Sailing to Norrtälje. Or not.
The weather was perfect, typical sailing day, with clear sky, good amount of wind and warm air.
I launched at 11 from our local harbor. The wind was from S and SE and I wanted to sail to Norrtälje so that meant that I will have to beat against the wind in Vätösund.
I put up a reef as it was gusty, with blows at 10 m/s or a bit higher. In Vätösund it was rather calm but I knew that Norrtäljeviken will have lots of wind. No need for drama so one reef was set.
It took me a good 90 minutes to get through Vätösund, at some points I had to brail the sail and use oars. Doldrums - high Vätö coast was shielding us from the South wind.
Entering Norrtäljeviken from my channel is through narrow passage, with rocky coast on one side and a pile of rocks on the other. The wind was straight ahead so I needed to carefully plan my tacks, to glide through the passage on one tack.
I did not manage.
I had to make very short and nervous tack inside the narrows. Good that a motorboater on the other side waited patiently for me to get through.
Going back through this place was easier - I had the wind behind me.
There was wind, finally! I was glad I reefed prudently, gusts were really speeding us up!
I wanted to round islands on the other side, not used by big boats. We see this side of the gulf when we drive along the coast but big boats avoid it since there are shallows and stones in places. With low draft boat like Louve this was a place to go.
Out in the wider part of the gulf. We were sailing in half-wind, comfortably sitting on the sole and drinking tea as the boat glided through.
I intentionally did not take the engine. There were motorboaters around already, I did not want to add to their noise.
Getting through almost all the way to Norrtälje, I could already see marina lurking behind the last island. And then I got second thoughts - why would I want to sail there? It was good as it was already here - why not turn back and enjoy the wind and views, without spoiling it with a city?
So I did, turned back and sailed around the islands - now on the fair-lead. Almost - I kept close to islands, to get a better view. That almost cost me a crash when I missed a big stone when I was passing it. If not for cormorants sitting on it I would have missed it entirely. It is marked on the chart, I just got too nonchalant with navigation at that moment.
The wind was shifting so again I had to beat into it. That went well until I entered Vätösund again. The wind died shortly after high Vätö shielded us with its rocks.
Part of the way to the harbor went on oars. Louve is a bit hard to row for longer periods but that was a good workout.
We entered our local harbor with no wind. Only when I was almost inside the sleep it started to blow, pushing us almost into Y-booms.
Retrieval went well, I just needed to wait until motorboats wake calmed enough to winch up Louve onto her trailer.
We ended sailing after 5 hours. Enough to have good time and to get home when the day is still high.