Category: Country (Page 4 of 11)

Countries visited

Finding winter

October 18, 2022 / fiandadrian

One of the very great pleasures of cruising is making a plan and then changing it. The freedom to follow ones own program is somehow liberating, if a little disconcerting at times. One evening in Risor we pored over the weather forecasts, discussed visas, sent emails to the brains trust, went through many possibilities and eventually at 1am settled on a new plan.

Watching weather windows for the North Sea crossing change from ‘a nice day out’ to ‘you are going to need a change of underwear’ was weighing heavily on us, when we found what we hope will be an ideal winter hideout for Away in Norway this winter.

We had a call to the marina who noted we were still 300nm away, ‘but thats probably not far if you are Australian’. Agreed, but we need to get our sea boots on and start making some miles between the regular blasts off the North Sea.

See, we can get up early. The street lights are still on.

We prepared to leave at first light. The solo sailor from the 24ft boat in front of us was having his first beer and lamenting that we didn’t drink enough to make a fair race to Kristiansand. We wonder how his race went. For us the wind was just on the nose by 15 degrees more than our forecast. We motor sailed into a bumpy swell all day to ensure we made good mileage and reached Kristiansand by dark.

This little chap flew into the rigging as we were leaving. Fi made him comfortable until he felt well enough to fly back to land.

We arrived just before dark in a lovely protected bay. We knew the winds were to pick up to gale force from the south west, and so we chose a protected spot. This was confirmed by a local as we docked so that was good. She did however forget to mention to us one important point…

Tied up safely to this lovely protected dock.

The next morning, we were startled awake by the sounds of crashing dishes and a large 17 tonne aluminium boat cracking the fragile wooden dock. We were being rocked side to side by the massive wake of the passing fast ferry. Wish our local friend had mentioned that before we got comfortable and decided not to wash up that night.

The two of us spent a few minutes catching flying plates and consoling a shocked spaniel. We gathered our senses, got dressed and vowed to get outta there. We couldn’t stay with that level of wake, and we had half a day before the gale was due to arrive. We started the motor and got out of there quickly, before another wake was due to come through – and before coffee. Not a great start.

Settling in to our new passage, we make coffee, and find a couple of options to hide out the wind. Our path would take us to the island of Helgoya where we thought we might be able to tie up. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts inclusive of getting our rudder stuck on a rock, we decided to leave and find somewhere else. Another 10 miles down the way, we find a beautiful anchorage, empty islands, protection from the gale, and a free deep dock to which we could tie up. We spend a few days hiding from the wind in what really is an autumn paradise, with only sheep for company.

After a few days, the winds died down, and we planned to head west along the coast to an anchorage near Egersund. As the day progressed, we experienced the North Sea swells and wind chop. The chop picked up and up as the tide turned against the wind, and before we knew it we were in washing machine conditions with the boat being rocked around. No one was happy, and we realised we were not going to make our anchorage. A quick replan found a sheltered bay for the night. We were greeted by a local who helped us dock in 20 knots of wind. We were tired after the day, but we didn’t want to stay here as it was simply a port for local fishing vessels, and there was the possibility of making further progress.

Despite the wind being on the nose, we headed out with the motor on, and motor sailed all day. Fortunately, the washing machine had run its cycle, and so the waves were a little tamer leaving the bay.

The only boats we see are fishing boats putting out boat traps

We hold on tight getting into this harbour

Motor sailing all day, we dodged the lobster pots and fishing boats. Evenutally we arrived on an island called Rott at dusk, where we expected to just spend the evening and get going the next morning. What we did not expect was the amazing warm welcome we received.

Waiting on the dock was one of the locals who welcomed us and helped us tie our lines, and invited us to their community hall for a tour, and a beer.

The community building was moved here and reassembled by locals. Its set up for their end of season dinner. The wooden boat in the background was used to ferry pilots out to passing vessels.

We chatted all evening, and eventually needed to get back to Away, to eat and prepare for another big sail the next day. If it was earlier in the season, we would have stayed. The island was beautiful, and we have made new friends who we hope to see again. Thank you Rott, it was truly an experience (I hope you are all reading this!).

The next day was our end of season sailing test where we put everything we had learned to the test, or so it seemed. Getting up before dawn to use all the daylight hours we just managed to get the boat off the dock between gusts. There were gust warnings and gales further off the coast but also the promise of fast downwind sailing. We gybe our way through some skerries , eventually leaving the Stavanger area behind us. The rain increases so we navigate the narrow channel near Norheim from the inside whilst avoiding the shipping and still sailing at 7 knots.

Winds gusting 36 we are truckin up the coast

We are so close to Hardanger Fjord and dead keen to get there so we decide to keep pushing on, even though it was pouring with rain. We are busy sailing, and dodging tankers, and neglect to listen to the new gale warning out. Perhaps we should have.

