareras innan vi kan gå vidare, säger Mike Brough.

Han ingår i besättningen på fyra man tillsammans med Bill Eppenstein samt Jim och Keith Dezelle, far och son från Kalifornien.


Byggd för isbrytning
Båten, som är 19 meter lång, är byggd i stål 1948, och kan användas för isbrytning.

– Hon är sjövärdig men rullar en hel del, intygar skepparen Keith Dezelle.

A E Appelberg, som är på 65 dödviktston, loggar åtta knop vid normal gång.

Därför lär den planerade turen från Simrishamn, via Kielkanalen, till Kanarieöarna ta cirka tre veckor.

Kanske är besättningen framme lagom till jul.

– Vi vet inte om bränslet räcker för att gå över Atlanten. Kanske måste vi fylla trimtankarna, som tidigare användes vid isbrytning, för att klara resan, säger Keith Dezelle.

I annat fall måste den gamla livräddningskryssaren lyftas ombord på ett större fartyg för att fraktas över till Västindien och Panamakanalen.

Hela sjöresan från Stockholm till Seattle - på den amerikanska västkusten - är cirka 10700 sjömil, varav etappen över Atlanten är på 3200 sjömil.

– Om allt går som planerat är vi i Seattle i februari eller mars nästa år, säger Keith Dezelle hoppfullt.

Pontus Persson

Sat 11/26/2005 2:59 AM
Hi All,
Greetings from the crew of the Appleberg!
Having left Stockholm two days ago, we are officially under way.
Leaving Stockholm about 4:30 PM, we made it about 25 miles driving at night
through some interesting local channels, dodging ship traffic to a Swedish
town called Sodertalje. Confronted by a lock that we needed to go through,
driving a boat that handles pretty strange at times, (mostly because Keith
is unfamiliar with it) we decided to wait till the next morning and tied up
along the quay.
Navigating the locks in fine form in the morning, we proceeded to the Baltic
Sea. There, we found a nice little blow from the SE, 25kts, waves 6-8 very
confused. The ship handled it in fine form, but the crew found it pretty
tiring. We finally decided to put in to a port, and found a nice little
place called Arkosund, about 35 miles from the mouth of the sound we left.
Navigating a tight little channel mostly on electronic charts, we found a
little dock to tie up to. A local we talked with on arrival recognized the
ship, saying he remembered her from a station she served at about 20 miles S
of here, ten years ago.
Total distance traveled yesterday, about 80 miles.
This morning the weather is not very nice, snow/rain, a little breezy from
the N. Working on getting a good weather report before committing on to
proceeding.
The ship is working fine, with a little trouble with the heating system. She
is telling us to get South where we don't need the heat!
Regards,
Keith

Sun 11/27/2005 8:09 AM
Hi folks,
looks like i finally have my email running somewhat dependably. there will
be some days good, some days not. don't worry if we are out of touch for a
few days. i have very little patience for messing with this computer when
I've been down in the engine room for a few hours like yesterday.
we started out of Arkosund, engines running like shit. turned around, limped
back to dock, with very dirty fuel filters. cussed myself, should have known
better. me of all people...
on the other hand, while working on changing fuel filters, i found a
castellated nut lying on the deck plate....
the shaft coupler on the stbd engine was totally loose, one bolt missing (we
had heard it let go the previous night, but didn't know what it was). so i
spent several hours tearing into that, tightening stuff up and really
looking at things a bit harder. couldn't find the bolt, so we are running
one shy. am keeping close eye on it, you can bet. we will do a better repair
in germany, replacing all the bolts, using self-locking nuts with locktite.
we got away this morning, Sunday, and are making for Germany if the weather
holds. its great right now, only small swells, overcast sky, about 40
degrees.
I gotta see if i can find a candle that i can put on a cookie for Dads
birthday cake. 77 years young!
Love to all,
Keith

