Time is of the essence

Tuesday 8 June. Out to Trelleborg before breakfast to find a cash machine - the Pro wouldn’t take cards. A friendly bus driver understood the situation and gave a free ride to town.When I got back to the boat the new part had already been fitted and everything was working like never before. Cast off at Gisloev Laeget at 11.30 and out to sea.

Made a phone call to the Swedish military info phone to hear that there was no shooting on the coastal range areas, which allowed a shorter course along the coast. The military didn’t seem particularly amused about a suggestion about them having run out of budget provision for ammo, but appreciated our joy about sailing through their area. Mr Mountain, our trusty weatherman and naval colleague in Finland had given us very accurate info about wind force and direction, so the sails were pulling nicely but not quite at the desired speed, so we decided to do motor assisted sailing.

Chief Eng and Law took the first 4-hour-watch and I plotted the route all the way to Oeland Island where we’ll reassess the course with the wind speed and direction in mind. Doing motor sailing, we’ll need to be conscious of the fuel situation and although we’d like to push on as fast as we can, we’ll probably need to refuel around Gotland, the latest. Fuss and others too wouldn’t mind seeing Visby, the main town of the beautiful Island in the middle of the Baltic, so we might well decide to pop in.for a couple of photos, souvenirs and some diesel. The weather is quite nice with the sun peeking through some high shreds of clouds. Things are looking up again!

The 13th of June will possibly be borderline stormy with 40 knots of wind on the Gulf of Finland, so we're now dreaming of arrival on the 12th some time. Will not bother to plot all the way through but ain't gonna be wasting time now.

Ahab