Wednesday 25 July
We set off in a leisurely way mid-morning in a light Southerly breeze, motored for two hours and were then able to sail a lovely close reach under mainsail and gennaker, our beautiful statement red sail in a sea of white. Crossing the shipping lane between the Western Åland Islands and the East coast of Sweden, we noticed once again ‘Escale’ on our AIS monitor – an even stranger coincidence the second time around. This time we were close enough to see her through our very powerful binoculars, and identify her as a catamaran. AIS told us she’s 11 metres in length – and 6m wide! Unsure of her nationality, we weren’t quite confident enough to call her over VHF, but wondered if she’d noticed us?
As the afternoon breeze backed to the Southeast, we swapped the gennaker for both foresails, and performed the courtesy flag changing ceremony at the border. With the coast of Sweden gradually improving in definition, we called a cargo ship to be sure they knew we were in front of them; they confirmed they would pass astern of us and we exchanged polite wishes for a “Good Watch”.
Covering 35 Miles in a comfortable less-than-seven hours, we tucked into a cosy anchorage just North of Arholma marina, just into the Northern end of the Swedish archipelago. As dusk fell, we spotted two otters bounding along the rocks at the water’s edge.