With absolutely perfect wind, we cast off from Byviken on Holmön. What we couldn’t have predicted was that this wind would carry us nearly 50 nautical miles — a gentle start with the spinnaker, later turning into a broad reach/beam reach* by the early hours. The most entertaining part was that the wind kept increasing throughout the night, giving us an almost utopian sail, pushing us steadily at 5.4 knots for several hours — until the sun rose and ruined everything. For about two hours it was absolute hell: the wind died completely while the waves remained high, tossing the boat violently back and forth. There was no control, and everything flew around the cabin! That was, of course, exactly when Anders and Jennifer were meant to swap night watches, but I didn’t think that would have been right under the circumstances.
As time went by, the land breeze picked up, the sails filled again, and we made good speed toward Ulvön. It didn’t feel right to wake Jennifer just so I could sleep for two hours when the harbour was already coming into view.
Of course, entering a harbour always brings its share of mishaps, big or small. For us, it was dropping an orange mug overboard — which immediately triggered a dramatic on-board rescue mission, tacking back against the wind to retrieve it. The rescue was a complete success, and our pride was restored.
When we finally arrived at Ulvön around 11 o’clock, it was time for me, Anders, to get some sleep, while Jennifer could peacefully explore the island’s history. My sleep was abruptly interrupted four hours later — a watch had fallen into the water right beneath the boat. It was Jennifer’s. This sparked deep boat sorrow, lasting another four hours. By coincidence, we started chatting with our boat neighbour about the seabed and the depth. He mentioned that his neighbour had once gone down to adjust some anchors and that the bottom was muddy. This, in turn, triggered a rescue attempt. On the first dive, the watch was once again back around Jennifer’s wrist.
*“Broad reach” means the wind comes diagonally from behind; “beam reach” means the wind comes directly from the side.