2022 Baltic cruise

• 2022-04-10 Dry dock

  Lille Ø was lifted to the hard for the weekend in preparation for this summer’s cruise. A hectic period followed, with a full winter’s workload compressed into just a few days.

  

  The TODO list:

  Wash boat
  Wax boat
  New antifouling
  Wash mast
  Lubricate mast rollers
  Rigging check
  Replace broken mast sheave
  Install new jib halyard
  Re-route spi halyard
  Propeller maintenance
  Install solar arch
  Replace toilet sink seacock
  Check all seacocks
  Change all positional lights to warm white leds
  Check rudder attachments for wear and tear
  Profurl maintenance

  There are still some smaller things to do that can be done in the water. And of course provisioning.

  • Distance during weekend: 120 000 steps
  • Elevation: 57 floors
  • Feeling: exhausted

• 2022-04-15 Berlin - Lehnitzsee

  We started at 7:00 on a grey morning with the traditional horn blasts from our fellow Gothia members. The previous night we had already moved the boat to end of the pier to make provisioning easier.

  

  We motored onwards to the first locks of the day: Spandau. After about half an hour of waiting we were in the locks alone, and quickly through. Then we motored through the quiet outskirts of Berlin towards north.

  

  At 11:05 we arrived at the Lehnitz locks where there was already a motorboat waiting before us. The locks opened very soon, and up we went.

  When motoring out the of the locks, the lock keeper announced that “by the way, you know the canal is blocked near Zerpenschleuse?” Oops.

  Of course we had consulted the inshore navigational information service (Elwis) the day before the trip to see if there are problems on the way. But between then and our departure there had been an oil spill that blocked our way to the sea. The estimated channel reopening would be in four days, after the Easter holidays.

  We consulted the chart, and called the harbour master of the marina near the blockage to see if we could wait there. But sadly their harbour wasn’t deep enough for our 1.5m draft. So instead, we made an U-turn and went through the Lehnitz locks again. We dropped anchor at the nearby Lehnitzsee lake.

  

  The plan is to wait here at anchor until the channel reopens. If that takes longer than anticipated, there is a marina on the northern shore where we can probably dinghy for provisions.

  The adventure has begun!

  

  • Distance today: 20.2NM
  • Trip distance: 20.2NM
  • Engine hours: 4.9
  • Lunch: frozen pizza

• 2022-04-16 Lehnitzsee

  Being stuck here for the Easter, we enjoyed a lazy morning, topped with some coffee and cinnamon rolls in the noon sunshine.

  To keep the boat powered up, we rigged our aft arch panel on the deck. Not ideal, but at least now we have 40% of our normal solar capacity usable. The rest will require the mast to be up. At 17:00, we had generated nearly 1kWh from the sun, meaning that we’ll be finishing the day with roughly the same battery level we started it with.

  

  We still had some projects left from the dry dock, and we spent the afternoon on those. We rigged a longer fender board for the locks, and built a new a-frame to keep the mast foot higher and hence nearer to horizontal. This should help with the low bridge we anticipate in Poland.

  

  Since the potatoes in our bilge had started sprouting, we boiled the whole bunch. This meant lovely fried bracioles for today, and probably some potato salad tomorrow.

  Now it is time to enjoy the evening sun and some beers.

  • Distance today: 0NM
  • Trip distance: 20.2NM
  • Engine hours: 0
  • Lunch: potato pecorino braciole with home-made honey dijon mayonnaise

• 2022-04-19 Lehnitzsee - Marienwerder

  A early work morning to get an early end for the boat-office day. At noon the first check in Elwis to see whether or not the canal is open again. The verdict was a 2 hour extension to the shutdown. Leaving a bit work to be done under way, we lifted the anchor at 14:40 and headed over to the locks.

  At the Lehnitz locks we waited for an hour and were out on the high side at 15:55. I was promptly reminded, that in the German countryside the internet disappears as soon as you see the last house. So some good quality concentration time with code was achieved.

  

  There was a fair amount of traffic along the way. Arrived in Marienwerder at 18:40 and found a berth for us for 2 nights.

  • Distance today: 15.6 NM
  • Trip distance: 35.8 NM
  • Engine hours: 3.5
  • Lunch: Tomato-olive pasta

• 2022-04-21 Marienwerder - Oderberg

  Another early workday, and after the last meeting under way. The stretch between Marienwerder and Eberswalde is still being widened, and the construction traffic makes this part quite hectic. Thankfully we now have a VHF that also works with the mast down, and hence could coordinate with the workboats. We even got a “have a nice trip” from them in the end!

  

  After that came the highlight of this canal tour, the Niederfinow ship elevator. This time we were lucky and got in without waiting, and were given a private lift ride down to the Order valley.

  

  The biotope changes immediately, going from the sandy pine forests up to lush marshlands below.

  

  There are very few places to stop for a vessel with our draft in the Oder valley, and hence we yet again tied to the familiar marina in Oderberg where our boat lies on a bed of soft mud.

  • Distance today: 17.3 NM
  • Trip distance: 53.1 NM
  • Engine hours: 3.9
  • Lunch: pea soup with dried tomatoes

• 2022-04-22 Oderberg - Szczecin

  We started at 6:50 in the morning by removing the mooring lines and giving the boat a good shove off the pier to get out of the mud and into clear water before starting the engine.

  At 7:30 we were at the last locks of this trip, and got promptly lowered near the sea level. A pleasant motoring down the stream along a nature reserve followed. We spotted beavers, falcons, and even a couple of eagles along the way.

  

  We crossed into Poland at 13:30 and hoisted the appropriate courtesy flag.

  When we finally reached the low bridge we’ve been dreading, it turned out to be closed for traffic. The imaginary beer mugs in the horizon disappeared in a puff of diesel smoke, and we plotted a “scenic route” that would take us through downtown Szczecin and it’s busy commercial harbour. At least the bridges would be taller (lowest 3.4m instead of 3m)!

