Top: The old (1873) and new (1969) Dämman lighthouse in the Kalmar Sound. Below: Lighthouse Garpen, Bergkvara (1934).
A. gets hold of smoked prawns (“rökta ”) during her Kalmar shopping excursion – perfect for celebrating the crossing of our previous course line after almost 1138 nautical miles off the “other Sandhamn” (see above).
Below: Tranquil Hanö Bay.
Because of early morning fog at the southern exit of the Kalmar Sound we can only set off with some delay. Then we get caught in a calm on the Hanö Bay, so we don’t reach Simrishamn until the evening – a wonderful sunset at sea (see above) provides ample compensation.
As is so often the case when we are in this part of the world, the forecast is for westerly and south-westerly winds for the last 170 nautical miles or so – a conceivably bad starting position for sailing to the south-west. We decide to get up early to have a chance perhaps to at least set a 210° course for the island of Rügen. The beautiful sunset is followed a few hours later by an equally beautiful sunrise at sea:
Fortified by a salmon caviar pizza from the best pizzeria in the Gryt archipelago (“Fyruddens fina”), we set off on the long journey south and west. Unfortunately, fog banks slow us down again and again, despite plenty of wind. Nevertheless, we complete the 150 nautical miles from Fyrudden to Sandhamn/Blekinge without any incident. However, when we attempt to enter the harbour of Kalmar to buy new Swedish logbooks, the coast guard stops us: the IronMan swimming competition is taking place in the harbour entrance, of all places. After a short wait, the boys in blue escort us with their RIB into the harbour, where numerous Dutch, German, British and Danish yachts are eagerly awaiting the end of the race so that they can finally sail on. Among others, we meet the SY Weatherly, a picture-perfect, 20-metre-long mahogany racer that we had already met last year in Åstol.
