54:36.09N  18:47.60E

 

Farewell lunch in Gdansk for Steve, some final food shopping and then a spirited sail across the bay of Gdansk back to HEL. Forecast was Westerly F5/6 gusting to F9. Very sheltered in the bay and we made a comfortable 5.5 knots with Mizzen and part Genoa, and no engine for a change.

 

We are now waiting for the wind and waves to subside before doing an overnight 100 mile passage to Klaipeda in Lithuania past the Russian enclave of Kalaningrad, which we will be giving a wide berth.

 

Our main forecasting tool is passageweather.com, which I can thoroughly recommend to any sailor.  Select North Atlantic, Eastern North Atlantic, Baltic Sea to see the wind and waves in 3 hour intervals for several days ahead.  Current plan is to leave HEL at last light on Sunday evening, which gives us light winds and calming seas.