We are still in the Baltic Sea, moving south as wind and weather permits. When we left Ellös on July 15 we had strong westerly winds and big seas. Our first leg was in rough seas and Seth and I did not fare so well and we both experienced waves of seasickness! We altered our plans to go to Gothenburg to pickup our friends Timo and Hilari and instead spent 3 nights in Marstrand, first night at anchor in a sweet cove and the next two nights in port in the beautiful town of Marstrand. Marstrand is a small island but often referred to as the sailing capital of Sweden. It is typically a bustling tourist place and the port is often full but the bad weather and rain kept most away and we were able to reserve a spot at the dock! Timo and Hilari were able to take a couple buses from the airport, plus the short ferry ride to meet us there! 

Our next leg was from Marstrand, Sweden to Anholt in Denmark- a beautiful sail but in rough seas for a good part of it , Adam kept predicting it would flatten in 45 minutes….. but it did not settle until much later! Seth and I were glad to arrive in Anholt where once again we were able to get dock space. Anholt is a very cool island that has the only desert in Denmark, the Marina is very nice and very popular with sailors. Every night around 7pm people gather around large BBQs and eat at picnic tables. The wind and cold kept us inside for our dinner but we still went out for late evening ice cream wearing all our layers and wool hats! 

Having arrived late Wednesday evening We stayed 2 nights and did a great hike on Thursday discovering the island, stopping for a lunch at a little cafe and finding some good fresh produce at a farm store.

Early on Friday we took off for our next leg to Nyborg Denmark stopping overnight at an anchorage on the way. Since we are doing longer legs and maximizing for good weather windows we are arriving late at our destinations and sailing anywhere between 7-9 hour days. Nyborg is quite charming, it was founded in the 1200s, built up around Nyborg Castle where the first Constitution of Denmark was written in 1282. Unfortunately the castle is under renovation and could not be visited. Sunday was a very rainy day and we ended up using the time to do some route planning (which is quite time consuming and complicated in these parts) . We did walk (in the rain) around town and discovered the bakery which had amazing breads and pastries! So fun to have friends onboard to help eat them all up!

Today we are underway towards Kiel, Germany. We have another long day but we plan on staying two nights. We are heading straight into the wind so we are motoring and taking shifts. I just prepped dinner (French stew ‘Blanquette de Veau’ ) so that we can eat onboard after we dock and clean the boat! Hoping to finally open the cold bottle of Champagne in the fridge to officially celebrate Saltair... we have been too tired so far to drink Champagne!

The sea was flat as well so I was able to write! I will finish this post just as we are crossing from Denmark to Germany and this last picture is of Seth and Timo raising the courtesy flag - whenever we are in a country, we raise their flag near the mast - 

PS: the map at the top of the blog reflects our stops and current location.