  

  At 17:30, two hours later than anticipated, we side tied to an empty pier at the AZS Marina. The club is putting all of their boats into the water tomorrow, so we’ll see when we get a spot at the mast crane. But at least we’re in a place ships are ocean-going and sailboats have their masts up.

  

  • Distance today: 54.3 NM
  • Trip distance: 107.4 NM
  • Engine hours: 10.3
  • Lunch: Finnish macaroni casserole

• 2022-04-24 Szczecin - Swinoujscie

  Another motoring day, as we wanted to reach the Baltic sea coast harbour of Swinoujscie before a forecasted gale. We used the calm of lake Dabie to bend the sails so that if the wind actually wasn’t on the nose, we could sail a bit. No such luck!

  

  At the Szczecin lagoon we let our tiller pilot steer the boat, and enjoyed a lunch in relative calm. After that the waves started building up, and reducing our travel speed.

  

  Some dodging of traffic and evading fishing nets followed.

  When we reached the canal leading into the Swinoujscie harbor, the gale caught up to us, both stronger and earlier than assumed. This meant progress was quite slow and bumpy. At worst, we were only making 2.5kt over ground at full RPMs, less than half of what we’d normally do.

  The Swinoujscie marina is pretty big, and open to exactly this wind direction. The season hasn’t apparently quite started here, so they haven’t even repaired the winter damage to the piers yet.

  After a bit of wandering, we found an intact pier with couple of other boats in it. Making the turn through the wind to approach it proved difficult. Eventually we made it, and with some local help were able to pull the boat into a proper side tie.

  

  We plan to spend the work week here, do some smaller boat projects, and reprovision the boat before heading out to the Baltic proper.

  • Distance today: 37.2NM
  • Trip distance: 144.6NM
  • Engine hours: 8.1
  • Lunch: spaghetti with avocado sauce

• 2022-04-26 The quest for the downwind sail

  Baltic sea is known for its light summer winds. That’s why we wanted a downwind sail to keep the boat moving. After a lot of reading and pondering we ordered a Parasailor from Istec. The ponderings took so much time that the delivery date for our made-to-measure sail was only one week before our intended departure date. As is with the current supply chain issues, the halyard for the sail got delayed. So we left on our adventure without the sail. As things happen, we also got delayed along the way.

  Yesterday we got the news that the sail and the halyard were ready to ship. Some quick thinking lead us to realize that the island we are moored at is shared between Poland and Germany. This meant German services are within a walking distance.

  

  We contacted Istec and they agreed to express ship the sail to the nearest DHL location on the German side (thanks, Gerold!).

  

  Now we have the sail, tomorrow we fetch the halyard. Can’t wait to try the sail out!

  • Lunch: fresh rye sourdough bread
  • Dinner: Pierogi with potato and cheese filling
  • Steps: 30 000 and counting
  • Feeling: excited

• 2022-04-30 Swinoujscie - Tärnö

  Having mentioned light winds on the Baltic in the last update, we had some of those in store. We wanted to make a longer passage, skipping the shallow sandy shores of southern Baltic and getting to the archipelago. For this, we were monitoring the forecasts and trying different weather routing solutions every day.

  

  Eventually the right window opened for a late Thursday evening departure, where we’d have to leave the Danish island of Bornholm to our port side to avoid a major fishing contest and its hundreds of trolling boats.

  Immediately after clearing the Swinoujscie wave break we switched on the autopilot and started our watch system. We do four hour shifts, with the person off-watch either sleeping, cooking, or cleaning (mostly sleeping). Between 16:00 and 20:00 we do two half-watches so that the schedule rotates. This is also the time for shared dinner and some time together (while both are awake).

  Having followed various YouTube sailors over the winter, we borrowed a page from Sam Holmes’ method and got pizza before leaving. This meant nobody had to cook in the beginning of the trip, and there was plenty to munch on during the first night watches.

  

  The weather conditions were really light. Without major waves, the Baltic sea felt like a lake even off-shore. This gave us a great chance to try our new Parasailor. At this stage we were hesitant to fly it at night, so we waited to hoist it in the morning just off Bornholm.

  

  After a bit of practice, the sail was giving us a very smooth and effortless ride downwind (we tried angles of 90-180° apparent, and wind speeds 3-10kt true). Generally we were making about half of the wind speed as boat speed. Dousing was easy with the supplied sock. Gybing the parasailor we didn’t get to try since the wind was constantly off our starboard.

  As always, the game of Frogger clearing the main shipping lane of the Baltic sea was exciting. I wouldn’t want to do that without good AIS setup calculating CPAs and times, especially in the dark like we did this time. As last year, this went without incident, and without need to call any ships over the VHF.

  Due to the light winds, there was quite a bit of motoring involved at night time. If we had been comfortable flying the Parasailor at night, most of this would’ve been avoidable.

  At Saturday noon we arrived in the Swedish island of Tärnö in the UNESCO listed Blekinge archipelago. We were here also last year, but this time it was side-tying to the pier since the buoys were not yet installed this “early” in the season. Time for a Swedish first of May experience!

  

  • Distance this passage: 148NM
  • Total distance: 292.6NM
  • Engine hours: 9.9
  • Midnight snack: pizza
  • Breakfast: sandwiches
  • Dinner: spaghetti Bolognese
  • Breakfast: oatmeal porridge with apple jam

• 2022-05-02 Tärnö

  Tärnö is a small island belonging to the Blekinge archipelago. In Tärnö we hiked one of the nature trails, sat at a bonfire on 1st of May and got a visit from the Swedish (and most polite) coast guard. The pier was free and is maintained by the Bryggeförening.

  We filled up our water tanks and finally installed the chain stopper with it’s backing plate.

  

• 2022-05-03 Tärnö - Karlshamn

  Sadly the EU “roam like at home” is quite inadequate for the modern internet, and so we ran out of our monthly roaming quota in just two days of boat office. This meant it was time to head to a town and get a local SIM card.

  Quite a lot of the guest harbours on Swedish coast are still closed for the winter season, but a visiting sailor told us that a boat club next to the town of Karlshamn would be open. We’d just have to pick a berth with a green marker.

