Question for Baltic Sailors -- Routing

[Dockhead]

I've about 90% decided to move my boat to Finland this summer to be closer to my work. If the weather serves, I would take the first two weeks of May to sail from the Solent through the Kiel Canal and into the Baltic, getting as far as I can, then continuing by weekends if necessary. Then the boat would live in Helsinki or Kotka and the summer would be spent cruising the Finnish Archipelago and other parts of the Eastern Baltic.

So to you experienced Baltic sailors -- any suggested routes? Any tips? I will have some inexperienced sailors with me on the "delivery" part so I would want to take it fairly easy, day sailing as much as possible. But I'm not sure that the weather of that time is really conducive to this kind of cruise-travel. I would be grateful for your advice.

[TeddyDiver]

Bornholm-Visby for starters. From there either western route via Stockholm archipelago-Åland or eastern route to Estonia coast.
BR Teddy

Ps. Light to moderate winds most propably

[carstenb]

from the kiel canal, go to nysted in DK, the outer harbour has enough water for you, from there to bornholm, about 90nm. pick a harbour on the northeast side, wonderful small towns, good food etc, very picturesque. don't forget to spend a night on Christiansø, you'll not regret it. from there the swedish island of Gotland' or go straight north from borbholm into Hanø bay and enjoy the archepelago there. from gotland it is island hopping all the way to finland, unless you are adventurous and go to estonia, unexplored territory, lots of island and anchorages etc. if you decide to go that way, pm me. i have contacts in estonia.

if you go to noonsite and look under the baltic, you'll find a section marked "useful informations for baltic sailors" from the baltic sea cruisers network. i uploaded it and it will give you everything you need including electronic harbour pilots for all the countries,.

carsten

[Dockhead]

Such great information in a half hour!

Thanks, guys. I'm getting excited about the Baltic -- the more I hear, the better it sounds.


Prevailing winds are W as far as I know? Over the whole summer?

[carstenb]

usually from the southwest.

pm me when you have schedule, maybe we can meet up in a harbour in DK

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by carstenb

usually from the southwest.

pm me when you have schedule, maybe we can meet up in a harbour in DK

Sounds great! I'll let you know when we're coming through.

[carstenb]

Cameron,

PM me an email that I can send attachments to. I've got some things you'll find interesting. IN the meantime, you canstart by checking out Nick Hills website. It has ome of the bet travel description of a round trip in the Baltic I've yet found.


Baltic Guides


We'll be sailing to Estonia starting around July 1 (straight up in one go), and coming back down along the Latvian; Lithuanian, Polish and German coast. Total trip 4 weeks.

So if you're in the Estonian area, maybe we can have some sundowners together.

carsten

[jim_thomsen]

Thanks for the great Baltic information. In 2006 we were in the Netherlands and planning a trip to the Baltic....but after a winter in Zeeland we could only think about sunshine in the Med. Now, 8 years later, after spending 5 years in the tropics we are finally heading for the Baltic.
I will probably follow up with a lot of questions in the next couple of months.
Thanks again!

[ullar]

Welcome to Baltics Dockhead

Moored with the bow to the rock in some secluded natural harbor during a long Northern summer day -- life can't get much better. Your reasonable drought 1.8m (am I correct?) gives you an access to most anchorages and natural harbors around here. However, some of them, even quite popular ones, may be a bit tight for your length.

Considering Estonia (where I'm living) it's mostly marinas and some anchorages. As first few places to visit that pop up in my mind are Ruhnu island, Pärnu and Kuressaare towns on West coast, Dirhami marina on North-West and of course the Old Town marina in the center of Tallinn. In quite many marinas you'll find that you are charged just 20€ including electricity even for a yacht of your size. Eating and drinking is reasonably priced too, however, more expensive than in Poland for instance.

You seem to have developed a good network around here already but if you happen to need some specific information about Estonia or some help around here don't hesitate to contact me.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by ullar

Welcome to Baltics Dockhead

Moored with the bow to the rock in some secluded natural harbor during a long Northern summer day -- life can't get much better. Your reasonable drought 1.8m (am I correct?) gives you an access to most anchorages and natural harbors around here. However, some of them, even quite popular ones, may be a bit tight for your length.

Considering Estonia (where I'm living) it's mostly marinas and some anchorages. As first few places to visit that pop up in my mind are Ruhnu island, Pärnu and Kuressaare towns on West coast, Dirhami marina on North-West and of course the Old Town marina in the center of Tallinn. In quite many marinas you'll find that you are charged just 20€ including electricity even for a yacht of your size. Eating and drinking is reasonably priced too, however, more expensive than in Poland for instance.

You seem to have developed a good network around here already but if you happen to need some specific information about Estonia or some help around here don't hesitate to contact me.

Hi Ullar:

Thanks for that. My draft is actually 2.4 meters (I have the deep draft version of my boat) and I realize that there will be many Baltic harbors I can't get into.

I've spent a lot of time in Estonia over the years (had a project in Tallinn in the early '90's), but never been there by sea. Maybe remedy that in July during my summer cruise.

[Dockhead]

By the way, do you guys use zinc or aluminum anodes in the brackish Baltic water?

[mrm]

Zinc works fine, at least for us.

[ullar]

Zinc it is. And it gets eaten away just fine

[beneteau-500]

Dock head there was and article in one of the uk mags either yachting monthly or sailing today May issue who did the Baltic route they did the full circumnavigation from Scotland and back through the Baltic and med you may find it interesting as I think they did a full blog on it