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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Baltic Proper, 104NM SSW of Kalmar

The night was dark. Only a thin sliver of moon, and very few lights around. Wind died around midnight, and as we were in the main shipping lanes, we elected to motor though them.

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After a few false starts, wind returned at dawn. By now the sea state had quieted completely, and so we were able to sail with even just 3-4kt of wind, like you would on a lake. However, the other thing brought on by the dawn was a thick layer of fog. At times only a couple of boat lengths were visible. We proceeded cautiously using the fog horn and monitoring AIS.

There was a sudden invasion of small flies on all the exposed boat surfaces. These were followed by a flock of small birds that made the various booms and spreaders their home. Eventually a hawk appeared that caught one of the smaller birds, and proceeded to enjoy its lunch on the starboard spreader and on our lazy bag. Feathers everywhere!

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Before our own lunchtime we entered Danish waters. Now we could get online briefly to download new weather, and to blog. Looks like the weather window towards Poland is still good. And even the sky is getting a bit lighter!

From the logbook

Time Position Course Speed Log Weather Remarks
13.09. 0:00 Z 55°52'42"N 16°6'37"E 217° 2.7kt 2838.9NM wind 4.5kt 229° baro 1013 hPa Autopilot activated
13.09. 0:00 Z 55°52'41"N 16°6'36"E 199° 4.6kt 2838.9NM wind 2.1kt 264° baro 1013 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 0:05 Z 55°52'19"N 16°6'23"E 187° 5.3kt 2839.3NM wind 3.4kt 217° baro 1013 hPa Well. At least the rain stopped. Motoring again to not be in the middle of the shipping lane.
13.09. 1:00 Z 55°48'25"N 16°3'49"E 213° 4kt 2843.5NM wind 3.9kt 252° baro 1013 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 1:05 Z 55°48'6"N 16°3'28"E 209° 5.5kt 2843.9NM wind 5.5kt 280° baro 1013 hPa Green completely out. Waves hit both lamps periodically.
13.09. 2:00 Z 55°44'26"N 15°59'37"E 207° 5.2kt 2848.2NM wind 3kt 240° baro 1012 hPa Bergie on watch, Suski to bed. Stars ahead are disappearing slowly. Another front?
13.09. 2:23 Z 55°42'58"N 15°57'57"E 203° 2.4kt 2849.9NM wind 6.2kt 312° baro 1012 hPa Motor stopped, sailing with Main, Genoa 1
13.09. 2:39 Z 55°42'37"N 15°57'34"E 215° 1.7kt 2850.3NM wind 6.4kt 323° sea state 2/10 clouds 2/8 visibility 5/10 baro 1012 hPa Mostly out of the main traffic lanes
13.09. 2:58 Z 55°42'15"N 15°57'8"E 212° 0.9kt 2850.8NM wind 4kt 326° baro 1012 hPa Sails down, motoring
13.09. 3:00 Z 55°42'12"N 15°57'6"E 202° 4.3kt 2850.8NM wind 3.7kt 248° baro 1012 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 4:00 Z 55°37'48"N 15°52'5"E 210° 5.4kt 2856NM wind 3.5kt 185° sea state 2/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 1/10 baro 1012 hPa Enveloped by the fog bank. Also 180° wind shift
13.09. 4:12 Z 55°36'54"N 15°51'4"E 212° 5.2kt 2857.1NM wind 2.6kt 191° sea state 2/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 0/10 baro 1012 hPa Visibility maybe four boat lengths, running the fog horn routine. Without AIS this would be quite exciting