  

  After work we left the Tärnö pier, hoisted up the sails and navigated to Svanevik between the skerries. The brisk southeasterly wind made this a quick trip, and just an hour later we were tied up in the marina. A bit of shopping followed.

  

  • Distance today: 4.5 NM
  • Total distance: 297.1 NM
  • Engine hours: 0.1
  • Lunch: coconut curry with leftover lentil patties from May 1st

• 2022-05-04 Karlshamn - Saltärna

  Having done our business with the civilization, it was time to find our first Swedish Cruising Club (SXK) buoy. These are free for the members to use for a day.

  We again left harbour right after work, and started tacking up the narrow passes between the skerries.

  

  It felt at times like a proper workout!

  Since the wind was completely on the nose, we took the outside route, avoiding the narrowest parts.

  We turned the motor on 2.5NM before the buoy, and timed it perfectly so that we were tied up one minute after the sunset. The bay we’re in is quite scenic, looking forward to seeing it in a better light.

  

  • Distance today: 15.4 NM
  • Total distance: 312.5 NM
  • Engine hours: 0.5
  • Lunch: feta avocado salad and freshly baked rye bread

• 2022-05-05 Saltärna - Arpö

  Workday was spent in a picture perfect bay with cute summer cottages surrounding us. The soundscape though was the roar of Gripen fighter jets flying over us multiple times. So much for the perfection.

  The day was sunny and we were protected by the island so much that we had all of our solar panels out. That is a whopping 510W! By noon, our battery was at 100%.

  After work we turned on the engine, released us from the mooring ball, pulled the sails up on the spot and headed east towards the next SXK buoy. More or less a constant wind of 17 kt conveyed us on a speedy sail to our destination.

  

  Our route took us on the outer side of the archipelago so we got to enjoy some big Baltic waves. I’m so happy with how Lille Ø just swims through the big swell!

  

  We approached the mooring ball with sails down and wind from the back. The easy-catch that came with the boat has proven its might, with a swift yank the mooring ball was caught and with a bit of engine breaking we gracefully turned to meet the wind on the ball. Now it’s time to enjoy the view and the solitude of early season.

  • Distance today: 10.6 NM
  • Total distance: 323.1 NM
  • Engine hours: 0.3
  • Lunch: pea soup

• 2022-05-06 Arpö - Hästholmen

  Once the workweek was complete and laptops stowed away, we started our trip east. Since last year we sailed the outer route around Karlskrona, this time we wanted to try the inner route that goes right by the city.

  The first step was an opening bridge to the island of Hasslö. We called the bridge operator, and booked a slot to motor through. The bridge swung open right on schedule, and we were quickly on the other side, taking up sails.

  

  Today’s sail was a brisk downwind run, making a few gybes along the way to go around the skerries and Karlskrona harbour fortresses. The fortress island of Godnatt was again a welcome sight.

  

  Our initial target was a SXK mooring ball on the north side of the island of Senoren. We sailed under another bridge, caught the buoy, but then agreed that the place was both too unprotected and too shallow for comfort.

  We decided to sail another 6NM to the next buoy. This took us though a narrow winding fairway with a cable ferry. No problems. But sadly the buoy itself was already occupied. I guess the locals are finally starting their sailing season. We anchored to a slightly more protected spot off the nearby Hästholmen.

  

  • Distance today: 18.4 NM
  • Total distance: 341.5 NM
  • Engine hours: 1.8 (mostly while setting anchor)
  • Lunch: forest mushroom risotto

• 2022-05-07 Hästholmen - Kalmar

  We started the foggy morning by hoisting the anchor after mandatory safety coffee. We motored the very narrow fairway to the open sea. On the first safe spot we hoisted the mainsail and pointed our bow to Kalmarsund.

  

  Since the wind was staying aft of the beam we switched to the parasailor, reducing rolling and gaining us another 1.5 knots of speed. We utilized the smooth ride to cook a proper lunch.

  

  After lunch the wind veered forward of the beam and the autopilot could not cope with the gusts. We switched back to the white sails and continued on a fast beam reach towards Kalmar.

  

  We arrived at 5 pm, tied up with boom mooring and were met by the harbour master. Card payment right at the pier, what a service! Well be staying here for a week as Susanna needs to catch the night train to Berlin. The adventure shall continue in a week when Susanna comes back.

  • Distance today: 44.3 NM
  • Total distance: 385.8 NM
  • Engine hours: 1.6
  • Lunch: shakshuka

• 2022-05-14 Kalmar - Solberganäset

  Susanna returned from her Berlin adventure, and it was time to leave Kalmar behind. It was kind of cool to have the boat on the central pier of the Kalmar Boat Show, but instead we wanted to find some nature.

  We filled up water and diesel in the morning, and hoisted sail inside the harbour at 7:54. Then it was bow to the north, under the Öland bridge and up towards the Oskarshamn archipelago.

  

  Today’s sail was a fast one, with pretty constant westerly winds above 20kt on the beam. When the gusts reached over 30kt, we saw boat speeds around 7.3kt and decided to put in the first reef. This made the autopilot steer a lot better.

  After the island of Runnö we decided to pick the season’s first nature harbour, and tacked our way west to inside the island belt near the coast.

  When we reached the zigzagging strait that would lead us to the harbour we dropped sail and continued under motor at slow speed. One steering, the other on rock watch in the bow.

  

  At the protected bay in Solberganäset we dropped the stern anchor and tied the bow to the shore. Finally, a proper Scandinavian mooring!

  We explored the island a bit, and found a quarry museum. Very nice place for sitting down and watching the island nature a bit. Modern museums don’t need signage, but instead Qr codes!

  

  • Distance today: 40.3NM
  • Total distance: 426.1NM
  • Engine hours: 0.8
  • Lunch: flammkuchen with sun-dried tomatoes and onions

• 2022-05-15 Solberganäset - Kiddeholmen

  The morning started with some breakfast and flying the drone to take a higher look at the bay.

