Nourishing mosquitoes, Kusökalv, Österhamn, 61°3.407'N 17°16.841’E

It is quite rare to have a chance to see your boat while sailing. On the way out from Gävle, we came across "Flocon de mer", an OVNI 395  registered in Cherbourg! What are the odds in the Gulf of Botnia to encounter a French OVNI, within one hundred meters?

Belisama on spinnaker, on her way up north from Gävle. 

Here is "Flocon de mer".

Flocon de mer, off Gävle

And her crew!

Flocon de mer crew, in action.

We starter from Gävle around 14:00, with fair winds from South East, pushing us a good 7.5 knots up north. Then came a thunderstorm with heavy rain resulting in an emergency removal of the spinnaker... Finally, we made it to Axmar, a fantastic nature reserve where we are donating blood for the preservation of mosquitoes. I have never seen that many mosquitoes, even in my most tropical posting in the past.

The island consist of vast fields of stones that are the remains of the moraines of the prehistoric glaciers that shaped the cost of Sweden.

 We moor at the Swedish Cruising Association buoy in Österhamn, in company of a few Swedes spending the weekend there. This is rather out of nowhere in fact.

Note the virga on the horizon.