The project season is on its last legs, and soon we can head towards north again. After the deck rebuild, we took a month off from boat projects and enjoyed some sailing and anchoring on Havel. After the well needed rest we cracked on with the following projects:
The morning started with finishing the last project: fastening the windvane bracket to the hull. At 10 we cast off our lines and hooped the signal horn 3 times to mark the start of the summer’s cruise. A small fairwell committee hooped their answer and we motored away.
We started the morning with an early coffee and departure, as we wanted to clear the sport boat waiting pier before the ship elevator started operating at 6am. The Order valley opened before us foggy and cold, but thankfully with enough visibility to motor onwards.
We had an early morning to finalise the hydrogenerator wiring. Then we headed north through the busy Szczecin harbour. Another workday meant a single-handed sail.
We’re now sitting in the rolly Marina Swinoujscie waiting for the weather to improve. This has given us the chance to complete some of the projects we couldn’t get done before leaving Berlin. The biggest of those was the self-steering windvane installation.
The morning started very early as we wanted to gain as much space between us and the lee shore of Usedom with the easterly breeze. Sails went up at 6am at the same time with the rising sun. Finally we were at the sea!
We started the day with a big Sunday breakfast. Then boat ready and underway.
Today’s sail was to be a short one: a downwind run from our anchorage to catch one of the six daily bridge openings at Rügendamm.
When is the correct time to leave for a passage is a question that has never just one right answer. When are the winds and waves suitable? When can the crew go? What is the expected traffic situation? Are you willing to motor when necessary or is it pure sailing? Which of the weather forecast models do you rely on?
Long weekend was about to begin, and so it was time to sail onwards. Looking at the weather, this meant an early start if we wanted to cross the Bay of Hanö before winds turned easterly.
Morning started with pretty strong winds so it was to be staysail and main in 1st reef. We sailed the narrow fairway wing on wing to the main shipping lane, gybed towards north and were on our merry way onwards! During the day the winds calmed down, so the reef was shaken and genoa rolled out.
The day started grey and drizzly. But hey, it is Vappu, time to go sailing! Forecast had decent southerly winds for the whole day, suiting our general plan to head north.
Today’s project was to comission our new-to-us watermaker, Katadyn PowerSurvivor 40E. We ate a hearty breakfast as the expectation was multiple leaks and other plumbing issues. Bergie set to work on the watermaker as Suski had a work day.
Due to a workday full of meetings we decided to spend the day at the pier. This gave opportunities for charging up our battery bank with solar and making some more water.
Our secure anchorage held us till after work. During the day it was time to work, bake some bread and make water. After the laptop was closed it was time to head out again.
Another beautiful sailing day! Since we knew wind would fill only a bit later, we started the day with a refreshing deck shower - spring hasn’t quite yet arrived here, and it was 1°C in the morning. After that, sails up and under way.
Today we took the mammoth task of changing to another SXK buoy 1 nautical mile away! We side tied the banana boat to Lille Ø and turned on the motor. Then we proceeded to slowly motor through the narrow passes between rocks, both visible and hiding just under the surface.
Another sunny day. It is hard to believe that we’ve been off-grid for two weeks - batteries are full, as is the freshwater tank. Time to head east for our weekend plan!
Weather dictates when we wake up and when we set sail. We are expecting a gale coming in this evening, so we left early in the morning to sail the last 10 NM to Nynäshamn. We hoisted the main sail when still tied to the buoy and sailed away, motor running on neutral, just in case. With a 60° wind angle we then rolled out the genoa and left the anchorage in style.
We started the day with a trip to the local gas station. The spring has been cold, and hence we’ve used quite a bit of diesel for heating. After filling up, under way!
Sometimes the best plans come out short. Suski woke up early to the sounds of rain. With an all time speed record through the boat she was out and collecting the towels from the guard rails before they got soaking wet.
A long weekend and a promising forecast meant heading out a bit further. Refreshed by sauna and the good sleep, we prepared the boat and left the SXK pier.
A full day offshore started with light winds where we had to steer by the electric autopilot. This sea area is really quiet! We’ve only seen a few cargo ships and maybe a dozen seagulls all day.
The night brought with it a little bit more wind and we were gliding on the waves smoothly. The northen horizon glows with sun’s rays and it is just pure magic to do night passages this time of the year. Dusk and dawn simultaneously on the northern side and stars and night sky on southern side.
While the passage from Stockholm archipelago to Sundsvall had been lovely, today’s sail was more on the frustrating end.
