New horizons, new discoveries…

It’s decided. I am buying a bigger sailing yacht. To be honest, my present boat can hardly be called a yacht, since it is only 28 foot. But it has served me well during the last 10 years and even though I haven’t made any ocean crossings in it, it has been my fearless «rebel friend» and my ticket to freedom. Because that is what it’s all about. Every skipper is a pirate in his own mind, except we don’t steal stuff, of course. But we bow to no king. We are free.

While it might sound strange to some, my boat has been my personal friend. And it will remain so. Because I’m not selling it. It will stay on shore for a few years and when my kids get old enough to go sailing on their own, they will have the option of owning their own boat.

So I’ve spent quite some time lately looking at boats. New boats and older boats. I am not the kind of boatman who cares about the color of the cushions. I have been knocking on keel bolts and poked around in the boats’ many joinings and eyed the hull shape. And I’m not entirely happy with anything I’ve seen so far. Well, I guess if I had a very large fortune to spend, I could find the perfect boat. But since I don’t, I will have to accept a few flaws. But hey, even Jack Sparrow’s beloved Black Pearl has some flaws – if I remember correctly it’s said to point somewhat to port, but nevertheless it has impressed many a lass. Right now, I’m looking at some brand new 37 footers and two 10-15 year old 42-44 footers. I’m leaning towards the second hand yachts. They have better hull shapes for ocean sailing, it is easier to sail a larger yacht when you’re on your own, and they have four cabins, which means I can convert one of them into an office and still have room for my family. Also, I used to have a 45 footer, and I love the big yacht feeling. And the ability to crush pontoons down at the continent.

I hope to sail across to Scotland during the summer. I love Scotland and I’ve been there often, but I haven’t yet done any sailing there. I even plan to sail across to Iceland and from there, Greenland and down the North American coast. Maybe not this summer, but it’s on the list.

I’ll keep you posted!

– Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen

Read more: Why I’m going Viking – and why you should too