Day 18 (May 15th), Kattegat / Skagen


Sailing all night again. Good winds eats distance. Outside Hirshals the wind disappear and there is some issues keeping the speed up. 14:30 we round Skagen and enter the small sound between Sweden and Denmark. One hour later we are berthed in a “spooky” harbour with very little visitors. Where is the Party??

Day 17 (May 14th), Kristiansand


The full night sleep was appreciated. The day is spent at a restaurant close to Scandic Hotel, so we can access theire WiFI. At 15:55 Håkan arrives by train. Dinner and the out sailing again. The forecast predicts decent winds during the night and then cyclonic Force 1-3. With 90 nm to go, we need the distance.

Day 16 (May 13th), South Utsira / Kristiansand


Early in the morning the wind shift comes. At this time we are just outside Lindesnes. For the first time we have a period of a couple of hours with little winds. When we are close to the coast, we manage to send an SMS to Håkan. We head towards Kristiansand which is 35 nm away. At 13:00 we enter the harbour after 380 nm non-stop sailing during 52 hours. Celebrating with a whisky (of course)!

Day 15 (May 12th), Fishers / South Utsira


Gale warning. The front passage with strong winds from north is not followed by backing winds toward south west and weaker winds. Probably because we are too fast speeding 8-9 knots.

Day 14 (May 11th), Aberdeen / Forties



We wake up quite early and we call VTS together with “Stormvogel”. Departure at 7.45. We are asked to stay just at the entrance to Albert Basin and wait for a cargo ship. 15 minutes later we pass the breakwaters looking at some dolphins playing around.
Heading 80 degrees towards the strait between Norway and Denmark. Approximately 300 nm to Lindesnes. Wind is northerly 20-30 knots with peaks at 35 knots.

Day 13 (May 10th), Aberdeen


I wake up with a call from my brother. “I fell in the shower this morning and can´t join you”. At least Christer is on his way from the airport. Fish and chips in a pub and then buying the food for the trip. We also spend a couple of hours at Starbuck´s. Free WiFi to check all available weather forecasts. At least we have a plan.

Day 12 (May 9th), Aberdeen


Johanna is leaving this morning to catch the flight back to Gothenburg. It´s sad. I spend the day finding Camping-GAZ and a laundrette. The first when well but the second was occupied with housewife’s doing their annual (?) laundry. It looked like that with the floor completely full of clothes. Doing the laundry in the boat instead. Dinner in the shopping centre. Homemade hamburgers, fries and coleslaw. This evening a Dutch yacht is arriving and berthing alongside Linn.

Day 11 (May 8th), Peterhead / Aberdeen


First thing in the morning is a shower. Best marina so far! We spend some time chatting with a catamaran crew. Their plans are to go to Orkney but the weather forecast looks not so good. We head south towards Aberdeen. A busy port with a lot of heavy ships. We call VTS and get the time and directions to enter the harbour. We are directed to a pontoon in Alberts Basin, where an harbour officer meet us. No facilities but close to Union Square shopping centre. Today it´s also Emilie’s birthday and I have chat with her.

Day 10 (May 7th), Rattray Head / Petershead


Leaving at 10:30 when the depth is enough. 4 hours by engine due to weak winds before we start sailing outside Rattray Head. The wind increase and reaches 20 knots. Unfortunately it´s from the south. Getting fed up with this close hauled tacks all the time. Suddenly we hear something bouncing on the hull. It comes and goes. We steer towards the wind to stop the boat. A floating device from a fishing net is popping up! Luckily we can take it up and throw it away. Outside Petershead Harbour we call the harbour master and he advices us to the marina. The marina manager welcomes us at the pontoon.

Day 9 (May 6th), Moray Firth / Whitehills


After filling up the diesel, we head out of the canal and out to Moray Firth. The first hours there is no wind but then we get 10-15 knots wind from north west. We have some options for the night but it depends on the speed. We want to reach as far as possible. The next-coming day forecast is stronger winds. Later in the afternoon we decide to go to Whitehills Marina. The timing is perfect. The harbour is tidal which means that you can´t enter during low-water. 2 hours after LW gives us 3 meters which is more than enough. Cheese and red wine is a good end of a nice day.

Day 8 (May 5th), Inverness


Unni and Jan left us in the morning and took a taxi to the airport. Now it´s only me and Johanna on the boat for a couple of days. We head towards Clachnaharry Sea Lock and the entrance to Caledonian Canal. The lock keeper explains that the Canal is shut down due to a broken gate. He lets us in when we say that we will stay one night in Seaport Marina. A shower, some shopping of food and then a dinner at a Turkish restaurant in central Inverness.

