Monthly Archives: July 2019

Wed. 7/3/19

Dep. 8.40am arrive 6.18pm. 52.3nm. 9 hrs 38 minutes.

For a higher-resolution map of this route, click HERE:

Given that this was longest passage of our trip and that I needed to be reasonably alert for my newspaper deadline the following day, I made the decision that speed was more important than sailing. The wind started off light as we motored out and turned south east towards the Estonian capital of Talinn. It built during the day, as did the swell, but sailing dead downwind is not my favorite option. If the passage were only 25nm rather than 50, and were I not going into a new harbor in a new country where I had no idea of the bureaucracy which awaited me, I would have opted for some deep jibing angles and taken a little longer. But that was not the case. So we motored with a growing swell behind us and made very good time in increasingly sporty conditions.

As usual Kevin was an absolute champ at the helm, and we were surprised at the number of ferry ships that passed us en route. The Talinn-Helsinki run is clearly a very well traveled route. Shortly after 6pm we pulled in to the big harbor where the cruise ships dock, before turning into the narrow channel to the Old Town Marina where I had booked a berth for two  nights. Facilities were excellent and security seemed at a premium compared to what we had just experienced. Upon arrival you are essentially trapped in the marina behind a tall fence until you call the marina office on the intercom and are given a passcode. You then pay for your berth in the excellently equipped club house, where service was efficient but, by Scandi standards a little stone-faced. We found this to be the case in Talinn, where the long occupation by the Russians seems to have hardened some of the locals.

    Other good features of the marina were an excellent nearby supermarket and a superb liquor store, where I spent $200 on wine, beer and liquor for the hard-drinking company I was expecting later in the trip. We had a quick dinner on the boat before taking a brief look at Old Town and then turning in.

   Thursday brought deadline for me while Kevin explored. Since it was his last night on the boat before heading to Riga for a mini European tour, he kindly bought me dinner in old town at a meat -eaters paradise. We feasted on a huge platter of dead animals, where a glistening pig knuckle took pride of place, topping a supporting cast of meatballs, sausages chicken thighs and sauerkraut. Cue food coma. At least for me.

Tuesday 7/2/19

Dep. 11.31am arr 7.41pm. 40nm. 8 hours, 10 minutes.

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You Can’t Always Get What You Want….

Thanks to Messrs Jagger and Richards for that sentiment, which was foremost in my mind after our adventures in Modermagan Bay. I had promised Kevin he would have at least one bows-to experience during his trip on Arcturus and I had scoped out Modermagan Bay as the perfect place to do it. It was a longer stretch (40nm) than usual but it would leave us well placed to fetch Talinn the following day. By now Kevin was used to the boat and I could trust him to helm calmly and efficiently for hours on end. We again had steady winds on our starboard quarter in the 12-14kt range which was perfectly in the Arcturus wheelhouse and made for an enjoyable and drama free sail to our destination. When we arrived it was picturesque enough but we were disappointed to find there were no good granite rocks to tie up to. The only decent area on the north end of the bay was dotted with green buoys, and a passing yachtsman dropping the hook told me this indicated it was a private club. But on the way in I had seen some promising looking rocks that would have provided good shelter from the wind, which had now moved to the north west.

It was also starting to rain a little and the clouds were darkening the skies more by the minute. It was also closing in on dinner time so I determined to attempt a bows-to mooring here and see if we were sufficiently sheltered. And so we were. Working in concert we dropped anchor and secured the line to three points off the bow. Kevin was impressed with my skill and frankly so was I. We hunkered down for dinner and enjoyed our sheltered little spot in a wide bay with nothing but granite rocks, pine forests and gun metal grey water to keep us company. As Mick Jagger so aptly put it, you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.  

Monday: 7/1/19

Dep. 11.06am arr: 5.20pm. 31.7nm 6 hours 14 minutes

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With the wind howling we both had only a fitful sleep in Jurmo. I rose at 4am to fix a particularly clanging halyard and didn’t really sleep much thereafter, thanks mainly to Kevin creeping up silently behind me while I was working and giving me a manic grin as I turned around. There’s a reason his nickname on our race team is cowbell…

The Finns we were docked with showed no inclination to leave early given the conditions, so we followed suit and waited until around 11am, when conditions finally eased and we were able to clear the harbor and hoist sail for Rosala. We thus enjoyed probably the best sailing of Kevin’s stay, with winds blowing 14-16 on the quarter and us enjoying a lively  passage under jib and jigger alone. I left most of the helming to Kevin, preferring to navigate and make braggy videos for fellow sailors at home.

