Thursday, April 18, 2024

Dalskilen, 92NM W of Massholmen

Based on the forecasts, we expected a nice easy night sail across to Norway. The forecast got some parts right. The wind direction was spot-on, as was the current. Wind strength, on the other hand…

Almost immediately after we had hoisted sail and settled into our watch routine, the wind started picking up. Soon we were at the forecasted top of 14kt. Then 20kt, 25kt, and rising. Eventually it settled to 36kt. And - not expecting that - we were carrying full sail with some difficulty. As the autopilot failed to cope, the boat was hand-steered downwind and Suski roused from bed.

Once we had the genoa rolled down to a sliver, and the main on second reef, things got a lot easier and we could get back on a westerly course. The big winds kicked up quite angry seas, and the deck and cockpit were constantly washed with salt water.

After about two hours, the winds started getting to more reasonable numbers, and we could roll out the genoa again. Waves were slowly getting less steep, making even some sleep possible off-watch.

At dawn we were greeted with a sight of the snow-capped mountains of the Norwegian interior. Sun shone on a clear sky, and we turned towards an anchorage at an easy broad reach. Soon, we were navigating the picturesque rocky coastline and preparing to drop the hook. Norway!

• Distance today: 81.6NM
• Total distance: 579NM
• Lunch: cheese and vegetable wraps
• Engine hours: 0.3

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Skagerrak, 10.8 NM NW of Bassholmen

After waking up we started a project morning. We added a new filter to the water maker and water filter and finally added the runner gasket to the front hatch. After all things were done, we said goodbye to the lovely Bassholmen and headed towards Lysekil to fill up our diesel tank. We are expecting some cold weather for the next week, so reserves need to be full to be able to run the diesel heater at anchor.

We asked around a bit for an active station as we don’t want to be the first boat fueling on a remote location and get the stale diesel that had been sitting on the tanks for the whole winter. We rather go for a place that has seen active use for the whole season. As from now on our diesel will sit in the tank for longer and longer as the need for heating is less and possibilities for sailing better!

After filling up we came to a SXK buoy right at the edge of the archipelago. Now it was a waiting game. Which will come first, the expected windshift or darkness? After so many days of just motoring between the islands we want to see the open ocean and sail a bit.

Darkness was trying to win, so we cheated and left before the expected windshift. Now we are not making our optimal course, but we have cleared the last of the rocks and have the full Skagerrak in front of us. Suski is down below trying to get some sleep as Bergie is taking the first watch.

• Distance today: 10.8 NM
• Total distance: 497.4 NM
• Lunch today: makaronilaatikko
• Engine hours: 2.5

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Ellös - Bassholmen

At Ellös we ended up chatting with our dock neighbour. He had a very similar boat to ours, a 31ft double ender that he had sailed around the world, including Cape Horn. He recommended the island of Bassholmen as our next destination.

The fixes Jon made on the weekend to our DC-DC setup seem to have helped with the VHF interference. To test that further, we motored up to Bassholmen through the narrow rocky channel. Three ospreys were sighted, and we verified that indeed we can run the boat’s dehumidifier while motoring. Might become handy when we get to the wet parts of Norway.

At Bassholmen we tied up to the pier of the local guest harbour. The harbour opens when the season begins in May, but with our watermaker and solar panels, we should be fine for a while.

There is an old boatyard on the island that has been turned into a museum. Whilst the museum is closed for the winter, they have some of the old fishing sailboats docked outside. The family resemblance with our Lille Ø can’t be ignored!

We’ll cook dinner at the fire pit later, and so for lunch we made some sandwiches to be enjoyed at the local nature trail.

• Distance today: 4.5NM
• Total distance: 486.6NM
• Lunch: sandwiches
• Engine hours: 1.3

Monday, April 15, 2024

Klostergården - Ellös

Morning started relatively early as we needed to get Jon to shore before his first meeting. We enjoyed the breakfast outside in the glassy calm that was the weather after the storm. Our anchorage proved to be a nice shelter. Yesterday we saw only 20 kn gusts instead of the 48 that the closest weather station reported.

We motored back towards the open sea and encountered our first tiny counter currents. On few narrow passes we had 1.5 knots against us. We approached the Ellös guest harbour carefully and were surprised by slime lines on the inside side of the guests pier, so Suski reversed back out for Bergie to have enough time to get working gloves for both from inside. As we started to make our second approach a fishing vessel started maneuvering in the harbour and we circled one more round before getting in. The slime line was truly that. Slimy and full of life, so taking the time to go and get the gloves was a very important indeed.

Afterwards we took a stroll to the Hallberg-Rassy boatyard and hiked to the viewing point of the village to get a proper look at the harbour(s).

• Distance today: 7.8NM
• Total distance: 482.1NM
• Lunch: Swedish meatballs and potato salad
• Engine hours: 2.2

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Ingegärdsholmen - Klostergården

At sunrise we woke up to a drizzly, misty weather. Heavy weather was on forecast, and after many consultations with charts and satellite pictures, we had picked our storm hole. So, motor on and release the boat from the buoy.

Since outside it was quite rolly, we motored along the narrow winding inside fairways to reach the north end of the island of Orust. This allowed us also to slightly top up the batteries before the gale ahead.

Our initial plan of using one of the SXK buoys at Dragsmark didn’t work out, as the local marina had apparently decided to stash their derelict sailboats on those. Bummer. But after a bit of search, we found an even more protected spot to anchor just behind the corner.

Jon from Norway was coming to join us for the weekend. So it was time to assemble Isosaari and row the 1.5km to the nearest pier. Turns out the dinghy can carry two people and a ton of gear, even in 25kt wind!

