Remember Hesnaes?
Our season ended without further excitement. Mary proved to be excellent crew, and the weather presented an opportunity for her ...
Don’t rock the boat
Finally we had weather to allow us to sail on towards home base. Our friend Mary was to join us ...
Shelter from the Storm
Day 3 in Hesnaes. It’s turned out to be quite a good choice for a safe haven, given the limited ...
Musical chairs
Severe storm Antoni is on the way and will be wreaking havoc in a few days. Everyone knows it, and ...
Half bishop half fish
It’s Monday, and we are in Karlskrona in the rain. I do like this place, and right at the head ...
Time out in Kalmar
The Radar receiver has stopped working. We’ve checked all the terminals at the base of the mast, and they seem ...
Sailing South
We’ve had a great cruise from Nynashamn to Kalmar over the last two weeks with regular crew member Brendan, wriggling ...
Welcome visitors
It all seems a long time ago now, but it shouldn’t go unblogged that we had a couple of great ...
Intermission
After the eventful week in Waxholm, and finally getting the boat back on the road, we set off towards the ...
Hotel California
…where you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave … Friday. There was a good ...
Waning in Waxholm
Waxholm, we are still only in Waxholm. Shortly after arriving here last Thursday we gauged that a little weep from ...
Living down to the reputation
It’s soooo cold. It’s June, and still baltic. Lovely Sofia in Waxholm marina has assured me today that it will ...
Quintessentially Sweden
The last few days have reminded us why we love cruising the Baltic so much. The winds haven’t been perfect, ...
Blowing hot and cold
We’ve had some amazing weather, great sailing breezes and harbour afternoons with 25° in the sun, then bitterly cold nights ...
Passage planning
We usually have a broad plan for the season. This year we hope to sail to the north end of ...
Season finale
It’s been a wonderful summer and the last week of sailing had everything. A fabulous wind sped us homeward in ...
Going to Louisiana, but no banjo
It was different sailing south from Göteborg towards Copenhagen. The water is again saline, there is a bit of tide ...
Feeling Small
The route out of Lake Vanern into the Skagerrak at Göteborg is through the Trollhätte Canal. Unlike the delightful old ...
An Unexpected Turn
One morning, we woke up, having planned our coming week travelling south along the Swedish coast, back the way we ...
Broken Island Weather
25th July saw us back on board Melodrama, with our great friend and crew member Brendan. Brendan has cruised most ...
‘Paradiset’ everywhere
We’ve just come from a wonderful harbour surrounded by little islands in Finnhamn which is known as Paradiset. It is ...
New Crew! And our first guest bloggers since 2019
How generous to be called ‘new crew’; I’d say ‘new liability’ as the fella with the big grin limped on ...
The Royal Yacht
Destination Stockholm, and a new crew. But first we had to exit the lock keeping the water level stable in ...
Marry us, Marcus!
Lake Mälaren was a great decision. The long fjord to the canal entrance is truly lovely. At the southerly end ...
Cool running
Northwards, along the coast towards our June destination in Stockholm. The coastline north of Kalmar is quite literally awash with ...
Charts and plotters
Neither of us has ever had a GPS chart plotter before, except an iPad. And we are both such tech ...
A Hint of Summer?
….or ‘Still Baltic in the Baltic’ Here we are in Kalmar, which is a really cool town with a great ...
Commander Lars
Ystad is a regular stopover for us when traveling to and from Sweden. It is of course famous as the ...
Baltic in the Baltic
Following two summers of Covid restrictions, at last we have plans to spend the whole season exploring the Baltic Sea ...
Kraken Craic
It’s nearly 4pm and a week after my trip to Malta. At 4pm, it’s time for my watch to get ...
Telefonica Black
And just when you think it’s all over, Karen signed up for a week sailing a Volvo Ocean 70 racing ...
Maggie May…
It’s late September and we really should be back at Fahan. The boat is back in Augustenborg marina, and we’ve ...
Island life
One of the upsides of our restricted sailing waters this summer has been the chance to visit lots of little ...
Mud, glorious mud
It’s September, and the island ferries are busy taking lorries loaded with harvests to the mainland . On Fejø, the ...
Copenhagen
What a lovely city. Pretty waterfront restaurants, framed by old wooden boats in cobbled streets and a happy vibe. There ...
Towards Copenhagen
Eventually the wind subsided a little, and blew from aft of the beam, so we ventured out towards Copenhagen, via ...
