A late day’s sail as I spent the morning attaching the new Windex to replace our old one which didn’t survive winter. As a matter of fact I noticed the frayed remnants of a Windex on the ground near Widdershins before she was launched and remember thinking that some poor mug has lost his … turns out the joke was on me on the first day I set sail and looked up to see that the Windex (which tells you which way the wind is blowing and allows you to adjust your sail) was missing. So this saw me clambering up the sail early this morning with a wrench in hand while I tried to take the mounting of the last one off, and install the new device. Took a few attempts but now Widdershins is topped by a sparkling new Windex that should see us through our long voyage.

Once this was all fixed and a few chores done (have you ever tried to wash your clothes in a small sink …not much fun) I was off for Risør. A really pleasant surprise was a group of over 30 seals lying on a rock just our side of my nights anchorage. These harbour seals are much maligned as they commit the ultimate sin of competing with us for fish! Fancy that the cheeky buggers! Needless to say many people shoot them on site, but the good news is that numbers are finally returning to the south coast of Norway and hopefully a group of lounging seals on a rock will be a common sight in the days to come.

Now I’m in Risør, home to the wooden boat festival. During the festival the town is crowded and boisterous but right now it is just another sleepy town by the water. A pleasant place to stay the night with power to recharge my laptop!