Wed. 6/26/19 – Grisslehamn to Mariehamn (Västerhamn).
Dep. 11.06am. Arr. 10.15pm. 48.6nm. 11 hours 9mins.
For a higher-resolution map of this route, click HERE:
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.
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