Welcome aboard!

This website contains stories from voyages aboard my 31-foot Hallberg-Rassy Monsun sailboat Isabell. Climb aboard to share these voyages, get ideas on fitting out your sailboat and tips on cruising under sail.

Isabell is sold to other Dutch owners in the summer of 2024.

In 2012 the Monsun Registry was added to this website. This listing is completely non-commercial and maintained by interested Monsun owners around the Globe. To list your Monsun does not cost anything and guarantees your privacy. No owner details are shared. Under the link pages you may find interesting facts and helpful hints about sailboat maintenance or about the Monsun features in particular.

The Hallberg-Rassy 31 Monsun Registry

The registry contains 564 unique Monsuns today

Note that approx. 810 Monsuns were ever built, not 904 as stated on many websites. But still about 200 are missing from the list. List your Monsun by filling out this form

To the Monsun Registry Nach Monsun Register Naar de Monsunenlijst Se Monsunlistan nu

Isabell got a new engine in October 2018, a Beta Marine 30 that fits nicely in the Monsun engine bay. The old MD 11C Volvo Penta was worn out after 38 years of service. I am very pleased with this new engine. It is strong and dependable. In it's fifth year of service the engine has gone 1000 hours! Yes, it is mostly due to following canals and the rivers of continental Europe. I miss sailing, but here on the canals puttering around with the engine going is the only way to get anywhere.

Sailing is fun and a continuous learning experience. The combination of relaxing, sail trimming, navigating remote places, and the beauty of getting somewhere without burning fuel gives a great sense of fulfilment. The 5-knot average speed of a Monsun is a perfect way to sail and relax at the same time. It is also great sharing a passion with those who have found theirs in similar boats.

Blue water sailing

What is it that makes us want to sail the blue water, out of sight from land? Freedom, space, nightly starry skies, or just the sound and smell of the waves beating the hull at a steady rhythm? The beauty of it all is different to each individual. The challenges that blue water sailing provides creates a feeling of great individual satisfaction.

With Isabell stationed in the heart of the Baltic region (outside Stockholm) it has been possible to sail to many prime Baltic locations. For some useful information about sailing to the Baltic from the North Sea, and great tips about Baltic Sea visits, I recommend the following website in the UK: Kissen, the Baltic Cruise or for the Dutch sailing community there is the late Rene Vleut (author of the many pilots and books about sailing to northern waters) Facebook group ZeilNoord.

Isabell's long-distance sailing trips

In the spring of 2023 Isabell set out to sail south to the Med. Did get as far south as Auxerre, France on the Yonne river, where I spent the winter aboard. From here I returned to The Netherlands to sell this beauty and move onto a somewhat roomier boat in Greece. I will miss a lot of the good vibes in this ship.

The original plans were to sail down the Baltic Sea to the danish islands, northern Germany, and across The Netherlands during a three months single-handed tour of the Baltic Sea, european canals and rivers, Wadden Sea and North Sea. COVID-19 pandemic enforced a couple of changes, but the trip became reality and was a fantastic adventure, 74 days and almost two thousand nautical miles of travels. Along the way I met with a number of enthusiastic Monsun owners and other friendly folks. Read about it in my blog or you can download the whole story in PDF-format here (PDF 1.1 MB).

The summer of 2017 we sailed down the Baltic Sea to Poland, by Gotland, Öland and Danish Bornholm. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Here is the short story of our adventure: Read more...

The summer of 2015 we sailed Isabell from Stockholm to Gotland, over to Latvia (Pävilosta), and along the Latvian coast into and around the Gulf of Riga, north to Estonia, past the islands of Saaremaa, Muhu, and Hiiumaa, and back to Stockholm. 813 nautical miles of exiting sailing adventure. Read more...

The summer of 2013 Isabell sailed south to Bornholm (DK) and Christiansoe (DK), and back to Stockholm, sailing through the amazing archipelago along the Swedish eastern coast. When back in Stockholm we had experienced a sailing adventure along 756 nautical miles of wind and salty water.

The summer of 2012 Isabell sailed north, all the way around the Bay of Bothnia, 1220 nautical miles of cruising adventure. We sailed via the islands of Åland to the towns Vaasa and Kemi in Finland. Then on to Haparanda, Northern Sweden, just south of the Eurasian Arctic Circle, at 65°N 24°E. From there we sailed back to Stockholm, following the Swedish coast for 29 days. see slideshow

Find some Monsun information in Swedish by following the Swedish link at the top of this page. Here you will find downloadable copies of the original Swedish Monsun Newsletters from the 1970´s and 1980´s. Enjoy!

SV Isabell moored along the canal in Leiderdorp, The Netherlands, August 2023 with the mast lowered on deck to tackle the bridges and locks of rivers and canals in continental Europe. During 2023 we passed through 193 locks, under many bridges, through five tunnels and across at least 7 aquaducts (overhead canals). In Spring of 2024 another 98 locks and many bridges were crossed, on the way back down the Seine, Oise, Sambre and Meuse rivers.

This website contains a listing of all known Hallberg-Rassy 31 Monsun boats; the Monsun Registry. Make sure you announce your Monsun, and help find the missing ones. In case you see your Monsun listed with the wrong name, homeport of country, just add your boat again, and the old post will automatically be replaced (once a day, so this may take a while).

A sunny afternoon while Isabell is anchored at the Swedish group of islands around Huvudskär lighthouse in the outer Stockholm archipelagos.

The skipper rowing out in the Stockholm skerries to save a friend from being marooned on a deserted island. Isabell anchored in the background.

Sitting on land during the winter period in Sweden, safe for the destructive forces of winter ice.

Note on the origin of the name "Isabell", in Swedish this is the name for the color yellowish off-white. The canvas covers on the boat have had this color ever since I bought her. And the name of the mother of my first grandchild is Isa, that connected with the French "belle", meaning beautiful, made me come up with this new name.