Who would want to sail to Luleå? – The answer!

You might remember this question, which was put to us by several Swedish sailors, all obviously from the South, before we set off in May towards the top of the Baltic. Well now, we have the answer.

We have had one of the best sailing in years and we have come to a place where the weather is more clement, the summer is dryer and hotter than in the South, the light is extraordinary, the water temperature (near the coast) is 20º to 22ºC, the landscape is varied and interesting, the harbours are relatively empty in the height of summer and we have encountered so many very friendly people, mostly Swedish and Finnish and some Germans, who consider the top of the Baltic as their favourite cruising ground. And yes, the mosquitoes are a fact of life but not more than in the Stockholm archipelago.

Getting ready to leave...

We have reached our final destination now, the Norrkust Marina in Båtskärsnäs. It is a large and very well managed boat yard. Everyone seems to talk highly about it. We are now in the slow process of preparing Easy Rider for the harsh winter. We were advised to leave her outside on the hard by Michael Bank, a German sailor and former film maker who has lived here for 20 or more years and who now also works with the boat yard.

He says that the winter is so dry that -40ºC does not harm the boat. His boat is sometimes buried in snow so deep, that he can climb up to his boat without a ladder. We are here near the Arctic Circle after all! We are almost convinced, but not quite yet… we have another few days to decide. We will let you know in our next and last post from our 2011 cruise.