Oops!! No camera!!

Today we have our new 2nd-hand sailing boat at last in her home harbour, Earnewald, in the middle of Fryslân, after a 4.5 hour trip without sailing, by the engine alone, against a wind which blew with 4-5 Beaufort, partly over open water. So it was also a test for the engine, an outboard Yamaha high-trust 8 Horsepower. I was a bit sceptic because the boat is 8 meters long, built of steel and pretty heavy in comparison with wood or polyester. The engine seller told me that 8 PK high trust is as power as much as 25 Horsepower regular. They are especially suited for sailing boats. We are very happy and satisfied with boat and motor, costing as much as two 2-week holidays when you hire something or stay in a hotel in Italy, Turkey or other mid-far away country.

The reason why there are no photos yet is that my camera is out of order. It still has guarantee, but I'll miss it for a couple of weeks as it has been sent to the importer to repair or replace it. Happily enough I have far more photos up to now than I can publish, but no boat photos. The very same day that it got out of order, my brother (who was with me at my home) knew somebody who had a Sony camera 4 MP, the same model as he had, for only 90 Euros and I bought it at once. The advantage of it is that you can operate exposure time, lens opening and ISO manually which wasn't possible with my now broken camera. Also the brand of the lens sounded luxurious: Zeiss-Ikon. (No doubt these days there are fancy-brand lenses which are as good, but the name... I saw an advertisement for a Leica, a simple rectangular box which costed without any "extras" such as lens etc. - as if a lens is an extra - 4,200 Euros! I have my doubts if this costly device also will produce pictures that are 40 times better than a 100 Euro-camera.

It's late now and tomorrow we are going to set up the mast and sails and try her sailing competencies, we keep you informed and there will be pictures soon. Life is beautiful. By the way, her name is "De Nachtegaal" meaning yes, "The Nightingale", following the tradition that all boats of her type (brand: "Domp") have birds' names.