The Swedish Coast

Hano was our next ‘not to be missed’ location, a small island off the coast of Sweden. To get there we had to pass through a major shipping channel, a firing range, the invisible Denmark-Sweden border, and despite the sunny forecast, sea fog. We did get to test our radar. Being early in the season we were not expecting a ...

The forecast today was 24C and sunny! We were determined now to attempt the challenge of navigating through the Archipelago, or Skargard, thousands of little islands and rocks (the locals call them stones) with sheltered anchorages and jetties everywhere, dotted with wooden houses and huts. Surely we would now find a deserted idyll for an evening barbecue ashore. In preparation, ...

A perfect beat in 12 -16 kts of summer breeze took us to the buoyed channel to Arpo island. There we picked up a Swedish Cruising Club mooring buoy in the late afternoon, and relaxed in the sunshine. The plan was to row ashore to barbecue on a small island, but the wind did not die down, so once again ...

A spanking sail to windward with one reef took us to the lighthouse island of Utklippan. We were charmed immediately, as the harbourmaster hoisted an Irish flag to welcome us in. The inner harbour was constructed in wartime, and is very sheltered. There are actually two islands making up the harbour, and public transport between them is provided in the ...

With all Olaf’s talk of high winds and shipwrecks, we rigged the storm sail to try it out, and marked off our reefing positions on the halyards. The sail wraps around a furled genoa in its sewn-in storage bag, and pulls out when it is hoisted on the spinnaker halyard. In 8-10 knots of wind, with two reefs and the ...

Karlskrona has been Sweden’s main naval base since 1680, and until recently was off limits to passing sailors. Now it has a large marina, with smart glazed buildings and lots of glossy brochures, a fabulous maritime museum, and is working hard to build a tourism industry.  But it is all run on a shoestring by a student harbourmaster on day ...

We had an unmissable appointment in Portugal, so Melodrama was left tied up in Karlskrona and we set off by train to Trelleborg, for a ferry to Rostock in Germany, then a train the next day back to Greifswald where we had left our car. From there we traveled to Hook of Holland for the overnight ferry to Harwich, where ...

The sun was shining and a gentle breeze from behind was taking us slowly north to Borgholm on Oland island. We even had lunch in the cockpit with a table set! What luxury. I couldn't stop grinning. On Drama Queen we passed round squashed sarnies from a plastic box. This is the life. After lunch we tried the spinnaker for ...

There is a saying in Sweden that there are those who have hit rocks and those who will hit rocks. We have had a lovely week, exploring Kalmarsund. We visited Kalmar Slott, a wonderful medieval castle, beautifully preserved, with original walls decorated with marquetry, and a moat. Some days we stopped at small harbours, cycled to the nearest grocery store ...

Today, Gotland Island sits in the Baltic Sea, a good long day sail from the mainland. We broke the passage with a stop at Byxelkrok on Oland, a quaint ferry town, with cute red huts selling souvenirs and ice cream, and a giant sauna barrel with giant chess. Gotland's capital Visby is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a walled city, ...