Klabautermann, to all you non-German sailors, is that nasty gnome riding on ships and boats, creating trouble all along. When things go wrong it's him! To know this also comes in handy when you are e.g. working in a manufacturing business!
Here are the - literally - "Breaking News": At 3:30am today the spinnaker halyard broke about a foot above the head of the sail, letting the spinnaker sink into the water in full length. And now comes the fantastic part, which most likely made Klabautermann really mad: We recovered the spinnaker undamaged, and, after lengthy restuffing the spinnaker into its sock, done down below with all space being filled with spinnaker cloth, we hoisted the same spinnaker on the starboard halyard. We are back in business, 8.5kn!
I guess that extra delay of about an hour will soon be seen in the ratings.
Aloha, Ulli
position: 19 July 2008 0832PDT, lat31n40, lon133w38, cog220M, sog8.5kn
2 comments:
Please tell me that there is some way to appease this Klabautermann. I will rally the troops if you have a suggestion for us.
Well done - you are an amazing crew.
According to Wikipedia you may be giving the poor guy a bum rap. "A Klabautermann is a water sprite (or nix) who assists sailors and fishermen on the Baltic Sea in their duties. He is a merry and diligent creature, with an expert understanding of most watercraft, and an unsupressable musical talent. He also rescues sailors washed overboard. The name comes from the Low German verb klabastern meaning "rumble" or "make a noise".
His image is of a small sailor in yellow with a tobacco pipe and woollen sailor's cap. This likeness is carved and attached to the mast as a symbol of good luck.
Perhaps it is time for someone to get carving?!? Gute Reise!
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