In the end, I had to put this beautiful yacht to the bottom in the Red Sea. After we survived Mistral in the Balearic Sea, the yacht needed serious repairs. Besides, she did not have a self-draining cockpit - this was her only big minus and I did not want to risk in the ocean. But her extraordinary beauty stood out on all the piers from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
With her narrow and low hull, it looked like an old classic sailboat. Inside, it was lined with mahogany and fur. Her sailing is best for tacking and a good ballast (more than 50%) allowed it to carry many sails in a strong wind. 9 h/p diesel was not enough for 3.3 tons, but we used little of it. Even in the Volga-Baltic canal and against the current on the Svir River, Astrid sailed with wind most of the time.
When I bought this yacht in Stockholm, it was in good condition and it had all the equipment. Unfortunately, during the ongoing trip I did not have the opportunity to pay attention even to minor repairs. As a result, the yacht lost the chartplotter, autopilot and almost all sails and gear.
On this yacht I got into a very strong storm. It was the winter in the Mediterranean when we passed from Sardinia to Menorca. Blow famous Mistral. I made a mistake and did not running before the wind. On the second day, a large amount of water began to enter the interior of the boat. Menorca was less than 100 miles away. Astrid was a great tack with storm fock, but in the end we broke the forestay and the storm sail scattered into pieces. We had a chance to reach the coast of Menorca when the next morning wind decreased and we did emergency repairs. Examining the underwater part of the yacht, we found a crack near the keel through which all the time water came. I do not want to think about it, but if the storm did not break the forestay, maybe we could lose the keel.
After all, I sailing around on this broken yacht all the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and safely completed its journey in the Red Sea. The yacht drowned, but I think it was the best one and a half years of her life.
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