Hi Arne,
We are here in Kiel Germany. Had some trouble with weather crossing from
Simrishanm, as well as on the way down from Stockholm. Stayed in Arkosund,
and again in Simrishanm. Had to work on the Safele system, fix a leak in a
hydraulic cylinder.
Germans thought I had bought un-taxed fuel, but then after getting a clean
sample, they were ok with it.
Sorry I took your vacuum, I didn't realize one of the crew had stowed it
away till it was too late.
Thanks for checking up on me.
Regards, to you and Magnus!
Keith

5/12 Update:
We are now in Brunsbuttel, having made the canal transit in fine shape. A
few days here to work on the boat, take on fuel, then the big trip South!
K
Hi Folks,
Well, we have made it to Kiel, Germany.
We had quite a rough crossing from Simrishamn, Sweden. Leaving yesterday
morning after three days of hydraulic and fuel repairs, the crossing was
rough almost from the start. Finally we ended up near the German coast this
morning, water breaking on the bow, our windows covered most of the time. I
took shelter near the land since the wind was making the waves quite large
in this shallow sea.
Inadvertently, I crossed through a military live-fire exercise area,
shutting down their operation! We were met at the dock later by the police,
quite nice guys, but they took my statement, looked over the boat, etc. etc.
I drafted, at their request, my version of why I was in the area, and
hopefully, there won't be too many repercussions for this transgression.
Tomorrow, if I'm not in jail, we leave early to make the crossing of the
canal.
Please, please, don't respond directly to me here on the ship! i had
seventeen emails waiting for me the other day! This is overloading my poor
little fragile system. I almost didn't get them downloaded. If I can't
download due to too many emails, then my system is broken and I can't send
email out! I'm happy to include you in my travels, but please, if you need
to respond, send mail to [e-mail] and Diana, will include your
text in one of hers, making the overload much less.

12/05/05 Update.
We are now in Brunsbuttel, the other end of the Kiel Canal. The trip was
quite nice, with lots of well-mannered ship traffic, rural countryside
scenery. We will now try to find a marina that will let us stay for a few
days so we can get the boat ready for the North Sea. We will take on fuel,
change oil, do a few other jobs.
Thanks!
Keith

THIS IS FROM MIKE:
Hi Folks, this is part #1 of how ever from the boat.


Hi from the Kiel end of the Kiel Canal (54 22.54N 10 08.67E). We had a
safe ride from Simrishamn of a little over 24 hours.

Not sure exactly to describe the boat characteristics, other than to say
that it both rolls and yaws a lot. Round bottoms are great for ice-breaking
but I really don't care for them on a power boat, this would ride a lot
better if we added a fin keel down say 15 more feet with 30 long tons of a
lead bulb, would only have about 1 ft. of freeboard left so that leads to
other problems (like the first big Bayliner that powered by in the marina
and the boat might sink). The boat also does not like to go in a straight
line, it yaws back and forth a bunch, with the autopilot on we were swinging
back and forth in a window of 15 degrees or more. The Robertson 45
autopilot sure earns its keep.

The steering drill has reduced to using the autopilot most of the time
except for docking and changing the magnetic heading by hand to the new
course, takes a bit of getting used to that way because if you put in too
much course change at one time the off course alarm goes off with the bells
and such, so turns are a series of about 10 degree course changes made in
rather rapid order. Done correctly with the right settings on the autopilot
and it looks good, if the Sea State (the setting for how much off course the
boat can be before the rudder is kicked one way or another) wrong things
look and work really bad. The backing characteristics are strange, seems to
change where it wants to back toward daily (port or starboard or the effect
of the rudder) - the entertainment factor has been equal to the Ballard
Locks on 4th of July weekend at times. But at 65 tons of weight in a tight
area the pucker factor can get a bit high. That is a nice time to be
handling the lines and not driving.

In Simrishamn we were at a machine shop getting a little adapter made to
reinstall a seal and one of the guys that has a tug boat in the area came by
the shop for some work and said his dad had been a Captain on the Appleberg
several years ago (seemed everyone that we met in Sweden had served on this
boat at one time or another or one of their relatives had) - "and by the way
the boat really wanders a lot" he did not remember much about the boat
except that part.