• Distance today: 23.6NM
• Total distance: 474.3NM
• Lunch: spaghetti bolognese
• Engine hours: 5.1

Friday, April 12, 2024

Ingegärdsholmen, 151NM N of Copenhagen

Weather prognosis held true, 20 kn gusting to 30, waves around 1.5 meters. Wind beam to broad reach for us, so a perfect opportunity to head towards Sweden and the Archipelago on the west coast. The weather called for staysail and main in 1st reef. We were expecting a fast and bumpy ride and we got it.

With these conditions there is no ‘chilling’ while on watch. As the there is still not that much sea room and there is quite a bit of traffic, one must keep to boat steering straight even with the constant wind shifts and an occasional ‘mama wave’. The bit that the weather forecast got wrong was fog, but the newly installed loudspeaker did its job and gave the correct loud noise with the correct intervals.

As the amount of daylight is still a finite resource we had planned diversion options to turn towards when it was about to get dark. This time the fog was the decision maker, and we turned it slightly before sunset. The last bit we motored between the extremely narrow fairways between the rocks with maybe 300m visibility, and are now moored at a SXK buoy.

We have put the first 7 days of our journey into good use!

• Distance today: 122NM
• Total distance: 450.7NM
• Lunch: lentil coconut curry
• Engine hours: 0.8

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Kattegat, 29NM N of Copenhagen

We spent a lovely tourism day in Copenhagen - toast skagen, looking at the historical sailing vessels in Nyhavn, the bog bodies and sun disk at the National Museum, and finally some wandering around the beautifully lit Tivoli gardens.

In the morning we tried debugging our VHF interference issues with the new Orion XS DC-DC charger. Issue still unresolved, but with more information, we grabbed some pizza and headed north.

One exciting point when departing the Copenhagen harbour was when a float plane overtook us!

Nice strong breeze in the Sound carried us along nicely. At the Helsingør narrows we had to contend both with the heavy ferry traffic, and a 1kt countercurrent.

Now at sunset watch change, we’re finally in a new sea area. Kattegat opens in front of us, giving promises of the beautiful archipelago that starts around Gothenburg.

• Distance today: 29NM
• Total distance: 328.7NM
• Lunch: pizza
• Engine hours: 0.7

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Copenhagen, 167NM NW of Szczecin

Sailing lasted for about 4 hours until the wind died again. At this point we turned on the motor and headed in to Copenhagen. Entering a new harbour at night is always exiting.

First we checked from various internet sources does the harbour have street lights around it (yes). Then we checked various announcements (the Lynetteløbet canal is closed till the end of the year). And then we checked the route for any mistakes (few points where the route went close to a buoy). With this information we were confident we could make it.

Night arrivals require all hands on deck. One steering and one reading the map and spotting buoys based on their blink pattern or finding them with the flashlight (all hail the reflective stripe at the top of buoys). With this combination and reduced speed we can be sure of our location at all times.

At the harbour entrance we first drove by it to see behind the wave break. Even if you have seen the place in images and maps, your own eyes verify what you thought you had seen on your sources. After this we entered the harbour, found a spot marked with a green sign for vacancy (also reflective) and caught the aft buoy and secured ourselves to the pier with lines from the bow.

We’ll keep the weather here for couple of days. Now it is time to have an ‘anleger’ (Kippis Karsten!) and get some well earned sleep.

• Distance today: 23NM
• Total distance: 299.7 NM
• Lunch today: maybe a hot dog in Tivoli later
• Engine hours: 2.8

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

The Sound, 144NM NW of Szczecin

The first night’s sail was delightful under a starlit sky. Very little traffic, and a nice slow broad reach got us abeam of the island of Rügen and the scenic Königsstuhl cliffs at sunrise.

With the increasing wind, we were able to steer most of the day with the windvane. The main traffic lanes of the Baltic worked out nicely, with us only having to do a slight course change to avoid a fishing trawler.

In the afternoon we found ourselves between two fronts. The rapid 180° wind shifts combined with the short sharp swell meant that we decided to take the sails down to stop them from banging. We then proceeded on a rolly course under engine until the weather situation stabilised to the new westerlies.

From there we could enter the Øresund strait under sail.

• Distance today: 106NM
• Total distance: 276.7NM
• Engine hours: 4.9
• Lunch: chanterelle risotto

Monday, April 8, 2024

Bay of Pomerania, 38NM NW of Szczecin

The day started early with hoisting up the mast. We moved over to the crane and prepared all tools and removed all now unnecessary ties from the mast. Only few hours later, the rig was tuned and all sails were on. We are a sailboat again!

We started the long motoring towards the sea. With practically no wind and summer temperatures we trucked along. As the path grew wider, we decided to turn on the autopilot, but it behaved badly. Steering us in weird direction. So what was supposed to be a off watch for Bergie turned into a debugging session. What did we change over the long winter and how could it affect our system. After couple of hours Bergie figured it out. We were feeding too much information to the slow processor of the ST4000+ and the information overload made it mad. After the amount of data was brought back to a level the processor could handle we were yet again steering in straight line!

As the day grew old the summer temperatures were being replaced with cooler spring ones and the T-shirts became long sleeves and the long sleeves a woolen shirt. Sailing much more like we know it.

We checked the last weather forecast and decided to give Swinoujscie a miss and proceeded straight into the light breeze of the Baltic. We hoisted the sails in the protection of the wave break. A night sail is a proper way to start the season at the sea!

• Distance today: 38 NM
• Total distance: 132.7 NM
• Lunch today: wraps
• Engine hours: 8