Sailing around the World: Day One. #10

It took three years. Three years from the day Ryan texted me with that crazy idea: why not quit our jobs, buy a boat and go sail the world, and see where the winds take us! We had no idea how to sail, knew nothing about boats, and had only been dating for three months. I said yes, and the adventure began. On Tuesday the 5th of June 2018, three years later, we began our voyage on our boat, Polar Seal. We first sailed from Nacka to Nynäshamn, at the doors of Stockholm’s archipelago, before attempting to cross the Baltic from Nynäshamn to Bornholm. Sailing Stockholm’s archipelago always is a bit shaky. That day, we were sailing downwind, which is always a bit deceiving, as the winds get funneled between the islands and shifting in all directions. The day was a success, and we arrived in Nynäshamn without any issue. We wish we could say the same about our attempt to cross the Baltic between Nynäshamn and Bornholm the next day. As soon as we exited the harbor, the winds got uncomfortably high, blowing 30 knots straight to our face. We ended up battling against waves and decided to turn to a nearby anchorage to wait for some better weather. That’s the time my camera chose to fall in the cabin and our GPS/chart plotter broke. We made the decision to turn around, go back to port and ended up back in Nynäshamn. "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!" - Randy Pausch We set sails again on the next day, and made a successful, uneventful passage to Bornholm. Next: we are going to Kiel, where we will take the Kiel canal before crossing the North Sea. Right now, we are in Denmark, Rönne, adjusting to our new lifestyle and enjoying every bit of it. Let the sailing adventure begin!