Day 7 (May 4th), Wick / Inverness


The day starts with finding some diesel. It was a project and we managed to get 50 litres in cans! At 11:30 we leave and hoist the main sails with 2 reefs from the start. Strong winds are expected. Out of the bay there is up to 35 knots wind which is near gale. Luckily we have a broad reach and manage the 77 nm in 11 hours, with the last hours by engine in the Inverness Firth. A late dinner at Inverness Marina.

Day 5-6 (May 2nd-May 3rd), North Minch / Cape Wrath / Pentland Firth


Today we will go for a long leg. Before departure we find the local fishers and buy some haddock, langoustines and scallops. A very good fish soup was the comment from the locals. Wind is still northerly and cold. We are waiting for the wind wearing towards north east but it doesn’t happen. Late in the afternoon we see the lighthouse at Cape Wrath, a milestone in our journey. Unni and Johanna steer the boat all night long, excellent done.

At 05:45 we round Cape Wrath and heading towards Pentland Firth, the sound between mainland and Orkney. Careful planning is essential. The tidal streams are strong, up to 12 knots during spring tides. As we are ahead of schedule, we steer towards Wick and the opportunity to drop-of Unni and Jan in Inverness instead. And yes, the fish soup was really good!

Day 4 (May 1st), Isle of Skye / Gairloch


The day starts with a clear blue sky. A short trip to the “local village shop” was as expected, not so much. Therefore we plan a short trip today heading to a harbour with a decent supermarket (maybe). Wind is still from the north and very light. During the day we have the marvellous panorama of the Hebrides, Skye and the mainland with snow-covered peaks. As soon as we berth, Johanna, Jan and Unni walks to the village Gairloch for some food shopping. Some crazy women take a bath in the harbour. The more civilized ones use the shower.

Day 3 (April 30th), Point of Ardnamurchan / Sound of Sleat


Today we have an early start at 5:30. We decided to go close to the coast due to moderate or strong north-easterly winds. This will give us less swell. Another reason is to avoid having a 100 miles long leg with tacking from the Minch. We start with reef 1 to have some comfort. After rounding Point of Ardnamurchan we have the wind against us. During the route north-eastwards passing Much, Eigg and Rhum the wind is shifting in strengths and direction. From 5 knots to 22. Getting closer the Sound of Sleat, the wind is more stable and we can go in a steady course of 30 degrees, just have to make small tacks to starboard some times.

Arriving to Kyle Rhea 1 ½ hour before the tides change direction. Kyke Reha is a small sound where the streams reach 7 knots and it´s critical to be there when it changes from south-going to north-going. After a successful passage, Jan starts with dinner and we head towards Kyle Akin. It´s a small fishing harbour on the east side of Skye. We berth at a pontoon occupied by some yachts and fishing boats. After the dinner me and Johanna takes a short walk in the village. It seems that 50% of the houses are Bed & Breakfast for back-packers. At least we found a “local village shop”. Looks not promising!

Day 2 (April 29th), Firth of Lorne / Sound of Mull

A very comfortable night. No swell and another day with clear blue sky. Leaving at 8:30 and breakfast at sea. We managed to catch the tidal stream changes in Sound of Luing. 2 years ago we had no clue about this, no we are all better prepared. We continue by engine until the east entrance of Sound of Mull. Sails up and starts sailing. With northerly or north-easterly winds it should be a convenient leg, After a couple of miles the wind fades out or change directions. The day ends in Tobermory after 10 miles of clause-hauled tacks. We find a mooring buoy in acceptable shelter. Dinner, cheese and wine.

Day 1 (April 28th), Crinan Canal


Wake up at 01:00. Everything is prepared so we slowly motoring out of the harbour. It has been 2 good years here in Scotland, but finally I´m on my way back home to Sweden and Gothenburg. The sky is nearly cloud free and there is no problems finding the right way. The wind fades out when we entering Lower Loch Fyne. No issues reaching the sea lock before it´s operated. From the start we are accomplished by another yacht. They have gather friends to help them with the locks. This canal is hand driven, which means that you have to operate the locks by yourself. After 6 hours we reach the sea lock in Crinan. We got some advises from the other skipper of an anchorage just opposite the bay. First we stop at the pier, went for a shower and then heading north to Gallanch Bay. We anchor at 5 meters depth and then dinner with an adoring view.