Our position is 55:57.296N 15:42.228E

Distance covered 52.6 Nm

We were away early again the next day. I never actually set foot on land while we were there, as the people on the next boat dealt with our bow warps. There was a nice force 3 and we were sailing fast but as we moved along the side of the island, the wind strengthened and we had to put a reef in and roll the genoa. The sea was quite rough as well so coupled with the cold the passage seemed to be deteriorating and it had really only just begun. Later the wind backed but it was still quite rolly and about half way to our destination we had to cross a deep water channel used by big ships and it was just like Piccadilly Circus. Ted slept, while for 2 hours I had ships of all sizes coming at me from every direction. He came back on deck just as the last one was passing and I’m not sure he believed how busy it had been.

  Leaving Nexo & Denmark

The start of Piccadilly Circus and see how rolly it was

I thought this guy changed course to miss us

 but later realised it was probably this beast

Things calmed down and we took the reef out and unrolled the genoa but as we approached the rocky outcrop that was our destination it blew up to 30 knots, which made the tricky entrance even worse. Utklippan harbour was blasted out of solid granite to provide a port of refuge for fishermen and is now popular with Swedes wanting to get away from it all. Fortunately it wasn’t too crowded when we chose the leeward entrance (shallower but smoother water) and we were able to tie up without too much difficulty (but requiring skilful jumping) against a wall lined with large tyres – leaving black marks on the side of the boat, before we sorted out the fender board.

First sight of Utklippan

Approaching the narrow entrance

Just inside the outer harbour but still rocky

The inner harbour and our berth with tyres

Unfortunately because of the configuration of the two entrances we had very limited land available to us and were unable to walk far without blowing up the dinghy. However later there was plenty of excitement. While we were cooking we realised a lot of people were standing on the edge and looking out into the outer part of the harbour. When we went to see what was going on there was a large Finnish yacht aground just inside the entrance. Several people were trying to help with a warp ashore and a lot of good advice. Nothing much seemed to be helping but there was nothing we could do so we went back to finish our supper. Later he seemed to have made it out side but he didn’t come back in so we wondered if he was just too deep draughted. Most of the harbour is 2.5-3m so that didn’t really seem likely, but it seemed to be the only explanation.

Views around the rocks bearing in mind the limited access we had. The buildings are on a separate rock and comprise a youth hostel & warden’s house

The heart tells you it is a composting toilet

The unfortunate Finn aground in the outer harbour but with a line ashore at this point

Eider ducks (but not enough for an eiderdown) and someone with an eye for our dinner. There are supposed to also be rare toads, but I couldn’t find any of those

This week’s sunset