Into the wind

La vie au fil de l'eau et du vent    11 ans ~ 56’700 Mn ~ 680 escales

We arrive in Ireland having covered 580 nautical miles from Hendaye to Baltimore after four days and nine hours, sailing across the Bay of Biscay and the Celtic Sea.
After the « sailboat parking lot », where L’Envol was one of a hundred masts over last winter, we enjoy being the only boat at anchor. Although it is cold, life is good under blue skies and sunshine, which according to the locals only happens once a year! The fair winds invite us to sail along the west coast of Ireland, known for its inhospitable climate and unpredictable weather.
In this lunar landscape, with few trees and even fewer forests, we are able to climb two mountains: Mount Brandon (952m) and Mweelrea (814m), two coastal peaks with breathtaking views!

The weather has been exceptional for the past two weeks, and we still haven’t experienced the legendary Scottish rain. Let’s hope it lasts!
Crossing the channel between Great Britain and the Orkney Islands, the Pentland Firth, was critical. Currents of 5 knots or more pushed us towards the island of Swona on our port side. With the sails tightly trimmed, assisted by the outboard motor at full throttle, we made it through, but we were on a collision course with the island until we passed the southern tip of South Ronaldsay on our starboard side, which straightened the current behind us. Even a cargo ship, which we were able to see the track of using the VHF AIS receiver, made a significant detour.
At these latitudes of 58° North, we have daylight from 4 AM to 10:30 PM which is great because we can sleep in, meaning sleep during the day, without feeling guilty!

Norway dazzled us with its unique contrast of sea and mountains. After Ireland and Scotland, void of trees, it is wonderful to see all these forests! We were able to climb a peak near one huge glacier, setting off directly from the fjord where L’Envol was moored: a 1’450-metre climb from sea level, ending with our feet in the snow.

The North Sea caused us a few setbacks: water came in through the cockpit lockers during our crossing to Norway, then before rounding the northern tip of Denmark, a freak wave came in through the companionway, flooding 80% of the boat with at least 100 litres of seawater!
Everything was floating in the lockers, even the bed in the bow with its feather duvet was soaking wet. Fortunately, the computer was untouched, as we were still 24 hours away from destination. We had to bail out a lot of water underway and then continue with rinsing and drying everything in the marina and at anchor. It is the third day of cleaning. We even had to remove the floor boards to access the bilge! It has been a mammoth amount of work and a blow to morale, but the process is coming to an end and we can already breathe a little easier. Nature can be pretty harsh sometimes, but we keep returning!

Sweden, one has to agree with Bernard Moitessier, is truly a paradise for cruising: sheltered by a labyrinth of islands, neither swell nor wind waves can be felt here. What a pleasure it is to sail on a flat sea! The shallow depths allow yachts to anchor almost anywhere, and the changing winds, barely slowed by the low islands, make it possible to sail in all directions without having to tack – it is an unrivalled playground and exploration area!
Having spent a month in Estonia, we set off again. With the prevailing south-westerly winds, leaving the Baltic Sea is more delicate, as the favourable weather windows are short and the stops therefore numerous. We discover Finland and then, once again, the east coast of Sweden.

We have finally made it to Tallinn, Estonia, where I come from. From Hendaye in France we travelled through five European countries and made 47 stops, covering nearly 3’000 nautical miles and clocking up 600 hours at sea to reach our destination. Christophe met my family. He spoke English to my mother and brother, but my father only speaks Russian and Ukrainian, so the situation was quite comical, unless I was there to act as an interpreter.
We arrived just in time to enjoy the massive cultural event, the National Song Celebration, that takes place for one weekend in July every five years: thousands of choir singers in national costumes, an impressive crowd of smiles in the rain and mud! It was almost midnight, when we came tacking across the Bay of Tallinn, but still light, which is typical of these high latitudes (59° North). The festival flame, lit at the top of a tower, became our landmark. Although there was no-one but us to witness this moment, it felt like we were making a grand entrance.

Autumn is here with its shimmering colors and we need to find a place to winter over. The Kiel Canal in Germany, which connects the Baltic with the North Sea, is a shortcut of several hundred miles, and we were even able to sail 70% of this inland waterway thanks to a rare window of east-southeast winds. In the canal, navigation under sail and engine simultaneously is permitted, but using the wind power alone is not, and of course, our purist ways didn’t sit well with the cargo ship pilots. Once again, the laws of nature and those of man have clashed, not without unnecessary stress!
Back in the North Sea our southward migration in search of milder temperatures was slowed by several periods of bad weather. To sum up, we had to wait for two weeks in Brunsbüttel, Germany, one week in Nauerna, Netherlands, and then another week in Audierne, Brittany, to be able to sail in good conditions across the North Sea, the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay to Hendaye, our winter base camp.
During this journey, L’Envol sailed along the coasts of ten European countries, covered nearly 5’000 nautical miles (9’000 km), and made more than 90 stops. The boat also travelled through six canals with locks: the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, the access to Stockholm in Sweden, the Kiel Canal in Germany, and the canals of the Netherlands. The inland waterways add up to a total of 170 nautical miles of our overall trip, and we only used the engine for about forty nautical miles, the rest, nearly 80%, we were able to sail. On land, we will have explored over 3’000 kilometers on foot, by bicycle, hitchhiking, or using public transport.
2025 saw us develop a certain migratory pattern to avoid the harshest winter weather with the hope to return north upon the better season’s coming. Here on the Spanish border the temperatures, even during the coldest winter months, rarely drop below 10 degrees. Last year’s experience shows that it should do, and we can continue living aboard without suffering too much from cold. Let us see how we go.