Author: captain

Now I have reached the end of the canal between the Baltic sea and the north sea, which is actually the start of it. They start counting kilometers from here, Brunsbuttel. On this trip the wind was low and the weather fantastic. Warm, sunny. Traffic on the canal varied between the moments I felt I had it to myself, and sometimes ships and yachts came from both sides at once. Then the canal suddenly felt small and too thin.

The whole passage is 98 kilometers of motoring. And there was not a single tank station along the way. I was uncertain about how much fuel I had and it was stressful to worry about the consequences of a fuel deficiency. Ahhgh! But I got here. Then in this huge harbour there is only one gas station for yachts. And it is closed most of the time. So, upon my late arrival last night I took my spare gas can and biked to the nearest gas station in town. Now I feel better. Don’t want to run out when there is no wind.

At the moment I am waiting for the sluices to wake up on a Sunday morning. Not much happening here. Patience. See you on the other side.

Where am I now? Rendsburg, Germany

So much has happened since I left Sweden. I had a tough sail through Danish territory. As I approached the cliffs of Mon I was stopped by the Danish coast guard. I told them my destination and sailing plan. They informed me about the area being unsafe for night sailing due to the construction of a huge wind power farm and because the pilons still were unlit. They said they would follow me through the area and direct me to safe water. They escorted me for a couple of hours and we held radio contact all the time. They were quite nice and gave me some good advice.

It started raining and the shipping was intense after dark. The radar alarm kept setting off. Not much sleep that night. When it became light it became less traffic and stopped raining. I could rest some then, while Isabell sailed on with the wind vane steering down to Gedser. Got around the getser reef early in the morning. As I crossed the shipping lanes between Denmark and Germany it was easy. Not much traffic. At lunch time the wind died altogether. So down with the sails and the autopilot took the helm. Many hours of motoring due west. I reached Fehmarn later in the afternoon. Crossed under the bridge there with the wind picking up from the northwest. Up went the sails and I had six hours of good wind going due west. At two in the afternoon the sea went smooth as a mirror and I motored six more hours. Sunny, warm, and relaxed. Got to Kiel in the evening. I looked around for a guest harbour. Then my sister called and we met at the mouth of the sluices at Holtenau. Went to sleep a few hours and then motored to the waiting area for the canal sluices. Slept some more, paid the canal fees and my sister came aboard to accompany me through the canal on the first section down to Rendsburg. It was sunny and warm. Not much ship traffic. Sluicing went smoothly and we motored along with a friendly german couple who gave lots of great advice. In Rendsburg I parked in the guest harbour near the town and we walked to a campsite where my brother in law already set up camp and started the barbeque. It was nice. Now I am alone again, back in the boat. Tomorrow I will continue the canal to Brunsbuttel. 35 NM to go. Now I need some sleep. Goodnight.

Where am I now? Present position 55°25.6’N 013°48.8’E at Ystad gästhamn

I had a bumpy sail from yesterdays location to Ystad, following the southern coast of Scania. Only 12 nautical miles, but it took a few hours. The wind has calmed quite a bit now, but since the past few days have been very windy, the sea waves were high. Now, in the evening they have also calmed down. It was such a pleasure to feel how Isabell followed over the wave crests. I have since I arrived looked over the boat, went touristing in the old town, and shopping the last food items needed before I leave Sweden. Tomorrow is the big day. I will sail down to the eastern coast of Denmark and follow it to get to the German island of Fehmarn. I cannot go ashore in Denmark, so it will be a while at sea. Denmark is still closed for foreign boats from certain areas.

Here in the guest harbour of Ystad, a lot of Danish boats, some Germans and the rest are Swedish yachts, most of them seem to come from Gothenburg. It is easy to find Isabell in the forest of masts. It is far the shortest mast sticking up, and one of the smallest boats in the harbour. Most other boats are giants. I feel like the little dwarf between a hoard of giants.

The town is much alike the other southern towns, a few shopping streets, some busy squares and a few churches. The church tower near the harbour has bells that play a little rhyme now and then. That is charming.

As I said, I have seen enough of Sweden for a while. Ready to leave. See you on the other side.

A short update from the harbour of Kåseberga. Today it was rainy and I am starting to wonder if I should fire up the heater in the boat. It is cold. When I left Stockholm two weeks ago, it was between 28 and 30°C. The further south I get, the cooler it has become. Today hit the bottom record so far, 12°C this morning, 14°C now. But the weather reports say it will get better soon.

Yesterday, I spent biking and hiking through a beautiful nature reserve, Sandhammarens naturreservat. Today, I walked a few miles (6 km) om Skåneleden, a walking path (trail) that crosses from coast to coast in Scania. It was windy, but with beautiful views of the surrounding landscape. As I left the trail to eat my lunch, I stumbled across a dead sheep. So I took a walk down to the nearest farm that I could see, and announced my find. The farmer said he would call his neighbor who owned the sheep. And so I continued on my hike.