  Solberganäset has a very thick mud bottom, which gave us great holding even with the on-shore winds. So great holding, actually, that it took both of us to get the 15kg Bruce rear anchor off the bottom.

  

  We’re now in an area where the harbour guide shows a lot of suitable natural harbours, so today we decided to just make a short jump to a SXK buoy nearer to Oskarshamn.

  Between the headwind and the labyrinthine archipelago channel, there was sadly no chance to sail, so today was just a bit over an hour of motoring. At times there were rocks just two meters from each side. No chance Lille Ø would be able to tack here, though it would be a lot of fun with a sailing dinghy! In any case the inner archipelago route was very scenic and totally worth the motoring day.

  

  The bay at Kiddeholmen is very protected with skerries on all sides. The first hot spring day here in Sweden! We’ve been sitting in the cockpit just enjoying the view.

  

  We also installed the new cockpit table leg (a Lagun like on our previous boat). After lunch we each took the rowing dinghy for a spin.

  

  • Distance today: 4.1NM
  • Total distance: 430.2NM
  • Engine hours: 1.8
  • Lunch: spaghetti with tomato and bell pepper sauce

• 2022-05-16 Kiddeholmen - Ekö

  Sailing and motoring in the archipelago is truly a trust exercise! Are you where you think you are? Is the map correct? Is the rock that is supposedly 2 meters to your right really there or closer? Is the depth sounding correct, will 170cm of depth be enough? are there uncharted rocks? With all of these questions in your head you need to confidently and decisively steer your way towards destination through the labyrinth.

  Today we started after work and headed out of the sheltered anchorage. Winds were way lighter than forecasted, so after a couple of minutes with the traditional sails we popped out the parasailor. Without turning on the engine, we rolled in the jib, pulled topping lift tight, pulled up the parasailor in its sock and proceeded to drop the main and pulled up the spinnaker sock. So we were again on our merry way with the epic speed of 3 knots!

  

  Eventually the wind just completely died, so it was time to fire up the trusty Yanmar. Some intense navigation followed and we weaved our way through the rocky, twisty and narrow path towards destination. Then it was time to face the steep rock wall that was to be our mooring of the day. Drop stern anchor, steer towards the cliff face and remember to brake on time!

  

  • Trip distance: 7.2
  • Total distance: 437.4
  • Engine hours: 1
  • Lunch: Coconut curry lentil soup

• 2022-05-17 Ekö

  Todays lunch was enjoyed on the sun warmed cliffs soaking in the sun and surroundings. After work it was time to change the anchoring spot in a quest for finding better internet, as Wednesday was going to be a fully packed meeting day.

  

  We proceeded by fetching the land lines and started pulling the aft anchor webbing rode to get us out. A few moments of not paying attention, the boat slid over the webbing and it lodged itself tight between keel and rudder. We were still safely anchored, but also stuck. It was quickly decided that the best way to solve the situation would require the first swim of the season. Oh joy.

  

  Susanna went in with diving mask, snorkel and a boat hook. Henri was on the deck dealing with the webbing and passing in the boathook as needed. Some 15 minutes of puzzle solving and tugging later, the webbing rode was free again. After drying and clothing Susanna up we were ready to proceed with the said anchor hoisting. The rest of it went without any issues.

  We motored roughly 500 meters, checked LTE connectivity, wind and depth (the three critical things for good anchoring), and dropped the bow anchor. It was time to turn on the saloon heater on high and thaw Susanna out.

  

  • Trip distance: 0.3 nm
  • Total distance: 437.7 nm
  • Engine hours: 0.6
  • Lunch feta spinatch lentil quiche

• 2022-05-18 Ekö - Ävrö

  Today was quite windy, with a brisk southerly blowing through the anchorage. We moved the boat around noon a couple hundred meters to a position with better holding. Last night’s anchorage was stony, so the anchor didn’t handle the 180° wind shift too well.

  

  After work it was time to set sail again. We motored out of the narrow fairway, hoisted sails with first reef, and enjoyed a very fast beam reach with following seas of about 1m wave height. At a point we clocked our fastest-ever boat speed of 7.7kt!

  

  Approach to the very sheltered anchorage north of Ävrö was a bit hairy with this weather: a narrow unmarked entrance with lots of rocks on both sides. But as soon as we cleared the entrance everything quieted down and we proceeded safely to the local SXK mooring ball. Another pretty spot, though with a slight hum from the nearby nuclear power plant.

  • Trip distance: 10.2NM
  • Total distance: 447.9NM
  • Engine hours: 0.8
  • Lunch: avocado feta salad

• 2022-05-19 Ävrö - Snuggösund

  As the SXK buoys are for only one night use, we decided to motor onwards after work in search of a nature harbour. Instead of the forecasted 19 knots of wind, there were only 2 knots, and hence no chance to sail with the remainder of yesterday’s swell.

  

  Another weaving path between skerries followed. This time with a highlight of a Baltic seal swimming alongside the boat for a short while.

  

  The entrance to Snuggösund is again a narrow one, but the nature harbour itself beautiful and full of places where a sailboat can tie to. The harbour guide tells that this place is totally packed during high season, but for the moment we have it all for ourselves.

  • Distance today: 8.3NM
  • Total distance: 456.2NM
  • Engine hours: 2
  • Lunch: pea soup

• 2022-05-22 Snuggösund - Västervik

  The winds for Friday and Saturday promised and delivered headwind and rain showers so we decided to stay in Snuggösund for couple of days.

  

  For today the winds were still from the north but accompanied with sunshine and smaller waves we headed out. We tacked our way between the islands and the rocks enjoying the tight wind angles we were able to make. We were still doing ok with provisions and water (we ran out of beer!) but as Västervik was conveniently on the way, we decided it is time for a proper shower, some laundry and a grocery store run.

  

  Today was clearly the day spring started in Sweden. For the first time on this trip, we encountered multiple sailboats and saw boats in the nature harbours we sailed past. Even the ice cream stalls in Västervik were open!

