Fri. 6/28/19
Dep 11.16am, arr: 3.18pm. 15.5nm. 4 hours 2 minutes
For a higher-resolution map of this route, click HERE:
With my newspaper deadline safely out of the way Kevin and I rose early and grabbed a shower and sauna.
Given the long hours of daylight I’m not a stickler for early rising and departure, but the jet lag was still lingering, making it impossible to stay abed much after 6am. The front that arrived the previous day was still blowing hard down onto our starboard quarter, so we lingered for an hour or two in the hope that conditions would ease a little, but by midmorning it became clear they would not. To our port was an expensive gin palace which I was eager not to allow myself to be blown down onto. So instead of releasing the windward line I had Kevin use it as a warp, keeping it taut and easing the line out through the loop as we backed out. Because of the windage I needed to gun the engine more than I would normally do, which was nerve wracking but probably the right course given that we immediately gained headway.
I had mentioned to Kevin that given the protected nature of many of the waterways and the limited swell it was common practice for Swedish and Finnish sailors to go downwind under jib alone. We tried it for about an hour with my jib and Kevin at the helm to gain experience, moving at a modest 4kts before a much better sailed and trimmed boat with mainsail up went past us and our racer instincts got the better of us. I swapped out the jib for the 145% genoa and tried to raise the main before realizing the reefing lines were led wrongly. There is always a learning curve when you get back on a boat after almost a year away! But we were sailing on a beautiful boat on a gorgeous day, so there was no point in reproaching ourselves too harshly. The main finally went up correctly, and we enjoyed a good downwind sail, until we approached my favorite island of Björkör, then sailing under genoa alone, jibing our way through a couple of tight passages till we reached that magnificent little spot with its harbor deserted. We tied up at 3.13pm. The sun was shining and our mood was buoyant.
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