Do check the raid's blog for more!
http://miravarvoile.blogspot.com
4 pathfinders sailing together at this year's southern France small boat raid MIRAVAR. Pathfinder Astrid had fun along Europe, Isfuglen and Petite Hirondelle.
Astrid and Petite Hirondelle are built from kits from Newyd Marine.
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Hello all. At Newyd marine we are preparing the next generation of CNC precision cut kits for Pathfinder and all other John Welsford designed boats!
Check out the video here:
As the summer of 2023 produced record high temperatures in southern Europe, Astrid and Europe kept driving further to the fresher conditions in northern lands. A 24 hour ferry link from Denmark brought us to Bergen in Norway. The program was a week exploration sail cruise frm the island of Askoy to the isalnd of Fedje off the western coast of Norway. Wives and families joined in on this third leg of the adventure, as did One Life a Drascombe Coaster skippered by trusted William.
What ensued was a memorable adventure, sailing in unspoilt and beautiful settings, cartching fish during the day and fgrilling it on open fires at night, great winds and north sea waves, fantistic sailing grounds. The coast being broken up in a myriad of islands, we always had the choice to look for sheltered passages zig-zagging in the sometimes very narrow passages among the islands.
We reached Fedje and its stunning lighthouse after a short crossing from the islands close to the mainland. Sailing was memorable, the boat beahaved fantastically well and had a real taste of the north sea!
After exploring the Sheldt river, Astrid end Europe left Antwerp in the morning and launched again in the water in Denmark by the early evening the same day!
On the program was a short cruise in the Baltic sea, namely the Little Belt area that we chose based on a quick study of the sea charts: its islands, fjortds and sandy coastline created an instant appeal and we surely were not disappointed!!
Three days sailing in changing conditions, gusty, sometimes stormy but as well gloriously sunny. We saw seals, heard dolphins swim into the fjords at night, and enjoying fantastic scenery. Sailing was great too, shallow waters, sandy bottoms and coastline offering plenty of options for anchoring up. While we were not lucky with the fishing, we sure did enjoyed the mussels we could easily collect on the shallow sandy bottom!
As the year draws to an end, I find the time to look back at what has been an amazing summer sailing Pathfinder Astrid in 2023.
The first chapter was taking part to Raid Zeeland organised by good friend William in Belgium. Ten boats gathered in the small port of Paal in the Sheldt river close to Antwerp at the beginning of July. The program consisted in a five day sail cruise around the tidal Sheldt river, its busy canals and exploring the magnificient Veerse Meer.
The weather was fantastic and as southern Europe was scorching in the heat, two Pathfinders from southern France (Astrid and Europe) were enjoying the warm sunny conditions in Belgium.
Good friend Roger Barnes produced a stunning video account of the raid:
https://youtu.be/uR39gCD_X2s?si=pjdtfeUAK134Rd8T