Simrishamn (55 33.24N 14 21.23E) is a quaint fishing, tourist and artist
town on the south part of Sweden only 6 hours by car from Stockholm, but it
took us 4 days by boat, so I guess that is progress or the scenic route.
The town goes back to something like 1123 when it was first mentioned in
history books. For many years it was fishing, the town seal has a herring
in it. The town has about 6,000 people in it with 20,000 counting the
county. The port is in what is called Old Town with narrow streets and
coble stone roads in parts, the rest of old town has paving stones for both
the road and the sidewalks. The stones are about 2 inches or a bit more for
the walkway areas and 4 inches cube for the roadways. Some of the
pedestrian cross walks used black and white stones to form the walkway
patterns or markings. One of the parking lots had white stones set for the
marking of where the cars should park.

Over the last two decades or so Simrishamn has changed by adding a large art
community and tourism industry. Many wealthy Swedes have "summer houses" in
the area and people come from as far as Italy for vacation homes. An area
north of Simrishamn also exported SAND to Saudi Arabia! Yes sand to Saudi
Arabia. An area north of the town has large round grained sand that worked
for water filtration plants. The area has several major museums covering
many areas of seafaring over the ages, there is also a Blacksmith Museum
with 4,500 pieces of Swedish Blacksmithing. Those I was not able to get to.
Simrishamn has its own history museum. They were quite proud to be having a
special exhibit on stone carvings like our petroglyphs (the carving into a
flat piece of rock) but what they did not mention much was that the museum
has 4 floors of exhibits with the other 3 about early Swedish life and
fishing. It was almost by accident that I found the stairs going up. There
is furniture from the 1800's, spinning wheels, a hand loom that you sit at
and settings of house interiors and model exteriors'. The top floor was all
seafaring and fishing. I took pictures of the old navigation instruments,
tools and nets and gear. Was a regular slice of what we would call in the
US frontier life. They also had some old tools used to make lace by hand.
Using up to about 40 or so individual threads they wove by had a real
intricate and delicate flat lace for trim. The town also serves as a
transfer point for sugar beets. They bring in the beets on a bulk freighter
a little over 300 ft long and put the beets in large trucks that take the
beets to a processing plant north of the city. It is amazing to watch them
bring the freighters in without the use a tugs. The freighters are single
screw with a bow thruster. The turning basin is not much larger than the
length of the ships. They turn with the aid of a bow thruster and back
through a narrow area of the breakwater between the outer and inner harbor
areas. And the pilots make it look so easy, no excitement. Docking the
freighter looks much better than your average Bayliner tying up at a dock
with a straight in shot with no wind. The pilot boat does stand by in case
of trouble to help the bow, seems that one of the freighters had problems
with the bow thruster and needed some help.

We made the West end of the Kiel Canal last night - a long ditch of 57 miles
or so. More on the Canal and things next message.

Doing ok weather has tended to overcast and cold just above freezing for
most of the time with a biting wind almost everywhere

