Early Sunday morning in bright sunlight and fine winds, we set off for our journey southwards. The normal prevailing winds for the east coast of Sweden are south-west, so while we have a spell of winds from the north-east there is the promise of easier and more direct southerly sailing.

The day began well with generally good downwind speed but the wind decreased steadily and after only a few hours, it died completely. This meant that after only 8NM we pulled into one of our favourite bays (Soviken) and spent the remainder of the afternoon and night there, overlooking the town of Landsort on nearby Öja.



We are disappointed with the distance covered today but then this is what sailing is all about. If there is no wind, you don’t have a choice but to stop and wait for better conditions. Sure, one could start the motor, but then that wouldn’t really be sailing and frankly, neither one of us wants to listen to the motor hour after hour. It is far better to be patient and wait for more favourable winds.

Monday was also sunny and bright with the normal prevailing winds back again. As we are heading in the same direction (south-west), it means that to get anywhere we will have to tack. So this will entail several nautical miles southwards out into the Baltic Sea, then heading back in at a ninety degree angle westwards. It adds about 30% to our journey, but the alternative is to wait yet another day and we aren't quite that patient.

We say goodbye to our local landmark Landsort Lighthouse and strike out to sea.



Sailing out at sea is quite different from sailing along the coastline. When we take a more inner route, we are relatively close to land all of the time and you can see the landscape pass by as well as getting protection from the waves behind the islands. At sea, there is little to look at so one passes the time reading, resting, checking the winds and the charts and noting our position on the overview chart every hour. I know that we have both a GPS (in fact we have two GPS) as well as computer navigation with Fugawi, but it is important to keep a manual check in case there is a power break and then we’d have to navigate the old fashioned way. It is also useful to “see” the progress on paper so we can plan a harbour for the night.

Another important duty while at sea is to keep watch out for other boats. One of the crew must be alert and regularly check 360 degrees around the boat for anything out there. We are crossing some of the main Baltic shipping lanes and the boats that ply these waters are big, fast and a little daunting when seen up close.



During the day, the wind turned more to the south-east and increased. We made great speed, but the trip was made somewhat uncomfortable by the large waves. There is no land between us and Latvia, so these waves are coming direct from the Gulf of Riga unhindered towards the Swedish coast. They are not scary as such because Fiona is a very stable boat, but the seesawing motion of the boat makes reading, concentration and even eating and drinking more difficult. The dog doesn’t like it very much either and that can be a problem as she whines when she feels insecure. At this point we decide to tack inwards towards the Swedish coast.

This is somewhat tricky as the safe passageways through the shoals are few and far between. We have already passed the lighthouse at Hävringe which was our initial goal for the day, so the next choice is Norra Fallbåden lighthouse and from there into the area south of Arkö. It was a tough ride for the pets and we tried to make it a little easier by rolling in the foresail to a tiny size and reefing the mainsail, but we still came roaring towards the coast at over 6 knots. It was wonderful to come to the lighthouse and feel the waves begin to shrink as the natural seawall provided by the rocky outcrops broke their path.

In the early evening we lay peacefully by anchor off the island of Lånjö, in a bay lined with oak and juniper trees near the old Marö Kupa cairn after a bumpy 50 NM journey.



This somewhat makes up for the slack day we had on Sunday and we are happy that we are now south of Oxelösund and even Arkö and right at the beginning of the St Anna archipelago. It gives us time to rest a little and to think about where to go next. With so many islands around us we are spoiled for choice. The only decision is whether to potter around here or try and put in a long stretch of miles southwards instead, leaving the exploration for the return trip.

Only the early morning weather forecast can answer that question for us.