We’ve moved to Mariehamn on Aland – the only town in the whole archipelago – in order to find a chandler and sort out the windlass – and maybe buy a special mooring hook for stern mooring – and maybe some charts or pilots so that we know where we’re going! Some early pictures of Finland for you:
Laurie sews up a new Aland Flag on the way – while heeling!
Raising the new Aland flag
Lying to anchor in Aland
Stern to version of Bow-to mooring!
Why am I being punished?
When Mum got annoyed with me when I was a kid, she’d put me to bed early and I’d lie there awake in the summer evenings, waiting for it to get dark – so that I could actually do something productive – sleep…
It’s already 10:00pm and I could sit outside for the next hour or two reading a book without any artificial light – and yet, it’s time for bed… Why am I being punished so?
Today marked a couple of firsts… a first failure of the boat that was not caused by inept captaincy… we went to up-anchor and the windlass died. I had to pull the anchor up by hand. Not only is it bloody heavy, but it was covered in mud and slime. It looks like the motor needs new brushes – which we don’t have – but we hear there’s a good chandlery in Mariehamn so we’ll head there in the next day or two. (Side note: When anchoring yesterday, our second day in Finland, we went aground for the second time!!!!)
The other first was successfully mooring Swedish/Finnish style – taking a stern buoy and tying up to the dock – except that we did it backwards – mooring stern to the dock with a line from the “stern mooring” attached to the bow. No major problems – here we are well secured to the dock, comfortable… Thanks to the harbormaster for lending us a Swedish hook to facilitate hooking the mooring…
Today we had our first rain since leaving Ardfern about a month ago – but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny – so we can explore…
All very good aboard Toodle-oo!
Our “Spot” device seems to be acting up – so (if you were looking) you probably wondered where we were… We’re now in Finland – district of Åland comprised of some 6,500 islands and skerries.
We arrived last night at 10:00pm after a boisterous sail of some 32½ hours – sailing the whole way close hauled and therefore heeled over like crazy – which Laurie didn’t appreciate too much! Wind varied a lot – from about 10 knots to nearly 30 and we had seas that were almost flat and seas running close to 8 feet – and steep! We actually motor sailed the last 8 or 9 miles – just to make sure we got in during daylight – but need not have worried – we could have read a book in the cockpit at midnight!
We anchored in a small cove – after first hitting the bottom (just to test our nerves) and will stay here today recovering, relaxing and fixing various bits on the boat – in fantastic weather surrounded by countless islands.
We have arrived!
We took a bus trip to Latvia’s capital, Riga for a splendid couple of days, staying at a really nice little hotel right in the thick of it and at reasonable cost.
Vecriga is the old city and is full of interesting buildings and people from all over. There are restaurants and bars on every street, each offering nightly live music of numerous types – we opted for a spot at Old Riga where a group of three were playing Recorder, Viol da Gamba (sort of a 7 string Cello) and a Luttie like thing with more strings than I could count. They were playing the sort of music you’d expect Henry VIIIth to have listened to… and were dressed in period costume to boot!
My photos probably don’t do Riga justice – it truly is a magnificent spot – though both Laurie and I agreed that Gdansk had it by a hair – possibly partly due to us being hot and sweaty all day in Riga– in the glorious heat!
Our return bus ride was similar to the outward one – long (3 1/2 hours), bumpy and very hot with minimal ventilation!
(Click on photos to enlarge.)
Countless Flower Stalls
Special Products!
Entire lane of this market given up to butcher stalls!
Curious…
Riga Street
Gothic Ceilings
House of Blackheads
Work of Art?
Our Musicians
Neat arch
Riga Street
Pretty flowers everywhere
Lovely Archway
Lots of this…
Main Square
Church in Riga (One of many)
Church
Ancient Rune?
Street Scene
We provisioned yesterday – will do a little more today (didn’t get enough alchohol!) and will head out later today for Finland’s Aland Islands. These are a group of 5 – 6,000 islands that lie between Finland and Sweden right at the top of the Baltic Sea. Apparently half the channel markers of the world are in this area! We have heard from all sorts that there are rocks aplenty to fall foul of – so we’ll be on our guard. The trip up there will take about 36 hours – so we’re planning 2 overnights this trip and hope to arrive early on the 11th and then will spend 7 – 10 days wandering around the islands and totally ‘off the grid’ – see you on the flip side.
Will be updating the Spot – so you can see where we are under the “Where we are” tab at the top menu.
We had a lovely visit to Gdansk – a really nice old town area that has been rebuilt following what looks like almost total destruction during World War II. The marina is right in the heart of the old town – and right next to some bombed out buildings that look like they might become a part of an open air museum in the near future. Around the area they are putting in new docks and walkways. The city is clearly geared up for their important tourist season. When we arrived, the marina even hoisted an American flag in our honor!!
Big Bread!
Crane Gate from Toodle-oo!
Hmmm – paddling with shovels!
Marina Gdansk next to some bombed out ruins.
