Sunday, April 10, 2022
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.
2022 Baltic cruise
We sailed in the protection of the Swedish and Finnish archipelago for five months and 2500 nautical miles, starting from Easter 2022. Our aim was to enjoy the protected anchorages and explore the natural beauty and sailability of the archipelago for as long as possible.
The ability to work remotely in the boat office made this all possible powered by our solar panels and the 4G networks of the Nordic countries. We explored the Gulf of Finland all the way to Loviisa and came back 5 months later with some provisions still left in the bilge that were bought in Berlin. We stayed in 42 different natural harbours along the way. We managed to sail on ⅔ of the days on the trip.
| Distance sailed | 1866.6 NM | (74.1%) |
|---|---|---|
| Distance motored | 651.2 NM | (25.9%) |
| Total | 2517.8 NM | |
| Travel days | 102 | (65%) |
| Harbour days | 40 | (25%) |
| Storm days | 13 | (8%) |
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Friday, April 15, 2022
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.
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Saturday, April 16, 2022
Lehnitzsee
Being stuck here for the Easter, we enjoyed a lazy morning, topped with some coffee and cinnamon rolls in the noon sunshine.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2022
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.
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Thursday, April 21, 2022
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!
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Friday, April 22, 2022
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.
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Sunday, April 24, 2022
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!
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Tuesday, April 26, 2022
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.
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Saturday, April 30, 2022
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.
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Monday, May 2, 2022
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.
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Tuesday, May 3, 2022
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.
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Wednesday, May 4, 2022
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.
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Thursday, May 5, 2022
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.
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Friday, May 6, 2022
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.
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Saturday, May 7, 2022
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.
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Saturday, May 14, 2022
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.
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Sunday, May 15, 2022
Solberganäset - Kiddeholmen
The morning started with some breakfast and flying the drone to take a higher look at the bay.
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Monday, May 16, 2022
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.
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Tuesday, May 17, 2022
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.
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Wednesday, May 18, 2022
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.
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Thursday, May 19, 2022
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.
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Sunday, May 22, 2022
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.
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Monday, May 23, 2022
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.
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Tuesday, May 24, 2022
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.
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Wednesday, May 25, 2022
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.
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Thursday, May 26, 2022
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.
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Friday, May 27, 2022
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.
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Sunday, May 29, 2022
Nynäshamn - Utö
To Finnish readers: not the Utö you’re thinking of. This one is in Sweden.
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Monday, May 30, 2022
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.
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Tuesday, May 31, 2022
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.
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Wednesday, June 1, 2022
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.
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Friday, June 3, 2022
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.
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Friday, June 3, 2022
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.
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Saturday, June 4, 2022
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.
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Sunday, June 5, 2022
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.
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Monday, June 6, 2022
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.
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Tuesday, June 7, 2022
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.
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Thursday, June 9, 2022
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.
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Sunday, June 12, 2022
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.
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Monday, June 13, 2022
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.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Dalskär - Helsingholm
After a nice sunny day in the nature harbour, we hoisted anchor and sailed across to the tiny guest harbour of Helsingholm.
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Thursday, June 16, 2022
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.
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Friday, June 17, 2022
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.
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Saturday, June 18, 2022
Tvärminne - Tvärminne
The day started with fetching our day sailor Annis from the shore.
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Sunday, June 19, 2022
Tvärminne - Bastuholmen
Sun again! We hoisted the FLINsail in the morning, and by afternoon the boat batteries were full.
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Monday, June 20, 2022
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.
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Thursday, June 23, 2022
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.
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Thursday, June 23, 2022
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.
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Monday, June 27, 2022
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.
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Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Bylandet - Elisaari
Morning started with a bit of island exploration and breakfast. After that, we motored out from the bay and hoisted the sails. Downwind past Porkkala and Upiniemi, over the Porkkalanselkä with 20 knots of wind behind us. Poling out the fock again.
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Thursday, June 30, 2022
Elisaari - Modermagan
After two days of sauna, good food and nature trails, it was time to leave the pretty marina of Elisaari behind. Again motoring through the reeds, then sails up, and on a broad reach through the scenic Barösund straits.
