Jennie B - Stockholm, Kalmar and beyond.

We are now on our way to Klintholm on Møn, our final stop in the ARC Baltic 2014 rally.It's been so busy we've not had the time or the Internet access to post about our wanderings through the beautiful Swedish Archipelago.Lots of sheltered anchorages to choose from although you do have to watch out for rocks - we gave Mother Sweden a gentle kiss at one point!It's hard to pick out highlights from this section of our trip. Sailing into Stockholm to see this Venice of the North from the water was great fun.The amazing Vasa museum is really good - it's ironic that a ship that sank within minutes of setting sail has survived to tell its tales.Meandering through the well marked channels of the archipelago with a new vista at every turn requires attention to pilotage but is fascinating.The. read more...

Jennie B - ARC Baltic - Åland is a land worth exploring.

We made it to Kokar by 2030 on Saturday 2nd August and were very glad we made the effort to get there.Many of the rally boats were at anchor in the harbour or tied up to the small quay.We went ashore to enjoy a few drinks from the small bar overlooking the harbour and listened to beautiful singing from a girl duo who were performing to the small crowd of sailors and local campers.It was a really magical evening. Sundaymorning we had a bit of a late start but eventually got under way at 1030 heading for Mariehamn. We had many hours of great sailing through more beautiful channels and islands and got to the ASS marina at Mariehamn at 1800.The marina at Mariehamn was, we think, the best we've stayed at on the rally so far.Great facilities and in a very pretty location,we were all impressed. read more...

Jennie B - ARC Baltic - Oops no gas

Typical, just as I put the kettle on for a morning coffee and a cooked breakfast the cooking gas ran out.No problem,I thought, I bought a Finnish gas cylinder yesterday I'll change to that.Sadly although we have gas cylinder fittings for many different types of cylinder we don't have one that works with this Finnish gas bottle!Fortunatelythe crew of Jumbuck have offered to lend us a Camping Gaz cylinder so we should be OK tonight when we meet up with them in Kokar. Thanks John and Sue :-)Paul & Elaine. read more...

Jennie B - ARC Baltic - Helsinki

We loved Helsinki, lovely city, lovely people, lovely weather.We don't know what it's like in the winter but in the summer it'sgreat.The historic NJK yacht club is in a good location with impressive views of Helsinki City centre across the harbour.The crew dinner hosted by the NJK was another splendid evening although we did have "sticker shock" at the price of drinks in Finland. We left the NJK with a parade of sail on Friday 1st August heading west through the Finnish Archipelago in the general direction of Sweden.So here we are again picking our route through little islands, big islands, tree covered islands even the odd white bird poo covered island.Fortunately the channels between islands are well marked and using the detailed Finnish charts we've successfully navigated our way. read more...

Jennie B - ARC Baltic - St Petersburg to Helsinki

We changed crew in St Petersburg and waved goodbye to Gesine and said hello to Mick and Gill who are with us for the leg to Helsinki.We had a relatively late start of 1000 from on Sunday St Petersburg as we were planning to sail the 100 nm overnight to reach the Finnish passport control point on the island of Haapasaari.We timed our arrival for Kronstadt badly as the Russian customs person had just gone to lunch when we arrived but by 1600 we were again on our way to Finland.After motor sailing west for a few hours we got enough wind at 2100 to have a lovely sail the rest of the way to Haapasaari. We arrived at 0700 and anchored while we waited for the customs post to open.Clearing in to Finland was very easy but I was surprised to be breathalysed at 1030!Quite a few other skippers. read more...