Leaving the tankers behind, we reach the last stretch of open ocean that we need to cross before we enter the protection of the Hardanger Fjord. Oh, and that gale…

The waves picked up, and the wind shifts. Its time slot between some rocks and island before gybing towards the fjord. The wind jumps to 35 knots on the beam, the seas become white and foamy. The autopilot is struggling to change direction but when we turn it off we can’t turn the wheel by hand. Fi coolly depowers the sails and starts the engine as the rocks are close, and we turn onto a more comfortable down wind blast into the fjord.

Sailing downwind, the boat responds better in the strong conditions, and we hold on, watching as the fjord comes into view, then out of view again as another squall smashes us. Hold on.

Eventually, eventually… the waves even out. The boat feels better, the fjord is here.

Sailing in, we find another protected anchorage, and happily drop our anchor. The wind here is now 2 knots, as opposed to the 30 knots outside the fjord. Sigh of relief.

Another sleep is had. We toy with the idea of spending the day here, but for our final push to our winter anchorage, the day is forecast to be sunny with no winds, whereas the day after is raining and blowing again.

So that morning, rather exhausted and reluctant, we up anchor and motor into the fjord. We are not disappointed with our decision.

Are you sure its not another one of those sailing days?

After a day of beautiful views of snow capped mountains, we are reminded its autumn again. With 30 minutes until we arrive into Norheimsund, our winter berth, the wind increases from 2 knots to over 35 knots. Nervous about docking in these conditions, we cross our fingers that the marina is indeed as protected as they say.

Will we finally find Bernie the snow we promised him?

As we get to the marina, breathing a BIG sigh of relief, we see that it is very protected. Its flat calm water and only a breath of wind. We are amazed at how quickly the conditions change in the fjord.

We tie up, and chat with a local who helped us in. High fives all round and Bernie is already off running and making mischief. All ready to pack up, the weather decided to give us one last challenge, and again 30 knots smashed down the bay, straight into the back of Away. Fortunately, our docking lines were secure, and we just had to try to put up the bimni in 30 knots. Not that easy, but all done, mostly dry, and we opened a bottle of wine and finally, we were home for the winter.

We have other plans for this winter. But for now, we are going to enjoy the beautiful town of Norheimsund, relax and prepare the boat for snow.

Accidentally in love.

October 11, 2022 / fiandadrian

In our last blog, we arrived in Risør, Norway and tied up to the stone wall here to wait out some gales coming from the South. Risør was a convenient port to stop into given its distance from our most recent Swedish anchorages. We did not do too much research on the area as we expected to pass through rather quickly on our way to Scotland. Well, one gale turned into 3, and 3 nights turned into 8 fairly quickly.

Risør is protected by a group of small rocky islands, or skerries.

Can there be too many cute white houses and narrow lane ways?

Risør is stunning. Our first day here we went foraging for mussels and oysters in the dingy in the local area. It is lobster season now and there are pots everywhere. Just before the rain hits, we make it back to Away to cook up a seafood feast.

In to the soup. Coconut ginger and lime broth.

Just reward for some determined shucking. Four kilpatrick with cured reindeer instead of bacon, and 8 natural with an asian inspired sauce.

Fi bringing Away fashion to Risør. In the background you can see the high ground behind the town where extensive German WW2 gun emplacements now make great dog walking, mushroom hunting and exploring.

The guest harbour is a little exposed outside the breakwater, but at this time of year we found a spot inside the harbour wall.

We helped a solo French sailor in a catamaran dock behind us. It transpired that his catamaran was the first catamaran built by Garcia who also built Away. He left us a thank you crab on the deck when he moved on, which Bernie discovered on his way to his morning wee. He will now walk round the deck the long way to avoid the location of the strange creature with big scary claws.

Looking down on Risor harbour from the gun emplacement. Away is center left.

You are allowed to explore the WW2 tunnels

Underground rooms once housed munitions and soldiers

The old town water supply now reflects the autumn colours.

We found lots of mushrooms in the woods. There is even an online Norwegian mushroom identification service that will tell you if they are safe to eat!

When the local press arrived to interview us about what a strange black boat from Australia was doing in the harbour, we knew it was time to move on. They published a nice article in the local paper.

Risør, Australia _ Skipshunden Bernie avgjør hvor «Away» skal seile (1)Download

By this stage, and after a few more doggy walks along the coast, we were totally in love with Risør. In total we spend 8 days here, the second longest we have spent anywhere this trip except for Copenhagen – maybe Stockholm too… The food, people, nature and exploring opportunities were fantastic. We meant to leave after a couple of days, but spent one evening planning until 1AM. What was going on with the north sea? There was gale after gale coming over, and constant 4-5m conditions with only a slim 1.5 day break in between them. We need 2.5-3 days to cross, and it was not looking good. That night, we made a plan to stay in Norway for the winter and travel to the UK for December and January to reset our Schengen visas and apply again for our Swedish residency permit. It was hard to admit defeat, but we don’t want to scare ourselves silly and end up becoming land lubbers again.