13.09. 4:46 Z 55°34'20"N 15°48'18"E 205° 2kt 2860.1NM wind 4.3kt 336° baro 1012 hPa Motor stopped, sailing with Main, Genoa 1
13.09. 5:00 Z 55°34'0"N 15°48'2"E 180° 1.7kt 2860.5NM wind 5.2kt 339° visibility 1/10 baro 1012 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 5:01 Z 55°33'58"N 15°48'1"E 208° 1.5kt 2860.5NM wind 5.7kt 356° baro 1012 hPa Sails down, motoring. With this wind and swell combo we need >6kt to keep sails filled
13.09. 5:31 Z 55°31'42"N 15°45'34"E 211° 5.6kt 2863.2NM wind 6.2kt 30° baro 1012 hPa The boat is covered with tiny flies. Where do these things come from? We're well offshore in international waters
13.09. 6:00 Z 55°29'35"N 15°42'57"E 223° 5.3kt 2865.8NM wind 5.4kt 148° baro 1012 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 6:20 Z 55°28'12"N 15°41'17"E 202° 2.6kt 2867.5NM wind 6.9kt 84° clouds 8/8 visibility 3/10 baro 1012 hPa Motor stopped, sailing with Main, Genoa 1
13.09. 6:29 Z 55°27'51"N 15°41'2"E 202° 2.4kt 2867.8NM wind 7.2kt 73° baro 1012 hPa Heard a rumble of thunder in the distance
13.09. 6:50 Z 55°27'11"N 15°40'37"E 192° 2.3kt 2868.5NM wind 5.7kt 62° baro 1012 hPa Sails set: Main, Genoa 1 (20% furled). Poled out wing on wing
13.09. 7:00 Z 55°26'51"N 15°40'25"E 212° 2.1kt 2868.9NM wind 5.6kt 89° sea state 1/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 3/10 baro 1012 hPa Sea state quieted enough that we can sail with lower winds again
13.09. 7:15 Z 55°26'20"N 15°39'50"E 222° 4.5kt 2869.5NM wind 8.1kt 176° baro 1013 hPa Rain started. No thunder in a while
13.09. 7:26 Z 55°25'45"N 15°38'59"E 219° 2.5kt 2870.3NM wind 4.1kt 169° baro 1012 hPa A hawk was circling the boat. Tried to land first on the windvane and then on spreaders before thinking better of it
13.09. 8:00 Z 55°24'37"N 15°37'20"E 216° 2.2kt 2871.8NM wind 6.8kt 64° baro 1012 hPa Suski on watch. A big flock of birds landed on the boat
13.09. 9:00 Z 55°22'1"N 15°33'36"E 213° 2.5kt 2875.1NM wind 6.4kt 66° baro 1012 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 9:13 Z 55°21'40"N 15°33'8"E 215° 1.7kt 2875.6NM wind 4.7kt 73° sea state 1/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 6/10 baro 1012 hPa Slow sailing in rain.
13.09. 9:47 Z 55°21'2"N 15°32'21"E 221° 0.9kt 2876.3NM wind 2.2kt 13° baro 1012 hPa Autopilot deactivated
13.09. 9:48 Z 55°21'2"N 15°32'20"E 218° 1kt 2876.3NM wind 2.2kt 356° sea state 1/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 6/10 baro 1012 hPa Speed 0 , wind 1.5 kn. Autopilot on standby with rudder in middle. Waiting for wind with all sails up. Flat calm waters. Wind turning towards west through north as expected.
13.09. 10:00 Z 55°20'48"N 15°32'10"E 206° 1.1kt 2876.6NM wind 2.3kt 19° baro 1012 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 10:01 Z 55°20'47"N 15°32'10"E 189° 1kt 2876.6NM wind 2.4kt 356° baro 1012 hPa Autopilot activated
13.09. 10:45 Z 55°19'6"N 15°30'55"E 207° 3.1kt 2878.4NM wind 6kt 345° baro 1012 hPa Hawk having a lunch at the end of the boom. Mainsail has some feather spray as lunch started at saaling.
13.09. 11:00 Z 55°18'40"N 15°30'30"E 228° 1.9kt 2878.9NM wind 4.9kt 44° baro 1011 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 12:00 Z 55°15'28"N 15°26'4"E 212° 4.8kt 2883.1NM wind 11.5kt 346° baro 1011 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 12:59 Z 55°11'23"N 15°21'58"E 205° 5.3kt 2887.8NM wind 13.8kt 330° baro 1012 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 13:29 Z 55°8'55"N 15°19'28"E 202° 5.6kt 2890.6NM wind 18.8kt 331° baro 1012 hPa Autopilot deactivated
