June 30 - Training Day 4

We are starting to get into our routine of boatwork and training. Monday we spent the morning installing a new traveller bar on the boat so now Jen can trim the mainsail properly, which has led to fewer angry exclamations from the back end of the boat. We found an awesome machinist shop right by the marina where the machinist cut the bar down to size on a giant machine. He was very careful to put out his cigarette whenever he adjusted the machine and then lit up again immediately afterward!

We got on the water later in the afternoon and were immediately waved over to join in some training with the Croatian and Turkish mens teams. The coach would emphatically shout and wave at us "Girls! Tack!" Then we were joined by the German national team for some small races. These proved to be a bit of a gong show for us as we haven't done any short course work in a while and with a new boat and all the systems in the boat in constant flux we weren't very quick off the line or around corners.

Tuesday we launched with the Australian boy's and girl's teams and tuned up with them upwind. It was about 8-12 knots from a dark cloud in the SW with big short waves that were hard to get over smoothly. The Australian teams sail like skiff sailors - footed off and lots of sheeting. It was a bit strange to sail with them as we sail totally differently. We rarely were pointing the same direction; sometimes they had more speed but we were sailing higher, and sometimes we had equal speed but were sailing lower. We did some upwinds and downwinds together for a few hours until the cloud moved through and the breeze died down and swung around to the SE. The Aussies headed in, we stayed out for a while and worked on our boat handling.

Tuesday evening we met up with a French Canadian who has been living in Den Haag for the past two years. He works for the cartography company and gave us free charts and a current book for Den Haag, which is amazing! We cycled into Central Den Haag and he showed us the International Court of Justice, the Palace and the Legislator. We then went to a local pub to watch the Spain vs. Portugal match with a whole bunch of Spanish people.

Today when we arrived at the Marina a fog and a bit of rain was moving in. We did a bit more boatwork and the fog blocked our view of the marina entrance. It retreated and we headed on the water around noon. It was hard to tell how windy it was with the big short waves, fog and current, but somewhere around 16 knots. We were sailing around in the fog by ourselves when we found the Singapore mens team, and tuned up with them upwind. We were fairly evenly matched for speed (they don't sail like skiff sailors) except they were doing a better job of managing the big waves. By this I mean they did NOT get washed off the boat while I did! Eventually the fog cleared and the wind died down to around 6 knots. We joined the other boats for one race and then headed in. We had yet more boatwork to do. We have been trying to nurse along our spinnaker halyard by replacing some core and splicing in some extra line but it is a losing battle, so we are going to have to replace it.

Our boat parking spot has slowly been moved by some Australians who have arrived over the past two days. I guess we will be nice as one of them is the Bejing Men's 470 Gold medallist. I found this out after asking if he was the coach. Whoops! Maybe they will have some tips for us? Pictures from around town below.

Den Haag, NED

June 27 - On the water in Den Haag

Today we went training! It feels like it's been awhile since we did that! The wind was light out of the north about 4-6 knots, and about 3 knots of current from the north as well. It is quite warm here, so we could finally wear a few less layers then we have been at home and in Kiel. We were supposed to meet up with the Aussies at noon but we have no phone and they have no internet so somehow that didn't work out. We spent a good 3 hours focusing on boat handling and boat speed now that (most) of the systems on the boat are working. It felt really good to get back into the boat and work on things on our own for the first day. The wind is a thermal breeze which doesn't seem to appear until 11 or 12 and increases in velocity throughtout the day.

We have made up a schedule for ourselves for the next two weeks so we can get back into a routine. We will sail everyday this week then take the weekend off, then sail again next week. There is organized group training for the event July 6-8. Measurement takes place the 9-11th. The practise race is July 11th and racing is July 12-18.

There is a small group of boats training out of the sailing venue including the German and British teams but most teams are taking this week off and will show up next week.

Our apartment is a block up from the Scheveningen Pier and Strand. This is basically the beach where everyone in Holland comes for summer vacation, so it is packed full of people. Jen and I have both already been scolded in dutch for riding our bicycles on the Strand (apparently it's pedestrian only). Riding our bikes to the club is very nice as we cycle along in the bicycle lane with bicycle stop lights. We have rented one speed's with pedal brakes and panniers. I do enjoy cycling in an upright position, but sometimes I forget how to stop.

June 26 - Boat Setup

Our boat is set up and ready for training tomorrow.  We've still got some more work to do on the boat, but it's definitely coming along, and we got it rigged and tuned today.  The only downer today was that after all of the trouble that we've had with our top cover, the bottom cover completely disintegrated today when we unpacked it!  Hopefully we can save it...we'll keep you posted!
The harbour here is huge, I've never seen anything like it.  We're in an industrial looking area, and to get to the sailing centre we ride our bikes past herring canneries and through commercial chandleries.  To get out of the actual harbour we have to launch down a massive ramp and sail out through a huge concrete harbour that leads to the open water.  Outside of the harbour is open sea, which is why they need to have such big breakwaters, but it's very impressive.  We'll post pictures so that you can get an idea of how small the 470's look when they sail out of the harbour. You can see it on google maps.