The next day, pondering out big decision, we do some more exploring in the hills, and get to planning.

Perhaps I wasn’t so unhappy to spend a few more days here.

The colours are changing. Soon this place will be covered in snow, and the harbour most likely frozen.

Adrian and I do research and make calls to Norwegian marinas in the area. We find a marina in one of the most beautiful fjords in Norway, a few hundred miles north from where we are now. The marina doesn’t freeze over, we can stay in the water, there is skiing, cross country skiing and amazing hiking to be had all winter. It is also possible for us to travel with Bernie over to England in late November from there. We book in, and begin passage planning to get there before Fi needs to jump on a plane and head back to the sunny (or rainy) wilds of Sydney Town.

Winter is coming… Our journey towards Scotland.

October 6, 2022 / fiandadrian

By Fi

So we kinda need to get moving now. There is still hundreds of miles to go for us to get to a good jump off point to cross the North Sea and into Scotland and winter is coming.

So, on one sunny day with enough wind, we were off! Tacking up the Danish coast towards Helsingborg in Sweden.

Although sad to leave Copenhagen, we are exciting to get moving on to new adventures.

We made it the measly 20 miles into Helsingborg safely, although it took us twice as long as it should have as both the wind and tide were conspiring against us.

This is our track from Copenhagen to Helsingborg – tacking most of the way beating into the wind and current. We averaged 2-3 knots so it ended up being a looooong day.

Tied up in Helsingborg. There wasn’t a lot to do here as the town was shutting down for the winter but we did find a good bakery.

Helsingborg was a nice town. We wandered around for a day or so, waiting for the wind to fill in so we could continue north. We are beginning to feel a little rushed these days as the North Sea is notorious and we want to get across it asap before the real wintery weather sets in.

The day we were there, the wind stopped and the sun came out. Delightful Autumn conditions.

Bernie wanted to see too. His first attempt to jump up resulted in him falling off backwards so I picked him up and he ran around on the wall.

We spot this gorgeous Springer and Bernie says hello. She’s 9 months old and watching her owner clean.

We head north, and stop off one night in a lovely little anchorage, and then north again to Varberg, another west coast Swedish town.

Sunset at our anchorage. Its nice to see sunsets again now the seasons are turning.

In Varberg we tie up in the now empty harbour (the season is over) and have some dinner and plan a couple of days exploring. We take a look at the Varberg Fortress which is from the 17th century and is currently used as a museum and cafe, and also local residences. Its current exhibition was the Bocksten Man, a bog body found in a local bog here. He was discovered in June 1936 by a farmers son, fairly well preserved but what was particularly interesting is how well his clothes were preserved. It gave researchers an accurate glimpse into what middle class apparel looked like at that time – believed to be around the 1400s.

Varberg was a pretty industrial town harbour.

The fort area was old, large and impressive. We take Bernie for walks.

The walls are so thick! We have a salad and a piece of carrot cake in the museum cafe.

The town is lovely and we have a couple of meals out. This church (below) has a tendency to ring its bells for about 30 minutes every few hours and there is a plethora of hotted up 90s Volvos driving around town blaring out their music. This doesn’t seem to be limited to the younger generation either, an old mate was driving his Volvo around blaring out Nat King Cole at one point. Perhaps its a Varberg thing.

Onwards we go, perhaps a little tired of the bells and souped up Volvos now. We have to motor the whole way to Gothenburg as there is little wind, and any wind there is is right on our nose, plus it is raining all day and cold, so we put the throttle on, and steer using the autopilot controls from the navigation station inside. We also take this opportunity to have a hot shower while underway, and turn our diesel heater on. Away really is pure luxury.

Here I am steering and navigating from inside with a great view of everything. Bernie to my right, never far away from me when we are underway.

We tie up at the marina which is on the coast, about 40 minutes from the city. Gothenburg had been recommended to us to visit, and we plan to come back as we are cognisant of our timings now and need to continue moving. We had been tied up for an hour or so, and had a visit from some locals who invited us for nibbles and drinks at their house overlooking the marina. We felt so privileged that they welcomed us into their beautiful home! They confessed that they too used to have a Springer Spaniel and one look at Bernie convinced them we must be good people to have visit, but only if we brought him too. He had a lovely time with them as did we and it was great to get some local knowledge of the area.

We can take Bernie on the local trams and so we take this opportunity for him to see the vet and get a tapeworm tablet for his passport records for Norway, and do some provisioning.