  • Distance today: 18.7NM
  • Total distance: 474.9NM
  • Engine hours: 0.8
  • Breakfast: oatmeal porridge with blueberry soup

• 2022-05-23 Västervik - Håskö

  Today was the first day of Bergie’s sabbatical. Last provisioning round in town (Systembolaget opens at 10), and then under way at noon. Suski continued working below deck.

  

  Some short tacking was required to get out of the harbour, but then today’s route was a delightful broad reach up the archipelago.

  Some less protected off-shore segments and their heavy swell brought some complaints from the office downstairs. Apparently we were starting to near sea sickness.

  

  After workday was done we did a shift change. Following dodging of some Swedish navy corvettes we arrived in the lagoon at Håsko. Both the harbour guide and Navionics claim that there would be SXK buoys here, but that appears to be obsolete information. We anchored instead.

  • Distance today: 38.7NM
  • Total distance: 513.6NM
  • Engine hours: 1
  • Lunch: feta spinach börek

• 2022-05-24 Håskö - Rågeten

  When the harbour guide said that the Håskö lagoon has good holding, it really meant it. When the anchor came up - after some struggle - it was a huge ball of thick clay. This would be a good place to sit out a storm.

  The sun was shining and there was a good breeze from ESE, so time to sail! Bergie and our autopilot (Assistentti Nissinen) again formed Team Sail while Suski worked belowdecks. As today’s brisk sail was all in the sheltered “inner passage”, the only ergonomics complaints were about excessive heel when the gusts got bigger.

  

  Just before Arkösund we passed the “emperor buoy” (green fairway marker topped with a crown) that we duly saluted. And then soon we sighted a sailboat that we chased and left in our wake.

  

  With heavy rain in forecast we picked a sheltered anchorage and stopped already in time for cooking a late lunch. The local SXK buoy was occupied, so we went to the nature harbour in the next island. Time to prep our new cockpit enclosure for the task ahead! Good thing our batteries are full after the couple of sunny days and the sewing machine runs off the inverter.

  • Distance today: 22.4NM
  • Total distance: 536NM
  • Engine hours: 1
  • Lunch: spinach pancakes with lingonberry jam

• 2022-05-25 Rågeten - Äspskärsfladen

  Wind shift in the morning made our Scandic mooring precarious, and hence it was time for an early start. A nice beam reach across to Oxelösund, and then following the winding narrow fairway downwind east from there.

  

  The season really has started. This time we were sharing the fairway with multiple sailboats (even one with a Finnish flag). When we arrived to the Äspskärsfladen bay, there was already a boat occupying one of the two SXK buoys. We proceeded to tie up to the second one.

  

  Once workday was over we assembled the banana-boot and dinghied over to the nature park we’re moored next to. We explored some of the trails, and then grilled halloumi at a fire place next to the shore. Not a bad way to spend the Towel Day!

  

  • Distance today: 19.3NM
  • Total distance: 555.3
  • Engine hours: 0.6
  • Lunch: bell pepper and cheese wraps

• 2022-05-26 Äspskärsfladen - Ankarudden

  Today’s sail started with some rain. We continued on a beam reach along the increasingly busy fairway east. At some point sun came out.

  

  After consulting the weather forecast and maps, we decided to keep today’s sail a bit shorter. We tied up to a SXK buoy inside a group of skerries. Again a pretty spot, but very rolly.

  

  Boat projects and some book reading followed.

  • Distance today: 16.6NM
  • Total distance: 571.9NM
  • Engine hours: 0.3
  • Lunch: navy bean soup

• 2022-05-27 Ankarudden - Nynäshamn

  Morning started with sunshine and coffee. The rolling anchorage had lulled us into sleep pretty early, so we used the morning to clean up the boat. We hoisted our sails just outside the anchorage and continued towards Nynäshamn with a pleasant beam reach.

  

  Finding the way between the skerries is tricky at times. It looks like you are steering towards a cliff wall until on the fairway reveals itself in between. We took the sails down just outside the harbour and engined in the narrow fairway. Just as we were starting our manouver, we got a surprise squall with 25 knots of wind. Yay. We got in with a bit of cursing as we were approaching a tad too fast and our aft line came loose. But, no damage to the boat or persons, only us diagonal in the empty box. Line by line we proceeded to pull the butt of the boat into correct orientation.

  Tonight we shall enjoy the warmth of the sauna, tomorrow the rainy Stockholm and on Sunday we sail again with some extra crew fresh from Berlin.

  • Distance today: 9.9NM
  • Total distance: 581.8NM
  • Engine hours: 0.6

• 2022-05-29 Nynäshamn - Utö

  To Finnish readers: not the Utö you’re thinking of. This one is in Sweden.

  Late morning after the route planning session last night. Coffee, breakfast, filling water tanks, and out sailing.

  

  Initially we had a decent downwind course as forecasted. We dodged the ferries coming and going out of Nynäshamn, and even an unseasonable icebreaker. But then quite soon after the wind started dying.

  

  We enjoyed a lunch while slowly drifting in the 0-1kt wind. But then after few hours of bobbing like a cork, we started the engine and motored to the Utö harbour where we could pick an SXK buoy. Dinghy to shore and a bit of exploring.

  

  • Distance today: 12.3NM
  • Total distance: 594.1NM
  • Engine hours: 0.9
  • Lunch: forest mushroom risotto

• 2022-05-30 Utö - Nämdö

  After breakfast we first let the Norwegian tall ship leave the harbour, and then untied the mooring ball and followed. Apart from a narrow part where a few short tacks were needed, today was an easy sail with about 9kt of wind 50° off our bow.

  

  With the good going we decided to pass most of our pre-marked nature harbours and seek the deep bay at the north end of Nämdö. This meant that we skipped from page 300-something to page 134 of the Swedish harbour guide. Good to know there’s a lot of new places left to explore on future trips.

  The absolute highlight of Nämdö is that there is an open sauna maintained by the Stockholm Archipelago Foundation (50 SEK donation per person).

