Troubles & Bad News

Oct. 2005 – Trip from Arnis to Braunschweig

This year Frank and me sold the former boat of our father SY Murks II and we had the agreement with the buyer to deliver the boat to the coast of the Baltic Sea. In this way the winter residence in Braunschweig was free for Rolling Stone and both ships changed places. On the 15th of October 2005 Frank, Rainer and me left Arnis heading for Braunschweig, which from now on should be her new winter residence. From the beginning this journey was ill-omened. First we made the descision (due tio lack of time) to keep the mast on deck, so we had to go by motor the whole way. Especially after leaving Schleimünde the trip became uncomfortable with increasing wind and waves. Shortly before the habour of Heiligenhafen the engine suddenly stuck and smoke was cominhg out of the engine compartment. Darkness all around us, but even worse, also dangerous reefs. Of course we let the anchotr go immediately and then realised that we had only a few meters water under the keel and we could hear the breaking waves at the nearby lee-shore. At least the ancor held the ship in position and we managed to re-start the engine and arrived safely in port. But the bad news didn’t end here. I got a phone call by my pregnant wife and with tears in her eyes she told me, that we lost our unborn child. I left Rolling Stone the next morning. Rainer and Frank brought the ship safely to Braunschweig, where the next challenge waited for Frank. All alone he had to adapt the Murks II trailer to Rolling Stones bigger dimensions, everything while the ship was hanging on a habour crane….no comment! That trip was definitely planned in another way…