We find a great seafood restaurant right next to the marina and they give me all the wine.

Onwards north again one rainy morning we go, this time we want to stop off at a couple of anchorages. We mostly don’t have a solid idea of where we will anchor, rather we aim for an area, and look for good anchorages as we travel. There are literally thousands of places to stop, so we don’t worry.

There are so many pots that I get the binoculars out to spot them coming with as much notice as possible. They can be hard to see, tiny styrofoam balls or little sticks with black flags.

Spotting crab pots in the wind and cold might sound like its not much fun, but it beats working any day,

After dodging hundreds of crab pots, we stop in a nice bay just south of a town called Skärhamn, protected by a rock wall, cook some dinner and turn in for the night. We want to move on again the next day.

So more crab pot dodging for us the next morning, and we get some really good sailing in this day. The wind is strong, we are reefed and we travel nice and fast to another gorgeous anchorage just east of a town called Kungshamn. Upon arrival, we note the need for little Bernie to have some land time (we’ve been boat bound for the best part of 2 days) so we dingy in to shore and happily are able to pick up an apple, some oysters and some berries which I discovered later are European Cranberries and they taste absolutely gross. Ah – lesson learned! The oysters are pacific oysters and were totally delicious. They are a pest in these parts.

Away anchored in this very protected bay. We hid from the breezy overnight conditions here.

Love foraging for seafood. I’ve happily found an oyster and looking for more.

The oysters were great, the apple was full of pectin and so a little tasteless but good for cooking, and the berries, although they look juicy and delicious, are gross. Every day is school on Away.

Our next leg would be the very next day. The wind was forecast to be on the beam at 20 knots gusting to 28 which is ideal for Away. We leave early, dodge more crab pots, and get the sails up. Soon we are scooting along at 8-9 knots consistently. We keep up this speed for the best part of 8 hours, reaching a top speed of 10.5 knots at one stage. We are crossing the Skagerrak, an area of water on the south coast of Norway. We want to do 70 miles so going fast is key.

Bernie and I keeping watch. It was rolly and he felt safest here.

The water was rushing over the decks all day. This was the wettest day from seawater that we have had.

Whilst this wasn’t the most comfortable passage we have ever had, we were fast and could arrive before the wind got even stronger at our destination in Norway called Risør. It is our first port in Norway and did not disappoint! Upon dropping the sails, we motored in through the islands and the town opened up before us. Risør is home to heritage listed houses all painted white and it is beautiful to see. The town is surrounded by cliffs and the changing colours of the seasons.

Just opposite the town are some beautiful islands where you can tie up and swim in the summer. Its a little cold now.

The sun set colours are stunning as we dock the boat.

We tie up here on the protected side of the dock as we will need to wait out a gale or two before moving along.

Away tied up nice and safely on the north side of this solid wall, safe from the southerly gales.

From Copenhagen in the south, to Risør, our first Norwegian port.

We cannot see a window to Scotland yet. We are starting to become very concerned that in actual fact we will not make it to Scotland. We don’t want to scare ourselves on the north sea so much or risk our safety. In Risør we sit out our first winter gale, and watch the weather patterns roll over the north sea – 40 knot winds and 4m waves roll over and over the sea with only 1 days break in between, and we become increasingly more nervous. We need at least 2.5 days to cross.

Away’s guide to Copenhagen

October 1, 2022 / fiandadrian

We wrote in the cruising association guide that the Margretheholms havn marina in Copenhagen:

‘was not going to suit most British cruisers. You enter the shallow marina through an industrial dockland area where rock is being unloaded for the ongoing land reclamation works at the entrance. The marina is surrounded by abandoned ship yards from a bygone era that resonate to the sound of rave parties till the early hours on weekends. The supermarket is a 45 minute walk and the sites of Copenhagen a further 30 minutes beyond. However before dismissing Margretheholms havn, its worth noting one of the best bakeries in Denmark is only a few hundred meters from the marina, which is close to the street food markets open 7 days, and a selection of fine dining restaurants including the worlds best restaurant are within walking distance. The opera house and Christiania are a 30 minute walk which may be excessive as there are art galleries, rock climbing gyms, bars and the indescribable Empirical flavour adventure just around the corner.’
SV away

It would be easy to judge Copenhagen by its cover:

This is the view that greeted us as we made our way into the marina. A lot of work happening, machinery and various industrial buildings make for an ominous entrance. Not to mention the rather suspicious looking wolf.

Possibly the best bakery in Denmark. The entrance is behind the plant in the silver urn. You can sit out side in the ‘seating’ area and enjoy your sausage roll or egg on brioche while hoping your seat doesn’t disintegrate while you are there. The Danish are wonders at repurposing.

