Vlado Porvaznik is a Slovak adventurer by heart. Previously a passionate climber, he found his love for sailing in his later age. He has sailed around the world with his yacht Civetta II in 2 years. He has written several books and made films about his sailing adventures, which have also been broadcasted by Slovak Television. But the most important of all, he is an inexhaustible well of jokes.
I met Vlado last winter by a coincidence in Schladming. After exchanging for 5 minutes, I expressed my wish to document such a sailing trip. "Then come with me to Norway in Summer." was his answer. Vlado is an open-minded, witty guy who really understands what carpe diem means.
The plan was to sail from Stavanger to Orkney and Shetland islands, but due to the wrong wind direction, we had to change the plans. We sailed into the Norway fjords and passed along the coast to Bergen. Seeing the fjords from a sea level perspective was a great experience. Norway is a beautiful country and if you want to, you can easily find solitude or get lost into the unknown. Every night we stopped in a marina, which is a kind of campsite for ships. Vlado has two bikes on the ship and we could also explore inland.
Sailing is rather different to other means of transport. You are very much dependent on the weather conditions. With the wind we have reached 10-15 km/h. It is a slow way of travel. More meditative, quiet, in line with the natural elements. One has lots of time to observe the landscape from an unusual perspective.
Living on a yacht means freedom that is paid for with solitude. To cross the Atlantic you have to sail at least 3 weeks with no land in sight. Captain has to be ready for everything. If something gets broken, you have to fix it by yourself. Therefore Vlado has for every possible equipment a spare part on the boat. It is important to know your boat in and out and have a plan B for almost everything.
Good food is part of Vlado's mantra. He bakes fresh bread regularly on his yacht, and man, it is delicious. We have switched turns in the kitchen, and enriched our lives with new recipes. BTW cooking can get pretty wobbly during sailing, therefore the oven is oscillating on an axis, to be leveled up.
If you would like to discover more about sailing guru Vlado, check out its youtube channel (some of the films have also english subtitles)
Thank you Vlado for this amazing adventure, you are fine fella, may our paths cross in the future again.
