Route map, return journey

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Seinäjoki-Finland

We arrived at Vaasa harbor yesterday and left the boat there. I will write more text as soon as I find the time. Tomorrow it's back to work.

Kristiinankaupunki Finland

I wrote two pages and then the computer just crashed. Anyway, we afre now about 70 nm from our home port and all is well despite the weather which hasn't been very nice to us.

Maarianhamina-Finland

Details later

Mönsterås-Haradskär-Arkösund

6.7. Kalmar-Mönsterås. We woke up early and did the shopping and I changed the primary fuel filters. Before noon we left for Mösterås. Twice we hoisted the sails but there wasn’t enough wind. Luckily it was only a short leg and we arrived at this small harbor with only two other visitors. The harbor is adjacent to a camping place and it belonged to a sailing club. The place was very homely and the weather was nice and sunny all day.

7.7. Mönsterås-Haradskär. We left early and after 28 nm the wind started to pick up and we hoisted the genaker and it carried us the next 50 nm close to Haradskär which is a former pilot station with a harbor that has only place for a few sailing yachts. Outside the harbor we hit a rock but luckily it was only a small touch with the keel, the second on this trip. The first one was at the Kiel canal when we got too close to the shore when making room for a big ship. There were two boats at the harbor and they showed us a spot where there was enough water for our boat. There were no services but that didn’t matter.

8.7. Haradskär-Arkösund, NSS marina. The wind had turned North during the night as expected so we took a minor boat route with the engine. There must have been at least a hundred sailing boats going southwards during this 25 nm trip. The weather was sunny and warm. The engine worked perfectly. The marinas are getting more expensive as we get closer to Stockholm so we plan to use natural harbors during the next days. There seems to be a lot of those and the archipelago here is big and looks quite familiar.

Hammerhavnen-Utklippan-Kalmar

4.7. Hammerhavnen-Utklippan. A nice warm day but no wind. The engine started causing trouble, the revs suddenly dropped a few times and finally I stopped the engine and changed the secondary fuel filter which seemed to have a lot of silt in it. That didn’t help much so I added the fuel additive which seemed to help after a while. I also noticed that the sea water pump leaked a little. Utklippan was a beautiful little double island with a small channel in between. Yuou had to take the dinghy to the other side where they had a small café, a nice lighthouse and a wood burning sauna which we immediately reserved. Later we had a barbeque and went to the sauna. The sauna was nice but there wasn’t any good shore to go swimming. Before the nightfall the little harbor was crowded and we had two more boats with us side by side, one German and one Finnish.

5.7. Utklippan-Kalmar. What a perfect sailing day! After 5 miles we hoisted the genaker and sailed with the light southwesterly wind almost all day. In the end we got a nice sea breeze from the west and we took down the genaker and hoisted the main and the jib for the rest of the leg. In the morning the engine was a little sluggish to start and the same thing happened when I started the engine for the approach to the marina. At least the other primary filter and water separator seemed to have some loose particles inside but no water. The water pump can wait awhile and we probably have a replacement kit to change the seals if necessary onboard. The day was sunny and the temperature reached +22 Celsius.

Hammerhavnen

3.7. Rönne-Hammerhavnen. The morning was sunny and warm! We took a walk around the pretty little town and bought some food. A Finnish boat came in right next to us just when we were leaving. Our plan was to sail to Christiansö but the wind was from the NE and very gusty so we just sailed to the NW corner of Bornholm to a nice little Hammerhaven 12 nm north of Rönne. The wind was up to 13 m/s and even with reefed sails we did over 8 knots at times. In the end the wind was getting too strong for even these sails. The harbor was full with quite a few boats double parking but just as we arrived a German boat was leaving and we got a very good place at the end of the small pier. Lots of local people spending their day around the harbor and a bunch of divers had come ashore just before us. We walked along a small path to a big medieval castle, Hammershus. Tomorrow we leave Denmark and head for Sweden, we try to stop at Utklippan but it’s probably full in which case we carry on northwards.