The delights of Reffen are many, and mostly housed in repurposed containers and ramshakle shacks.

And you can get any type of food you like! Thai, Korean, Kurdish, Nepalese, Indian, South American fry ups, burgers and the list goes on.

Sorry UK friends, we found the best curry and naan ever at the street food market.

A surprise at every turn, of course there is crowd funded company trying to put a punter into a low earth orbit, although not in this rocket.

Yep thats the world famous Empirical flavour company where they extract flavour and then mix it into new products… usually alcoholic beverages (https://youtu.be/qhFWh0R30kE)

Our local night club. We realised if something looks like a drug den, its probably a posh restaurant or funky club or amazing startup.

One of our favourite resturants is in a yurt in an organic veggie garden. Most of the the land is contaminated by the shipping industry, but this plot was the barracks area and is suitable for organic gardening.

A fantastic local restaurant. The food was awesome and the walls are so thick you could have heavy metal inside, but instead live jazz starts up on a Friday night.

What could be better than fine food and conversation… lets add a little live jazz.

This is the local skiing facility inclusive of the biggest rock climbing wall in Europe. It also burns rubbish for fuel.

The is the iconic little mermaid status viewed at maximum zoom from our recommended viewing spot on the river bank at the street food markets. From here you can watch the throngs pouring out of cruise boats, taxis and tourist sightseeing boats from a safe distance and enjoy an authentic locally brewed beverage.

This is where you find cinnamon rolls on Wednesdays, since 1652.

Copenhagen is where we have spent this most time this season. In total we stayed here for 6 weeks, three as we passed through from Germany towards Sweden, and 3 when we sailed back from the east coast of Sweden heading to our planned winter home of Scotland. Needless to say, we hope to come back. Good food, good drink, good friends and overall a wonderful place to spend time.

However, as all cruisers know, we have to say goodbye to these amazing places and people and move along for new adventures. Our plan is to sail the west coast of Sweden and across the south coast of Norway relatively quickly, as the window for sailing across the north sea will be closing soon. Hopefully we get one! Or perhaps we will just stay in Denmark somehow. They have an Australian Princess – surely that counts!!!?

Copenhagen, Paris, Copenhagen, London. The team splits up and conquers all.

September 22, 2022 / fiandadrian

Fi’s in Copenhagen

By Fi – Once we got to Copenhagen, Adrian and I were keen to go touring with Tara through some of our favourite cities. Adrian was first up to go and meet Tara in Paris. So after 2 nights of decent sleep, off he went leaving me with Bernie and the delights of Copenhagen. First stop for me, friends! We had some friends who arrived just after us and who were keen to catchup and see some of the sights. I met them in the street food market, Reffen for a spot of lunch. It was so great to catch up and hear about their cruising adventures since we left them on the Kiel.

So good to catch up with fantastic people!

That evening I also caught up with our friend Morten and went back to Reffen for dinner. I swear they know me there now!

2 days were spent washing, which sounds boring but it meant the boat was lovely and fresh and Bernie’s bedding was all clean and smelling great. Very cathartic.

Copenhagen for me and Bernie was social, with some boat work and walks thrown in, but Paris for Adrian was… well… Paris.

Adrian’s in Paris

By Adrian – Its always lovely to visit Paris. We started with a bit of orientation: Louvre, Seine, Arc de Triomphe, and a stroll down the Champs Elysees.

We climbed up the arch and enjoyed watching the traffic for a while.

Of course the Jardin de Luxemborg is mandatory when one is in Paris. Even better with fresh macarons.

A walk in the park. Just like an Australian park, except totally different.

We found this tower all lit up at night with about three million people walking around it taking pictures

We try to tick off all the Paris must do’s, but alas, as we are there on a Sunday and Monday, many things are closed – however, this is Paris – there is much to see!

Found some art. Were all the chairs art?

Ate the required amount of fancy French food

and enjoyed the warm summers evenings with a dose of french onion soup, escargot and a glass of red.

Adrian’s in Copenhagen

By Adrian – Fi and I had one evening to catch up on things, before she headed off to London and I found myself alone with a fur shedding slightly neurotic spaniel.

Bernie and I went on long walks, studied industrial architecture, tackled some boat jobs

Fi’s in London

By Fi- Donning my suitably colour coordinated outfit for the cabbie, I toddled off to Copenhagen airport to fly over to my second home, London. Getting in around dinner time, I thought the most English-y thing to do would be to take Tara to the pub for a pint and a feed of proper stodge. We are staying in Notting Hill.

So matchy matchy… Bernie clearly wants to come too.

For our first full day in London, we decided to get our walking shoes on and go exploring. We looked at Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, then Covent Garden and then on to Camden Markets, finishing with a lovely dinner at a local Notting Hill restaurant called Beach Blanket Babylon.

