nilshammar

October 30, and Counting

In sailing on November 3, 2009 at 9:14 am

This year I’ll leave the ship in the water over the winter. I’m planning to try out winter sailing, which means I have some cold days coming my way.

I’ll post some pics here from the adventures. The first one out is from last Saturday. As you see the sky, sea, and rocks are all beautifully grey, and my deckhand looks like a baby in his bright red ski-dress.

brother

Men’s Singles, 80+

In sports on October 28, 2009 at 9:17 am

Yesterday night I had an epic tennis battle with Martin. We had to stop playing at 11.10 pm, when the score was 6-1, 3-6, 6-6, since they were closing down the arena for the night. The game was not so much a matter of technical skills, but a test of determination, will, and brute force.

The fact that I didn’t win the game doesn’t bother me as much as it could, since my goal with my tennis is more long term. My ambition is to win the Swedish championships in the year of 2059, competing in “Men’s Single’s 80+”. If that doesn’t work out, I will wait 5 more years and aim for “Men’s Singles 85+”.

This gives me roughly 50 years to practise my groundstrokes. Hopefully it will be enough to get my one-handed backhand working.

Sunday Sailing

In sailing on October 12, 2009 at 12:39 pm

It was raining yesterday, and 8°C.

So we went sailing.

For the first time ever, we managed to get the sails perfectly trimmed. All of a sudden the pressure on the rudder disappeared, and we cut through the dark water as a new-born baby-dolphin.

We did 8 nautical miles in just under 2 hours, then stopped for a pizza and a beer at Björkö. Here’s a map of the journey.

My brother’s beer must have been stronger than mine. On our way back home he misjudged his steps, and planted his right leg in the water. The water must have been cold, because he pulled it right back up.

We continued our exploration of a grey and deserted coast line, and arrived back home just before darkness arrived. On the shoreline, a crowd of native Swedes had gathered. They were probably saying something like:

“I never thought we would see them again. Never. Not in this weather. But they made it to the pizza and back.”