The Crew
Leo, captain and aquaman
German, but grew up in a coastal village in Greece, and has been in the water since he was a little boy. The water is his first love. Not only is Leo a surfer (kite, wind, wave – you name it!), a rescue diver and an experienced sailor, but he also holds a master’s degree in Oceanography, and until recently he worked for a weather company providing forecasts for ships around the world. In general, this man’s life is ruled by the wind and the ocean.
Pernille, 1st mate and novice sailor
Danish, grew up riding horses and descends from a long line of landlubbers suffering from chronic seasickness. Pernille holds a master’s degree in International Business and Politics, and worked as a policy officer specialising in CSR and sustainability reporting – all very relevant and handy experience to sail the seas…
Kai, happy-go-lucky little boat dog
The cutest member of our crew is our 1 year old Danish-Swedish farmdog Kai. He has been living with us on the boat since he was 8 weeks old, and of the three of us, he probably has the strongest sea legs. Kai loves exploring and gazing into empty space. But he has also taken on a multitude of responsibilities on the boat – including safety officer, guard, mental and physical health trainer and most evidently he contributes to a faster deterioration of the boat and its value. To learn more about sailing with a dog, read our post Life of Kai.
The Vessel
Dory Man is our beloved sailboat and adventure vessel. She is a 35 ft 352 Hallberg Rassy from 1986 (Nr. 518), who came into our lives in October 2018. Dory Man was originally purchased by three Dutch gentlemen who used the boat to go fishing in the North Sea. She was later owned by a Danish couple, who in 2008 sold Dory Man to Kitte and Erling. They had ten years of family fun and sailing around the Danish island Sjælland until they decided it was time for the boat to find a new captain.
Dory Man, as the name might have revealed already , refers to the same named famous Dory who was a great Man – just kidding. It’ most likely named after a specific kind of small fishing vessels, called Dorys (A “doryman” refers to the person sailing the vessel). We speculate that the first owners had that in mind when they apparently transformed a brand new Halberg Rassy into a fishing cutter. Well, who are we to judge their decision? Thus the name remains Dory Man and She/He/It is still the occasional fishing vessel– but alas not a very successful one.
When we purchased Dory Man, she had already gathered a fine amount of engine hours and was not equipped with latest modern sailing equipment. So we took care of the important stuff and got a new mainsail, overhauled the Genoa and got a scrappy spinnaker. We’ve also replaced the rigging and installed a new autopilot along with a new anchor winch, AIS, a life raft and other safety gear. Obviously we overhauled the engine – nope, just kidding again – we just treat it with TLC. That’s all elderly engines require to keep going, right?
One of the more controversial things we installed while living onboard was water-heated radiators, which also heats the water and keeps the old lady (the engine, not Pernille) warm. It works pretty well, and if we use the motor for longer periods it will actually slowly warm the radiators as well. Anyway, now that we are sailing it is often a rather slow method to warm the boat – an air heater would be faster and better against moisture. But hey, even on anchor we have warm water for dishes (and a shower), maybe not enough water, but it’s warm. Did we mention the 18 m2 of Armaflex insulation we used to fight condensation and the Scandinavian cold? It’s very efficient, but a lot of work.
If you’ve read so far, you probably wonder how Dory Man sails. Well with our limited experience and feedback we can say; it’s a Hallberg Rassy and you can trust Her/Him/It to take the beating. Despite the age our boat is fast and elegant, handles heavy weather well and is a beauty. No surprise there is such a fuss about them in the sailing community. However as for every boat, maintenance can be a real pain at times, but that’s also part of the process/adventure right?
A Green Heading 