Beautiful tribute to Diana from her sons.

We weren’t sure which country we were in here…

Inside Camden Markets has been really cleaned up.

The next day was a breakfast wander down Portabello Road to look at the markets, followed by lunch with some friends at South Bank, and also chilling out for the afternoon so we had the energy to dance the night away in Soho! We had a great lunch, and spent the evening at the Scotch in Soho, and moved on to another club later, but by that point I didn’t take note of its name. It was somewhere near Leicester square…

Girls looking slightly less sharp in the early hours.

On my final full day in London with Tara, I managed to drag my exhausted self out of bed to accompany Ta to a cool immersive art piece called Dopamine land. That night we decided to stop in our accomodation for dinner and ordered takeaway.

The next day, Tara and I parted ways. Me to get on to a plane at Stanstead Airport back to Copenhagen, and Tara to begin her long journey back home.

Arriving home to Away, as I walked down the path towards the boat, a little spaniel head popped up, jumped off the boat and ran towards me like a scene out of chariots of fire. Needless to say he was happy to see me! As was Adrian – its great to be home, and I had a great time!

Back together in Copenhagen

Once the band was back together, we took the opportunity to have some time in the amazing restaurants in Copenhagen. Naturally we went to Reffern the street food markets, but we also visited 56 degrees, Oens Have and Empircal, all the while enjoying bread and breakfast at Lille Bakery.

Copenhagen is a little like a black hole for us. We love it here and get comfortable very quickly. We do however have to move on, but the weather has been conspiring against us and is on the nose (i.e coming from the north, which is the direction we want to go). We are watching closely for a weather window to head across the north sea to Scotland where Away will spend winter. It will happen, and we are currently working on a plan to ensure we are in the right place at the right time to tick off this bucket list passage across the north sea.

Stockholm to Copenhagen in a week

September 16, 2022 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

On a beautiful summers day we left Stockholm and retraced our steps south through the archipelago. A police launch accompanied us accosting jet skis and other over enthusiastic boats ignoring the speed limits.

Bernie guided us through the narrow bits.

With the sails hoisted we weaved our way through the islands and found an appropriate bay for the night. There was a sauna but only for club members, so we stayed aboard and kept moving the next morning. By afternoon we were tacking our way towards the edge of the archipelago. Fi spotted a sheltered anchorage with shallow access and a very narrow entrance channel which are often less crowded.

The channel was dredged to 2.2m, although we saw 1.4m on the way in. No Hallberg Rassy’s in here. In fact no boats at all.

Another overnight stay and we were headed down the coast to one of our favourite areas from the way north. We found an anchorage in a deep bay in the middle of an island. As we approached I noticed a high powered RIB with black suited people approaching. This time a couple of them came aboard, asked their questions and even checked our passports. Bernie was very excited. All the while we were sailing towards our destination.

The long bay led to a sheltered anchorage in the centre of the island. The same black rib came in the next day checking out the boats, but we are known to them now so no problems.

There was plenty of space with only five or six other boats. Beautiful walks on the island, and a small settlement as well. Tonnes of Nordic blueberries everywhere.

Bernie thought we should have bought him a cinnamon scroll

An English couple in motor boat who were also members of the Cruising Association blew their horn and held up a sign ‘Beer?’. We obliged and learned that they had had come from the Netherlands over a number of years, doing a section of the trip each year and storing the boat over winter. We enjoyed a chat with them, and had them over to Away as well the following evening.

After a couple of nights in this idyllic spot, we decided to leave again and get going on our first overnight passages on Away. Snacks prepared, dinner and breakfasts ready, we headed out of the anchorage at a reasonable time in the morning. We are aiming for south Sweden and the area near Karlskrona.

The winds were light but we made good progress with the big red sail.

The sun set as we passed the northern end of Oland Island (the long thin island on the east coast of Sweden). We stayed to the east of the island to avoid the narrow channel around Kalmar and hopefully get better winds overnight.

As the sun went down a small yacht cut across our bow and headed west. We took the opportunity to test the radar. It works very well for larger boats, those with radar reflectors and smaller boats that are a mile or two away. For small crunchy fiberglass boats within a mile we are not sure we would pick them out from the noise.

During the night we heard the Swedish navy requesting a boat doing 8 knots to the south east of us to contact them. We didn’t hear the boat reply so we are not sure of the outcome. So much intrigue during the night…

By morning we were turning West and heading for Karlskrona. We sailed most of the day and decided to find a stopover for the night rather than keep going for a second night.

Karlskrona is a Swedish navy centre. This boat passed us and then stopped . As we sailed along the coast it didn’t move, but never got any further away. At dusk we noticed it in the distance checking up on us in our anchorage. The next morning it was waiting for us as we headed out to sea again.

