Work in progress: Google map

Inspired by Jonty, I'm working on a Google map of our route this year. It's still work in progress - I have now added the Danish ports, but I keep thinking of further refinements. Go to the larger map for a better view. You can click on each of the symbols to see when we were there and a link to the relevant blog post. On our longer passages I have shown our route, but not for the shorter ones as it would make the map too cluttered.

If you zoom in, you can see that Google maps is so accurate I have even been able to place us on the correct pontoon, except when I can't remember which one we were on, or the marina has been rebuilt since the aerial picture was taken. Most of the harbours look much emptier than when we were there!

Let me know what you think.

• View Kalessin of Orwell Baltic cruise in a larger map

Sam is home

Sam is safely back into the bosom of the family after an interesting final week with the boat in Augustenborg, during which he was spoiled rotten by the increasing numbers of Brits coming in to lay up for the season. Fully expecting to be living the lonely bachelor life and existing on fridge stock run-down and pilchard sandwiches, he was royally entertained on a number of occasions.

Our old friends Jonty and Wyn aboard Lady Cressida appeared shortly before the weekend, joined by Liz and Duncan on their Island Packet String Theory and later by Paul and Jean on their Hallberg Rassy. Also contributing to Sam’s social round were a Dutch couple, Tom Boot (you pronounce it “Boat”) and his wife on their New Zealand-flagged boat (it’s a long story!).

Liz and Duncan had a car at Augustenborg and very kindly invited Sam along for a “cross-border raid” to Flensburg to splash the Euros in a vast supermarket and, of course, the chandlery. Besides giving Sam supper twice, Duncan also ran him to Sonderborg Airport for the Cimber feeder flight to Copenhagen on the first stage of the trip home. For which much thanks. 

Kalessin is now nicely tucked up in Anders’ shed. All winterised and some maintenance done, including varnishing the cabin sole – which required some gymnastics to get from forepeak to galley and the head. Talking of heads, Sam did manage to add yet another scar to his battered bonce when he ducked under the low roof of the marina bike shed to escape one of the many torrential downpours and forgot to duck again when he came out.