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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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The day started with beam reach with 17 knots of wind and we were absolutely flying. Good progress was made untill we saw a thunderstorm developing south of us, with the developing system the wind died and we put on the motor in hopes to get out of the way in time. This was mostly successful and we got only the edge of the rain. In about 20 minutes the rain was over and the wind started picking up again, so sails were soon back up and the good sailing winds were back.

At the southernmost cape of Lemland we decided it is the perfect time to cross over. Good wind with beam reach and only tiny waves. Weather on the Swedish side promised to be good too at the time of our arrival. The only discussion was about the arrival time, which would be around midnight. We chose as our destination a anchoring bay with a single SXK buoy and secure bow anchoring space, so it was agreed that arriving late won’t be an issue.

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The crossing was pleasantly uneventful and soon we were greeting the sunset and the first lighthouse of Sweden. Using the directional beacons we stayed at the edge of the fairway as all the big ferries were heading out of Stockholm. When it was time to venture in to the darkness between the islands we spotted another developing thunderstorm. So yet again, motor on and headsail down. We left the main up for a bit of extra boost and were going 6 knots towards our destination. On a bigger bay we also dropped the main and continued motoring on the edge of the cloud. Right on top of us the starry sky, and to port of us, thunder and lightning.

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We arrived to find out someone had already taken the buoy so we drove slightly deeper in to the bay and dropped the bow anchor, about 3 seconds before the rain started. We checked that the anchor holds and decided that tonight we keep proper anchor watch as the distance to lee shore is about 2 boat lengths. So this blog is written sitting under the spray hood watching the thunder roll over us.