Kerteminde
This pretty town was a delight. The marina had great facilities, including working wi-fi - quite a treat! But the ...
Rain stops play
Here we are, tied up securely in Stubbekjøbing harbour, as outside 38 knots squalls howl and torrential rain pours down ...
Culture in Kolding
Sometimes the most unlikely spots really are the most memorable. Kolding is at the end of a long channel, and ...
Flensburg, Germany
Last weekend, we decided to sail to the pretty German city of Flensburg. We’d been chatting to German sailors who ...
Anchors aweigh
Way back last year (or was it even the year before?), the anchor had a rather too close encounter with ...
High Hopes
The fifth day is free in Sønderborg Marina. We didn’t expect to be here this long, but we get a ...
Storm bound
This is Melodrama’s fourth day in Sønderborg Marina. We came in for a new anchor (another post ….) but the ...
The Gendarmstein Way
There are lovely walking trails around Høruphav, which stretch across the country, and are now a popular 84 km trekking ...
Harbour Days
It’s now the last week of the Danish School holidays, and harbour mania is coming to an end. It’s been ...
Last Port Lyø
We've sailed past this tiny island many times, always en route to somewhere further, but with a few days to ...
What do they call a Danish Pastry in Denmark?
Faaborg is a favourite to visit, a nice distance from which to plan the last days, and a very large ...
Cruising in Company
The weather has been glorious now for weeks, and the best place to be is at anchor in a little ...
Fejø Fruit
This week, we learnt that ø at the end of a name means island, and used to be spelled and ...
The pop-up diesel berth
We planned to spend a few days exploring the Lolland area, and made our way via Bagenkøp to the small ...
All in a fankle
Leaving Marstal, we set off by yacht to explore the north of the island, first navigating a narrow shallow channel, ...
Ærø Island
After two lazy days on anchor, our destination was the harbour town of Marstal on the south end of the ...
Under the Q Flag
This week, in another life, we would have set sail from Augustenborg in Denmark, heading north towards Norway, making our ...
One last melodrama and we’re done
The harbour entrance, or more accurately exit, in Ærokøbing is sufficiently wide to enter and leave, under normal circumstances. As ...
Ærøskøbing
The south sea islands of Denmark are one of the great sailing areas in the Baltic, and Ærøskøbing must be ...
West winds
Ian and Mary left the ship at Ystad, where there is a good train connection to Copenhagen. It's a pretty ...
Absolutely Åhus
As a gin drinker, I'd always assumed all vodka is made in Russia. So it was a huge surprise to ...
A Pin Tale
We are working our way round the coastline of Sweden, heading generally towards Denmark. From Kalmar, going south, the wind ...
Silver linings
It's been an enchanting week. It's Sunday morning, and we are back in Kalmar city marina, reading the papers (online) ...
Consequences
William thinks it's dangerous when Karen isn't busy, and he's probably right. The Dog Last August, in Göteborg, I was ...
Mazu’s blog – Part 2
If, like me, you enjoyed our crew's description of our time in Finland, here is the 'other half' describing our ...
Return to ‘Barbecue Bay’
We have only revisited four places this year, but fifth on the list had to be Nåttarö. It has a ...
Mixing with Royalty
Having visited the premier yacht club in Helsinki harbour in Finland, it was obvious we were going to have to ...
Return of the Vikings
Last year, our favourite island Ekholmen was just outside Stockholm and owned by the Vikingarnas Sailing Club. So we had ...
Rock hopping in the Skärgård
The general advice given to sailors in the Finnish and Swedish archipelagos is to choose the next destination based upon ...
Guest blog – July
This month's guest blog is from the visiting crew of Mazu, currently in Sicily, via a transatlantic crossing last year ...
Island Odyssey
There are two marinas in Hanko, the port at the tip of mainland Finland, and an essential stop before heading ...
Heading West
It was pouring with rain as we met Hope and Howard off the evening train in Helsinki, and not the ...
St Petersburg or bust
The plan had included a visit to St Petersburg ever since Karen found out it wasn't easy..... But all up ...
A wash and brush up
After four days island-hopping along the Finnish coast reacquainting ourselves with the joys of 'love hut' dry toilets, we were ...
Guest blogger!
Well ahoy there sailors!! I am your guest blogger for today... Ian and I joined Karen and William on their ...
