It is a while since we posted an update and I know you have all been waiting with bated breath for the next instalment! We have made great progress and we are now in Kalmar in the south east of Sweden. We are 6 weeks into our trip and have sailed 860 miles with only 210 miles to go to Stockholm to celebrate Lorette's big birthday. The weather during the Baltic part of our trip can be described as varied with quite a lot of wind and while the UK was basking in warm spring temperatures it was definitely a bit chilly here. Going by the spring flowers it looks to be about a month behind southern UK. On the plus side we have found plenty of calmer gaps between the windy days, the long daylight hours are a bonus, no tides means that we can set of at a time of our choosing and the scenery and wildlife has been amazing. Also we have found the Danes and the Swedes, most of whom speak excellent English, extremely friendly and helpful. The reasonable marina costs have been a bonus, apart from Copenhagen we have been paying around £25-28 a night in Denmark and even less in Sweden (£20 or less) which also included washing and drying in the price (Denmark charged and it wasn't cheap). Generally this is less than half the visitors costs in the Solent marinas .

Leaving Klintholm, which we really enjoyed, we sailed around the headland of Mons Klint. Recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve these 70 million year old towering white chalk cliffs are gradually crumbling into the sea making the water beautifully clear. Similar to the white cliffs of Dover they stretched for miles as we made our way to our next destination, Præsto on the main Island of Sjjeland (Zeeland) The route to Præsto in Præsto fjord is a quite long and tortuous shallow channel which keeps the navigation skills focused. On arrival the wind had got up and rather than face a very difficult box mooring we found a rather exposed alongside berth. The view from our berth was delightful with marshy areas and plenty of wildlife and the town was small but pretty, originally a fishing village. It was blowing hard for the next day so we stayed a couple of nights and then set off for Dragør (19th May) which has a good marina that is close to Copenhagen airport where would meet up with Hollie and George who were flying in on 22nd May for 5 days..

Dragør marina is large with plenty of space and we managed to get an alongside berth on a hammerhead (end of a pontoon). The marina had washing and dyring facilities and the town and supermarket was nearby so we could catch up with jobs and provision before 'the kids' arrived. The town is another very attractive former fishing town with old buildings and a cobbled high street, while doing some shopping we were tempted by the ice-cream parlour and opted for a freshly made Belgian waffle with a whippy ice-cream and chocolate topping, naughty but nice. It was great to see Hollie and George who arrived on schedule, a short bus ride from the airport. Our plans had been to do a bit of sailing to a couple of places then end up in Copenhagen city. However the weather was against us with quite strong northerlies so we decide to take the short trip directly round to Copenhagen the next day. True to form it was a blowy day but it was only 12 miles (2 hours). Part way there the wind got up and without warning we were engulfed in a hailstorm. I was left at the wheel with hailstones lashing my face while 'the kids' beat a hasty retreat down below, Hollie perhaps not the hardy sailor she once was! We sailed down the channel that runs into Copenhagen city, an impressive way to enter, past a few cruise liners, that are de rigueur in large coastal cities these days, and past 'Den lille havfrau' with hoards of onlookers at this diminutive statue. Unveiled in 1913, The little mermaid was a gift from the Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen who was inspired by ballerina Ellen Price who danced the lead roll in the eponymous ballet. Apparently Ellen Price would not model in the nude for the sculptor Edvard Eriksen so Eriksen's wife Eline posed for the sculpture. After passing the impressive Danish Royal Yacht we reached or destination, Nyhaven, a small canal offshoot right in the centre of Copenhagen. We were expecting the visitors quay to be busy, in high season people are rafting here 2-3 abreast. To our surprise it was virtually empty with only two motor boats and plenty of quayside to choose from. Due to the weather we decided to stay here for the duration of Hollie's trip and spend time exploring the city. Nyhaven itself is a popular and attractive area with a large number of bars and restaurants with tripper boats passing for most of the day. Not a quiet place but a great atmosphere for a few days. It was understandably more expensive than we are used to but at £45 a night including electricity for a central capital city location, compared to say £60 a night for our boat in Swanick marina, that isn't bad.