Take care all

Mike, Dec-05-2005 from 53 53.74N - 9 08.84E

Hi All,
We sit here in Brunsbuttel, Germany at the southwest end of the Kiel Canal.
Having made the transit of the canal in fine shape, we are now working on
getting ready for the next major leg of the trip, the run down to the Canary
Islands.
There is a marked difference in the bite in the wind between Stockholm and
here. One can almost leave the long underwear off!
We sit here only a few feet from one of the busiest lock systems in the
world. Each day we see ship after ship glide slowly past our slip into or
our of the lock next to us. These locks can take ships up to over 600 feet
long, sometimes two ships side by side. Several times we have seen four huge
ships in one lock-through! No Smoking is printed on the front of some of
these, mostly tanker ships. No Wonder! We can smell the off-gassing as they
go by us! Amazing!
Jobs we are currently occupied with:
Find the pubs.
Find the liquor stores.
Find the parts houses.
Buy Groceries for the next leg.
Fix the refrigerator.
Change engine oil.
Replace engine/damper coupling bolts.
Find more Racor fuel filters, buy lots.
Take on 4000 liters of fuel.
Fix the engine room blower fan.
Clean the bilge of spilled oil and fuel.
Continue to learn the boat's electrical and other systems.
Setup our next legs' navigation.
Clean the salt off the pilot house windows!
Batten down hatches, make ready for sea.
Our run from Simrishamn to Kiel was pretty tough, seastate and weather-wise.
On the other hand, we have developed a great deal of confidence in the ship.
Yes, she does roll a bit in a cross sea. But, she is tough! Also, I'm
starting to feel better about the mechanical aspects of the machinery. It
may be that I will have more things that need attention, but at least I'm
starting to believe that on the whole, she is pretty sound.
As for navigation, we are in really good shape. With the radar and the
computer GPS/Chartplotter, we are in pretty darn good shape. We were in
fairly heavy shipping traffic coming over from Simrishamn and found that we
are being seen quite well and can see other ships equally. We have more
confidence in these systems as well. In addition, we keep a DR track on the
paper charts at least hourly, as long as we can stand at the chart table!
There are two people on watch at all times, keeping eyes peeled during high
traffic times/places. We cruise the engine room twice per hour.
The fuel tankage has been the subject of much debate. Seems that the
advertising regarding the Bunkers capacities may not be entirely accurate.
It's unclear just how the tanks in the belly in the forward half of the ship
are laid out, and after filling in Stockholm, we found that in the first
rough water they seemed to 'burp' and lose about half of what was on the
gauges! We know we didn't dump several thousand liters of diesel in the
Baltic Sea, but we don't know just what did happen. One of our major goals
when we reach the Canary Islands is to dig into this situation and find out
some real facts and fix whatever is necessary to make sure we have
sufficient bunkers to take us across the 'pond'. I haven't seen too many gas
stations out in the middle of the ocean! Between here and there, we are
developing some real dependable numbers about how much fuel she really does
burn. For instance, in the rough passage between Simrishamn and Kiel, we
averaged about 5.5 kts and burned about 28 liters per hour.
So, that's the news at this little town. It's time to send this off.
Regards,
Keith

Hi Folks,
It's really good to be back at sea, making miles to the South! Brunsbuttel
seemed kinda dodgy to me, it was hard getting filters, finding parts. The
town rolls up its sidewalks early and often. Banks were closed on Wednesday
afternoon, a normal occurrence.
There was a large freighter that came out of the locks there two days ago,
tee-boned another freighter coming down-river and sunk it. We took photos of
the bottom of the hull as we went by it on our way out.
The seas are kindly to us today, mostly following seas from the north with
only an occasional cross swell from the east to keep us on our toes.
I'm just coming off of the 0400 - 0800 watch, feeling kinda sleepy, but this
sunrise! Ya can't just go to bed and miss it!
We've had a beautiful run from Brunsbuttel, Germany.
Leaving at 1000 yesterday, we have run 185 miles. We were making over 12 kts
SOG at times.
Position: 53.10N, 004.12E
Winds: 10-12 SE
Seastate: Following seas, 1-2 feet, NE
Heading: 222M
We are currently heading down into the English Channel, just west of
Amsterdam. Our goal is to make it through the Channel and perhaps down as
far as France before the next weather system moves in. We are supposed to
have clear sailing until Sunday afternoon. We'll see. There's an old salty
dog saying that goes, "Sail the wind you have, not the one you wish you
had."
Oohhh what do you do with a drunken sailor....
Regards from the Appleberg,
Keith

