Shenanigan - ARC Baltic draws to a close

After a night on the island of Oland, we had a perfect sail for the last 15 miles to our final ARC Baltic destination of Kalmar, arriving earlier than the rest of the fleet in time for Mack and Col’s arrival.  As we entered Kalmar marina we heard Mack and Col calling from the dock; they too at their destination (with panniers full of bubbly for a certain person’s birthday) having motor-biked over 1,100 miles to meet us.  Tales of both journeys shared over drinks and barbeque that evening.Alexandra and Amelia flew in on Friday making us eight on the boat.  We spent Saturday watching the Ironman competition taking part in Kalmar.  These guys really have to be admired.  Over 2,000 competitors, both pro and amateur, starting their day at 6.55am with a 3.8km swim off. read more...

Shenanigan - Final Leg

We can’t believe that we are on the last leg of our ARC Baltic Rally. Looking back over our photos we are amazed at all the places we have been to and all the wonderful sights we have seen and visited along the way since leaving Rostock nearly six weeks ago. The whole trip perfectly managed by Joel from World Cruising Club ably assisted by Cecilie. Always in their yellow shirts with smiles on their faces, always with time for everyone, always waiting on the dock to take lines whatever the weather. From skippers’ briefings to coach trips and dock parties – they both are a credit and super example of what we have come to know as the service of World Cruising Club ARCs.We had intended getting a few more miles under our belt after leaving Saltsjabarden but after a radio call from Pene. read more...

Shenanigan - Mariehamn to Saltsjobadens

We left Mariehamn in glorious sunshine. Boats ahead of us on the radio were talking of poor visibility and exchanging very clear references on radar readings. Sure enough around lunchtime we found ourselves in the same dense sea fog and understood the radar conversations of earlier. Not a good day for sightseeing or photos. Visibility was down to about 40 metres and in fact a passenger ferry we spotted on AIS was completely invisible through the fog. Other yachts did however eerily appear out of the mist – some, given the conditions, a little irresponsibly under full sail. The fog cleared in the afternoon and we shared an anchorage for the night with Blonde Moment, Oojah and Shamwari; spending a very hospitable and enjoyable evening with everyone on board the rather lovely yacht. read more...

Shenanigan - Helsinki to Mariehamn

Jane and Phill joined us on board for supper on our last night in Helsinki (Sat 1st Aug) bringing ‘squeaky teeth’ bread cheese and cloud berry jam for pudding – a traditional Finnish dish with an unusual texture which made our teeth squeak as we bit into it. This was an odd sensation but rather moreish.The fleet left Helsinki after a parade of sail around the harbour and we all headed off back into the Finnish archipelago en route to Mariehamn.  We stopped briefly to refuel and Brian brought us all yummy warm doughnuts with cardamom seeds in for breakfast.After some super sailing, we motored into an anchorage for the night at a place called Barosund.  I had forgotten to take anything out of the freezer for supper but managed to defrost some sausages in the warm engine. read more...

Shenanigan - Midniight Shenanigans

On Monday 27th July, after refuelling at 45p per litre (!), we headed out to Kronshtadt Island border control to check out of Russia passing the 2018 football world cup stadium and entering the very narrow channel before passing the Russian navy ship graveyard next to the border control. The check out process fortunately was a lot smoother than on the way in and only took 1 ¼ hours. With only light headwinds we found ourselves motoring again.  The night was rather more eventful than the day when at 22:45, whilst still in the fairly busy Russian traffic separation scheme, Mary P (another ARC yacht) called us on the radio asking if we could see them and said that they were experiencing engine problems; not the best place to be with a problem and also they were not immediately. read more...