The next few days we explored the city. Hollie and George marched off on their grand walking tour (they regularly do 25 to 30000 steps around London at the weekend), and we took the more leisurely approach of the hop-on-hop-off bus which covered most of the sights. We had a quick stop to see the Little Mermaid by land, a bit underwhelming, and then off to Tivoli Gardens. We decided against the rides in Tivoli and walked around the beautifully laid out gardens with a lunch stop en route, well worth the visit. The following day we decided to visit Freetown Christiania an area that was a short walk from Nyhaven. This is labelled as an intentional commune or an anarchist commune which began in 1971 as a squatted disused military base. The commune is large and has a hippy vibe with shops, cafes, bars etc and 850-1000 residents. They have their own laws, their own flag and it is managed by the community as a self governing society. The main drag known as Pusher street has a chequered history of drug pushing and violence but this has been cleaned up and local laws include no guns, knives, bulletproof vests, hard drugs, gangs or stealing, also no cars no running and no photos unless a sign says its OK. It is a very interesting place and despite its past reputation well worth a visit. We finished Hollie and George's trip with really good Thai meal and the following day they were off on the Metro to the airport.

After the 'kids' left we set off for Sweden which is of course just across the Øresund (Sound). The south west corner of Sweden south of Copenhagen has a large spit (Skanor) which adds quite a few miles on the way round to the south Swedish coast. However there is a short canal that cuts across it which saves a lot of time so we headed there, raised the Swedish courtesy flag and stopped at the marina at the start of the canal in Llunhusen. The following day we were off to the main destination generally used as a stopover when traversing the south of Sweden, Ystad. We managed to sail all the way running before a f4-5 westerly. Unfortunately outside Ystad the mainsail jammed going into the mast and we spent a while sorting that out in a rather choppy sea. Not sure what the problem is but there was a slight 'belly at the bottom of the luff which we couldn't pull up with the main halyard. Will need to drop the sail when next possible and check to see if halyards are crossed at the masthead. Meanwhile the short term fix is to leave the last few inches of main furled in (Apologies for sending our non-sailing friends to sleep at this point).

Ystad is another very attractive town with very old timbered buildings and an old cobbled town square. We stayed for a couple of nights before heading with some trepidation round to Hållevik which sits in the north west corner of the large Hanøbukt (Hanø Bay) that is affectionately know as little Biscay. However we had a great sail on a broad reach with no storms or mountainous seas in sight. The entrance to Hållevik is tricky with shallows and rocks but when inside the old fishing harbour is lovely. We moored on a good wooden quay on the inside of a massive granite sea wall in a very tranquil spot. It is just a small village with a couple of bar/restaurants but good marina facilities including a free to used washing machine and drier. We stayed an extra day and went off cycling to a nature reserve with a lovely woodland walk with birdsong everywhere. A highlight was a group of Great Spotted Woodpeckers searching for food in the trees above us.

I had set my heart on going to Utklippan a small rocky outcrop (three islands) with a little sheltered harbour which was across the bay at the most southerly eastern corner of Sweden. I had previously been there in 2008 on my last Baltic trip with Di when Hollie was 8 together with Suzanne and David Chappell, and I thought it was a magical place. A very welcome calm crossing brought us to this rocky outcrop with its narrow entrance into an internal harbour that was cut out of the rock by fisherman. The island has a lighthouse first commissioned in 1789 which was initially powered by a colza oil (rapeseed) lamp which was then replaced by kerosene lamp. It was powered electrically since 1948 but was finally switched off in 2008. The island is designated a nature reserve which is richly deserved as it is home to rare species of toads, earless seals and is a nesting place for many sea birds. From our berth we were treated to the site of a common plovers nest with three eggs just a few yards away on a stony grass bank. Lorette stood guard for the three days that we were there making sure other boat owners kept away from disturbing the birds. The parents were amazing each taking it in turns to sit on the nest following a period of an hour or so off feeding. We were rewarded and privileged to see two of the eggs hatch and the precocial (proper word) chicks starting to roam from the nest to feed themselves within hours of hatching. If a hungry herring gull flew over the chicks would immediately squat following the parents alarm call. Probably impossible to see on a stony backdrop but highlighting the vulnerability of these tiny chicks. When we were wandering around the island hawkeye (Lorette) suddenly said 'Oh my God it's a Nightjar'. And there in a little clearing surrounded by bushes was a nightjar sitting on a rock asleep. These nocturnal birds are rare but can sometimes be heard at night but are usually very difficult to see. The bird just lay unmoving on the rock while I photographed it. We came later in the day and it was still there in the same place but was gone the following day. It was almost certainly a migratory bird resting from its trip from Africa to its breeding ground. We were sad to leave such a beautiful place but next day we headed off on a longish trip to our next destination, Kalmar which is a large town with good facilities for provisioning and refuelling before the trip to the Skargard (Stockholm archipelago). More of that in our next instalment. Photos in the gallery to follow.