   The only slight fly in the ointment was that as we approached the Rosala gasthamn (guest harbor) we were feeling a little too confident and decided to tack up the narrow channel. As usual we were quickly put in our place as Arcturus got backwinded by a sudden windshift, meaning I had to fire up the engine in a hurry, jibe around to the wider bay behind us and drop sails before motoring the short distance into the harbor. Lesson learned again, I hope.

   Rosala itself is a picture-perfect spot with berths for perhaps 30 boats, but it was mostly deserted. There was a small but well-provisioned harbor master’s office, decent showers and the hottest sauna I have ever enjoyed. The berth was cheap at 15 euros but the sauna was 20. But 35 euros for that experience was cheap at twice the price. The harbor is nicely sheltered and with the wind dying almost completely, we enjoyed a very full and deep night’s sleep.

Sun 6/30

Dep. 11.47. Arr. 6.0225. 3 nm. 6h 15mins.
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The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

I often use that old chestnut to provide solace when the day’s sailing was not great or the destination is suboptimal, and that was certainly the case today. When we rose a little after 6.30am the water was like glass. With a 24nm passage ahead of us there was no need to start early, so Kevin and I walked to the Seafarer’s Chapel a couple of miles away to enjoy the peace and reflection of a house of worship and marvel at the well-tended graveyard, with almost every headstone brightened by a posy of local wildflowers. This being Sunday I stuck my head inside the chapel to see if there was a service, but we may have been too late – or too early. But I stayed there in quiet contemplation for a moment or two and was rewarded by the organist playing a couple of lovely ecclesiastical works that I remembered from my childhood but could not name. I sought him out a little later than thanked him for making my day.

 We departed Kökar a little before noon and motored for just over six hours across a glassy sea to reach Jurmo. The wind was right on the nose so we averaged less than 4kts, and when it did arrive, we discovered the island is  just a speck of land of no great appeal unless you are a birder, because it is an avian sanctuary. The compact harbor can fit perhaps 30 boats and there were perhaps 15 there, mostly Finnish flagged.  The only event that livened up the boring landscape was encountering a herd of alpaca which supply wool for the island’s cottage industry of making soft but warm scarves, mufflers etc. One in particular took a liking to me and tried to hump me. I guess it was my lucky day.

   With the wind rising we hunkered down on Arcturus for the evening. I made lemon risotto for dinner and caught up with some work with the wind beginning to howl through the rigging.

Sat. 6/29. 

Dept  10.19am arrive 4.53pm. 25.4nm. 4 hours 34mins

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The day dawned clear and sunny in Björkör and thus far we had seen no sign of Kaj, the diminutive park warden who lives in nearby Degerby and who makes the journey by boat to Björkör most days, weather permitting, to keep an eye on the livestock, mend the fences, trim the grasses and show visitors around the remarkable museum house which captures 19th century Äland life in amazing detail. But just as we were prepping to cast off there he was, with a twinkle in his eye and a lilt in his voice, like Tom Bombadil in The Hobbit. He wished us well and urged us to visit later in the summer, but didn’t seem eager to engage in protracted conversation.

So we cast off at 10.19am in clear and sunny skies with a not a breath of wind for perhaps an hour. But approaching noon it built to 8-10 but it was forecast to rise further, so we hoisted a reefed main and genoa. By 2pm it was clear the winds were going to stay light so we shook out the reef and averaged an easy 5.5kts until we reached Kökar. I’ve mentioned this island in previous posts so I don’t need to go into too much detail other than to say Kevin and I enjoyed an  absolutely sublime sauna right on the water before a dinner of meatballs with boiled new potatoes and a arugola salad and for me, a bottle of white wine.

   The only slight fly in the ointment was that I earned the ire of one of my neighbors by flying my drone over the harbor in the gathering twilight. I’m still learning how to operate this clever little gizmo but I guess having what sounds like an electronic wasp buzzing through the anchorage for 5 minutes is just too much for some folk. What can I say? Live and let live!

Fri. 6/28/19

Dep 11.16am, arr: 3.18pm. 15.5nm. 4 hours 2 minutes

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With my newspaper deadline safely out of the way Kevin and I rose early and grabbed a shower and sauna.

