Overnighter to V�ndburg, Gotland
19 July 2008
Sun from a clear blue sky, and a light SW breeze saw us leave in the morning.
There were some swell at sea, and this combined w�th a rather weak wind made the sails and booms hit back and forth dispite our rigged preventers. We made a decent speed of 4-5 knots but as everyone knows, who'd tried it, a sail like this is not that nice for any longer stretch of time. After a couple of hours we decided to change course for V�ndburg on the SE tip of Gotland. A beam reach at 5 knots with the booster, main and mizzen was a lot more pleasant.
It looked to be one of those spectacular sumer nights, with a clear sky and a full moon (!) but just before sunset, and sadly enough, they skies turned gray, and we were denied the spectacle.
As a sailor you have to take is at it comes, and at 2,30 in the morning, the wind died out completely. Becalmed and still 60 M to go. Down with the booster and then we both hit the bunk to get some sleep. Since it was officially my watch, I woke up when the wind came back at 4,30. Hoisted the booster, sheeted them and set Helmer, the trustworthy old Aries windvane to work. Then a 15 minutes cat-nap as usual.
We made 3-4 knots the rest of the trip and arrived at V�ndburg in the afternoon. It is a small fishing harbour with no village or other signs of human settlings nearby. Actually it is two harbours. The first one, buit in the 20-ies when the fishing fleet was motorized and needed better shelter from the sea. This harbour has been exposed to sanddrift over the years and has a depth of a mere 1,50 meters now. The new harbour, was built with dynamite. They simply blewed the limestone away in teh early 80-ies to make a 4,5 meter deep harbour for the now bigger trawler fishing vessels.
Shortly after, the fishing declined here as elsewhere, and the harbour is now mostly used a few busy summer weeks for guesting pleasure craft.