Readers’ Comments

August 2021

Responses

You can’t really deal with something like this in a couple of lines, Harald Paul with wife, tow and dog… Sitting on my boat I’m just thinking about everything he has done here already. For example, drilled a 50 mm hole in my lovely steel hull, fiddled about a bit with hoses and cables (for which half the inside of the ship always has to be dismantled as well) and then simply let water gush into the bilge good and hard to see whether the new pump works … well, it works. Perfectly. Normally you would get just a little bit nervous about something like that. That he will also get on his motorcycle on a Sunday (‘it’s only 150 kilometres to your place, no problem’) to save the Easter weekend, because a failure of the water pump and therefore of the toilet pump too is rather unpleasant with guests on board, should only be mentioned in passing. When he happens to be in Greenland, he helps you repair things like that, and everything else, by WhatsApp support. In those cases, though, you should have a spanner on board yourself. And his telephone number. Then you don’t get nervous either when he lets half the ship flood for test purposes. When my engine stops, I stay calm. Because along the way he also quickly rebuilt my anchor to be almost fit for the open sea. Just like that, out in the middle of nowhere. He has everything with him, Harald Paul with wife, tow and dog…

Stefan Bormann
CH-8048 Zürich

26.10.2019

I am very, very grateful to Mr Paul for his always friendly, cheerful, interested, solution-oriented manner, with which, combined with a great deal of expert knowledge about boats and shipping, he stood by me with all my problems with my boat. So, a big thank you for that!

Ottmar Lerche

April 2019

A sturdy man comes towards me on the harbour mole Port Royal in Auxonne. The blond giant, armed with a wooden toggle, strides briskly up to me. A quick assessment on my part tells me this cannot be a
Frenchman – I reckon a Northerner. I put down my shopping and we greet
each other in English. After it was established that we both have command of German,
a lively and interesting conversation developed. As a shrewd boatman, world
explorer&engine expert I made him curious to inspect our ship Pirol13.
Because at the moment rather a lot of oil is dripping into the sump. He sees at once where the weak points are, and the arrangement of the surplus water filters was not to his
liking at all. Otherwise he likes the roomy engine room, where he can move about comfortably. What does not suit him, on the other hand, is the battery arrangement: untidy&dangerous. On inland waters, too, there are
no quiet Sundays; whatever work comes up gets done. So he got stuck in straight away, and after the engine inspection the man in blue overalls started right off.
But it turned out that not everything could be overhauled on that day.
We arranged a date for later on, when we were to tie up offshore at PK237 on the Saône. On 21 May, after the dry-dock stay
in St. Jean de Losne, we reached the agreed place on the riverbank at PK237 with Pirol13. The floating workshop with all the trimmings, incl. welding gear&diving equipment,
was now ready to give the engine of Pirol13 a really thorough going-over. The Pauls
are outstandingly organised on their Gypsy Life & workshop ship. Under a blue
sky and oscillating butterflies the hands exchange the tools –
May makes everything new. Oil leak found, water hoses changed, valves ad-
justed, battery rows set up “properly”, wiring corrected and so on and so
forth. Everything necessary&not right was solved by Harald Paul in no time. While
working as his labourer I thought, this chap is certainly able
to take engines apart blindfold and put them back together again.
Without doubt this meeting with Harald&Silvia Paul is a joyful affair, incl.
Walter. He is responsible for making sure the Gypsy Life is not hijacked by swans...
We are sure that after her passage the Gypsy Life will turn up on the Saône again
and come to the aid of one or another ship’s engine. In any case the three of them
are to be recommended. We are hugely looking forward to seeing them again.

Pirol13 Barbara&Frank

02.08.2014

Expedition Danube-Alaska

Moin, moin Sylvia and Harald,
reassuring to know: you are both well. About the reports:
We follow your adventures on your website with great excitement and enjoy the unique entries in the logbook. Now we have asked for your reports and were not disappointed, on the contrary, Dorle printed them out and filed them straight away, and so we have a way of sharing your impressions, experiences and adventures from a “safe” distance and being there in spirit.
Have a good voyage, a hand’s breadth of water under the keel, and keep your distance from the icebergs and the polar bears

Dorle and Friedrich

01.08.2014

Dear Pauls,
what beautiful, unique and sublime pictures in the Iceland photo book! It is a pleasure to look at them in peace and quiet, almost to meditate while doing so, and to be able to make a long journey in the mind that is free of danger as well… You are allowed to experience all of this, even if at an incredibly high cost in energy and money. Many thanks, from a comfort-loving skipper like me, for being able to call up these fascinating impressions at the click of a mouse!! Continued success, energy and good health on your expedition passage!
Warmest regards

Bernd

25.03.2014

For the report: Above the Clouds.

