In 2012 we had planned to head into the Baltic.
Itinerary
To help us plan out cruise we put a rough itinerary together so we didn't feel forced to rush at the start of the summer but would still get to Stockholm in time to haul the boat out for the winter. Well that was the plan, here's what actually happened...
Updated Itinerary
We had not even set off and our itinerary had already changed. We were planning to overwinter Speedwell in the Stockholm area but all of the yards that we contacted had waiting lists of several years for winter storage. We were advised that this was the case for the whole of the Stockholm area so we had to look elsewhere for somewhere to leave the boat. We arranged to leave Speedwell for the winter at Simrishamn in south east Sweden.
Reality
Our crew joined us as planned for the crossing to Norway. The week before we set off was perfect weather for the crossing, but by the time that we were ready to go a succession of low pressure systems were moving in. We sailed to Peterhead with the three day outlook suggesting better weather for later in the week, but every day the outlook changed, sometimes with good weather but often forecasting near gales. With such variability we didn't have much faith in the forecasts, and the prospect of arriving on an unfamiliar shore in a near gale after two or three days at sea wasn't inviting. We sailed to Edinburgh so that our crew could sort out transport home and with the intention of heading south for a shorter crossing to the continent, then heading to the Baltic through the Kiel canal.
The southern route would have involved a lot of long day passages before getting to our cruising ground, and we were on holiday, so we decided to head back to Inverness then to Scotland's west coast instead. The plan was then to make our way south through the Irish sea, stop off in Scilly, then carry on to Ipswich, but once again the weather intervened and our plan changed as we went.
|
Week Beginning
|
Initial Plan
|
Second Plan
|
Third Plan
|
Actual
|
|
3 rd June |
Across the North Sea. Inverness to Stavanger. |
Across the North Sea. Inverness to Stavanger. | |
Inverness to Edinburgh then back again. |
|
10 th June |
Cruising in the Stavanger area. |
Cruising in the Stavanger area. |
Caledonian Canal. |
Caledonian Canal. |
|
17 th June |
Stavanger to Oslo. |
Stavanger to Oslo. | Caledonian Canal and Oban area. |
Caledonian Canal and Oban area. |
|
23 rd June |
Oslo to Gothenburg, visiting the islands around Gothenburg. |
Oslo to Gothenburg, visiting the islands around Gothenburg. | Skye and The Small Isles. |
Ardfern to collect autopilot spare then Sky and The Small Isles. |
|
1 st July |
Gotenburg to Copenhagen. |
Gotenburg to Copenhagen. | Jura. |
Jura and Islay. |
|
8 th July |
Into the Baltic propper, Copenhagen to Southern Sweden. |
Into the Baltic propper, Copenhagen to Southern Sweden. | Islay. |
Rathlin Ireland to Belfast. |
|
15 th July |
Cruising in the Western Baltic, possibly visiting Bornholm. |
Cruising in the Western Baltic, possibly visiting Bornholm. | Rathlin Island and Northern
Ireland. |
Stangford Lough. |
|
22 nd July |
Cruising in the Western Baltic, possibly Oland and Gotland. |
Heading north to the Stockholm area. | Strangford Lough. |
Dublin. |
|
29 th July |
Cruising in the Western Baltic, possibly Christianso. |
The Stockholm archipelago. | Dublin then South Wales. |
The Welsh coast. |
|
5 th August |
Cruising in the Western Baltic, finishing in Kalmar. |
Heading south to the Kalmar area. | The Isles of Scilly. |
Around Land's End between depressions. |
|
12 th August |
Kalmar to Stockholm. |
Cruising in the Western Baltic, finishing in Kalmar. | The Isles of Scilly. |
South West England. |
|
19 th August |
The Stockholm archipelago. |
Kalmar to Simrishamn. | English South Coast. |
From the south coast to Ipswich. |
|
26 th August |
Lift out, prepare the boat for the winter and fly home. |
Lift out, prepare the boat for the winter and fly home. | Ipswich. |
Ipswich. |