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Friday, July 1, 2022
Modermagan - Hanko
We slept late, as we knew that the reserved spot on Hanko marina would not be available before 14:00. We carefully navigated our way between the underwater rocks back to the fairway and hoisted the main. After a while we also poled out the jib on the other side and continued overtaking sailboats in front of us with the only genoa setup. Our Lille Ø is a fast boat with over 15 kt winds!
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Saturday, July 2, 2022
Hanko - Strömsö
For the Finnish readers: not the Strömsö you’re thinking of
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Sunday, July 3, 2022
Strömsö - Skatafladan
In the morning we motored to the Barösund fuel dock. Here we could fill up the boat (less than 1l consumed per day since mid-May!). Karin and Daniel were able to catch the bus to Helsinki from there to make it to their flight tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Skatafladan - Gåsgrundet
After a day of no wind the tables were turned and today we had on average 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots. Broad to beam reach, no reefs and we were flying! We broke the speed record again, now the highest recorded speed is 8 knots! Lille Ø is a sturdy and reliable high wind boat!
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Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Gåsgrundet - Helsinki
The island of Gåsgrundet was packed with boaters, and the communal sauna evening was a lot of fun. In the morning we had breakfast, and then left the pier.
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Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Helsinki - Tallinn
We started our Monday with doing the groceries at the Hakaniemi market. Fresh vegetables and some local fish was acquired. We had a late start as the morning was completely windless. We hoisted the sails right after the marina and tacked our way south towards Kuninkaansalmi, where we managed to tack through the narrow fairway towards the open ocean. With very light winds we were aimlessly sailing towards Porkkala. Somewhere north of Isosaari an new plan started forming and for the lulz we routed us towards Tallinn. Expected arrival at 4 am, not that bad, we thought.
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Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Tallinn - Jussarö
The trip to Tallinn was fun as always, some great museums followed by a feast in Olde Hansa!
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Friday, July 15, 2022
Jussarö - Hanko
Jussarö was a mixed experience. High west winds are not your optimal Jussarö winds, and so most of the day we were on chafe watch duty, fixing issues on our and neighboring boats. In the evening the winds died and we had a chance to experience the local nature trails. First blueberries of the season, followed with some grilled halloumi.
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Sunday, July 17, 2022
Hanko - Lökholmen
Due to bad weather we spent two fun days with our buddy boat’s crew in the “Monaco of Finland” (as Karo coined it). But today it was time to press on. Still pretty high headwind, but definitely better conditions than yesterday.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Lökholmen - Benskär
After an island exploration day, it was time to sail on. Another headwind day was on the menu, but this time with reasonably light winds and no waves.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Benskär - Björkö
We left early to avoid the winshift to west. We headed avay from the marked fairways into the lovely nature park of Saaristomeri. The wind shift came way earlier than expected, so we made our way tacking between the islands and skerries.
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Thursday, July 21, 2022
Björkö - Vänö
In the morning we left the picturesque but packed lagoon at Björkö and started our trip east. What a beautiful sailing day! 10-12kt of wind on the beam and an easy fairway to follow. Until now we’ve seen the locals mostly motoring, but today everybody was out sailing.
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Friday, July 22, 2022
Vänö - Kasnäs
We had a slow morning in Vänö. After coffee, our buddy boat left for the fortress island of Örö. Our route was for the busy marina of Kasnäs where we’ll pick up crew tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 23, 2022
Kasnäs - Dalskär
Our weekend crew arrived at 10, we did a short safety briefing and did a rope assisted side wind departure from the buoy. Sailing was fast and half of the way was also practically with no waves.
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Sunday, July 24, 2022
Dalskär - Kasnäs
After a fun evening in the nature harbour, it was time to return our guest crew to their car. We enjoyed breakfast, and then hoisted anchor. This was probably the worst ball of mud we’ve had to clean so far!
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Monday, July 25, 2022
Kasnäs - Byxholmen
Today was Suski’s first work day after the summer vacation. Bergie resupplied the boat with water and cheese, and it was time to sail out of the Archipelago Sea.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Byxholmen - Lähteelä
The morning departure from Byxholmen started with a bit of hassle - a boat had tied to a buoy across our anchor line. But we managed to sort it out with the boat’s crew. Then back to the fairway and sails up, while the office worker went below for a full day of meetings.
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Thursday, July 28, 2022
Lähteelä - Lähteelä
Lunch break was with quite lovely salmon soup at the café. In the afternoon our British crew came onboard. We did the usual briefings, and then went out to explore the nearby archipelago a bit.
