Sandhamn
One more day with little wind, and it seems this will last to Saturday. On the other hand my destination Sandhamn was less than 15 miles away, so after four hours of motor-sailing and even a little sailing I was in port. There is three alternatives for mooring here - Sandhamn village, which is a fan...
Thunder and lightning
First motoring in no wind at all, then a feeble breeze that let me do between two and three knots and then more drama then I had asked for when a thunder storm passed with very strong winds. I had the railing under the water for a while before I turned more downwind so I was able to start taking in...
Sailing through the archipelagos
Very spectacular sailing the whole day! I used Navionics auto-routing feature to find me the best route to Oxelösund, and I could not have done a better job myself. On the chart it looked like very difficult navigation, but with the GPS and the electronic charts it was quite easy most of the time. T...
Back to the mainland
At anchor south of Stora Askö - Jun 17, 2021 Fresh southerly winds took me from Öland back to the archipelagos outside the mainland. I just picked an anchorage that looked promising from the map and I was not disappointed. Tucked in between some big and small islands, there was a natural harbour tha...
Öland
Öland is the second biggest Island in Sweden, 160 km long but just a few kilometers wide. It is the only region in Sweden that I have never visited. My daughter Agnes have never been here either, so she was eager to join me on the boat for the weekend. Kalmar strait, the water between Öland and the...
From Kristianopel to Ekenäs
Another short jump today, 15 miles to the little village Ekenäs. I started almost closehauled but gradually the wind turned and soon I was on a broad reach. Not that strong, I was rarely over 5 knots, but it was very pleasant sailing in the sun. It was my first day on the whole trip that I was bare-...
One more try in Matvik
Kai came in to Karlshamn on Wednesday to help me get the gennaker in its sock, which was not that complicated. There is still some problems to solve though, Kai found out when he climbed the mast to attach the gennaker halyard. When I am sailing with the wind from starboard, the halyard will shafe a...
From Simrishamn to Karlshamn
My goal for today was either the Island Hanö, 30 miles to the north across the Hanö Bay, or I could go 12 miles further to Matvik, where Kai, my Swedish friend from Morlaix has his homeport. He had promised me to help me set up my new gennaker, which I have just about no knowledge myself. I woke up...
From Malmö to Gislövs läge
The stop in Malmö became longer than expected, it took eight days before my gennaker arrived. But Malmö is a very nice city, with a more continental vibe than the rest of Sweden. A bit like Copenhagen and Amsterdam maybe. And like these cities it is a paradise for bikers, dedicated bike lanes all ov...
From Klintholm to Malmö
Fresh westerlies was forecasted by all the models Thursday morning, increasing during the day. Maybe a full day without having to start the engine? I started with two reefs in the main and one in the genua, which seemed a bit too cautious out at see. But I decided to keep it that way until I had rou...
From Rödbyhavn to Klintholm
I had to start from Rödbyhavn with a detour around a very big windmill park before I could round the southeastern tip of Falster and set a straight course toward Klintholm on the Island Mön (ö is pronounced like French eu in the Scandinavian and German languages). The sailed distance is about 60 mil...
From Kiel to Rödbyhavn
The fresh westerly breeze that was forecasted for Tuesday was downgraded quite a bit when I woke up in Holtenau. Once again a day alternating between sailing and motor sailing. The ferry line between German Puttgarden och Danish Rödbyhavn is going to be replaced by a tunnel, but is still some years...
Helgoland to Brunnsbuttel
To catch the strong current down river Elbe, I had to push against the tide for two hours in the early morning but then the current was with me all the way. The winds varied quite a bit during the day, the goose wing setup didn't work at all today, the wind was too weak for my heavy genua. But with...
From Norderney to Helgoland
Leave Norderney two hours before low water to get the last of the outgoing current. Go to buoy TG9, turn to port and cross the shipping lane with a course direct to Helgoland. That was the instructions I got from a local sailor. Not a completely straight course but it allowed me to cross only one sh...
Kiel canal
Not much too say about the canal passage. Motoring almost 9 hours. Very little big ship traffic this day, less than 10 that I met or was passed by during the whole day. Just outside the looks on the Kiel side there is a dock where one can tie up and stay for up to three nights. No electricity though...
Vlieland to Norderney
The reason I defied the bad weather yesterday was that I wanted to have a good starting point for 70 miles to Borkum, the first of the German Friesian islands. If I could be at sea at five in the morning, I would have two good tides pushing me forward and one bad inbetween. So 4:50 I steared out fro...
Den Helder to Vlieland
I had to wait until two in the afternoon to catch the strong tide out from Den Helder. Strong winds from northeast was forecasted. I had some hope to go closehauled at least some of the way but coming out from the narrow straits between Texel and a big delta to the west the wind was right against me...
Scheveningen to Den Helder
I left Scheveningen 5:30 in the first morning light. That would give me three hours of current with me, then 6 hours against and then some hours with me again. As before it seemed stronger than Navionics indicated. I was making between eight and nine knots with the wind from behind and could switch...
Sailing again!
Tuesday the 27th was set for departure towards Sweden. Two friends had signed up for the trip, Erik to Vlissingen in Holland and Kai, who wanted to come all the way to Sweden. Kai is a professional sailor with 18 Atlantic crossings. His schedule was tight so he wanted to go more or less nonstop and...