By Adrian

We left Anemis in the anchorage a few hours after the crack of dawn and mostly motored out through the archipelago. The summer houses got smaller and the motor boats more utilitarian until finally we reached open sea.

We didn’t know where we were going. The autopilot was set to head comfortably high into the wind so we would reach one of the thousands of anchorages in Aland before dark. The wind gradually shifted north so it wasn’t until the last few miles that we were able to choose an anchorage for the night.

The new autopilot worked well
But needed a break now and then.

We had barely dropped the anchor before a group of intimidating men dressed in black in a high powered black rib approached us. We have never been sure why customs people don’t wear something a little more jolly. After an extensive grilling (How many people are you, and where are you from?) they left us as quickly as they had appeared and we were officially cleared in.

Aland is an autonomous region of Finland with its own courtesy flag.

Over the next few days Bernie, Tara and I explored the islands by dinghy and paddle board while Fi recovered from a bout of covid.

No Bernie, not this this time…
We found a very shallow narrow gap between two islands. We were considering whether we could fit through when a local rowed through from the other direction. We asked if the passage was navigable and it turned out it was, he was off to set his fish trap for dinner and his father had sailed grain from Australia on the square riggers.
No contest in the coolest sunnies competition…and I have a cool hat too!

We were only a few miles from Mariehamn, the main town in the Alands. In this marina you grab a buoy and quickly attach it the stern/bow as you crash into the dock. It was our first one of this type so we decided to make it more difficult by reversing in with a cross wind. No-one died.

This ship is parked at Mariehamn and used to go to Australia to pick up supplies. The museum plotted the history of the region from the earliest settlement to the conflicts of the last century.

After a few days looking round Mariehamn we set sail for Rodhamn, an island 10 miles away. Along the way we confirmed the depth between two rocky outcrops was less than 2.8m. Fi took the honours confirming the depth by leaving the marked channel and running over a rock which made quite a fun scraping and banging noise as the lifting centreboard bashed over it. Fi said Covid Brain did it…

Rodhamn had a small museum, a sauna with a view and they delivered fresh bread to the boat each morning. If it didn’t ice over in winter we might never have left.

Red and black is the uniform on Away
Fi was clearly still suffering a fever as she braved the Baltic waters
Sauna with a view. Before plunging into the Baltic it is advisable to channel ones inner Viking, or sit in a sauna until the water looks inviting.
The harbour masters office and place of fresh cinnamon scrolls.

After a couple of nights we reluctantly headed east. The big red sail scared the light wind away and we motored most of the way. Finding an island to ourselves is not hard in this part of the world.

We tied up to the rocks and set about exploring
Bernie collected ticks
Fi climbed the mast for a better view, and to change the faulty wind instruments
Its a bit higher than Addictive!
And we contemplated our windless anchorage

The winds for the next few days only gave one opportunity for a trip back to Sweden. It seemed appropriate that our last trip in the Alands, like all the others, was upwind.

The wobbly house wobbled

Our chosen anchorage was full of boats, but a quiet bay around the corner was empty.

There is always an empty bay not too far Away
There were blueberries and raspberries in the woods
BBQ on the rocks…tick

The wind changed direction as we finished our walk around the island so we hurried back to the boat and left as we were now uncomfortably on a lee shore. We sailed through the archipelago towards a possible restaurant for lunch.

As lunch ended, the band started. Lunch quickly turned into dinner, and dinner into an overnight stay. Funny how that happens.

The next morning as we headed around the corner to find a spot for breakfast we discovered we were booked in a Stockholm marina that day. Our short breakfast trip turned into a full day sail back into Stockholm.

It was strangely familiar arriving at the marina and hearing the screams of a thousand tortured teenagers emanating from the rides next door.

Next time in Stockholm, we find a very old boat, then Bernie and I go for a walk while Fi and Tara go for a ride.