10 December 2005
9:49:42 AM

Location: 50.53N, 001.04E
Winds: <10 kts S-SE
Waves: 1 ft. SE
Light clouds
Course: 237M SW
Hi Folks,
We had a great day's sailing yesterday and last night. We saw the cliffs of
Dover this morning about 0700, along with a bunch of shipping traffic. This
is, of course, the tightest point in the English Channel, with everybody
getting real 'friendly'. Or not. Some of the big boys were heard on the VHF
being a little territorial, complaining that two tenths of a mile wasn't
enough room. Mind you, these ships are about two tenths of a mile long. The
waves were a bit in our face last night, some light stuff breaking on the
bow, spray on the windows, but we are getting quite used to this. This is a
wet boat, I've come to feel. With her blunt bow, she just bashes her way
through a wave instead of cutting it.
Our forcaster says we are in for a great run of weather, the high stationary
at this moment, expected to clock around and give us following seas for the
next week or so. Looks like we may be able to just keep on truckin and
bypass Brest. Not feeling bad about that, it was a day's run out of the way
anyway. We have enough miles to go as it is.
Last night, port engine was giving a bit of trouble, so we shut down and
changed primary fuel filters. Problem solved, things are great now.
Currents in the English Channel are a force to be reckoned with, of course.
We hit the Straights of Dover at about the peak of the high tide. Currently,
(forgive the pun) we have about one knot on the nose, but that will be
coming around to behind us as we clear Dungeness Point, currently abeam.
That's all for now,
Keith

Sun 12/11/2005 4:44 AM
Hi Folks,
Here's the latest:
Appleberg Position Report

1145 hrs
49 41.6 N
003 568W
Heading: 230
Wind: NNE 6 kts
Waves: W 3' Swells,
Clear skies
Temp: 14 C
Barometer unchanged 1042 Millibars

Beautiful sailing conditions.
We do have a bit of a cross swell in these big ocean rollers, but we can
handle it now, we're old hands at it.
Things are proceeding well as long as my little stool doesn't buck me off!
Later,
Keith

19 December 2005

Hi Everybody,
Well, here we go! With a great weather forecast for the next few days,
loaded with fuel again, we depart Brest, France. Next stop: Lisbon,
Portugal.
We've all enjoyed this city, the nicest town we've visited so far. Lots of
history, nice people, and good parts/shopping availability. We made a few
friends here. Sorry to go? Not! Warmer weather beckons; it's cold and
overcast here most of the time. We would have left last week if we had been
able to get fuel. But by the time I got that issue resolved, the weekend was
upon us and we got to wait. Weather was uncooperative anyway, so it all
worked out for the best.
We have picked Lisbon as our next destination because it's just about
half-way to the Canaries. Fuel tankage issues limit us to about five days of
travel, and Lisbon is a bit less than four. The next leg, to Gran Canarias,
will be about four days as well.
Bill's tooth is doing much better now, thanks to a dose of antibiotics.
Keith went through a bit of a cold in Brest, and is much better now.
We considered a stop in Spain, but it's a little too close. Weather may
persuade us to change our minds, but we hope not.
Lessons learned from entering our last two countries are that, even though
we may be smaller than the mandatory reporting requirements, in this
post-9/11 world, to announce ourselves early as to our presence and purpose.
This little ship looks like it could be just about anything, including
military, if you have an active imagination, and it seems most coast guard
types do, that's their job. So, we will be checking in as best we can when
we get to Lisbon. Trouble is, it's hard to know just what channel, who the
agency is to hail, or when we are required to do this. The Sailing
Directions are not very clear or even accurate. They had Brest's
requirements all wrong!
That would not have been so bad, but when we entered Brest, our VHF didn't
work right, and didn't transmit well at all. So, even though I tried to
comply the best I could, we still got boarded and had some anxious
explanations to make!
Well, what the hey, it's an adventure, right?
Warm winds are calling...
Keith

Time: 0942
Position: Brest, France
Heading: South!
Waves: 3-5 ft. confused, tide against southerly pattern.
Wind: 5-8 SW
Clouds: Overcast
Temp: 12
Barometer: 1031 Steady