We left on Friday morning at 7:00am after spending 3 nights in Gdansk and headed for Leipaja in Latvia. Our weather forecast was for good weather but very little wind – looked like we were going to have to motor most of the way (25hours). However at 10am the wind built to 7kts and we managed to get the boat going at about 5kts with Spinnaker. We later raised the main and got her going at 7 – 8kts in about 10kts of wind. The spinnaker was pulled pretty tight as we were reaching pretty well into the wind.
Unfortunately a wind shift put the wind directly behind us so we suffered the engine once more, but then after turning right at the top end of a Russian exclusion zone, we were able to reach again with Genoa and Main and managed to sail consistently through the night hours at 5.5 – 7.5kts, arriving at our next port of call, Leipaja, Latvia just before lunchtime.
We nearly didn’t come to Gdansk – why come to a massive ship yard… But then when talking with various other sailors, we heard it’s really nice…
I’ll let you judge by these photos:
Green Gate
Yum!
Ceiling in Town Hall to keep sleeping politicians amused
All serene colors
People Watching Paradise
Mall with Ruins
Fresh Fruit
Mine’s bigger than yours old chap!
The Tourist
I Lost my head!
On the Right
On the Left
Got him!
Subway is everywhere!
A Street
Neptune and Town Hall
Waterfront
The Green Gate
Waterfront to Crane Gate
Street Scene
The Crane Gate
Gdansk – the massive Ship Yard
Dipping the flag to the first fallen of WWII
So, while we intended to go to Gdansk today, we managed to get a little diverted by the island of Christianso, about 10 miles east of Bornholm…
We left Ronne on Bornholm this (Saturday) morning at 9:30, managing to extricate ourselves from the mooring box cleanly – if not without some angst. Immediatly after leaving the mooring box and before managing to exit the very tight harbor entrance, the engine quit! This could be serious – but we kept our calm and after a couple of attempts to re-start switching to different fuel filters and then to different fuel tanks, we managed to revive her and power out of the harbor without further incident.
We had a great sail to Christianso – which is on the way to Gdansk keeping the speed up between 7 and 9 knots, on a broad reach and then as we headed east around the norther cape of Bornholm we came close on the wind and continued to power our way along.
We entered the tight little harbor in Christianso just after a boat left it – so we knew there was space for us. Indeed, there was a space on the harbor wall about 50ft long – tight fit for a 44 ft boat in 15 knots of wind – but where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Christianso is a lovely little island not even a kilometer x half a kilometer – and is essentially entirely comprised of a military fort dating back to the 1600’s. The 100 permanent residents rent small homes from the Danish military and I think the whole economy relies upon the 40,000 visitors that come during the 2 months of summer…
Photos will follow when I have good internet.
A 44ft boat in a 50ft space!
Washer woman goes for it while on passage!
Northern Gannet, normally found in the Atlantic, has been living here by this electric post for the past two years!
Newcomer
Pretty streets
The restaurant
Christianso
Pictures from Copenhagen where we had a really nice time:
Little Mermaid
A Palace
Nyhavn
Busy streets
Watching boats in Nyhavn
Castle
Hen party in Nyhavn?
More people.
We left Copenhagen for Denmark’s outlying eastern island of Bornholm – about 18 hours distant – as an overnight passage at Laurie’s behest… “If we’re going to screw up 18 hours sat on the boat – why not make it during sleeping hours primarily so we don’t waste any touring time?” Not able to argue with that logic, we departed at 5pm on Wednesday!
It was a beautiful evening – once again, sunny, dry and cool – and we headed out of the harbor into a 15 knot breeze. Unfortunately the tide was against us and as soon as we tacked to the south, we found ourselves in an adverse current and not making much progress at all. The engine went on and pretty much stayed on the rest of the trip – other than a couple of half hearted attempts to sail in 5 knots later on.
We watched a beautiful sunset – and Laurie got to see a green flash once again. The sun sets in the north west up here and rises north east – but in reality it never really gets completely dark – this photo was taken at midnight and you can see there is still light available and 3 hours later the sun is rising.
Sunset
And the time is… Midnight. Still light in the sky.
There was even more traffic here than in the north sea – and we had to dodge various vessels from time to time as we crisscrossed the shipping “Traffic Separation Zones” – which we’re only supposed to enter at right angles…
We arrived in Bornholm at 10am and made our first attempt at mooring in a ‘box.’ This normally involves going between two pilings and bow to the pontoon, using ropes secured around the pilings to keep one’s bow from creaming the pontoon. We decided to outdo the Danes by coming in stern to – so we could get on and off easily using our swim platform… As it happened, when we arrived there was very little wind or current and it was relatively easy to get into the box and secured – but coming in stern to was a major mistake – the pontoon is 4ft high and rigid (no tides here), so we had a difficult time getting on and off the boat. Next time we’ll know better, we’ll come in bow to and clamber over the pull-pit and anchor.
