I haven't posted in a while so here is an update... We were in Germany for the Ancora Yacht Festival where Liajnad was one of 2 Najad boats on display. We were put up in a hotel for the weekend and rented a car to explore the greater area. We enjoyed our weekend but were very ready the get back on our boat.

We then had to map out our next month, we fly back to Minnesota on June 26 and need to be on Stockholm by then where the boat will be stored. So we started working our way back up to Sweden, did our first overnight sail on Liajnad and a few other stops and are now in Kristianopel. One of our winches is not working correctly and we cannot get it apart to fix it so we have an appointment to have repaired on Thursday further north. We are also hoping that get our whisker pole - it finally arrived from the US.

We have been "running into" a lot of the same boats in each marina as we sail north
Lots of Germans coming to Sweden for the summer. Marinas were about twice as expensive in Germany and Denmark compared to Sweden and there are so many more areas to anchor in Sweden compared to Germany.

We are setting into our new boat and getting more comfortable each day.

We left Gedser on Wednesday around noon and sailed around 110 nautical miles in 18 hours, our first overnight sail on Liajnad, arriving around 6 am. Great sail with mostly downwind 12-20 knots of wind. We had some shipping lanes to deal with. After arriving in Ronne we slept for a few hours and then explored. Friday we sailed to Allinge on the other side of the island and then took a walk/hike to the castle ruins. Allinge is a small, old harbor but really neat. There is a large democracy gathering starting on Sunday so lots of workers setting up tents, etc. We had to move our boat at 9 pm to avoid a crane!

We left Österby at 6 am and had a great sail south to Anholt- another island. Mostly broad reach but when we flew the code zero more of a closed reach. Richard took a nap during the sail so I had my first time at the helm alone. För a while i couldn't see land in any direction and no other boats and with Richard below deck it was an odd feeling being all alone. This is a great little port, we are here before the busy season but there are some restaurants, bars and ice cream places open. Beautiful beaches! We have read that within a 6 week period over 60,000 people visit this island. Wish we could stay longer.

On Tuesday we left Henan around 11 am and set sail to Skagen, Denmark. First we had to sail through the inland channels around Orust to reach the open ocean but once we did we had a downwind sail the entire way - it was rolly but otherwise very pleasant. It was sunny and warm and winds varied from 12 - 18 knots. We arrived around 9 pm in Skagen. The next morning we explored the coastal town. There was a cruise ship docked for the day with about 3,000 passengers but this town could handle the tourist traffic. There were lots of restaurants, shops and historic buildings to wander around. We had an incredible Danish pastry and tea and then a little later lunch. We left around 2 pm after filling Liajnad up with diesel - first time. We then sailed to the island of Laeso and the port of Overby - arriving around 9 pm. The sail was varied - started with 18 knots of wind, then it kept dropping to a low of around 8 and then back up to around 18 when we arrived. There were 18 tanker ships anchored outside of Skagen that we had to sail around on our way out. Overby is much quieter than Skagen and we are enjoying a day at dock. We found a fresh fish shop and bought some langoustines - they are related to lobsters and look like a cross between a crayfish and lobster. They were quite tasty. Tomorrow we leave very early - 2 am - for a 90 plus mile day.

I can't believe it is April 1. In 10 days we will travel to Sweden to take ownership of our new Najad 451CC, LIAJNAD. LIAJNAD is an acronym for Life Is A Journey Not A Destination.

We have been waiting for this boat and this dream for a long time and now that it is getting close - it doesn't seem real. We are packing and trying to determine what we need to bring from the US and what we can easily purchase in Sweden.