After work it was time to set sail again. We took the inside route as we wanted to see the High Coast Bridge. They call it the Golden Gate of the North. Inside route also ment that you can effectively forget the wind forecast as the high hills create their own wind. From 15kn to 0 and back and everything from beating to broad reach while going to the same compass course.
What a lovely day for a spinnaker sail! A south wind started coming up around 11am, so we detached from the buoy and hoisted the Parasailor. Then it was a leisurely glide past the monumental fells of the High Coast, with the Parasailor dampening the waves for the office worker.
We spent an extra day in Ulvöhamn to wait out a blow. Then, the next day, as work laptop was closed we hoisted anchor and headed out. An “auf wiedersehen” rang from the shore. Lille Ø was the first visiting boat this year, we had been told.
Now that we’re above 64°N, it doesn’t really get dark at all. The sun sets around 11pm, there are a few hours of twilight, and by 2am it is rising again.
The second night was a fast one. Double foresails and full main meant that we were proceeding with hull speed. Our hydrogenerator kept our battery full, even when the off-watch was using the electric blanket to thaw themselves out after watch duty outside.
The gale blew past without incident, and we happily slept late. After a late breakfast we turned the boat around in the narrow harbour with lines. Then out and towards North.
After some well deserved sleep, we took off at noon. As the night is light, we can arrive to the destination at any given hour without an issue. We raised the mainsail just outside the harbour and were on our way towards south, for the first time on this trip!
Having done the obligatory Haparanda traditions, it was time to press on. Wind made the harbour departure a bit tricky, but the schoolbook manoeuvre of driving into a front spring did the trick.
Our stay in Koivuluodonletto was extremely nice. Both the Tornio municipality employees and the members of the local yacht club were helpful and kind. We had the honour of being the first visitors of the season! We spent a couple of days waiting out a series of gales.
The island of Selkä-Sarvi was a treat. Beautiful nature and great hiking infrastructure. We even got a tour of the gaff-rigged schooner that brings tourists to the island.
We did some additional provisioning in Hailuoto and got some local beer (thank you Erik & Tina!). The town is nearly 10km away, so transportation was required. Luckily the harbour office had 2 bikes to lend. One of them had no air in the tires so bicycling became a solo mission for Suski.
We held a boat maintenance day at Iso-Kraaseli, finishing some of the winter’s leftover projects. Then early start for the slightly longer leg to the old tar capital of Kokkola.
After provisioning and the crew swap, we headed out of the Kokkola Yacht Club under engine. Wind was directly on the nose, and the fairway too narrow to tack.
We decided to forgo the prospective salmon soup and go out sailing. Departure from Tankar was easy, and we hoisted the sails in the lee of the island. Interestingly, this was also the moment we measured the trip’s highest wind at 29kt.
After a restful night we hoisted sail and headed west. Inspired by a humpback whale sighting in Finnish waters we picked the “Whale Islands” as our destination. The outermost islands on the Finnish side of the Kvarken world heritage area.
What a difference between two days! Today’s sail was same tacking into the same wind direction. But with about 10kt less wind. This meant mostly smooth seas and pleasant progress.
In the latest forecast the wind looked halfway sailable after all. We discussed possible harbour options with a local sailor, and then headed out.
After a day of sauna and rest, the anticipated north wind finally arrived. This meant time for us to move on.
The night went quite uneventfully with a smooth Parasailor ride. Off-watches even managed to catch some shut-eye. I’m glad we got to experience a few of these “white nights” at sea before we’re too far south. The picture below is from around the darkest hour of the night:
The morning started swiftly. Bernhard was left on the pier and we motored out to try and avoid the forecasted wind hole that was going to take over Uusikaupunki around midday. After the most narrow part of the fairway we hoisted the sails an headed south.
Light winds were in the forecast, and so we had a somewhat early departure for the leg to Turku. Lovely sunny weather, and tacking in light winds among a beautiful archipelago - not bad at all!
For the Midsummer weekend we got the opportunity to sail with our friend Skoll so the day started the minute he got on board in Turku. Engine on and we backed out of the harbour. The river and fairway were too narrow to tack, so we motored to the start of Airisto, a deep and wide part of sea in the Turku archipelago. There we hoisted the sails and headed south.
The wind turned northwesterly during the night, fitting our plan of sailing south east quite well. After we had cleared the mudball anchor, we sailed out to the fairway accompanied by a classic wooden galleass.
