This is now the sixth year of our project to explore the UK and Europe by sail. We overwintered Ruby Tuesday in 2022/23 near Stockholm in Sweden and rejoined her in early May 2023.

From there, we set off for the Åland Islands in Finland to join a rally of other members of the Cruising Association for 12 days exploring the islands. Our son, who lives in Australia, joined us on the rally for two weeks – it was really nice to see him. The rally itself was a fantastic experience, and it was nice to meet a new set of people with the same interests as ourselves. Some we have kept in touch with since then.

From the Åland Islands we headed northwards up to the Högakusten (High Coast) of Sweden where my sister and her husband from NZ joined us for a week. The scenery there is stunning, caused by the land rising at about 1 cm per year due to isostatic rebound after the melting of the ice sheets. We visited the Högakusten islands of Mjältön, Ulvön and Trysunda with their picturesque fishing villages, Gävle churches, and museums, and did some nice walks and even swam.

We then headed up to the top of the Bay of Bothnia to reach the famous buoy at Törehamn marking the most northerly point in the Baltic that it is possible to sail to. We also took the opportunity to reach the Arctic Circle and Lapland by car to visit the Saami museum in Jokkmokk, and took the train to Rovaniemi, the reputed home of Santa Claus, where we visited the famous Arktikum museum on all things Arctic.

From there, we began the long journey south again, but this time coming back down the west coast of Finland. The water is much more shallower on that side, and we had to take great care to follow the buoyed channels. Unfortunately, we also had a lot of southerly winds which meant that we had to tack often to make any progress. Nevertheless, we stopped at a number of picturesque towns built from the traditional wood, with exquisite names such as Raahe, Kokkola, Waasa, Kristiiankaupunki and Uusikaupunki, and spent some time in the beautiful Kvarken Archipelago nature reserve that stretches almost all the way across to Sweden, and is full of wildlife.

It was time then to return to Sweden via the Åland Islands to Stockholm, where we were joined by our friends Hans & Gisela, and enjoyed exploring some of the islands in the Stockholm Archipelago with them.

We finished our trip near Stockholm where we left Ruby Tuesday for the winter. Overall, exhilarating sailing, marvellous scenery, friendly people, and a fascinating part of the world of which we knew very little before.

The following links take you to the individual blog posts of different legs of the journey as they unfolded:

1. Tummy upsets, noisy brakes, and running out of fuel
2. Old Norse cosmology, Paradise, and a new mooring technique
3. Swedish holidays, a Cold War relic, and a leaky schooner
4. Autonomy, brave postmen, and meat for the future
5. Fishy business, a champagne schooner, and an ancient meteorite crater
6. Witches’ trials, dressing the boat, and a Russian fortress
7. Goats aflame, a dinner surprise, and an iron-smelter
8. Thick fog, forgotten love, and a Russian sailor
9. A rebounding mountain, a putrid fish delicacy, and a goodbye
10. Fresh bread, a city fire, and a pagan resurgence
11. A disappearing port, the Arctic Circle, and Sámi culture
12. A balancing act, Arctic threats, and no baguettes
13. A captured British gunboat, the Kvarken archipelago, and a cool city
14. A lost cat, ships in the night, and a UNESCO World Heritage town
15. An unwelcome bump, star-crossed lovers, and a Russian lighthouse
16. A noisy harbour, a thunderstorm, and a mystery boat
17. A dead tree island, a mushroom hunt, and a tasty Swedish lunch
18. More repairs, winter preparations, and au revoir