  

  After tying up the boat to a Scandic mooring we assembled the dinghy, and Suski left off to heat the sauna. The rest of the crew followed in a bit with the necessary sauna-going gear. A few rounds in a proper wood-heated sauna, swimming in the cold Baltic, and a nice IPA was a great combination, especially when all of this happened with a full sight of Lille Ø!

  • Distance today: 23.5NM
  • Total distance: 617.6NM
  • Engine hours: 1.1
  • Lunch: spaghetti with avocado sauce

• 2022-05-31 Nämdö - Möja

  Rainy day, perfect for testing the sou’wester hats we bought from Stockholm. After breakfast we untied the boat from the nature harbour, hoisted the anchor, and sailed off. The course was with some amount of tacking along the deep channel.

  

  On Kanholmsfjärden we watched some exercises between a SAR boat and a helicopter as we sailed by. The helicopter did several close approaches to the boat, probably practicing how to pick people up.

  

  We ended up tying to another SXK buoy in the harbour of Ramsmora at the island of Möja. It has to be said the cockpit enclosure is great for days like this. We could leave all the wet heavy weather gear to dry there and keep the inside of the boat more cozy.

  • Distance today: 18.3NM
  • Total distance: 635.9NM
  • Engine hours: 0.7
  • Lunch: coconut curry lentil soup

• 2022-06-01 Möja - Söderarm

  We took a late start charging our batteries, as sun was shining and we were in a protected bay. At 13:30 Bernhard and Bergie started the engine and took the sails up. Couple hours later Suski joined the sailing crew after work. Very nice sailing followed with beam or broad reach and 1 meter waves. We were clearly on the outer archipelago already.

  

  An hour before the forecasted 20 hours of rain we tied up at the visitors pier at the Söderarm lighthouse island. A quick tour on the paths followed, as there is seagull nests everywhere else. For us Söderarm is the last rock on the Swedish side! Now we sit tight and wait for a good weather window to cross over to the Finnish side.

  

  • Distance today: 27.1NM
  • Total distance: 663NM
  • Engine hours: 0.9
  • Lunch: spinach pancakes

• 2022-06-03 Söderarm - Kökar

  Have a nice lunch, bake some fresh bread, get some rest, and prepare the boat for the passage to Finland. That was the plan at least.

  In reality, the low pressure that moved over Åland brought up to 56kt gusts. And a wave buildup to match. This was more than double what the forecast had. With it, the harbour in Söderarm became quite precarious. We didn’t get the direct swell, but the echoes were big enough to roll the boat all ways, and mush our fenders against the concrete pier. With that, none of us slept that well.

  

  Still, the island had some nice things to offer despite the rainy day. Having the Stockholm fairway go past us provided plentiful shipspotting opportunities, including a US aircraft carrier.

  Around 14 the unexpected happened: our bow line chafed through, and the boat immediately rounded so that the aft was hitting the pier. Luckily we were just on deck planning the route and could react quickly. Motor to forward to push us back into the pier, and install an extra line to act as a new bow line. Then shoes and outdoor clothes on. We decided to get out of the pier and motor to a nearby protected bay. We motored around there until everybody had a chance to eat lunch and get dressed for offshore. And of course all this while bread was in the oven and pressure cooker pressurised.

  

  Lesson learned: chafe protection gear on all shore lines, even if they look like they don’t need it.

  

  After lunch we pulled the sails up and started heading east. The offshore part towards Finland was surprisingly short, and went quickly despite the big waves from the north. When we reached the first rocks on Åland side, the swell subsided noticeably. Suddenly there were only some tens of miles of fetch instead of all the way from Lapland!

  

  We had planned a slightly later departure, and because of this now we faced a nighttime harbour arrival on the Finnish island of Kökar. Luckily the northern nights aren’t that dark this time of the year.

  

  Now we’re on harbour and have shore power plugged in for the first time since Kalmar. The recent rainy days depleted our solar production a bit too far, and as of today the alternator isn’t producing power. Note: fixed since.

  • Distance today: 53.9NM
  • Total distance: 716.9NM
  • Engine hours: 5.7 (3.5 of them charging batteries in harbour)
  • Lunch: pea soup

• 2022-06-03 Kökar - Korppoo

  Having arrived at 2am, we started the day by sleeping late. After that, harbour check-in and breakfast in the cafe. German-flagged boat where the crew speaks Finnish caused some confusion as expected. Nice place, the salmon was wild caught just off the island, and we only had to pay half of a harbour fee as we arrived so late.

  

  We fixed the broken alternator (a 25mm² wire had vibrated itself completely through at the crimp, luckily we have good electrical tools on board) and cleaned the raw water strainer (small mussels, some seaweed).

  When the boat was ready, we started the trip to Finland proper. Lovely fast broad reach where we were seeing speeds above 7kt without any wave surfing. At the border we switched from the Åland courtesy flag to the Finnish one. A bit later we listened on the Yle merisää shipping forecast on the boat’s FM radio.

  

  Later once we joined the main channel to Turku with all the big Stockholm ferries the wind started dying. With the big waves we had issues keeping the mainsail filled dead downwind. So we continued under the jib alone.

  

  When we reached the archipelago ring we were able to hoist the main again to get more speed and stability. Then a turn towards the Korppoo guest harbour, and sails down just before.

  

  Some beer and burgers on the terrace. Tomorrow Suski needs to catch a bus to civilization for some family celebrations, so this harbour fits the bill.

  • Distance today: 27.2NM
  • Total distance: 744.1NM
  • Engine hours: 0.7
  • Lunch: egg and herring rolls
  • Dinner: beer and burgers

• 2022-06-04 Korppoo - Härjänmaa

  In the morning we escorted Suski to the archipelago bus, enjoyed a marketplace coffee, and did a bit of grocery shopping. Then got the boat ready.

  Today was to be a bit shorter day. We’re now in the inner archipelago, and the distances between nature harbours are not long. It being a weekend, it was nice to see bunch of other sailboats out.