Fi found another nice little spot tucked out of most of the wind, and we decided to have a mini impromptu picnic on the rocks on shore to have sundowners and watch the sun set. Bernie took the opportunity to sniff everything, run away, and also get in the water.

Bernie was very happy to be off the boat and enjoyed a long swim.

The next morning we left in comfortable time as we didn’t need to get in Copenhagen too early the following day. Again we were prepped for another overnight sail. The wind was in the mid twenties and but forecast to die out overnight. There were two swells from half behind us which every now and then conspired to roll the stern and cause the autopilot to complain that it needed bigger rudders.

We heard ‘Warship A’ talking to ‘Warship B’ on channel 16 with broad American accents. These anonymous vessels later passed to our stern. Perhaps they were using the standard shipping radio channels to make sure everyone knew they were there…

By 9:30pm we were able to make a small heading change to get the swell behind us for a more comfortable evening. Container ships kept us company during the night in the nearby shipping channel and the ferry traffic from Ystad crossed our path from time to time. Otherwise the wind remained consistent, and we were happy with our sail plan. We take alternating watches, and each of us sleep when we can.

Bernie is never far from Fi when we are at sea.

Never ever far… Fi has some other kind of doggie level patience.

The wind and swell dropped in the early hours and the big red sail came out for the final leg north into Copenhagen. We almost made it under sail, but as the wind dropped to 4-5 knots the lure of hamburgers and beer was just too strong and we motored the last hour.

Ahhh, our favourite market Reffen, and some excellent food and drink.

Its great to be back in Copenhagen with its world class food and atmosphere.

Next time we hit the bright lights of Paris and London.

Stockholm again

September 13, 2022 / fiandadrian

We had a few days in Stockholm before Tara flew out on the next leg of her European jaunt. Fi was not going to miss the opportunity of an accomplice on the rollercoasters. Its not that I don’t like paying money to be sick and scared out of my brain, but I do prefer a quiet dog walk.

So the designer thought that this might be fun?

To torture people who don’t like heights?

Was this really the most glamorous dog water bowl we had seen…Bernie seemed to think so

The Vasa was perhaps the least successful warship ever made. It was made between 1626 and 1628 and sank roughly 1300m into its maiden voyage when a puff of wind blew it over. In software engineering circles its held up as an example of why you don’t blindly accept all the requirements from the customer or you can end up with a failure. Further reading suggests this was not the case with the Vasa, but the story persists. It was just poor design.

The Vasa sat at the bottom of Stockholm harbour until she was raised in the 1950s

Not like todays bland warships. These carvings would have sent chills down the spine of any would be attacker.

To my great amusement, models of arguably the worst designed boat in history are very popular.

Time in Stockholm was running short, so we soaked up some more culture and the young people to donned their glad rags and went clubbing.

Fi and Tara had a look at another local gallery in between dancing and rollercoasters.

The old town…why make a straight road when you can make a cute one?

We make so many new friends on this adventure!

Whoo! Dancing the night away with more fantastic new friends who we will catch up with next time in this fantastic city!

Next time, we pump out the black water and sail through the night.

Sailing the Åland Islands

September 6, 2022 / fiandadrian

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.

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.

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.

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

Fi climbed the mast for a better view, and to change the faulty wind instruments

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.

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

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.

Big City Stockholm

August 24, 2022 / fiandadrian

By Fi

When we last left you, we had just moored up in the convenient Wasahamnen marina in Stockholm, which funnily enough had the rollercoasters of Gröna Lund right next door, complete with 10am-10pm screams every day of the week. To be fair, hearing thousands of people having so much fun simply added to the atmosphere of the place, and made me desperate to ride on the rollercoasters. BUT – first stop was the ABBA museum! Big city life!

The museum is a short walk (past the rollercoasters) from the marina and we decided to not waste a minute, and went straight down there after docking the boat and giving Bernie a bit of a sniff around.

These were exceptional wax statues of the band.

My favourite Frida and Agnetha costumes.

There was a large area with a number of their original costumes behind glass being preserved.

These puppets were used in an advertisement. They are Jim Henson’s designs.

One of the biggest reasons we are in Stockholm is because we are picking up our first visitor from Australia who is flying in to Stockholm to spend some time with us. Tara is Adrian’s daughter and Adrian met her at the airport for her first sailing holiday!

The best way to get over jet lag is to keep moving while there is day light. Or in this case, because its day light till midnight, just keep moving until you stop. We wandered around to keep Tara moving and saw this cool old tram.

Nordica museum close to the marina was a spectacular building.

