I liked my hard dodger — it was very comfortable while sailing, but not ideal for overnight passages and single-handed sailing in rainy weather. I also opened and closed my washboards probably 1,500 times over the last ~1.5 years, and it became quite annoying.

I’ve been thinking about the cockpit situation since last August and eventually decided that I don’t actually need that much space in the cockpit. I like my cabin, my cushions, and my own berth. It’s my home, and I love it — so why should I lie around in the windy and wet cockpit? :)

I’m currently doing some work on an old Owen & Clarke Class 40 and took the opportunity to measure the companionway and build my new one to the same dimensions. I built it as light as possible using 5 mm plywood with XPS for stiffening. I also built a pram hood out of XPS and glass/epoxy.

I still have to sew the canvas and finish all the small tasks, but so far I’m quite happy with the result.

No, I'm still in the Greifswald Bodden. If I'm ever near Lüneburg with the boat, I would definitely get in touch with you.

Anonymous wrote:

Oops, I sympathize!

Jan, I saw that it's even colder in Kraków then here. Just one or two more arctic nights, and then hopefully we'll all have slightly milder temperatures, at least for a few days. :)

Anonymous wrote:

Moin Frank,

thanks for sharing! Looks like pretty solid ice, any issues with ice pressing? You don't use any device to melt the ice around your Bold, like pumping up warmer water from below up to the surface, do you?

Luckily, Ilvy's marina in the Kiel fjord is rather ice-free.

Cheers

Paul

Someone here measured 25 cm today. I'm still not doing anything about it and I'm not worried about it at the moment. I've been exiting over the sides out of the boat for a week now. Hopefully, I won't get used to it and continue doing that out of habit once the ice is gone.

Anonymous wrote:

Is that Bleckede, Frank?

No, I'm still in the Greifswald Bodden. If I'm ever near Lüneburg with the boat, I would definitely get in touch with you.

Oops, I sympathize!

Moin JRA,

I haven't posted anything in a while. I'm currently redoing my blog and want to finish that before posting anything there. We're pretty much stuck here at the moment. Stay warm if it's winter where you are too. :)