  

  About halfway we crossed a clear language barrier: suddenly the islands started having names in Finnish instead of Swedish.

  After a couple of hours of beam reach we dropped sails and pulled into the nature harbour of Kuuskari. Anchor down and approach… And then we decided that it wasn’t sheltered enough from the 20kt winds from the side. So anchor back up, and motored to the next island.

  

  Here at Härjänmaa we’re Scandic moored to a steep cliff face. The Turku sea scouts harbour guide says that you could even side tie here. We have the bow to land, and 3.1m under the keel!

  • Distance today: 15.7NM
  • Total distance: 759.8NM
  • Engine hours: 0.9
  • Lunch: feta avocado salad
  • Dinner: toasted rye bread with cold-smoked salmon

• 2022-06-05 Härjänmaa - Väärämaa

  For logistical reasons we’ll need to be in a marina tomorrow. Here the nature harbours are all clustered, so this meant we didn’t have a long way to go today. But the weather was too nice to just sit in anchor. So we did a bit of an archipelago roundtrip.

  

  Quite a lot of sailboats were out, mostly locals returning to Turku for the work week. We timed our sail so that we didn’t have to dodge any big traffic on the Turku fairway.

  

  As bigger gusts were in the forecast for the evening, we pulled ourselves into the protected bay of Väärämaa just off the fairway. Here we’re swinging at regular bow anchor as the shores are too shallow for Scandic mooring. Nice dinner, some wine, and books.

  • Distance today: 20.9NM
  • Total distance: 780.7NM
  • Engine hours: 0.8
  • Lunch: spaghetti carbonara

• 2022-06-06 Väärämaa - Nauvo

  A no wind day. We slept late, and then hoisted the mudball of an anchor and sailed south across the Turku fairway to Nauvo. That’s where we’d pick up Suski again.

  At 1-2kt of speed the short trip took a while, but the sun was shining and there were no waves and minimal traffic. Nice relaxed day on the water.

  

  Suski arrived to Nauvo just before us, and was there to catch our lines.

  This appears to be a posh beach resort for the local octogenarian crowd. The most expensive marina on the trip so far. But there is a grill place and a sauna, both of which we intend to utilise.

  

  • Distance today: 7.3NM
  • Total distance: 788NM
  • Engine hours: 0.7
  • Lunch: grilled halloumi, Finnish sausages, and potato salad

• 2022-06-07 Nauvo - Naantali

  Forecast was looking great, a fast but comfortable beam reach at 10-19kt. But that sadly wasn’t the reality. Instead, another low-to-no wind day.

  

  But hey, chance to fly the Parasailor again! At some point we even went at the insane speed of 4kt. And then the wind died totally, so the last 10NM to Naantali went with the engine.

  We cleared the Moomin Island and arrived to the town marina. Some family visits and white wine in the cockpit followed.

  

  • Distance today: 23.7NM
  • Total distance: 811.7NM
  • Engine hours: 2.2

• 2022-06-09 Naantali - Turku

  This time the wind forecast was on the spot, 10-19kt, from south when we were heading north, and then from west after we rounded the northern tip of Luonnonmaa and started heading south. Easy and fast sailing.

  

  Today we just did the short hop to Turku. The plan was to stay at the Turku Yacht Club harbour on Ruissalo, but they didn’t pick up the phone, and there was nobody there when we visited. So instead we motored up the Aura river to the center of Turku. Traveling in style, it seems.

  

  • Distance today: 17.9NM
  • Total distance 829.6NM
  • Engine hours: 1.3
  • Lunch: pea soup

• 2022-06-12 Turku - Heisala

  The first round of enjoying the company of friends and family is over and we retreated back to the archipelago to enjoy some anchoring.

  

  After checking that there was no traffic on the river Aurajoki, we backed out from our box and headed towards Airisto. At Airisto we hoisted the sails and started tacking to south.

  For the first time this season we saw as much sailboats as on a nice Havel day, though, the area of Airisto is maybe 100 times bigger! Everyone else was heading home after a weekend somewhere in the archipelago, and we got to be the annoying boat with right of way most of the time.

  • Distance today: 22.4NM
  • Total distance 852NM
  • Engine hours: 1.3
  • Lunch: rye bread and potato salad
  • Dinner: spaghetti aglio e olio

• 2022-06-13 Heisala - Dalskär

  From our anchorage at Heisala it was just a short hop to one of the first nature harbours inside the UNESCO-listed Archipelago Sea National Park. With this in mind, we left only after Suski’s workday, tacking upwind between the islands for a couple of hours.

  

  This was our first chance to try the new rock anchors we got in Turku: this particular island doesn’t have suitable trees, though in places there are fixed metal rings for boats to tie to. The summer season has really started, this is the first time we’re sharing a nature harbour with other boats.

  

  On the way in, we noticed that one of the seams in our foresail has failed. Time to fix it!

  

  • Distance today: 7.4NM
  • Total distance: 859.4NM
  • Engine hours: 0.4
  • Lunch: potato-pecorino patties and a tomato cucumber salad

• 2022-06-14 Dalskär - Helsingholm

  After a nice sunny day in the nature harbour, we hoisted anchor and sailed across to the tiny guest harbour of Helsingholm.

  

  Sadly the sauna here is not operational at the moment, but we were able to fulfil our primary mission: smoked fish. The keeper of the guest harbour had just smoked a fresh batch today. Great stuff!

  • Distance today: 6.2NM
  • Total distance: 865.6NM
  • Lunch: asparagus with sauce hollandaise
  • Dinner: smoked fish and archipelago rye bread

• 2022-06-16 Helsingholm - Klobbarna

  We left Helsingholmen after work and sailed with the wind on our back past Kasnäs marina resort to a secluded bay in Klobbarna.

  

  • Distance today: 10.3 NM
  • Total distance: 875.9 NM
  • Lunch: smoked salmon and avocado wraps
  • Motor hours: 0.7

• 2022-06-17 Klobbarna - Tvärminne

  A lovely sunny downwind day. After morning routines we hoisted anchor at the scenic nature harbour, and headed back to the fairway. With the wind forecast, the Parasailor was the clear winner for the day.