We hoisted the anchor after a morning coffee, and headed towards Hanko on a swift downwind run. As the sun was behind the sails we made some power with the hydrogenerator.
After a fun sauna evening, we set ourselves an early alarm for a departure. Unlike forecasted, in the morning there was a wind hole over the Tammisaari archipelago. So, we prepared the Parasailor and motored on.
The pushpit repairs required a visit to the hardware store. As Lähteelä has only 3 daily buses, some additional help was mustered. Suski’s parents drove to help us and to enjoy some crepes made on the fire. We got all the required parts and after that it was luckily a simple process to attach the pushpit back to the boat.
The morning started with very mild winds, 1.6 knots meant that we decided to sleep for one more hour. On the second try the wind was a whopping 4 knots, enough for us to sail with! We motored out past the last underwater rocks and hoisted the sails. Glassy calm waters with wind just enough to fill the sails, we don’t require more. Our chartplotter app estimated our arrival to be well after midnight, at least we would be there well after all the big ferries!
That was another efficient Tallinn stop. In 24h we had a Medieval feast in Olde Hansa, visited the Lennusadam maritime museum, did some provisioning, and even managed a surprise family visit. Then back to Finland as the weather window looked good!
The nature harbour of Bockhamn was indeed quite protected. For the past few days, it was blowing 30-40kt outside with 2-3m waves. We were sitting happily in our quiet pond, seeing 5kt or less of wind, reading and occasionally grilling. I feel sorry for the couple of sailboats that had to leave in the middle of it to go to a marina to charge batteries!
We spent a lovely day off visiting Hamina’s various museums with the expert guidance by Paula. The tour ranged from nautical oddities to the bastion fortress, one of the 2 surviving star fortress towns. In Shopkeeper’s Museum we learned that no, the past was not a better place!
We left Ulko-Tammio after breakfast, in order to avoid the incoming ferry whose place we were squatting. To complete our list of seen Finnish sea weather reporting stations, we planned an upwind route to the island of Haapasaari.
We started the day after what we thought would be the last rain cloud. We carefully reversed out of the pier and turned our nose towards the narrow entrance. At the coast guard station we needed to do some manouvering around the coast guard vessel, they had some guys in a motorboat in tow. After passing the duo, we raised the sails and headed on the outside route.
We celebrated the nice sunny morning by making breakfast and coffee on the fire on shore. Then we detached from the buoy and motored the short hop around the island to our destination.
As the winds were a perfect 10 to 15 knots we decided to go for a day sail. We had a crew of 7, so it was time to leave all fenders and extra sails on shore to have the maximum of deck space for the whole troop of sailors on board. We went around the close by islands, so we got a bit of everything. Tacking, beam reach and downwind sailing.
Another nice wind day, and hence another group of happy sailors taken out for a trip around the nearby islands. This time we had some toddlers on board, so we elected for a staysail and the first reef.
The loveliest of weeks is over. Midnight Trivial Pursuit, karaoke, sauna and building a traditional Finnish wooden fence were in the program.
A favourable east wind was in the forecast, and so we left the protected lagoon of Bockhamn and hoisted sails. In the shelter of the islands the winds were light, but still enough to sail. Just like last year, wind filled in after we passed Pellinki.
Last round of provisioning, filling the water tank and emptying the toilet was done before setting sail out of Helsinki. We tacked the whole way in the narrow fairways and busy Helsinki traffic. Both of us were needed to keep track of all the different markers and boats.
The well on Gåsgrundet had run dry already earlier in the summer, and so our watermaker got into good use supplying the sauna. After a week of “island time”, Suski was back for a couple of days. It was time to move somewhere more reachable by public transport.
The rainy morning turned into a sweaty day. We motored with the non-existent winds to the nearest UUVI island. As we approached we saw a fully packed pier with boats already sharing the stern mooring balls. So we approached slowly and asked if the sailboat in the last mooring ball was willing to share theirs and they did. So we did a second approach towards that buoy. With a fully extended hook we caught the buoy and managed to avoid the stern of the sailboat. I was glad I could throw the first line to a fellow sailor on the pier as double parking a buoy was enough stress not to worry about stepping to the pier on the correct moment.
Two days passed leisurely on the island by picking berries, making food on the fire, and chatting with the other sailors. Now the day started with an early stop at Inkoo for an appointment. Then onwards into the rainy day!
The start was planned to the timeslot when we expected the least wind. If we can plan ahead for a nice departure weather, we will do so. As the day promised some speedy sailing, we prepared the staysail on deck. Right outside of the harbour we hoisted our full mainsail and sailed with only that before our first gybe that followed some 15 minutes later. After the gybe we poled out our staysail and headed dead downwind on the narrow inner fairway west of Cape Hanko.