I’m certain that Bernie thinks he looks similar to this

Our plan from Stockholm is to sail to the Åland islands, which is an autonomous part of Finland, so we needed to do a little provisioning, get Bernie vaccinated, and make a sail plan. We also had friends in another Garcia Exploration 45 that we wanted to meet up with too. So unfortunately, not a lot of jet lag recovery time for Tara or much big city exploring for us yet, as we were on the move again. I didn’t get to do the rollercoasters this time but we plan to be back in Stockholm in a few weeks.

Until next time you crazy rollercoasters with all your screaming fans.

We left Stockholm on a sunny afternoon and navigated through the archipelago mostly successfully. We only had to navigate through about a dozen fast moving ferries, plus the gigantic passenger liners that frequent the area, and only got beeped once by a chain ferry who popped out at the last minute (those things are pretty scary), but otherwise an uneventful passage to a beautiful anchorage where our friends on Anemis were waiting for us!

As we crept around the corner we saw Anemis who already had their drone out to record the rare spotting of two Garcia Exploration 45s in an anchorage.

The next day, we wanted to get to Finland, so we left in reasonable time, said goodbye to our new friends, and began the journey north east.

Next up we have come adventures in the beautiful Åland Islands

Don’t worry Stockholm! We’ll be back for more fun.

We crash into the rocks

August 8, 2022 / fiandadrian

We left you on a particularly rolly morning at Bornholm Island. We were still protected from the wind, but the swells were bending round the headland and across the bay. It must have been bad to get us underway at 5:30am.

North of us was a stretch of open water leading to the Swedish coast around Karlskrona. As we approached the coast we passed the small island and harbour of Utklippan. We considered stopping for the night, but over 10 masts in a small surgy harbour put us off.

Utklippan has a large seal colony, a disused lighthouse and a small restaurant.

North of Utklippan is the area where the cold war ‘Whiskey on the Rocks’ incident occurred. One morning in 1981 a fisherman noticed a Soviet whiskey class submarine parked on the rocks where there wasn’t usually one. The soviets claimed it was parked there due to a navigation error. We weren’t sure if we should be proud or concerned that our navigation was more accurate than a nuclear submarine.

The anchorage we had chosen had several boats tied up to the rocks and enough room for us to anchor in deeper water. The next day after all the other boats had gone and no one was watching, we practiced mooring up to the rocks. This involves throwing a spare anchor off the back as you approach the rocks, driving the bow towards the rocks and stopping 10cm before impact so the person on the bow can run along the bowsprit and launch themselves onto the rocks with hammer, peg and a bow line in hand. They quickly hammer a peg in a rock fissure and secure the bow. Then you tug on the stern anchor line, which is hopefully not caught on the propeller, and secure the boat far enough from the rocks that its not touching, but close enough that one can step onto the rock, with BBQ in one hand and esky in the other.

After 3 attempts we were happy with our first rock berth. Most Baltic boats have an overhanging bow to make this a little easier.

The forecast for the next day was for solid travelling winds on the beam. We followed the narrow channel out to the coast and headed north towards Kalmar. There were plenty of other boats with the same plan and we avoided most of the traffic a bit further off the coast.

Away sped along enjoying the gusty conditions.

They’ve built a nice castle to welcome you into Kalmar

We had booked a berth in the marina and a RIB came out to meet us and show us in. It had been gusting over 30 knots on the sail in to Kalmar so it was quite exciting to be led through ever narrowing channels until there was barely a boat length to turn into our berth!

The castle had been here a long time and now housed a museum.

Fi found this new frock but wasn’t convinced it would work on the boat. Wrong colour?

The castle even had some recipes from days gone by. We particularly liked this one and tried unsuccessfully to track down a suitable duck in the moat.

We were now in the land of Volvos and took the opportunity for a quick engine service before moving on up the coast. This area of coast has so many islands that its not hard to find a beautiful place to stop.

We left Kalmar in big red sail weather, but the winds filled in as the day progressed.

The anchorage we had picked was jam packed full with two other boats, so we continued on to look for somewhere quieter. We had been warned it could be busy in July and August.

We found this cool little bay. The depth sounder showed just 1.2m as we entered the bay, so it wasn’t too crowded. Did we say we love our lifting center board?

Next day was another sailing day to the southern end of the Stockholm archipelago. Fi had picked out a secret anchorage with a hidden shallow entrance that we hoped might deter less intrepid sailors.

The entrance to the anchorage is a narrow channel behind the trees.

The anchorage was empty, sheltered and with good holding. We decided to stay a while.

Fi spotted an abundance of wild blueberries growing on the islands.

We managed to stay up late enough to see the sun set.

Some of us braved the refreshing waters.

After a relaxing few days we started the final journey into Stockholm. Unlike the approach to most ports, Stockholm is surrounded by a complex archipelago with many low bridges and narrow channels. We reached the outer islands and discovered our chosen anchorage had 50 boats in it! Fortunately the surrounding bays provided some quieter anchorages.