The Log of Whisper

05 October 2008

Back in the Caribbean

Spain: Check.
France: Check.
Andorra: Check.
Italy: Check.
England: Check.

Time to get back to the Caribbean!

We're back in the heat and humidity of Trinidad after a three week driving and camping tour of southern Europe. We left Sweden on September 10 and spent the next 10 days driving around northern Spain (home of the Rioja wine region) and a detour to southern France to visit our friends Chris and Julie who we met in the Virgin Islands. Next stop was the Tuscany region of Italy (home of the wine province of Chianti and some truly excellent pizza). In Italy we met up with our friends Dave and April, who we got to know in the Bahamas in 2007. After Italy we flew to England and spent some time with Kristen's family (her mother is English, you know). Since we spend almost all our time on the water, we mostly traveled in the mountains. It was bloody cold at night (no sleeping bags) but the scenery was amazing. Anyway, it was too cold at the beach to go swimming!
Somewhere in Italy the cord that connects our camera to our computer went missing, so the pictures below only get to the first bit of Italy. Stay tuned for more pictures. We skipped adding captions so you'll have to use your imagination. Try to figure out why Kristen is sleeping on an air mattress outside the Pisa International airport.

09 September 2008

Hej då Sverige!

September 9, 2008

Our plane leaves tomorrow morning at 6.30 to Barcelona, the start of our Spain, France, Italy and England tour. It's exciting but sad at the same time to say goodbye to family, friends and Sweden. The last couple days we've spent hanging out with friends in Stockholm, attending the baptism of Max and Ida and running last minute errands. Tonight Åsa, Henrik and Hans' grandmother are over for dinner, swedish meatballs!

the fruit and vegetable market in downtown Stockholm

We stopped at the best coffee shop in Stockholm, debatable in all of Sweden, Vette Katten, for some princess cake and coffee.

One final night hanging out with Peter and Johan - a couple games of pool

Peter is very serious about making his point heard...

and so are Hans and Kristen. surprise, they're both talking at the same time!

Ida is all smiles on Saturday

Max laughs at his uncle Hans

Max and Ida before baptism

Ida

Max

Sofia with a tight hold on Max

A tired Ida after the ceremony

03 September 2008

and the Nobel Prize goes to...

September 3, 2008

With only a week left in Sweden, we've kicked up our tourist activities to a high level. Yesterday we biked into Stockholm, walked around Gamla Stan, the old(est) part of town, ate hot dogs for lunch and had a tour of Stadshuset, the City Hall, where the annual Nobel Prize ceremony is held.

Norrbron, the oldest bridge in Stockholm and currently under repair, with Riksdagshuset, the Swedish Parliament building, in the background.

Waiting in line at the Korv Kiosk. Streetside hot dog vendors are highly developed in Sweden, offering at least 15 different combinations of the tasty lunch.

A side street in Gamla Stan.

Stadshuset

The Blue Hall where the Nobel Prize dinner is held. Over 1000 guests are in attendance so everyone is given a scant 60 cm (2 ft.) of space at the dinner table, including the King and Queen.

The Log of Whisper in print

Do you love looking back at old blog postings but hate having to search through the archives? Do you tell your old Aunt Mildred all about the Log of Whisper but can't show her because she doesn't have a computer? Do you have insomnia and need a sleeping aid? Great news! The Log of Whisper is now available as a book! Buy your copy now!

The default version is a hardcover with a dust jacket. Both soft cover and hardcover image wrap versions are available. They are identical to the dust jacket version except they will not include the information on the inside flaps of the dust jacket.

The Log of s/v...

maryland to Trinid...

By Hans & Kristen wit...

Book Preview

About Whisper"s crew

Hans:
Raised in Northern Sweden by fearless sailors and descended from a wooden boat builder, Hans spent more time as a kid skiing, fishing and terrorizing his younger sisters than sailing. After protecting the father land by serving as a medic/machine gunner in the highly ironic Swedish military, he was off to the United States for college where he met Kristen.

Kristen:
Raised in land-locked Southern Vermont by a Brit and a Vermonter, Kristen sailed sunfishes at summer camp but spent most of her childhood playing in the snow in the winter and building forts and dams in the woods in the summer. After college, the allure of living on a boat in the tropics was much more appealing than 3 years of law school and the inevitable debt.

Walking along the waterfront in Stockholm in the summer of 2001, the two would-be voyagers hatched their plan and worked towards it until their departure in November of 2006.

Kit Kat:
Reared in the backwoods of Northwestern Montana, Kit Kat had never seen the ocean until thrust down Whisper's companionway on October 23rd 2006. In spite of constant hunger, she has adapted remarkably well to the life of a boat cat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. You're so young. How can you afford doing this at your age?
A. The simple answer is prioritizing. We were lucky to chose the cruising lifestyle before we graduated from college, so nearly every major decision was based on our future plans afloat. All of our purchases (and lack thereof), career decisions, location and lifestyle were aimed at saving money for a 2 year sabbatical from the "real world." Once we found ourselves in the right place (Washington, D.C.) and in the right jobs (Hans: photography, Kristen: paralegal), we started saving money by living well below our means.

Q. Don't you get sick of each other?
A. 99.9 % of the time, no. Of course we have the occasional disagreement or misunderstanding but we're quite happy most of the time.

Q. Don't you think that you're going to get bored?
A. No, not really. There's always something to do on the boat, or another place to go with new friends to meet.

Q. What about storms? Isn't it very dangerous?
A. Try driving on the beltway at rush-hour! Sailing is very safe as long as you aren't on a schedule. Weather patterns are generally predictable, and we have the luxury of waiting for good weather before setting off on the next leg of our journey.

Q. What about Kit-Kat? How does she like the cruising life?
A. Contrary to her occasional blog posts, she likes it just fine on the boat. When things get a bit bumpy she finds a safe spot to wedge herself. When we're at anchor, she has the run of the boat, and enjoys lying in the sun and stalking the seagulls. No... she hasn't fallen in the water yet.

Q. So, did you both grow up sailing?
A. Not really. We both spent a couple of summers in our childhoods sailing on little dinghies, but nothing that would have prepared us for sailing a boat like Whisper. We learned through copious amounts of reading, and by trial and error on the Chesapeake Bay in the past two years. Lessons are for sissies!

Q. What will you do after cruising?
A. We don't really know yet, although we both agree that having all this time will help us make a very deliberate decision about our future. Of course, if there are any "get rich quick" schemes out there send them our way!
Update: Hans is starting medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia; Kristen is busy looking for work in Philadelphia and writing articles for sailing magainzes. Again, we're open to any and all "get rich quick" schemes!