Getting some work done
Before arriving in Tallinn, we contacted a young sailmaker, Oleg, who was happy to repair the torn stack pack. It's ...
Banged up in Tallinn
So, Melodrama made her way into the Port Ops zone of the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn. It's a beautiful, ...
No Weather for Sailing
Three days in Kardla, with a strong easterly gale, dramatic lightning and thunder, and torrential rain - what's not to ...
Estonia Rocks
There is a local history museum in Kuressaare Castle, which shows the islands of Estonia emerging from the sea over ...
The Ensign Enigma
This story began weeks ago in Sweden, but it's time to go public. We were in Ystad harbour one morning, ...
The Cow Parade
Ventspils, Latvia, an old oil and petrochemical port, very important in the days when Russia ruled in Latvia, and our ...
The Seventh Seal
In the last week, the weather has been very variable. Every other day, there is a good weather window to ...
Warning signals
We love AIS. On the chart plotter, as Melodrama sails along, little triangles with dotted extension lines show approaching vessels, ...
Across Little Biscay
Well, there have been a few very jolly days taking us from Ystad to Kalmar. The sea area has a ...
Scandi Noir
Monday evening, and after the foggy day, we looked out on the Oresund Bridge that links Sweden and Denmark. For ...
Rødvig Day 5 …. nearly
Sure enough, the fog was back in the morning. But all our neighbours have work to go to on Monday, ...
Rødvig Day 4
Saturday, star date May 18. The wind has eased, but we now we have woken up to thick fog. Out ...
On the way to the Co-op
(With apologies to Creationists) Here we are nestled in a very sheltered harbour at Rødvig, because out there, it's honking ...
Wriggling through the islands
It's been a week since we were finally able to leave Augustenborg, and begin our passage east. The weather has ...
It’s baltic in the Baltic
Thursday 2nd May at 10:15 was our appointed slot to launch Melodrama for the season ahead, and so we set ...
Coming Soon – Season 2
It's still the middle of the skiing season, but our thoughts have turned to the summer ahead, and we have ...
Finally, Augustenborg
The Danes call this area the 'South Sea Islands' and it is a delightful cruising ground, full of bays, harbours ...
There is no tide in the Baltic …..
It has been different, cruising in a sea without tidal rise and fall. We can pull into a little bay, ...
Weather to Sail
Mixed forecasts. Generally we look at four of them every day, and for a few days ahead. Usually there is ...
Viking Ports
The long hot summer is well and truly over. Melodrama is making her way along the Danish coast, harbour hopping ...
A Russian Warship
A blustery beat round a shoaling headland or a day sheltering behind the wall in Odde harbour? We chose to ...
Mr Gerrard’s Midnight Temptation
Three days in Goteborg in a nice but tight harbour, while we waited to welcome our new crew Anthony and ...
The Göta Alv Bridge
The biggest challenge of the passage through the canals and lakes from Stockholm to Goteborg was always going to come ...
To Trollhättan
It took three days to cross Lake Vanern, one of the largest lakes in Europe. A stop at Mariestad to ...
The Great Escape
Early morning and only a few locks to go to the end of our journey through the Göta Canal. The ...
Locking Down
Ian and Mary have joined the crew and we are on our way west and down towards Göteborg. Having honed ...
The Swedish Vacuum Cleaner
We are all hooked on a delicious treat that is a Swedish tradition available everywhere. These little green rolls of ...
A Melodrama in the Göta Canal
'I'd like to try steering in a couple of these locks' announced an over-confident Karen one morning. Soon it had ...
Söderköping
Our time in the Archipelago is over and we are on our way across Sweden from East to West via ...
Wildlife and wildfire
It's an amazing summer here in Sweden and we are so lucky to have chosen this summer to be here ...
Snakeing through the islands
There is a fabulous peaceful anchorage hidden away between the rocks on an island wildlife reserve on Biskopson. The entrance ...
Portuguese Visitors
The last week has been a relaxing (mostly!) introduction to live-aboard life with Patrick and Rachel. We have cruised around ...
How not to launch a warship
We spent a few days sightseeing in Stockholm before our next guests arrived. The highlight was a trip to the ...
From Sack to Ekholmen
A beautiful red sunset in our anchorage on Sack, East of Stockholm, heralded a return to summer weather after a ...
Unbelievable! We need a Plan D
Who would have thought it. There are two different styles of Selden Snap-shackle of the correct size for our sail ...