Today was just a short hop to the next nature harbour. That’s the delightful thing about the Archipelago Sea - there are great places to visit every few miles.
Today’s forecast was pretty much perfect. Mostly sunny with 10-15kt of wind. So not the worst opportunity to take some of the family sailing.
Our shelter for the storm has been chosen. We will stay in a bay in Södra Benskär. The island has a belt of tall rocks and thick pine trees covering them. This should be good for anything but NE and SW winds.
The storm Sylvia (Hans in Sweden and Norway) is over and we rode it out without much hassle.
The morning after the storm both the wind and the waves had quieted down significantly. We prepared the boat and hoisted anchor at noon in a drizzle. As the wind continued the be southerly, we had plotted a course to the outer archipelago fairway.
As the dawn broke the wind was howling in the masts of the sailboats in the harbour. Base wind of 22kt promised an interesting harbour departure. It is intimidating to go out when the wind howls in the masts, and a motorboat came in talking about “horrible conditions”. Alas, out we went!
After enjoying the lovely fish restaurant of Glada Laxen, it was time to continue to the next point of interest in the Åland Islands.
After visiting the Kastelholm castle and Taffel factory store it was time to find something new to see. As we had spent half of last night stargazing to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower we decided to head to town.
Having had a great time in the Ålands with the Tuokio crew, it was time to think of the next move. As a very favourable wind shift is in the forecast, we decided to stage Lille Ø to an anchorage outside of Mariehamn and get the boat ready.
The long awaited northerly winds finally arrived and we set sail at the same time as the sun rose. We hoisted the anchor and packed it into the anchor chain locker so we don’t have anything extra hanging from the bow in case of big waves. We glided between the islands like a ghost with no one else in sight.
Night sailing was quite awesome. Clear skies giving views to some leftover Perseids, as well as Iridium flashes. This is something we didn’t see during the white nights of the northern summer. There was some freighter traffic around, all giving us way politely.
Sunday promised to be a slow day with the spinnaker up. We prepared everything already in the harbour and hoisted the spinnaker in its sock up already in the calm waters behind the wave breaker. As soon as we passed it, we hoisted the sock and were on our merry way towards west and mainland Sweden.
Having enjoyed some anchoring time, we wanted to capitalise on the forecasted good westerlies by sailing as far into Kalmarsund as possible. So, early start… With just a little issue. Overnight the water level had dropped, and Lille Ø was aground. With some combination of warping with the anchor, moving weight to bow, and using the engine we managed to pry ourselves loose and get under way.
Life has its unpredictable nature and this time it served us a bitter deal with Suski’s father passing away. We left the boat in Kalmar and came back to Finland to grieve and help organize the funeral. After a couple of weeks on dry land we were offered the chance to sail a replica of a real Viking Age ship Sotka and we took it.
Back on the boat, and back on the water. We arrived from Finland to Kalmar late last evening, did a new provisioning round, and then left in the morning. The weather window towards south wasn’t looking amazing, but this time of the year you take what’s available.
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.
As we reached Bornholm, the winds we had been waiting for arrived. 15 to 20 knots, sometimes gusting to 25kn on the beam. Lille Ø was flying at hull speed and surfing down the fastly developing waves with 8 knots. We periodically reefed the genoa a bit to balance out the weather helm so that it would be easier for Starbuck (the wind vane). Other than that we could just sit and enjoy the ride.
After a proper night’s sleep, it was time to move on. We waited for the boat gas station to open at 9am so we could fill up for the long motoring back to Berlin. Then towards Szczecin.
The morning started with practically no wind. As we are now a motor boat that didn’t matter. We took off and headed towards West-Oder. As it is a Sunday there were quite a few people out on the water fishing.
Some canal works closer to Berlin force us to pace our trip a little bit differently, as we’ll need to pass a certain point tomorrow after 5pm. So today’s project was motoring through the first locks and the ship elevator.
Morning started with a bit of a hassle. We had ordered breakfast buns, but the door they were behind was locked. So we drank the morning coffee, prepared for harbour manouvers and got the buns right as the harbour office opened. Then we glided off from the pier and turned our bow towards Lehnitz locks.
After a lazy morning, we hoisted anchor and followed a cruise ship through the Spandau locks. Only a short wait for a freighter coming the other way, and we were let in.
