Living day-to-day, sailors Heidi Helm Krijg (49) and Mikkel Farver (55) are experts in it. On May 31, they cast off their Warrior 40 in Marina Muiderzand, never to return. As if that wasn’t cool enough, they both have MS. We speak to these bon vivants just before departure
board of September Blueand ask how things are going now. You read the whole story lines edition 10/2023.
Slightly exhausted, Heidi Helmstraf (49) and Mikkel Farver (55) collapse on the gray-blue cushions in the cabin of their Warrior 40. Heidi, 1.60 meters tall and with sunglasses in her blond hair, takes a sip from her thermos full of coffee. . The date January 23, 2023 – their wedding day – is printed in blue on the cup. The Danish Mikkel, in a Helly Hansen T-shirt and exactly 30 centimeters taller than his wife, casts his serious yet friendly gaze over the well-kept cabin. Everything is tidy and ready to go. The backpacks with which they returned late at night from Greece – where they volunteered for two weeks during sailing holidays for people with the brain disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – are nowhere to be seen.
Mikkel: “It was quite confrontational these weeks. A friend with MS who was fine during the sailing trip five years ago, was now there as one vegetable bee. That’s the thing with MS: it can suddenly happen quickly.”
Heidi: “It was also physically difficult at Oceans of Hope, as the MS sailing trips are called. We had three people in wheelchairs on board. With every tack you are busy moving bodies. But still: everyone is very grateful. That makes these trips so inspiring and we keep going back.”
Mikkel: “So now we are tired and satisfied. Because of that fatigue, the MS symptoms are bubbling up: I now feel the familiar tingling in my fingertips again.”
Sailing around the world and being chronically ill are not exactly two things that often go together. Why do you want to leave forever?
Mikkel: “From an early age it was my dream to sail around the world. As I got older, the thought became stronger that I would regret it if I tried. It takes courage and money to make the decision. It wasn’t until I moved to the Netherlands seven years ago that the time came.”
Heidi: “I had hardly done sailing, but I had done water sports and traveling. I had already worked at KLM as a flight attendant for eight years. My family always said: you don’t stay here in the Netherlands. I laughed it off. But they were right about that. We leave next week. Before joining Oceans of Hope seven years ago, I had only sailed once. That was during a windless team outing with KLM. Nothing to it.”
Lines 10/2023
Are you curious about the rest of the story? When did the two meet? Why do Heidi and Mikkel cast off earlier than planned? If one of them gets sick, what do they do? What was it like for the couple when they found out they had MS? And where does the couple expect to sail to? You read it all in Lines 10/2023. Buy the issue online here in the webshop or read (the article) lines here digital. The edition is also available in stores until Wednesday, October 25. And do you want to read these kinds of stories every month from now on? Then become a subscriber here.
Cover photo and photo: © Noah Moeys
Text: Noah Moeys
Last modified: October 18,
2023-10-21 09:21:43
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