After an oceanic journey in the Canaries earlier this year, closer to autumn, I felt the call of the sails again. I wasn’t alone in this. Dima started planning a trip from Gothenburg to Großenbrode, but as the crew came together, he decided to downshift from captain duties to first mate. This time, the captain was the seasoned sea wolf, Sasha.

Besides the three of us, the crew included Zhenya and Vova. The team was so rugged that we sailed day and night, covering 293 nautical miles in a week.

Dima and I flew out from Berlin the day before the trip, planning to spend the night in Gothenburg, stock up on provisions in the morning, and then meet the rest of the crew at the marina to pick up the boat.
At the airport, everything went quickly and relatively smoothly. Dima checked his luggage, and then we leisurely drank a can of Red Bull each, which he had in his carry-on and couldn’t take through security.

The flight passed quickly, with the sun setting beautifully, illuminating the clouds outside the window. We flew over the Øresund Bridge, which we were later set to sail past.

Upon landing, a surprise awaited us. Dima’s large bag was missing from the baggage claim. After about 15 minutes, we started to suspect something was wrong and ran around the airport in confusion. After futile attempts to check every corner of the baggage area, a local employee determined that the bag had been left at Berlin Airport. As it turned out, the bag had caught the attention of security, and while they were inspecting it (finding nothing), the plane took off.

It wasn’t the most pleasant situation. The bag contained items Dima was counting on, and we were set to leave the city the next day, so “delayed delivery” seemed unlikely. Fortunately, the most important items and documents were in his carry-on, and after taking the airport service’s phone number, we headed to the hotel.

The town was small, and we quickly reached the central area by bus. We checked into our room, dropped off our things, and went for a walk around the neighborhood to grab dinner. On a Friday evening, the place was buzzing with people in bars, but there were far fewer spots to eat.

Nordic Sailing

Panoramas