Tomorrow I will have a short sail to the city of Ystad. There I will do my last minute shopping in Sweden, before I sail across to Germany. It seems a bit unfair that there are plenty of Danish yachts in the Swedish harbours. Nonetheless, Swedish yachts are banned from the Danish harbours altogether. For me it means that I have to sail right past some of those cosy Danish harbours. I am not welcome.

The Scania coast does remind a little of the North sea coast of Holland, with sand dunes and sandy beaches

Hello again, it’s time for an update. Where am I now? Position 55°23.4’N 014°3.7’E Kåseberga hamn

It is lucky to have plenty of time on these long distance sailing trips. The weather has been a challenge all the way. I did finally get to leave my hideout in Degerhamn on Wednesday the 8th. Got up early that morning, at 04.30 and got out of there around 05.40. The sailing was good, low winds (12-16 knots) and sunshine. I got all the way down to the most southeastern island of Sweden, Utklippan, where I stayed for the night. It started raining while I had my dinner that night. The island is a treat for bird watchers. So many different species of birds there. For ten years ago, when I resided in the Karlskrona archipelago, this was my favorite place to sail to. There and back home took about four hours of sailing.

The next morning the wind was gone. Completely no wind, but the forecast said in the afternoon a good northerly wind would grow. I started motoring, autopilot was steering a straight course down to the coast of Scania, town of Simrishamn. 242° all the way down. But in the afternoon, sure enough the northerly wind picked up, very good. At the same time visibility was low and it occasionally rained. Sailed with a 6-7 knot average speed over ground (fast for Isabell) and only saw a few other vessels on the radar. Already, at 15.30 in the afternoon I was outside Simrishamn. So I decided I could continue south with this great northerly wind. I came around the bend of the Scanian coast at Sandhammaren around 19.00 hours. It cleared up a bit in the evening, but when I could see the harbour of Kåseberga (only 6 nautical miles to go), the wind turned to the west, straight in my face. Took down the sails, clutched the leeward coastline as close as I dared to take the shallows, and it took me two hours of tough motoring against the wind. Got into the harbour after 21.00 hours. Tired, but happy with the days progress. The wind continued to pick up from the west and has been very strong even today, Saturday.

So I am touristing the sites in this wonderful area. Staying until Monday, when the wind is supposed to slow down and I will be able to sail west. This is at least not a locked down place, such as it was in Degerhamn. There are things to do and alot of things to see. And there is a fish marked in the harbour. So guess what I just ate? Hmmm. I am well.

And the good news is, after 16 days at sea, I am half the distance to Delfzijl, my target harbour in the Netherlands. Yeah! But then again, I have only been sailing (making progress) half the time.

Leaving Utklippan early on Friday morning

Hello again! I am still in hiding. The sea outside my window is foaming and the wind is roaring in my rigging. At first I was very impatient and was willing to take the risks for just being on my way. But the longer the wind keeps howling, the more I realize that I am on my way, even though not moving. I’m just going to have to adapt to the circumstances. I have plenty of time, no need to take on a steaming sea. The weather will sooner or later turn better. In the meantime I get ideas about improvement of my home, Isabell. I study sea charts and plan alternative routes. Depends on the weather which one I will sail. I read, cook, and clean. Just like you do at home. Have only talked to one person since last Friday. Quarantine days are ticking. Hah, so that once I get to another country they can’t hold it against me that I came from the corona city of Stockholm. I’m ok, and actually on my way. Next sailing day is possible on Wednesday. I’ll have a look at the sea then.

Where am I now? Position 56°21.1’N 016°24.5’E, Degerhamn Öland

Finally time to write a little update. I have been busy. After retrieving the stuck anchor at Figeholm Ekön I sailed down to Kalmar. The city was unusually empty, including the guest harbour. Normally the harbour is filled with touristing boats from Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and the Baltic States. Now, almost empty. Two german sailboats and some swedish yachts. Anyhow, I did my shopping and bunkered up with diesel oil, water and emptied the trash.
Yesterday morning I cast off and started sailing south from Kalmar. First bit went fine, but the further down I progressed, the choppier the sea went. At last I made no progress at all, and decided to turn back and wait for the wind and waves to calm down. Anchored at Björkenäs, north of the Öland bridge, and rested, cooked food and ate dinner. In the evening it had become much less windy, so I took up the anchor and headed south once again. Passed Kalmar for a third time and this time the wind had moved to the west, not straight from the south anymore. Good, so I sailed on into the night and made good progress. After dark, I was hoping the wind would stabilize. But, instead it became more unstable, gusts with very hard wind. The wind vane was steering fine, but the waves came from all sides and several times hit me hard. I could not see the waves, so no way to know when to duck… After a while I came very near the harbour entrance to Degerhamn, a small industrial town with a few hundred inhabitants. But a big cement factory that ships out produce. There was a guest harbour, and the big industrial port. Since it was dark, I did not find the guest harbour, but the industrial port was lit up and marked with navigational lights. Always an interesting experience to follow the light pattern, and rely on the truth of it. After a while I managed to tuck in behind a huge concrete quay, sheltered from the wind. Tied up for storm, and turned in to rest.
In the morning, when I could see around me, I realized it was lucky I did not find the guest harbour. It was widely exposed to the stormy winds from the southwest. It is gusting stormy wind, blowing in foam and sea spray from the Kalmarsund. I guess this will be my safe harbour the coming weekend. Unless somebody comes and tells me to leave. I cannot leave the boat, there is a fence all around me. But, since I have to quarantain myself that is actually fine. As of yet, I haven’t seen a person anywhere around. The factory is closed for the weekend of course. The weather reports are not good. Stormy at least until Monday, maybe even Tuesday. We’ll see when I can start sailing again.