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Friday, July 29, 2022
Lähteelä - Helsinki
The morning started with waiting for our neighbours to leave. Our buoy was quite near the shore and it had a rock right behind it, so we wanted to leave as much space as possible around us for some rope manouvering. The manouver was smooth and soon we had our sails up.
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Saturday, July 30, 2022
Helsinki - Äggskär
Some morning logistics plus visitors, then at noon we sailed out of Helsinki. This time the Kuninkaansalmi strait was easy with a broad reach. Wing-on-wing to the east with low winds, no waves, and a nice sunshine.
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Sunday, July 31, 2022
Äggskär - Loviisa
After morning coffee we detached ourselves from the buoy and headed to the inner fairway. First two hours were light winds as forecasted, and we ghosted along at 2kt.
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Monday, August 1, 2022
Loviisa - Isnäs
Another start of a work week, so the off-watch visited the Loviisa maritime museum. Then lunch and some engine checks. Everything seemed ok, so we decided to do today’s short run under engine to exercise it a bit.
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Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Isnäs - Isnäs
Yesterday when we arrived, we decided to use the bow anchor and stay between the shore and the fairway.
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Sunday, August 7, 2022
Isnäs - Bockhamn
The week at the cottage was a lot of fun - sauna, hot tub, karaoke, old friends, and even a live concert by Domra Cocktail.
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Monday, August 8, 2022
Bockhamn - Helsinki
After several days of high winds, today dawned with a total windstill. After breakfast we left the pier at the nature harbour and started motoring towards the narrow Suni strait. At least we could motor to a different nature harbour, we thought.
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Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Helsinki - Lähteelä
Having resupplied the boat, it was time to move on. The forecast was quite nice wind, albeit on the nose. We left HMVK at 10:30, and hoisted sail immediately after rounding Katajanokka. Some dodging of Suomenlinna ferries followed, but we got out of Helsinki with just a few tacks.
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Friday, August 12, 2022
Lähteelä - Barösund
Today’s sail promised and delivered a lot of tacking in small spaces. Bergie got his exercise while Suski was steering. Sailing in Havel proves to be a good training ground for the archipelago, as we know how to tack efficiently and where we should be in relation to oncoming traffic.
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Saturday, August 13, 2022
Barösund - Modermagan
Today’s new experience was taking a dog on board. Salsa seemed to take it all in good stride, despite some exciting sea life we passed by.
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Sunday, August 14, 2022
Modermagan - Hanko
Today’s main mission was to avoid the oncoming traffic from a powerboat event in Hanko, so we chose the outer route. Wind was broad or beam reach and we made some solid progress. When we joined the inner fairway we were greeted with a near endless flow of powerboats going full speed towards their home harbours. So deafening motor roars and massive waves were encountered proving us right to go initially on the outside route!
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Monday, August 15, 2022
Hanko - Kråkskär
We left our weekend crew to Hanko. Now the local sailing season is practically over - it was weird to see this normally busy marina almost empty.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Kråkskär - Korppoo
The island of Kråkskär was just as pretty in the morning sun as it had been at sunset. But also almost completely devoid of Internet. As Tuesday is a workday, this meant an early departure.
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Thursday, August 18, 2022
Korppoo - Jungfruskär
The day dawned with almost no wind. But no matter, we still wanted to proceed westwards. Easterlies were forecasted for the next couple of days, and it would be a shame not to utilize them.
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Friday, August 19, 2022
Jungfruskär - Tjockö
After coffee it was time to head west with the promised beam reach. The plan was either to go to Marienhamn or cross over to the Swedish side, depending on what progress we make or what does the weather prognosis say.
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Sunday, August 21, 2022
Tjockö - Stor-Asken
Rainy bleak morning without wind. And yet, we decided we’ve spent enough time in this nature harbour. It was time to move on. Motoring to the next spot would also help a little bit with our batteries having been depleted quite a bit over the mostly-overcast last week.
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Monday, August 22, 2022
Stor-Asken - Gällnö
We sat at anchor until noon waiting for wind and charging our batteries via solar. Then anchor up and under way.
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Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Gällnö - Napoleonviken
Another low wind day, so about half of it with motor. We hoisted anchor after breakfast and tacked through the shortcut at Älgöfjärd straits. There was a bit of motorsailing involved to clear a bridge there.
