It may be the last occasion to sail this year. It was blowing hard yesterday but forecast for today was milder so I decided to give Louve a spin.
We launched in our local harbor. The wind was from SE, during the day it was to shift to S. Cloudy but warm, 15 degrees. The plan was to sail on Björköfjärden, on the other side of my island. It is a broad body of water, it usually blows steadily there. And views are always spectacular.

This time I took the engine. I did not want to spend most of my time tacking in narrows of Vätösundet. There was no wind anyway when we launched at 11.

Once we reached Norrtäljeviken the wind appeared, as usual. I went through the narrow passage on engine.

Shut down the noise and rose the sail!

I put one reef in the sail, prudently assuming that it will blow heavy gusts in the fjord. The sky was gathering clouds, giving it more and more dark look as the time went by.

There was some trouble further away from me, I heard distant calls on VHF and SRS helicopter was on the way from Norrtälje.

It was a pleasant ride, clause hauled in Norrtäljeviken.

One of the benefits of having a centerboarder is that most of marked dangers are far deeper than my draft. We can sail past fair-lead marks with no issues.

As I was getting closer to Flaten I passed by Matts in his tugboat, pulling a raft filled with equipment. Apparently NSS is closing the season on their island.

Leaving Norrtälieviken I started beating to round Käringsö, to enter the Björköfjärden.

So the ride begun! The wind got stiffer so I was happy to have a reef already in the sail. We were sailing beam reach most of the time. The swell was rather high, remains of yesterday strong wind so Louve was rolling heavily. I had to steer actively to avoid her go to the wind. Waves were passing under us, lifting the boat periodically with loud hissing.

The sea was almost empty of boats, just a few power launches passed by. Only one other sail was in vicinty, going the same course as we.

At the height of Fiskebyn the waves calmed down so Louve stopped rolling. I could finally eat my sandwiches and drink hot tea (with honey).
As it was getting late I skipped the idea of sailing into Fiskebyn bay. We sailed pass them only.

Soon we were at the North peninsula of Vätö. There are small rocky island around it and shallow water but deep enough for Louve to skim above. We took a shortcut.

Entering Vätösund on North side. Almost no wind there. I dropped the sail and started the engine.

When we were passing by Rosättra boatyard the wind picked up but it was straight in the face so we continued on engine all the way to our harbor.

Vätöbron was lurking in the horizon, the sky was getting darker as the evening was on its way.

We arrived at the slip at 17 so it was a good half-day sailing, with attractions of eagles in the sky and elk getting a bath in the sea on a nearby island.

Retrieving Louve went well, we drove home happy after the late summer sailing.

Building Louve can be found here.