We had 10 days to sail this summer (map here), but made it to Christiansø and Öland, and back safely.  Christiansø was amazing, it’s an enchanted little rock with it’s own resident Northern Gannet.  The Gannet shouldn’t be there, it flew down alone one day from who knows where in the North and stayed.  It stands guard over a power pole in the harbor and gently deters anyone from approaching (see it biting toes below).

We crossed 80nm from Christiansø to Öland over 17 hours, and had a nice couple of lazy days biking around the southern end of the island.  We then made our way back via small towns along Häno-bukten.  The second to last day we saw sunny but near-gale conditions on the Baltic, 15 m/s (~30 kt) winds.  They took us from Ystad to Malmo, 50nm including a drawbridge, in 8 hours exactly.  Averaging above 6 knots for a continuous 8 hours, in big seas and periodically drenching rain, was a great way to round up the trip.

The next day Hannah and Tjesse joined us for a sail back under the bridge, and thanks to Andres, we pulled up right behind the Open 60 class (I think), “Hugo Boss” (youtube: “Alex Thompson mast walk“, “Alex Thompson keel walk”), and got a personal tour from skipper Pepe Ribes.