Friday night we made it to the habour at km 1956 "Yachthafen Muckendorf", a short distance outside of Wienna. Members of the Yachtclub's board welcomed us and invited us to use their facilities, inluding having a beer on the terrace. During the evening our new friends helped us with maps for the Hungarian/Slovakian part of our voyage and gave us a lot of good advice on how to proceed.

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The crew on board Saga Farmann is a hardworking group, who steps up when needed. Due to the delay of the batteries and generator we were behind schedule to get to Vienna this coming weekend. But the motivation is high to make up for lost time by sailing long days and distances.

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Friday morning, we started out from the habour Au at 06:00 with a plan to do about 150 km, in order to get close to Wienna. At 19:00 we moored, having passed 151 km. During the day we set a speed record of 10.4 kts downstream and got soaking wet in heavy rain showers in a lock. A cool day on the river Donau, actually.

Finally, we could get to work. On Monday morning our new batteries and generator arrived. The crew worked efficient and within just 2,5 hours, 24 batteries were replaced with new ones and our new generator was lifted in place, ready to be connected. 

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In the afternoon we were ready to take off for Regensburg. The current was about 3-4 kts, so we needed to plan for maneuvering, how to stop and how we could turn in the river. It is actually much more challenging going downstream than upstream. Just before we came to our mooring spot in Regensburg, we had to make a 180 degree turn upstream. We were a little stressed, but made the turn like pros. 

Our friends here had arranged for us to dock right in the centre of the city and not long after arrival, visitors came to see our ship and to hear more about our epic voyage.

Crew 4 has arrived and taken over the ship just 3 hours sailing from Regensburg. This is the spot selected for yet another logistic operation for this voyage. Monday 12th of June we will recieve 24 new batteries and an additional generator. The plan is to remove half our battery bank and replace it with new batteries and at the same time install an additional 8kW generator. While waiting the new crew went on sightseeing to Regensburg

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Day 29: Time for a new crew as stage 2 crew hand over the ship

Stage 2 has come to an end and the crew are now handing over the ship to the crew for stage 3. We (Stage 2 crew) are truly proud of our achivement bringing Saga Farmann from Lübeck to Mainz on time - We faced all sorts of issues like EU certification, lack of certificates and a tow up the Rhine, but we found solutions and succeeded our stage. We wish the 3rd stage crew a nice voyage.

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We were lucky to get a tow from captain Frank on the 135 meter barge Heike-Lucie. Frank had heard about our need to get up the Rhine and made contact through our German friend Eddy - and at the last minute a deal was made for Saga Farmann to be towed alongside Heike-Lucie up the Rhine.

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Well secured to Heike-Lucie we started our journey in the strong current on the Rhine. It was scary at start but soon we got used to the constant noise from the water passing between us and Heike-Lucie. We were in good hands. See posting on YouTube: Saga Asia 2023 

There is not much you can do when towed, except for enjoying the nice scenery and relaxing. Heike-Lucie provided us with the luxury of showering and the possibility to take a walk visiting the wheelhouse and captain Frank. 

When arriving at the lock in the Main - local vikings showed up and we took them on board for a short ride through the lock. When parking for the night more spectators appeared. For a few hours we enjoyed telling about our voyage, previous experiences and viking craftsmanship and most likely we got some new crew members for the stages next year.

Our voyage on the canals towards the Rhine brings us through and under various locks and bridges. To sum up the experience in that regard: Locks are big, and bridges are low!  We knew that we should be able to pass under all the bridges, but every now and again we get a little worried as they seem to be too low.

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There's no doubt that the locks are getting bigger and bigger as we are getting closer to the Rhine. The locks around Lübeck were "cosy" compared to the locks we see these days. Saga Farmann is a small ship in a lock build to hold 150 m barges.

Starting out at 0600 - almost alone on the canal. We just had to overtake a barge, and then we rode the uspoiled morning waters, listening to the early morning birds (and there are a lot of them).  Please see our video from this morning in our YouTube canal: Saga Asia 2023.

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This afternoon the temperature rose, and we had to seek shade. This gave us the opportunity to test out our new "bikinitop" for the helms-position. Using the bars from the winch and a stick harvested from the riverbank, we now have nice shade aft in the ship. And we managed over 100 kilometres this day! 

Today we reached the massive ship lift on the Elbe Seitenkanal. That is a scary piece of engineering, lifting an entire section of the canal, including ships approximately 38 meters!! We waited a few hours to get access as they (for good reason) prioritize the commercial ships. But we got to ride alone - and our 20.7 meter ship is but a small fish in a big pond in this construction. Please see our live stream from the lift in our YouTube channel: Saga Asia 2023.

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Finally we're ready to continue our voyage - we've got all papers needed and now we just need to lower the mast to be able to go under the brigdes. It makes for some ‘spaghetti’ with all the standing rigging, shrouds and stays laid down. 

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Jeremy Freeston, who is a well known filmmaker, has started to film for a documentary featuring the Saga Asia 2023 voyage. We’re thrilled that our adventure  potentially will be seen by millions. Jeremy has made a teaser to let us know what we may expect - please check out our Youtube channel to see the teaser (Saga Asia 2023)

Blog

Making new friends everywhere we come

Pushing for Vienna

A hectic day

Waiting for action

The magnificent stage 2 crew

Up the Rhine

Locks and Bridges

A day on the canal

Not a lock but a LIFT…

Lowering the mast

Filming a documentary

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