Tomorrow we train with our Australian friends, and we're looking forward to getting out into the current-something that we Victorians know so very well.

Jen

World Cup Fever on the World Cup Circuit

Jen here,

Sometimes when you're least expecting it, an adventure presents itself.  Last night when we arrived in Den Hague, the Holland vs Camaroon match was just beginning.  We got ourselves unpacked and I walked to find a local grocer so that we could have something in the flat for breakfast.  On my way back, I was walking down the street and taking in my surroundings when suddenly, a very excited elderly gentleman dashed out of a pub, grabbed me by the hand, and led me into the pub all while speaking at me in Dutch.  He escorted me into the pub and sat me down-apparently I was to watch the match with this room full of strangers.  What else could I do but oblige?  I sure didn't want to be rude and leave the pub in the middle of the second half!
Over the course of the game I was introduced to the "Beesie" pronounced "Bay-shee" which is a little fluffy worm which you carry around with you to show your support for team Holland.  By the time I left the pub, I was adorned with a whole herd of Beesies, had learned the tune to half a dozen Dutch folk songs, and made friends with a lovely family, including grandpa.  All of this while Erin was at home, thinking that I'd got lost on my way to find groceries.  She was definitely relieved when I made it home, and laughed when I explained what had happened and why I was covered in little orange fuzzy worms.  We already have a date for the Holland/Slovakia game on Monday.  I think that Holland will be quite the experience this month...and training starts up tomorrow!
Jen

June 24 - Travel to The Hague

Lets discuss parking in Europe for a moment. It's pretty hilarious as everything seems to be fair game, intersections, sidewalks, even on the road beside other parked cars. As it is Kiel Week and World Cup, there has been absolutely no parking near our hostel. Everyone is trying to park for free and walk downtown. I have been doing a fairly excellent job of parking our rental car in random tight places and intersections etc. and so far the car has always been there the next day. This morning however, it wasn't. We left the hostel with plenty of time to gas the car, return it and then walk to the train station (as the car rental place and the gas station are 500 m from the hostel and the train station is 3 blocks, this seemed like it would work out fine). Except then the car wasn't there. After a brief moment of panic and adrenaline, we quickly got to work. We walked to the police station (also only 3 blocks away) and a very nice police officer looked up our car and told us where it was. Thankfully in Germany instead of towing your car to an impound lot really far away, they just tow it to a street with lots of legal parking and leave it. All we had to do was find it! The policeman called us a taxi and we headed over to the street where are car was actually fairly easy to locate. There was a note in German on the windshield which we haven't managed to translate yet but it starts off "Dier Idiote" which even I can decipher. So we got the car back, gassed up, dropped it off and headed to the train station and caught our train with plenty of time. All in all it was an excellent result to what could have been disastrous morning.

We then spent the rest of the day taking the train to the Hague, which was intermittently boring and stressful as our first train got delayed and we nearly missed the transfer to the second train. We have rented a 1 bed apartment in The Hague for the next month. The landlord very kindly picked us up from the train station. The apartment is a 10 minute cycle along the beach boulevard to the marina, so we will rent bikes tomorrow and get acquainted with the city.

I have posted pictures from the German Naval Memorial Museum.

German Naval Memorial Museum

Pack up after Kiel

Jen here,

The boat is all packed up and headed to Den Hague, we follow tomorrow via train.  Despite the surprises about our boat and all of it´s repairs and fixes and the lack of wind, it´s been a great experience and good to get our first European event under our belts.  We have a laundry list of further upgrades that we´ll do to the boat when we arrive in Den Hague, including removing the bridal traveller and replacing it with a proper traveller car system like our boat back home, new spinnaker sheets, and new auto bailers (ours leak!).  We´re also very keen to actually get SAILING! We´ve befriended an Australian team of twin brothers who will also be in Den Hague very shortly,  and we´re keen to train with them. 
After packing up the boat today, Erin and I went and visited the U-boat memorial in Kiel.  It was very interesting and do I ever feel sorry for the poor soldiers who had to serve inside of those tiny cramped quarters.

More once we reach Den Hague.

Cheers,
Jen

June 22-One race

Jen here, 

Well, after starting out our third windless day waiting in the boat park,  the RC sent us out at 12:00 for some light wind racing.  Erin and I were keen to put our days of boat work to the test.  We got out to the course, warmed up, tuned up and went upwind with some other boats before heading back to the starting area.  The whole starting process took close to an hour with the two mens fleets being recalled, and ours as well. We got a good start with speed off the line and were able to hold our lane...this was a major improvement over Miami!  We stayed mid fleet throughout the race, and seemed to have good boat speed in our new boat.  On the downwind we were able to work much lower than the boats around us, and picked up a number of places.  Then the breeze went very very soft, and on the final leeward mark to the finish we got involved in one of those slow motion pinwheels where you can see the whole thing coming from about ten minutes beforehand.  We tried to position ourselves favourably by slowing down...apparently slowing down on the outside of a pinwheel is only midly effective when everyone else is only going about a knot and a half.  All in all, though, it was a great day and nice to get an actual race in after all of the waiting.

Jen