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This is how the Ickingen circumnavigators Katja and Ansgar Scherf feel

2020-04-30T18:08:26.024Z


The Ickingen couple Katja and Ansgar Scherf have been sailing around the world since December 2018. They are currently stuck in the Caribbean: Quarantine in Martinique. 


The Ickingen couple Katja and Ansgar Scherf have been sailing around the world since December 2018. They are currently stuck in the Caribbean: Quarantine in Martinique. 

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Picturesque island: Martinique belongs to France and thus to Europe - luck for the Ickingen couple. 

© Photo: private

Icking - "If someone takes a trip, he can count something," wrote the German poet Matthias Claudius (1740-1815). This also applies to the Ickingen circumnavigators Katja and Ansgar Scherf. The couple has been on a major tour with the "SY Umiak" - the name comes from Greenland and means "Our travel boat" - since May 2018. For weeks, however, they have been at anchor in the Caribbean quarantine because of the corona pandemic in the Bay of St. Anne in Martinique.

The picturesque island belongs to France. This is a blessing for the adventurous couple. “We are really grateful that we are allowed to be here at the moment,” says biologist Katja Scherf in a telephone conversation with our newspaper. For the first few days she was mildly smiled at by other sailors. But the decision not to sail any further was the right one. "We have EU guidelines here, and that's a good thing," says engineer Ansgar Scherf, who celebrated his 60th birthday in early April. "After all, we are allowed to go shopping and for a short walk on board."

The two Ickingers have not been as sedentary as they are now. They have been living on the “SY Umiak” since the end of 2016. First, they made the boat seaworthy in the port of Tholen in Holland and made the first trips to the Baltic and North Sea in 2017. In May 2018, they started their big journey. "First we sailed along the European Atlantic coast towards Madeira and past the Canaries to Cape Verde," says Katja, who clarifies that it is common in sailing circles to be addressed by first name. The two find that appropriate for the article in their home newspaper.

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with the "SY Umiak" - the name comes from Greenlandic and means "our travel boat" - the Ickingen are on a big tour.

© Photo: private

From the Cape Verde Islands in Africa, we finally started in December 2018 across the Atlantic towards Barbados. "2200 nautical miles in 16 days," Ansgar recalls. In purely sailing terms, the route was not so demanding, but it was exciting. Ansgar continues: "Sometimes you only need a lot of patience to sail until the right wind comes, which brings you to your destination well."

The Ickingen people also remember strenuous moments: "If you are only traveling as a couple, then of course you often have to keep watch and are often just tired." Both stay (not only) for the first nine days of their great Atlantic crossing in the Memory. Katja raves: “There was really nothing. No ship, no radar, no plane. Just sky and water. ”Her husband throws in a true seaman's manner:“ That was a long way off. This kind of distance control does not knock our socks off in quarantine. ”

Katja goes on to say: “Nothing for nine days, but then a big cargo ship came towards us at night. Directly on a collision course, "The 55-year-old remembers the first shock, which then quickly resolved to his liking:" The freighter dodged in accordance with regulations, and we chatted with the captain over the radio for a while. "

The two fur seals report that their everyday life on the boat is not always as lonely as crossing the Atlantic. On the contrary. "We already met some incredibly great people on the way," says Ansger. Depending on the destination, friends or daughter Laura from Munich might come to visit.

Read also: How the Way of St. James changed Kurt Andorfer's life

The destinations of your trip sound like an eternal dream vacation: Barbados, Tobago, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, the east coast of the USA to Canada and back to the Caribbean. However, it is not as comfortable with a boat as with a luxury cruise ship (apart from the dramatic corona quarantine cases). There are always hands full on the boat. "And something breaks all the time," says Katja of her exciting and busy life on the 15 meter long "SY Umiak". Sometimes they have the impression that they cannot get out of the repair mode. Her husband emphasizes: “And you can't put off anything here either. If something is broken, you have to get it going again immediately. "

Water and wind have an enormous power, especially in storms, of course, because wear is preprogrammed. From the main sail to the faecal pump, pretty much everything had been affected. "Up to now we have always been lucky, sometimes friends could get the pump on the way and bring it along, sometimes a neighbor in the harbor had exactly the right spare part in stock, somehow it goes on and on," says Ansgar.

Also read: The world tour by Clemens and Cornelia Irmer

And the Corona crisis was over at some point. Meanwhile, they had put the plans to go up again to New York, Maine and Canada on hold. At the moment, the two deliberately leave open when and how it will continue. Family and friends can continue to find out more on their very detailed blog, which they have been busy filling out with news since the start of their trip. Her motto: "We broke off our tents at home - but not the contact with our friends."

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-04-30

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