Sailing!

This is a replica viking boat on the high seas, it can be rented from the historical museum. Sven, one of the swedes in our program, coordinated a sailing trip a few weekends past. It was good fun, and the winds are always blowing in Karlskrona. He also volunteered his motor boat for various logistical/towing duties. Thanks Sven!

Here is the ship preparing for its tow out of port.

A view of Salto island, which is connected to Trosso by 3 bridges.

I was not actually on the viking ship, instead electing to crew a two man dinghy with three men. Myself, Simon, and Elvio set out, with me in the role of captain. Although my sailing experience is relegated solely to the time I have spent on Captain Curran's 30ft sail boat serving chiefly as head cocktail mixer and occasional first mate, I had confidence as we set course for open water. As you can see from this picture we did indeed eventually make it to the fort on Apso island. However, I can tell you for certain that a nine foot dinghy with three incompetent sailors is vastly different that a larger, more stable vessel with a credible captain at the helm. Regardless, the reports of capsizing were false. The mast may have touched the water, yes, but bottom line we made it to our destination and also managed to complete a few tacks that did not kill all momentum and/or spin the boat 270 degrees.

Elvio, from Brazil, was on his first sailing voyage, and took to it so well he was promoted to captain after some initial tacking miscues necessitated a reorganization of the crew.

Simon, from the UK, clearly enjoyed himself. After a couple more incidents in the early going he was eventually promoted to captain, and kept that rank till he abandon ship at port, having lost patience with our extended maneuvering to dock the boat.

And this inglorious shot may be the last one posted for a spell. My camera seems inexorably drawn to the sea, and again it fell into the water while docking. While I thought I had taken much better care to prepare this time around, the baggy I choose to protect my camera was not as sturdy as it appeared, and once again the camera was dunked. Now it is functioning but only just barely, and it is a bit of a Rube Goldberg process to take photos with it. I will evaluate my options and hopefully begin posting more photos soon.
Also, many of you have asked for more info as to what we are actually studying over here. I will endeavor to post soon about the program and related sustainability issues. Stay tuned!