Twenty-first Century Argonauts
The saga of the Selden shackle for our Code 0 sail continues. Kirk's shackle from Comber was a different brand ...
The long way round bridge to Bullando
We have been having trouble with the wind sensor on Melodrama since she was first commissioned. Initially it was an ...
Free Spirit
It was strange to come into a bay on an Island in Sweden, and have someone call 'Karen!' from a ...
A week in the Skargard
We have a fantastic pilot guidebook to the Swedish Archipelago. On a large map of the entire area hundreds of ...
Down the Rocky Road to Nynashamn
It's crew changeover day today, and we are in Nynashamn. It's also Midsummer Day, and Sweden's biggest festival. The whole ...
Aladdin’s Cave
There are chandleries to buy boat bits in nearly every port and harbour here, and I love exploring them to ...
Wanted – Selden PBB 60 snap-shackle
After an early start for a long day, we found a sheltered anchorage, tucked behind some rocks and islands, and ...
Tourists in Visby
Today, Gotland Island sits in the Baltic Sea, a good long day sail from the mainland. We broke the passage ...
Down the rocky road
There is a saying in Sweden that there are those who have hit rocks and those who will hit rocks ...
A perfect day for a kite
The sun was shining and a gentle breeze from behind was taking us slowly north to Borgholm on Oland island ...
Quinta de Sant’Ana the long way round
We had an unmissable appointment in Portugal, so Melodrama was left tied up in Karlskrona and we set off by ...
The Lying Launderette
Karlskrona has been Sweden’s main naval base since 1680, and until recently was off limits to passing sailors. Now it ...
Two reefs and a storm sail
With all Olaf’s talk of high winds and shipwrecks, we rigged the storm sail to try it out, and marked ...
A warm welcome in Utklippan
A spanking sail to windward with one reef took us to the lighthouse island of Utklippan. We were charmed immediately, ...
Wild mooring
A perfect beat in 12 -16 kts of summer breeze took us to the buoyed channel to Arpo island. There ...
Wild Anchorages
The forecast today was 24C and sunny! We were determined now to attempt the challenge of navigating through the Archipelago, ...
Welcome to Sweden
Hano was our next ‘not to be missed’ location, a small island off the coast of Sweden. To get there ...
Christianso
Everyone we have met has said we must not miss Christianso Island, so we left Allinge with a good breeze ...
Sundown in Allinge
We had a great sail up to Allinge on the NE Coast of Bornholm, having altered course (again!) at the ...
Down river
Saturday morning and we are filling up with water, plotting our route and making ready to leave Greifswald. All the ...
Two wheels on my wagon
After our handover sail, we began a week of filling up the boat with our gear, and fitting all the ...
Maiden Voyage
And here at last is our lovely boat! Ready to sail, with two wheels, and we are just waiting for ...
Finding Melodrama
Our plan was to arrive at the factory in Greifswald a few days before handover, to be on hand to ...
The adventure begins
Saturday evening, 21st April 2018, and we were packed up, trailer loaded, and off to catch the overnight ferry to ...
Shrink wrap
Our boat is a boat! Today we took delivery of our new Dehler 38 in Griefswald. It has been shrink ...
Grapefruit Graphics
I have been working with hull graphics specialists Grapefruit Graphics to design the logo for Melodrama - this is the ...
Watching Drama Queen on AIS
AIS is a wonderful piece of technology which is fitted to all commercial boats, and to many non-commercial craft too. ...
The Dehler Factory
On a wet Wednesday in October, we flew to Berlin from Dublin, and took the train to Greifswald where the ...
Yachtmasters
After two fun-filled and exhausting weeks, the weekend of reckoning came. We had shared our first week with Veronique, a ...
Learning to Sail in Gibraltar
Last year, way before we decided to buy a bigger boat, we booked a sailing holiday in September in the ...
Now all we need is a boat…
I know, I know, but I couldn't imagine having a boat without a spinnaker! So we've ordered one from Saturn ...
Trip to Kip 2
Our last ever cruise on Drama Queen was a complete contrast to the June trip. Fair winds, sun, and some ...
A Pint and Quart
The end of August marks the end of the summer, and the traditional pursuit race to Portsalon, one of the ...
Very Brexit Problems
As we deliberated over the final specification for the new boat, a worrying factor emerged. Every time the government made ...
The Trip to Kip
In June, when the weather in the North West corner of Ireland has a chance to be fine, we set ...