23 December 2005
Hi Everybody,
Merry Christmas to all!
We sit here in beautiful La Coruna, Spain, along the top of Spain's north
coast, just before turning the corner and heading south.
This port is the first that has welcomed us with no check-in, no boardings,
and no hassle of any kind since we left Sweden. What a civilized place; we
are quite fond of it already.
We arrived the day before yesterday after getting the tar beat out of us in
the crossing of the Bay of Biscay! What a rough trip that was. Seems that we
had current going our way, up to perhaps a bit more than a knot, but we were
pounding into a headwind, and a lot of fetch. To make it worse, the headwind
and seas were at about 45 degrees to our course, so we were rolling like
pigs for over thirty-six hours. The current in opposition to the prevailing
seas made it much worse, with the waves square and steep.
Some of the rolls were over 45 degrees, we think. The interesting thing is
that it was not frightening because the boat can take it. She has a high
degree of ultimate stability and can take a roll and come back for more! The
crew found it to be quite tiring, however. Fortunately, the engines just
kept on going, no matter what.
We'll be here probably until perhaps Monday, as we have a low pressure zone
moving through and will bring us some more head winds, if we are so foolish
as to be out there. So we sit tight here in Paradise! The outlook beyond
that is for tail winds, fortunately, as the low moves off to the west of
Britain.
Jim will be leaving here tomorrow morning, flying home. He will arrive
Christmas Day evening back in San Jose, CA. The last bit of the trip was
pretty rough on him, as he seemed to keep finding unexpected places on the
boat, mostly with his head. So, with the help of a friendly travel agent
here in La Coruna, working magic with her reservation computer, he goes
home.
We all want to thank those of you who have sent replies and greetings. We
really appreciate news of home and thoughts from friends and loved ones.
This means a lot to us. Thanks! Thanks also to Diana who forwards the mail,
you are a champ!
La Coruna is a beautiful city. I'd guess the population is at least one half
million. There is a beautiful old Catholic Church, with a huge square in
front of it, ringed by restaurants on three sides. The architecture is
absolutely amazing, and this is probably the biggest church I've seen. There
are many museums, and a fort overlooking the harbor that also has been
converted into a museum. Unlike Brest, which was bombed extensively during
WWII, this city was not. So the old buildings are here to delight the eye
and humble us as we look back in time.
The weather here during the sunny days is balmy after the morning chill is
dispelled. But when the sun goes down, it gets cold fast.
Looking forward, we really need to be getting on down the line, and I find
it hard to keep sitting here in port when I'd really like to be getting
further south, to warmer weather. The Canaries are calling, with only about
six sailing days to go to get there. We will need to stop in Lisbon for
fuel, hopefully a short stop and then on to Las Palmas, Gran Canarias
Island.
Again, Merry Christmas to all of you,
Keith & Crew

Time:
Position: 43 22'N, 8 23'W, La Coruna, Spain
Heading: At the dock
Waves:
Wind: Pretty calm
Clouds: None
Temp: Cold, frost on the Pumkin this morning
Barometer: 1029, falling fast.
-------------------------------------------------

27 December 2005
Hi Everyone,
It's noonish on Tuesday and we are leaving La Coruna, Spain. With a weather
forecast calling for a 48 hour window before the next low hits our area, we
are making the run for Lisbon, Portugal. The weather is perhaps not the best
for this trip, but if we didn't go now, we would have had to wait for over
another week, so here we go.
Currently, we are about a mile off the shoreline, as the wind is supposed to
be from the northeast, off the coast and slightly behind us. As we turn the
corner of Spain, this should shelter us from the side swells and even give
us a bit of a lift.
La Coruna is perhaps our favorite city in many ways, beautiful old
architecture and friendly people. Keith likes it because he can speak enough
Spanish to get around and meet most of our needs. Many great restaurants
when we feel we need to give Bill a break in the galley.
We walked our legs off, visiting the many attractions and shops, museums,
etc. They also have a great public transportation system.
We are running one-man watches, three hours on, six off. We get plenty of
rest this way, for the most part, as long as the seas aren't throwing us out
of our bunks! Before leaving this morning, we did a bit of engine
maintenance, changing primary and secondary fuel filters; they needed it
after our Bay of Biscay crossing. Following that, we secured the anchor, we
had used it the first day into port, unable to find a marina that could take
us right away. We were very tired, in addition, so we just dropped the hook
and slept the rest of the weary. The next day, I took the dinghy into the
Port Captain's office, asked about entry procedures. I was told in beautiful
English by the Captain that nothing was necessary, and I could go to the
marina he showed me on a chart on the wall of his office.
So that's what I did, after taking the dinghy over there to scout out the
lay of the land, get a slip assignment. Lovely marina, in the heart of
downtown.
Yesterday, during breakfast, we heard some boat tying up to us, and there
was the Coast Guard, Spanish style. Friendly gents, courteous to a fault.
Asked me to bring my papers over, we did a simple form and, with many smiles
and well-wishes, off they went.
They also gave me my exit papers, something I always like to get. This helps
one get into the next port sometimes. Some ports require them, some do not.
So, we leave with light hearts, looking forward to Lisboa, Portugal.
Best Regards,
Keith

