Early autumn cruises, 9-11 September

With the autumn are coming the longer darker nights. Around the equinox, days are shortening very fast, loosing almost one hour  per week! Then we start seing again the stars in the sky and eve the milky way!

Muskö, Saturday night

Muskö is famous for its submarine (don't miss reading Mankell's "Troubled man") and for its mushrooms...

A mushroom week - 3 September 2016

The week started Monday, on the way to the office where I came across these young parasol mushrooms. They usually appear in rings in the pastures called fairy rings in English, but witch rings in French! 

I was not equipped to pick them. Therefore, I came back the day after with a knife and a bag...

Symetrical or asymmetrical? 26 August 2016

For Belisama, I opted for a Code 0 and an asymmetrical spinnaker. This allows covering most of the wind directions most effc-iciently, except the real back wind, where I was really missing the old symmetrical spinnaker of La Malouine. 

Following an encounter with Flocon de mer, I decided to experiment a bit...

More meteors on the way to Öja - 22/25 August 2016

Fog bow

A fog bow to start the trip, on the way to Huvudskär. Second one that I ever saw. Fogbows are rainbow in the fog rather than in the rain. The droplets are so small that they do not decompose he sun light in primary colors, but rather result in a white arc. Interestingly, their diameter is usually smaller (around 35°) than for rainbows (42°). Note the probable anticrepuscular ray pointing up-right. 

Through the Draget Canal - 24 August 2016

The Draget Canal is a straight between the main land around Nynäshamn and the island of Järflotta. It is the small section heading north in the middle of the map, coming from Nynäshamn. I had long heard of the canal as La Malouine homeport was not very far, on the west side of the peninsula. However, being indicated as 1.5 meter deep was preventing the 1.8 meter deep "brise de mer" to attempt passing through. The weather forecast for the morning was very light winds from SSW, right in the nose, meaning a couple of hours on engine to reach Öja. Engine for engine, we decided to go through the canal. The marina captain is not very optimistic about the success as the canal was last dragged 35 years ago... Being seven meters large does not allow reversing! With Sweden rising-up almost one centimetre every year, it should be 30 centimetres shallower than by then.

Therefore, not a problem for an OVNI...

Artipelag, 22 August 2016

As we welcome onboard a new crew for a last week of vacation this august, we make a first stop in Artipelag on Sunday night, after a weekend of rain! The idea was to depart early morning to benefit from a norther wind towards Huvudskär. However, we got tempted by the Andy Warhol exhibition and were much fascinated by it. Not to be missed for any Stockholder, in particular sailers, as the dock there is top!

  

Note the shadow of Belisama on the middle right of the picture, the only boat on the dock...

Gävle - Stockholm, with a Sunday at the stuga... 6 & 7 August

Last weekend, we left the boat in Gävle, coming back from Sundsval and our way back to Stockholm. With favourable winds on Friday evening, after two hours of train to Gävle, we left the harbour directly, for a nigh of sailing under spinnaker. 

Light breeze, 4 m/s, 6 knots average speed with the spinnaker, by early morning we turn Öregrund, then Lidö, heading south west towards Stockholm. 

Entering Öregrund sound just before sun rise.

And we arrived by mid-afternoon at the stuga...