A little story of how we drove the sailboat from Kherson to Zaporozhye in the spring of 2021.

A week before the crossing, we arrived to prepare the boat for the descent to Kherson.

Before the descent, we passed a serious control with a local cat.

April 16 launching.

First photo on the water this season.

Day 1.

We woke up at 7 am, Tolik arrived with his girlfriend Ira. We had breakfast, got some water and went out.

The team consists of skipper - Tema, first mate - Ksyusha, boatswain - Tolik and photographer - Ira, the team has gathered a good one.

While there was no wind, we decided to prepare the sails. And then small adventures began, at the top of the mast all the halyards got tangled, sorted out pretty quickly.

Ksyusha continues to gain experience in sailboat management.

We set sail and went a little faster.

At sunset we anchored.

We spent the night somewhere here.

Day 2

At dawn, while everyone was sleeping, Ira went out to take a morning photo.

Closer to 8, everyone woke up, cooked breakfast, and hit the road, it was calm, so they went under the engine.

While it was calm, we played games, along the way we met barges and even a Turkish sailboat, which passed very close and Shark rode the wave so well ...

When there is no wind, we are engaged in minor adjustment work :)

We passed the Kakhovka lock.

Such incredibly beautiful beaches not far from the local pier in Novaya Kakhovka.

Berth in New Kakhovka.

Day 3

We woke up at 5:40, it was very fresh in the morning.

Approximately 2 hours after the exit, the electric motor stopped. At first I thought that something was wound up and climbed to the wall line, twisted it with my hands - no, it spins easily. Then I connected from the phone to the motor controller via bluetooth - I saw "hall sensor error", Well, here you are. I pulled the wires, connectors - the error did not disappear. For those who are not in the know: hall sensors are installed in a synchronous electric motor with permanent magnets so that the controller, which acts as a virtual collector, knows what position the rotor is in at any given time.b apply the correct impulses to the phases. So one of the three hall sensors died, as the application showed.

At this point, the electric motor had already been working on the sailboat for 5 years, until now I have not climbed into it.

Of course, there was no spare hall sensor on board, although it is cheap. We tried to row a little with an oar, but quickly got tired, a light wind appeared, set the sails and returned back.

So under sail and went to the pier, moored.

Here it was necessary to make a decision what to do next, because. you can't go far without a motor.

Tolik and Ira left, we stayed, it rained for 2 days, we decided to use the time to good use, a walk in such a small town as Novaya Kakhovka, very interesting.

A few photos in New Kakhovka.

Maxim marine is beautiful as always.

There are a lot of fry, you can immediately see where the environment is better.

Day 4

The motor was repaired in Zaporozhye and returned to New Kakhovka.

While we were visiting a local sailboatsman, the cat treated itself to our lard - it must have been delicious...

Lighthouse in front of New Kakhovka. The sun was shining, spring is such a joy. Left after noon.

We drove 42 km under the engine, spent 3.5 kWh of energy, returned to the battery in a day from the sun 1 kWh.

The remaining charge is 76%.

We spent the night at anchor, it was +3 at night.

Another sunset...

Location on the map.

Day 5

We weighed anchor at 9 o'clock, went sailing, the wind was good.

Today we planned to go to the Bolshaya Lepetikha Bay, I planned to wait there for the not very good weather, which was supposed to start at 4 pm.

I was in this bay for the first time, we found a cargo terminal there and a barge that was unloaded by a crane.

Dropped anchor in the center of the bay shortly before the wind picked up. At first it blew well, then an unpleasant wave came, into which the bow of the boat kept burrowing. In addition, the nose prowled to the sides, which was also not very good. Muzzle knots 28. At one fine moment we lost the anchor - the anchor line burst. 12mm three strand rope. It's good that I was on deck at that moment, I quickly noticed it, chose the rest of the end and turned on the engine - before we were stranded. Ksyusha at that moment was preparing fenders on that side with which they were going to moor to the barge. VeselThere was nothing else on the bow, the nose of the sailboat burrowed into the water, and it was good toss it up, at such moments the sailboat seems so small compared to the force of nature, real sailboating is like that. It was not possible to approach without damage - the wave threw the boat on board the barge and received a couple of good blows with its iron fender on our side. As a result, they nevertheless became attached and a little later went into the stern of the barge, where they hid behind the tugboat from the waves.

The sunset after this seemed incredibly beautiful. There were hospitable people on the barge, they invited us to visit them, we drank tea and listened to interesting stories.

The next morning there was still a wave and the wind was not favorable for us, so the barge left and we stayed.

Closer to dinner, the wind died down, but the swell on the water remained and, according to the forecast, there should be a strong wind for the night.

At about 23 o'clock there was a complete calm that already rang in the ears. Well, then it blew...

Due to the characteristics of the pier, we could only become a stern to the waves, and Shark is a boat with an open stern. As a result, the wave drove into the cockpit and the amplitude of the bouncing of the stern was very impressive. The night was not calm, in the morning it became a little better. We stood still for another day, waiting for a fair wind. Charged from the outlet by 100%, poured drinking water.

Velika Lepetikha on the map.

Day 5

The next day we went to the transition to the next bay. First we walked around the area.

We left at 14:00, the wind almost immediately changed to close-hauled and a braking wave appeared.

We went under the motor for 22 km, spent 2.5 kWh of energy. The sun has charged 1 kWh today. Remaining charge - 83%.

We came to the Rogachinsky Bay, there we anchored a little for the night.

That night it got noticeably warmer - in the morning it was +7. There was almost no wind - a small anchor was holding.

Day 6

In the morning at 8 o'clock we raised the anchor and went up through the wide part of the reservoir. There was practically no wind all day - the motor worked as hard as it could.

Usually in the Kakhovka reservoir there is an unpleasant wave, but we were lucky this time. We reached Energodar without incident. On the way we read Skipper magazines and jokes. The sky was beautiful) There were a lot of seagulls, and for the first time we saw small seagulls - they are somewhat similar to swallows.

Have fun as much as you can :)

Power transmission line masts across the reservoir from the nuclear power plant.

In Energodar, there is only one sailboat besides us on the water - the rest are still scratching their bellies, painting and preparing for navigation in every way.

We spent 6.5 kWh today, which is equal to about half the energy in our batteries. The sun charged 2.2 kWh or + 17% into the battery.

The total balance for today is -44% of the battery.

Passed 73 km on the motor. The average speed was 6 km/h, the journey took 11.5 hours.

Upon arrival in Energodar, 38% of the battery remained, we drove 97 km in two days (two days from the last outlet and charging up to 100%)

Plugged into an outlet. BMS showed that it takes 6 hours to charge up to 100%.

Yacht club in Energodar.

Day 7

We woke up at 7 o'clock, ate in an hour, prepared and got rid of at 8 o'clock. At the exit from Energodar, we were met by a wave and a moderate wind - we put up a grotto and drove off.

An hour later, the wind almost died down, but the wave remained - they started the engine.

Ksyusha saw in advance several networks at the rate - they were quickly bypassed. Nobody wanted to dive into 11 degrees water with a knife.

The wind blew up again, but we already entered the narrow part of the Dnieper, and there are usually no waves there - we drove well and cheerfully)

On the way we met only one sail.

We moored in Zaporozhye at the tail end with the remaining charge of 72%.

After such a busy transition, there are a lot of impressions, you understand that sailboating is not only good weather and a working engine, there were engine breakdowns, for the future you need to have hall sensors in stock, about the anchor you need a buoy, give more rope. In general, a good experience for the two of us, when you don’t count on the team, and everyone is responsible for his own tasks, this is the only way to become stronger.