13.09. 13:30 Z 55°8'50"N 15°19'23"E 202° 6.2kt 2890.7NM wind 20.4kt 349° baro 1012 hPa Autopilot activated
13.09. 13:30 Z 55°8'46"N 15°19'20"E 199° 6kt 2890.8NM wind 20.4kt 337° baro 1012 hPa Furled Genoa 20%
13.09. 13:42 Z 55°7'44"N 15°18'15"E 201° 6.2kt 2892NM wind 21.2kt 339° baro 1012 hPa Autopilot deactivated, windvane steering
13.09. 13:50 Z 55°6'59"N 15°17'18"E 212° 6.9kt 2893NM wind 19.6kt 353° sea state 3/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1012 hPa Bergie on watch
13.09. 14:00 Z 55°6'4"N 15°16'29"E 195° 7.3kt 2894NM wind 16.8kt 3° baro 1012 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 15:00 Z 55°0'35"N 15°10'32"E 221° 7kt 2900.6NM wind 17.1kt 346° baro 1013 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 15:14 Z 54°59'35"N 15°8'56"E 210° 5.4kt 2901.9NM wind 14.9kt 322° baro 1013 hPa Sails set: Main, Genoa 1
13.09. 16:00 Z 54°56'19"N 15°4'34"E 231° 5.8kt 2906.1NM wind 12.5kt 339° baro 1014 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 16:24 Z 54°54'38"N 15°1'49"E 221° 6.6kt 2908.4NM wind 17kt 332° baro 1014 hPa Sails set: Main, Genoa 1 (20% furled)
13.09. 17:00 Z 54°51'46"N 14°57'35"E 235° 6.7kt 2912.2NM wind 21.7kt 315° baro 1014 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 17:39 Z 54°48'12"N 14°53'33"E 216° 6.6kt 2916.5NM wind 16.6kt 327° sea state 3/10 clouds 7/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1015 hPa Out of Danish waters. Big rain cloud ahead
13.09. 18:02 Z 54°46'7"N 14°51'20"E 209° 6.6kt 2919NM wind 17.8kt 306° baro 1015 hPa Rain started. Another surprise visitor: bird landed on the tiller and now rests under the lifesling
13.09. 18:29 Z 54°43'49"N 14°49'1"E 205° 6kt 2921.7NM wind 13kt 330° sea state 3/10 clouds 6/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1015 hPa Sails set: Main, Genoa 1. Looks like the worst of this raincloud went past us
13.09. 18:58 Z 54°41'35"N 14°46'2"E 200° 6.6kt 2924.5NM wind 13.7kt 350° sea state 3/10 clouds 2/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1015 hPa Overflight by what must be a very tightly packed Starlink train
13.09. 19:00 Z 54°41'30"N 14°45'57"E 218° 5.7kt 2924.6NM wind 14kt 314° baro 1015 hPa Seeing a light beam in the clouds from a lighthouse that is likely Greifswalder Oie
13.09. 19:59 Z 54°36'4"N 14°40'27"E 194° 6.4kt 2931NM wind 16.6kt 338° baro 1016 hPa Suski on watch
13.09. 21:00 Z 54°30'16"N 14°34'51"E 201° 6.7kt 2937.7NM wind 18.5kt 332° baro 1017 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 22:00 Z 54°24'26"N 14°30'15"E 195° 5.2kt 2944.1NM wind 15.1kt 324° baro 1017 hPa Hourly position log
13.09. 22:24 Z 54°22'14"N 14°28'26"E 215° 7kt 2946.6NM wind 21.7kt 316° sea state 3/10 clouds 2/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1017 hPa There is bioluminescence thingies in the water! Did not know we had some in the Baltic.
13.09. 22:57 Z 54°18'57"N 14°25'39"E 207° 7.4kt 2950.4NM wind 25.5kt 328° baro 1018 hPa Sails set: Main, Genoa 1 (20% furled)
13.09. 23:00 Z 54°18'42"N 14°25'27"E 197° 7.5kt 2950.6NM wind 18.9kt 335° baro 1018 hPa Bergie on watch