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Thursday, August 25, 2022
Napoleonviken - Stockholm
Another day without wind. But we still hoisted anchor and motored on the narrow - very narrow - channel towards Stockholm.
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Saturday, August 27, 2022
Stockholm - Storön
Last groceries before leaving were done early and we left the dock under no wind and a very humid and warm air. As this promises to be the last summer weekend a lot of boat traffic was afoot. The Swedes truly use their waterways actively. While we were motoring on we noticed that the locals like to store their boats out of the water either on ramps or small boat elevators. I think i would also do that as the locals drive very fast and make very big waves while doing that.
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Sunday, August 28, 2022
Storön - Böteskobben
In the morning we had a pretty hasty departure from the nature harbour - the wind had shifted and our neighbor was extremely close to fouling our anchor while hoisting theirs. Despite that, we managed to enjoy proper coffee and breakfast before leaving.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Böteskobben - Nynäshamn
Our storm anchorage worked great - we only received some turbulence from the gales blowing by. Yesterday evening once the rains passed we even managed to have some BBQ.
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Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Nynäshamn - Äspkärsfladan
Now we’re retracing our route from three months ago. We filled water at Nynäshamn, and then headed out. From Nynäshamn to Landsort it was all on a broad reach, then as we turned west the wind was mostly on the nose.
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Thursday, September 1, 2022
Äspkärsfladan - Oxelösund
We left the buoy after a lazy morning, and sailed west mostly on a beam reach. The fairway here sure is narrow in places!
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Sunday, September 4, 2022
Oxelösund - Harstena
Rainy morning turned into a sunny afternoon while we sailed through the archipelago. Our route was taking us a bit on every course so we had everything between head wind to broad reach. We crossed the open water part from Oxelösund to St Annas archipelago.
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Monday, September 5, 2022
Harstena - Jungfruskär
The morning rain ended exactly when we wanted to start preparing the boat. A slow wind day, we left Harstena on a broad reach.
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Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Jungfruskär - Snuggösund
Morning departure was easy enough: coffee, packing the FLINsail, detaching from buoy, and hoisting main.
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Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Snuggösund - Solberganäset
Suski’s birthday meant starting the day with the party flags. Then breakfast and under way.
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Thursday, September 8, 2022
Solberganäset - Kalmar
With a forecast of wind increasing over the next two days, we decided to have an early start. Fortified by French omelette and coffee we hoisted anchor at 7:30 and headed to the southeast-bound fairway.
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Monday, September 12, 2022
Kalmar - Świnoujście
Weather window. That was the topic of the week as we were intensively looking at weather and waves of the southern Baltic Sea. The scheduled 1 month long closing of the Hohensaaten West locks is happening in 2 weeks. As Suski is now limited to only sailing the weekends, we decided to take the half good slow or no wind option now.
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Tuesday, September 13, 2022
Świnoujście - Szczecin
We left the marina at Świnoujście in the morning under heavy rain. Then it was time to navigate the channel dodging various tankers and cargo ships. Luckily the skies cleared a bit.
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Thursday, September 15, 2022
Szczecin - Niederfinow
After breakfast it was time to leave Poland and the Baltic Sea behind. We motored to the notorious low railroad bridge at Podjuchy. Last time it had been closed for traffic, sending us on a long detour through the Szczecin city center. This time we had consulted the local Notices to Mariners and hence were able to time ourselves to a bridge opening. Six meters of clearance instead of three is a big difference!
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Friday, September 16, 2022
Niederfinow - Berlin
Wake up call at 5:30, safety coffee and onwards with the journey towards home port. With the early start came the joy of not having much traffic. When we reached the part of the canal under construction, we again radioed the various tug boats to ask for a suitable moment to pass. At one point we were requested to wait for a bit, so we did 2 donuts before given the permission to pass. Cheerful Danke Schön and Bon Voyage were exchanged with the crew when we were at talking distance of them. Combination of transmitting AIS and a working radio also when the mast is down removes stress out of tricky traffic situations.
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Monday, November 28, 2022
Deck rebuild
Since coming back we took the boat up, washed the hull and patched the minor dents in the keel and started what we anticipated to be a couple week teak deck removal and painting of the deck.