A view from my window this morning

Isabell behind the big concrete wall in the safe harbour at Degerhamn

Holy crap, today was windy. I already anticipated some wind and found a great hideout in a little cove behind some rocky islands. Unsure about the depth of the cove I didn’t go in too far. Since Isabell was swinging back and forth I let out the aft anchor as well. That helped for the swinging, but put us broadside to the wind. Bad idea. Since the local bottom was loose gunk, the main anchor started dragging. I started worrying, since the place is filled with underwater stones. After a cup of coffee and some thinking, I started the engine, cut loose the back anchor and hauled in the forward anchor until it hung about two meters deep in front of the boat. Then slowly motored in to the shallow area, where the best shelter was for the wind. To my surprise it was more than two meters deep all the way in. I would have felt stones by the anchor hitting them before the boat got to them. But it was safe. After the excitement of this morning it was much more peaceful. (in my mind and around me). The anchor that I left behind is tied to a buoy that I threw overboard. I’m going to have to pick it up tomorrow morning. Make note to self. Don’t bother to put out more than one anchor. It will just cause trouble. The rest of the day was spent looking over the rigging, self steering, engine and such. The sun came out at times and I had constant company of a gull that sits perched on a rock about ten meters behind the boat. Let’s hope for decent weather tomorrow. Then the gull can have the place to himself again.

Sailing from Loftahammar to Figeholm, Kalmarsund
Where am I now? Position 57°27.9’N 016°36,6’E Yttre Vattengatan

Yesterday, the weather reports were the same from different sources. And they were wrong. No westerly wind where I was, anyhow. Mostly southerly wind. Still, the morning clouds evaporated and it became a warm and sunny sail. Beating against the wind actually has it’s advantages when the wind is less strong. Gives some extra force. But the way to travel gets longer. I changed my destination along the way, and in the late evening ended up in the small archipelago around the town of Figeholm. In between the town of Oskarshamn and the Simpevarp nuclear power plant. The nature is nice, low red granite stony islands with sparse, low vegetation. Many birds, and not much else. Desolate. Quite different from the intense pleasure boat traffic in the Stockholm area. I saw another Monsun late last night, coming in from the sea with the nav lights on, heading for the town. And I have totally seen three other boats pass by. That makes four altogether.

Now, about the nearest future. A low pressure area is approaching from the west/southwest. The few days ahead are going to be very windy. It is good that I am under the leeward coast, which means lower wind speeds. But it is possible that I have to find some safe harbour to sit it out for a few days. Today, it is raining. Then it is a treat to have good clothing, and a roof to sit under in the boat. Maybe I get to Kalmar today, maybe not. Doesn’t matter. I have food and water and a safe boat to seek shelter in. No worries.

Afternoon update:
No, the depression is here. I moved to a more protected anchorage, took an hour and was only a little further south. It is very windy from the southwest. The worst passes tommorow. I guess I am going to have time to read. Probably sail again on Friday.

Today’s safe anchorage at Ekön, Figeholm archipelago

From Nynäshamn to Loftahammar (86 nautical miles)
Where am I now? Position 57°48.9’N 016°46.6’E

Yesterday was a chance taking with the wind, but it went well with the choices I made. I had looked into different weather sites, and they all had a different opinion about where the wind would blow. I was hoping for the easterly wind report, which coincided most with the overall weather pattern in the baltic region. Yes, after motoring out of Bedarön anchorage with an icy smooth sea in front of me, the wind picked up from the east. And I hoisted the sails and was on my way south. Went in a straight course around 200° from Landsort to the northern tip of the island Öland. Most of the way wind holds steady at 8 to 10 knots, which means the wind vane steering is in control of the boat. The sea is empty. Nothing in the way, but open water. It is a smooth ride. Between midnight and 2 am the wind dies down to below 5 knots, first I try to motorsail with the autopilot steering, but it does not hold course, due to the irregular wave pattern of the sea. I hand steer a full hour and start looking for the nearest coastal anchorage site. I reach it at 4 am. The sun is back up, so you could say I dropped anchor at sunrise. Hah!
Today, Sunday the 28th, the wind is low and coming from the south. I take a tour of this beautiful Loftahammar archipelago. Quite different from the scenery in Stockholm area. Be on my way again tomorrow. Until then.

10 knots wind and the sailomat wind vane steering Isabell across the empty sea