On the dock we met Lars Byder who ended up giving us a tour of the island with his wife Claire – we had an opportunity to visit a really pretty little island that we otherwise would not have seen. Lars is possibly something of a celebrity – he makes custom motor bikes. Guys back at Checon – let me know if he comes up someplace, the pictures he had of some of his creations were pretty spectacular. Claire on the other hand was commissioned to do a couple of cabinets for the Queen!!!
We cycled our tandem around too and have to say Bornholm is a very nice little destination.
Enjoying a beer on Bornholm
This morning (Saturday) we’re leaving for Gdansk, Poland on an overnight trip of about 180 miles, expecting to arrive Monday morning – though we might stop off at Christanso, a small island just off Bornholm for a quick tour.
We left Whitehills Marina with much trepidation. The previous evening’s discussions had left us both uneasy and nervous: about where we’re going, the North Sea, Oil rigs and their exclusion zones and how we were going to navigate the tight turn out of the harbor and into a gusty breeze…
We left on the afternoon’s rising tide at 4:00pm. Hurdle number one turned out to be a bit of a no brainer – as we exited the harbor without any problems – and we then set about putting up sails in the large swell that was running following the last day’s pounding with heavy wind. With main up, we turned towards Norway and immediately turned off the engine and were doing 6 knots in no time flat – with just the reefed main.
A nasty cross sea lead to a rather unpleasant ride on day 1 as we would fall off one wave and rise up on the next – leading to some serious queasiness that fortunately was maintained in check with adequate doping of Stugeron. With genoa out, we were soon bounding away at 9+ knots in a 15 knot beam reach.
What a busy waterway! We threaded our way between oil rigs, support vessels and various other marine traffic. Things were made more difficult by the stiff breeze that developed and at 11:00pm we shortened sail, opting to furl the genoa and bring out the jib. Easier said than done in the building breeze – and we struggled for a while before realizing a mis-coiled furling drum was preventing an easy furl – so we headed straight downwind and attempted again – with success. We were now sailing on small jib and double reefed main and still doing 9 knots!
During our first night I was hailed by a guard vessel and warned to stay more than a mile away from two vessels identified as having limited maneuverability. I was trying to thread the needle between them – having limited maneuverability myself and since they were only 2 miles apart, it was taking some doing – and the guard boat was suspicious. In the end the Guard Vessel acknowledged that I had sufficient room to execute the plan and he even offered information regarding one of the vessels that was helpful in successfully getting ourselves clear of the big buggers!
We zigged and zagged through the two slow moving vessels and then multitudes of other floating targets including many rigs with oil flares blazing. What an impressive sight!
Come 4pm on the second day, our first 24 run showed we’d logged 200NM – all of it under sail alone. The next 24 hours produced a similar number in 196 NM – we were screaming! As we approached the Norwegian coast things got tricky – the wind veered to dead downwind – never an easy point of sail and with traffic it was made considerably more difficult. However, we managed to navigate through the gap between Norway and Denmark, where the wind promptly disappeared and we’ve been motoring for most of the way since then.
We got to watch a beautiful summer solstice sunset – which carried on going right through until dawn!!
Only sighting of Norway…
Norway!
We saw a waterspout – and managed to avoid it!
Water Spout!
I’d rather be on this ship!
We’ve decided we’ll stay in Copenhagen for a couple of days at least and then head to the South East coast of Sweden and then up the east coast, taking in Oland and Gotland Islands and some of the very small islands along the western coast. Hopefully we’ll get as far as Stockholm before heading back south, probably via Lithuania, Poland and then Germany as we exit the Baltic via the Kiel canal. That’s today’s plan at least!
Copenhagen has been a nice visit – we got the tandem out and felt like a part of the city as we bicycled from sight to sight. The bike paths here are fantastic and drivers totally respect them. We’ll be leaving later today for Bornholm…
Pictures to follow when I have better internet.
We left the Caledonian Canal on Wednesday morning having spent the beautiful night right beside the sea lock so that we could get out on the favorable ebb tide before everything got too shallow.
We had a wonderful trip through the canal – sorry to have rushed it – and we had great weather – nice and sunny and little wind! Great for motoring… All the lock keepers were fantastic.
Our trip to Whitehills Marina on Wednesday was also blessed with fine sunny weather but unfortunately, also windless most of the way. After 10 hours of nearly all motoring, we arrived outside the harbor – which was very difficult to make out. The entrance is super narrow and then you have to make this very tight turn to port into the diminutive outer harbor… Fortunately we made and camped between two other boats and then waited until we went aground… yes the harbor is not quite deep enough – but no matter – soft mud cushioned the blow… Bertie the harbormaster has a great manner – and when we docked, he handed us a package of stuff along with an SD card of photos he’d taken of our arrival!
We were going to leave for Copenhagen on the morning high tide – but did not feel ready. When the wind piped up to about 25kts, we decided we’d wait for the afternoon tide – so that we don’t have to negotiate the tight turn with an adverse wind… Will be leaving in an hour of so…
(In a rush so pics in wrong order!)
We’re in!
Making the turn…
Approach – Smile!
Narrow Harbor entrance to come…