  

  Evading the ferry to Hiittinen, we spotted an osprey nesting on top of a fairway marker. Then a nice fast downwind sail. There were couple of bigger boats following with their carbon sails, but they couldn’t catch us. The ride was smooth enough for baking bread while under way.

  Nearer to Cape Hanko the fairway became narrower, and we switched back to the white sails for faster gybing. We passed the southernmost point of continental Finland under sail. Now we’re in the Gulf of Finland.

  

  Since there was a “luxury music festival for adults” in the Hanko harbour, we were happy we had already decided to continue on to the nice anchorage near the Tvärminne research station.

  • Distance today: 31.5NM
  • Total distance: 907.4NM
  • Engine hours: 0.7
  • Lunch: feta salad and fresh rye bread

• 2022-06-18 Tvärminne - Tvärminne

  The day started with fetching our day sailor Annis from the shore.

  

  We did a round trip in the nearby archipelago. Thanks to the Finnish defense forces we got to enjoy some of the sail with lovely sounds of BOOm, rätttättää and PUM. This sail had a bit of everything. Wind from all directions and both small and big waves.

  

  For the evening we’re tied up in the other end of the bay. Here in the south side there is a narrow segment deep enough for Scandic mooring.

  • Distance today: 14.2 NM
  • Total distance: 921.6 NM
  • Engine hours: 0.6
  • Lunch: Forest mushroom risotto

• 2022-06-19 Tvärminne - Bastuholmen

  Sun again! We hoisted the FLINsail in the morning, and by afternoon the boat batteries were full.

  

  A motorcycle brought us a lunch visitor: Rambo. After the meal we packed up the boat and had a pleasant quick downwind sail to the next nature harbour.

  

  This one has a lot of convenient metal rings installed into the cliffs, but some of them have rusted through, so important to check before utilizing. This time were tied to one of them, and one of our rock anchors.

  • Distance today: 8.5NM
  • Total distance: 930.1NM
  • Lunch: spaghetti Bolognese

• 2022-06-20 Bastuholmen - Tammisaari

  The morning’s departure from the nature harbour turned out to be a bit trickier: our anchor had fouled on a huge pine log. Luckily we were able to dislodge it with the boathook. But this means the anchor likely wasn’t properly set. Scary.

  

  The short sail to the cute port town of Tammisaari was a slow one. Broad reach with 3-5kt of wind. But sometimes it is nice to just let the autopilot work and enjoy the scenery. Two ospreys flew over the boat.

  

  In Tammisaari some provisions, and a visit to the local chandlery to acquire spare parts to fix things broken during the storm in Sweden. Next will be some family visits.

  • Distance today: 6 NM
  • Total distance: 936 NM
  • Lunch: pizza

• 2022-06-23 Tammisaari - Träskön

  We decided to have a bit longer run today. We filled up the freshwater tank, and then left just before 11am. First was motoring upwind the narrow Tammisaari fairway, then sails up as soon as the space widened enough to start tacking.

  

  Once we reached the main Helsinki - Hanko route, the wind was down to a slow but comfortable broad reach. Lots of traffic, but nearly all heading the opposite direction. It looks like all of Helsinki wants to be in the archipelago sea for midsummer!

  Crossing the wider segment in front of Porkkala went quite smoothly. Light wind and very small swell, and no problem avoiding the shipping traffic from the port of Kantvik. We added a preventer to immobilise the main sail.

  

  We chose an anchorage just south of Cape Porkkala, and reached it at midnight (this time of year the nights don’t really get dark) Unfortunately at the entrance we also found an uncharted rock. Seems no major damage, but we’ll inspect the depth of the suspected paint scratches tomorrow. Good thing we were still under sail, and going below 2kt. And now the position of the rock has been submitted to Navionics.

  Our sonar trail on the left, the official nautical chart on the right. Chart says it should be 6m deep there

  • Distance today: 42.4NM
  • Total distance: 978.4NM
  • Engine hours: 1.3
  • Lunch: Caesar salad

• 2022-06-23 Träskön - Suvisaaristo

  After morning coffee we checked the damage from yesterday. It is still a bit cold for diving without gear, so we utilized a highly advanced underwater camera rig (waterproof mobile phone taped to a boat hook). From the pictures it looks like only the antifouling was scratched.

  

  Then it was time to go sailing. Today’s course would be dead downwind along the Porkkala Cape. The Parasailor would’ve been a great choice, but we wanted to try the heavy-weather downwind setup of boom preventer and poled-out jib.

  

  Compared to the Parasailor it is quite a lot more rigging to get it stable, and a lot more hassle to gybe. But the benefit is that it can be reefed, and it is easier to go from it back to the regular sailing setup. With the gusty conditions it was surprisingly fast. We even out-sailed a 33ft catamaran.

  Now we’re in a marina in Suvisaaristo where we were given an empty box as the locals are all away. Bergie used to live just across the bay from here, many years ago. Adventures will continue after the Finnish midsummer weekend.

  • Distance today: 20.2NM
  • Total distance: 998.6NM
  • Engine hours: 0.6
  • Lunch: feta avocado salad

• 2022-06-27 Suvisaaristo - Bylandet

  After a decadent midsummer, we collected our additional crew, acquired some smoked salmon, and headed out. Summer is totally here, the harbour was hot and humid. The light winds only brought slight relief.

  

  We did a slow but pleasant passage following the side of Cape Porkkala. Eventually the wind died, and one after another all sailboats out on the fairway decided to become motorboats.

  

  We also dropped sail and motored to the nearby nature harbour of Bylandet. This is a recreational island owned by the City of Espoo, and so we could tie an aft line to a buoy instead of dropping an anchor. Some swimming and sundowners followed.

  

  • Distance today: 14.3NM
  • Total distance: 1012.9
  • Engine hours: 1.1
  • Lunch: mushroom salad and smoked salmon