Söby-Ballen-Nyborg-Rönne

28.6. Rendsburg-Söby, Denmark. Again a rainy day. First we motored to Kiel and after getting out of the lock we saw hundreds of boats. There were many older big replica boat and hundreds of smaller sailing vessels attending in regattas. After getting out of the hassle we hoisted the genoa and with the strong southerly wind sailed to Söby in Denmark. It didn’t rain all day, just occasionally. The weather really sucks.

29.6. Söby-Ballen. Another rainy morning. We bought some food and took a short trip to Ballen which was a very small harbor. In the afternoon the sky cleared and we took a long walk around the countryside. I even had a change to feed some horses.

30.6. Ballen-Nyborg.  We had a strong westerly wind to sail north to Nyborg. We sailed close to the eastern coast of Fyn and I got a good change to race with the sails as the wind was between 9-15 m/s. Our boat proved its’ strength with the variable wind as we left a similar size ordinary sailing boat far behind. In Nyborg we took a spot right in the middle of the town with a bunch of Germans, again.

1-2.7. Nyborg-Rönne, Bornholm. We left Nyborg for a 70 nm leg but as the first harbor was silted so that  we didn’t get through the mud to the harbor and the next was full we sailed overnight to Bornholm. The wind was very good until we left the mainland for Bornholm but after a while the wind stopped for the night and we were able to set sails again early in the morning. We arrived at Rönne in the afternoon after 27 hours. We both managed to sleep well during the night. The marina was quite full but we found a spot between two German boats. There was even one Finnish boat there and two more arrived later. After a short afternoon shower the evening was sunny and we had delicious pizzas for supper in town.

Söby Denmark

24.6. Amsterdam-Makkum. We motored through two locks and the two Dutch inland seas Ijsselmeer nd Mittelmeer close to the last huge sea dam to Makkum where the harbour and camping area was occupied mostly by Germans. Not a lot of people around, thed weather was bad again. Even in the inland seas it was bumpy.

25.6.-26.6. Makkum-Cuxhaven. The plan was to get at least to Norderney and we left Makkum at 10 to get through the lock in time to catch the tide first to Harlingen and then to Vlieland. Most of the way the wind was against us but outside Vlieland we did get a good wind from the NW, 8-10 m/s. The wind carried us all the way but increased gradually so we first had to reef the genoa and at one point took the main down and for the rest of the trip only used the genoa. After crossing the German border we decided to carry on to Cuxhaven because the weather reports promised strong winds for the next three or four days and we didn’t was to get stuck in Norderney. The gradually picked up and the sea was rough and by morning the wind was up to 17 m/s. First half of the trip we only had sails but after that we also used the engine to help the autopilot and keeping the speed steady. The last hours outside Cuxhaven the boat was pitching and rolling heavily, especially in the delta where the sea waves, river stream and tidal streams collided. We first took a berth at the big marina but after a few hours sleep we moved it to the City Marina which is very small and very well protected. The North Sea was even worse now than it was last autumn on our way down. All in all the weather has been bad for at least two weeks now.

27.6. Cuxhaven-Rendsburg. Rainy and windy. First we motored up the Elbe to Brunsbyttel in heavy rain and because the dinghy was on the deck I had to steer from the outside. At the lock we took the dinghy aft so I could steer from inside. By the time we reached Brunsbyttel I was quite wet despite the waterproof clothing. Water has its ways to get inside. At Rendsburg we moored to a familiar pier run by an older couple with just a few moorings.

28.6. Rendsburg-Söby, Denmark. Again a rainy day. First we motored to Kiel and after getting out of the lock we saw hundreds of boats. There were many older big replica boat and hundreds of smaller sailing vessels attending in regattas. After getting out of the hassle we hoisted the genoa and with the strong southerly wind sailed to Söby in Denmark. It didn’t rain all day, just occasionally. The weather really sucks.