Time: 1334
Position: 43 25'N, 8 34;W West of La Coruna
Heading: 275M
Waves: <3', confused
Wind: <5 SE
Clouds: raining, overcast
Temp: 11
Barometer: 1015, steady
-------------------------------------------------

Hi Everybody,
It's good to hear from you!
Well, I guess I'd better let you folks know what's going on. Lots of stuff.
During our last passage, rolling like pigs on the way to here, I decided to
call a halt to the delivery until the boat has some kind of stabilizers. It
really takes a toll on us, the body can get no rest as we roll from side to
side. She has low initial stability, which means she rolls easily up till
about 25 degrees. Fortunately, she has high ultimate stability, meaning she
stops rolling, even in the bad stuff, at about 45 degrees. Also, her roll
period is very quick, so she can go from 45 degrees stbd to 45 degrees port
in about 2.5 seconds flat. Ask Shorty. He knows!
The thought of taking her across the Atlantic, with this problem is just too
much to contemplate, so I decided I couldn't do it. After some initial
disappointment, Trevor is on board with this.
That led to looking here in Lisbon for boatyards that could do this work and
looking for a nautical architect that can make recommendations for the best
type of system to install. Further, we still have yet to solve the problems
with fuel tankage, although I've discovered how the tanks are laid out,
finally. Found we have a 6000 liter tank up forward we haven't been using,
nor is it plumbed, although it has some fuel in it. Probably for
preservation of the inside of the tank.
So, we did find a couple of yards. The prices for yard time and labor are
less than half of US prices, so we may have stumbled onto a bit of great
luck for Trevor in this respect.
Trevor is here now, we picked a yard yesterday and today we will take him
out for a boat ride. Monday we haul the boat, open up the fuel tanks,
develop a task list. My job is done at that point till next October or
November.
Thursday or Friday next week, I'll be flying to Zihuateneo, Mexico to hook
up with Peter and Terry on Anna B for a few days of vacation, diving and
just plain unwinding. Following that, I take the bus up to Mazatlan and hang
out on my boat for a few days, work on her a little bit, square up accounts,
etc. Diana and Doug will meet me in Mazatlan, where we will be hanging out,
maybe going up into the mountains to see a pyramid or something.
The trip is over at this point; we are regrouping & reorganizing so that
next fall we can do this job right. Waking this old ship up, sorting out all
of these difficulties, travelling in a ship that is so damn unstable, all of
these issues mean I and my crew have had to work much harder than we wanted
to for what was thought to be a simple delivery job.
Boy, have we learned a lot! We have also visited some cool places and have
many fond memories.
As the saying goes, "It's been real, and it's been fun, but it hasn't always
been real fun!"
So, Folks, this is the last situation update till next fall. I've had much
fun writing these things, and I've appreciated the feedback you all have
given me. Thanks for the encouragements!
Hasta Luego,
Keith

Hi Magnus,
Good to hear from you! I still remember with great fondness my time with you
guys.
Trevor is still in love with the 'Berg, and is having a little work done on
her now and then. He had a new bottom put on recently and is having the deck
lights eliminated.
At this time, he plans to tour the Mediterranean before bringing her home.
As for "ze germanz," there is no new news there; they still want lots of
money from me, and I still don't feel I need to visit Germany enough to pay
them. But they have stopped sending me demand letters. Perhaps I could send
them a little so they can teach one of their folks how to speak English...
On the other hand, it hasn't been that long ago that their military was
shooting at my relatives, and I have difficulty finding it in me to help
their military learn how to shoot better!
What is your weather like at this time? Ice skating on the inlets yet?
Keith