Given the long hours of daylight I’m not a stickler for early rising and departure, but the jet lag was still lingering, making it impossible to stay abed much after 6am. The front that arrived the previous day was still blowing hard down onto our starboard quarter, so we lingered for an hour or two in the hope that conditions would ease a little, but by midmorning it became clear they would not. To our port was an expensive gin palace which I was eager not to allow myself to be blown down onto. So instead of releasing the windward line I had Kevin use it as a warp, keeping it taut and easing the line out through the loop as we backed out. Because of the windage I needed to gun the engine more than I would normally do, which was nerve wracking but probably the right course given that we immediately gained headway.

   I had mentioned to Kevin that given the protected nature of many of the waterways and the limited swell it was common practice for Swedish and Finnish sailors to go downwind under jib alone. We tried it for about an hour with my jib and Kevin at the helm to gain experience, moving at a modest 4kts before a much better sailed and trimmed boat  with mainsail up went past us and our racer instincts got the better of us. I swapped out the jib for the 145% genoa and tried to raise the main before realizing the reefing lines were led wrongly. There is always a learning curve when you get back on a boat after almost a year away! But we were sailing on a beautiful boat on a gorgeous day, so there was no point in reproaching ourselves too harshly. The main finally went up correctly, and we enjoyed a good downwind sail, until we approached my favorite island of Björkör, then sailing under genoa alone, jibing our way through a couple of tight passages till we reached that magnificent little spot with its harbor deserted. We tied up at 3.13pm. The sun was shining and our mood was buoyant.

Wed. 6/26/19 – Grisslehamn to Mariehamn (Västerhamn).

Dep. 11.06am. Arr. 10.15pm. 48.6nm. 11 hours 9mins.

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The day dawned much like the last one. Grey and drizzly with not a hint of wind. After breakfast and a little stroll into town where we grabbed the first fika (coffee break) of the trip we cast off our lines about 11am, heading north for a couple of hours to the first opening into the Baltic before turning to starboard and heading towards open water. I had calculated a six hour crossing but that was not factoring in the three hours it took us to reach the channel leading to the sea. We crossed under grey skies and calm seas motoring the whole way. About 6pm the skies cleared and as we entered the Mariehman fairway it was gloriously sunny and clear.

We tied up in the shadow of the Pommern about 8pm for a total passage of 9 hours. So lovely to be here again. I was still battling jet lag and kept hitting walls of tiredness but at 10pm we walked around the town and oriented ourselves. Kevin was knocked out by the place. Not just the facilities at the ASS Marina (Åland Sailing Society), but being docked in the shadow of the beautiful Pommern, a very impressive, Glasgow-built four-masted tall ship that plied the Cape Horn trade route to Australia in the 19th century before being retired as a museum. Mariehamn has a rich maritime history as a supplier of Cape Horners and that history is on display everywhere you go in this wonderful little town.

Thurs 6/27: I was woken about 4am by a rising wind. The front forecasted was arriving and I was glad this was our lay day. By 9am it was blowing 20+ knots down the channel and so I headed into town to the library to get some work done, stopping off en route at the En Marine store for some shackles and clips and mooring compensators to make docking at harbor easier for my crew. I jammed through some work before heading home.

Tuesday 6/25/19.

Dep: 4pm. Arr: 7.30pm. 19.5nm. 3h 30 mins

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The long summer days at this latitude allow sailors to really pack in a full day. It’s quite routine to put in a 14-hour day from 5am-7pm getting the boat ready for departure – or perhaps to knock off a 70nm passage and still depart and arrive in bright daylight. Our first passage was an easy inside passage from Oregrund to Grisslehamn, but first I had to return the car to Stockholm airport. After yogurt and muesli for breakfast I drove to the airport and dropped off the car before getting a train from the SkyCentral station below the aiport to Uppsala. Five minutes later I was on the express bus to Oregrund for a 3pm arrival at the boatyard. Public transport here is a dream!

An hour later under grey and intermittently drizzly skies, we cast off for Grisslehamn, about 20 miles south, as the base for the following day’s crossing. We motored gently in still water with barely another boat to be seen for an uneventful four hour passage, tying up around 8pm at Grisslehamn Marina och Camping, where the guest dock was less than half full. After an evening meal of meatballs in tomato sauce I did a little work and turned in.