The other world away from the water. On his motorcycle the author experiences the wide-open nature of the northern hinterland, marked by its wildness and underscored by the tolerance of the people who live there. Great!

Markus A.

23.02.2014

Wind, waves and therefore the weather are elements that go with you every single day as a skipper. Every “captain” has certainly had one experience or another with these elements and has quite a bit to tell about them. But when I read the Pauls’ reports, I have to admit that all my own personal experiences, however dramatic they may seem to me, are nothing compared with the storms, winds and weather the Pauls have been through. Hats off to this sheer feat!

Nature, weather, landscape and people, combined with their own personal impressions, the feelings of the Pauls, are presented in the reports as an excellent mix and conveyed to the reader in an exciting way, in writing as well as in pictures. I am already looking forward to the next features – I will certainly read them with pleasure and enjoyment. I wish Mr and Mrs Paul all the best, good luck, fun and above all good health for the rest of their journey.

Best wishes from Switzerland

The Suter family

25 January 2014

On: “Red Atlantic Gold”
What impressed me about this report is how close it is to Icelandic reality. Here you can feel what it is like out there. Photos like these are something a foreigner can rarely take.
I find Harald’s reports extremely informative for anyone interested in the Arctic. Nothing is glossed over or hidden away in diplomatic circumlocutions, not even his own unpleasant experiences. That is why – but not only for that reason – they are a “MUST” for every seafarer.

by Markus, 25 January 2014

At a talk in 2011, when the “Pauls” were on their way back, we met the “Pauls” for the first time at the Uelzen Yacht Club.
After only a short introduction, all the visitors to this talk were fascinated and extraordinarily impressed by his account.
The way Mr Paul led us through the things they had experienced really was something quite special. Film clips and nature footage accompanied the whole talk, to bring the experiences a little closer to the audience. The sensational nature and wildlife shots shown here <man hatte hier das Gefühl> which, through Mr Paul’s personal impressions and descriptions, seemed almost close enough to touch.
Further talks at the Uelzen Yacht Club followed in 2012 and 2013, which we, like many other visitors, did not miss a single time. Just a very few words of introduction from Mr Paul took us each time on a very special journey, with many adventures, impressions and not always easy experiences in dealing with nature, which cannot be predicted, and the forces it unleashes.
Mr Paul also described to us how he handled, and what he experienced with, the very latest technology on the long voyages, which was tested and evaluated on board the “Gypsy Life” for the first time. Always along on the journeys: his wife Sylvia and the most faithful companion of them both, the ship’s dog “Ratz”.
The video “Canada Adventure” showed, among other things, “Ratz” making the acquaintance of a Canadian porcupine, and the removal of all the quills. I would very much recommend this video to anyone who does not have it yet, especially as the footage and accounts that came out of it are so impressive, the like of which you have not been able to see before.
The mighty forces of the seas, and nature and wildlife in Canada with their not always easy moments, were taken on by the “Pauls” and in the end mastered. The current Expedition Danube – Alaska, which runs over a long period of 4 - 5 years, has started. I would recommend the Pauls’ website www.haraldpaul.com to everyone who is interested. There you will find exciting logbook entries and information, among other things about how the current expedition is going. An opportunity has come up for us to make a trip to Iceland. In May we are visiting the north-easternmost point of Iceland, the fishing harbour of Isafjördur. There we will have the special opportunity to meet the “Pauls” on the “Gypsy Life”. From about the end of June 2014 they will then carry on from there towards Greenland on the planned route, as Mr Paul told us. We wish the “Pauls” a good run on their way towards Canada. We are surely part of a large fan community and will regularly be awaiting and following the logbook entries with excitement. But the reunion after this magnificent journey will be even more exciting. “All-time best luck on board”
The Heidschnucken

Evelin and Jürgen

16.01.2014

This report gives a vivid picture of the aims and motivation of Silvia and Harald Paul on their expedition journey – combined with impressive photos. They give you an idea of the difficulties and risks this journey involves.

I am looking forward to the reports to come.

Wilfried from Mölln

15.01.2014

Dear “Pauls”

thank you for sending the reports! Reading them was both informative and inspiring! I was particularly

taken, of course, with the photos, which capture the rough nature only too well. I would love to go clambering

about there with you, and my camera would need plenty of memory ;-)

I will of course stay loyal to your website, the exciting journey is only just beginning!

Best wishes from Lübeck-Dummersdorf

Meina

15.12.2013

Hello Mr Paul,

many thanks for the report, we read it with great interest and again picked up ideas for our own ship. We have a double-ender 12.5 m long and 20 t. The ship is very seaworthy, but with a beam sea the ship also rolls very readily.

Continued success on your journey and a happy Christmas in Iceland.

Julia&Jens