Tomali, Regina 43 Stenungsund Sweden – Pomer, Croatia, July – September ’25
Sunday, July 20 – Gothenburg
Yesterday afternoon I arrived in Stenungsund and, to my surprise, Amir and Mary picked me up at Ghotenburg airport They had already arrived on Thursday and rented a car for convenience.
Our first meeting was very pleasant. After a full tour of the boat, we went out for Indian food.
Today Amir and I adjusted how the dinghy was hanging in the davits. It was crooked, and if it rained, a lot of water would have collected in it. It took some puzzling, but we managed.
Then we went out on the water to get a feel for the boat. Everything went smoothly at first—the boat handles very well under engine power, and the bow thruster is strong.
The visibility from the cockpit, and even from the saloon, is fantastic. Thanks to the different layout below deck, typical for Scandinavian built boats, the saloon has great outward views.
I also wanted to try out the mainsail. That didn’t go so well… The classic fear with in-mast furling is that the sail jams. It had never happened to me before—but now it did. The last bit got stuck and was completely jammed.
With the mainsail nearly fully out, stuck and not able to furl it in, we obviously couldn’t go back to the marina.
We anchored in the lee of an island, and I went up the mast. Luckily I had brought all my gear. After nearly an hour of fiddling, I got it free and we could furl the sail back in.
Back in the marina, we loosened the backstay to straighten the mast. The bend in the mast we thought was causing the furling troubles.
Tuesday, July 22 – Departure from Stenungsund
On Monday, three technicians came aboard to finish some jobs that should have been done earlier—mainly installing 12V outlets.
That turned out to be lucky, because during Sunday’s trial we discovered the wind instrument wasn’t working.
For me, that was a showstopper, and Amir agreed. It had to be fixed. Fortunately, the electrician quickly found the problem—a broken wire under the mast—and solved it.
Today we set off on the route Amir had planned. Let’s see how far we will get.
Wednesday, July 23 – Långedrag
We didn’t get very far. At first we sailed downwind on the genoa, but when we needed to head up and set the mainsail, it jammed again.
We found a sheltered anchorage to troubleshoot. We managed to furl it in ande out but not on a reliable way. not for a trip all the way down to Croatia.
Mary in the meantime managed to get a hold of Jonas, who had helped them before. He could come over to Långedrag the next morning.
So early today we motored to a marina in Långedrag. Jonas was already waiting.
He found three issues:
- Mast tension was off – quickly fixed.
- The battens at the top and bottom were too thick and caused wrinkles.
- The sail itself was old and deformed, rolling in with creases and doubling up when unfurled, which caused jams.
He himself couldn’t help us but luckily Jonas knew a sailmaker who was able the same day even to adjust the sail and make new battens.
Friday July 25 – Varberg, Sweden
The sailmaker worked hard and came back with a modified mainsail, but when we hoisted it, the problem was still there.
He was clearly disappointed himself. To be fair though, he had only worked from Jonas’s description and hadn’t seen the sail hoisted himself.
So we took the sail down again and the sailmaker promised to fix it. Next morning he came back, and this time it was perfect. As soon as everything was ready, we set off.
It was a beautiful sailing day—great weather, 10–12 kts beam reach, and we flew along at 7.5–8 kts SOG.
By 6 pm we arrived in Varberg marina. The only option was rafting up alongside another boat. That was new for Amir and Mary, but a good experience.
Tomorrow we’ll leave early, since the boat we’re rafted up wanted to leave at 7:30.
Sunday July 27 – Anchorage near Rørvig Havn, Denmark
We left at 7:15 for Torekov, about 45nm south. On a beam reach, we made almost 8 kts SOG the whole way.
By 1 pm we arrived and rafted up again. The harbor was already busy, but the harbormaster managed to squeeze in eight more boats after us—the last one ended up four deep.
Torekov is a charming little town, apparently very popular. Busy, but lively, with restaurants and no souvenir shops at all.
This morning we left for Denmark. With the wind still from the west, our planned marina wasn’t reachable under sail. We made 4.5 kts close-hauled for a while, but by afternoon we changed plans.
Odden Havn, our original goal 51 nm away, was too far to reach before nightfall. So we decided to find an anchorage.
At 6:15 pm we anchored off Rørvig Havn, Denmark. The anchorage wasn’t on the chart, but several boats were already there, apparently the marina was full.
In the anchorage one of the boats was a catameran. That made me realize something I noticed before: “there are hardly any catamarans here. Marinas aren’t set up for them either. They normaly offer only monohull berths.
We had now officially left Sweden behind on our way to Croatia.
Tuesday, July 29 – Spodsbjerg, Denmark
Yesterday we left and motored the first bit straight into the wind, then sailed close-hauled toward Kalundborg on the east coast of Zealand.
It was a tougher sail—starting with 15 kts, quickly building to 20 and even 25. We put in the first reef, then the second, and even reefed the self-tacking jib.
The sun was out all day though, making it a beautiful sail afterall.
After 10 hours, we decided to anchor instead of heading into the marina. That turned out to be the wrong choice. The spot was exposed, with waves building as the wind shifted, and we had an uncomfortable night.
By 5 am we were all awake and decided to leave.
Again we motored the first bit into the wind, then sailed close-hauled in 20–25 kts under the Great Belt bridge toward Langeland.
Around 3 pm we reached Spodsbjerg. Perfect timing though we had left very early.
It was another beautiful day, and with just the self-tacking jib we still made over 6 kts SOG comfortably.
In Spodsbjerg we did some grocery shopping—the supermarket was just 150 m away.
The forecast for tomorrow looks bad: rain, strong winds, shifting direction. So likely tomorow is gonna be a rest day.
Thursday July 31 – Laboe, Germany
Yesterday we did stay in the marina, a rest day on the boat with rain and strong headwinds.
Today’s forecast was much better: sunshine, 10+ kts, though still from the wrong direction. You can’t have everything….
Before leaving, we checked the oil. The engine was fine, but the gearbox wasn’t. That is… it looked like it wasn’t.
According to the dipstick there was hardly any oil in the gearbox which was hard to believe because the engine was serviced only a couple of weeks ago.
Then I remembered Amir telling me that one of the servicing guys had damaged the dipstick * So A new dipstick had been fitted, but when I compared it to the old one, the new one turned out 1.5 cm shorter.
We had topped the gearbox up using the new dipstick and now overfilled it according to the old one. That was not good so we drained some oil and then, finally, set off.
After eight hours of motoring, we reached Laboe. A heavy shower threatened just as we arrived but luckely passed over.
Tomorrow we’ll continue to the Kiel Canal. The lock will be another new experience for Amir and Mary.
Sunday, August 3 – Cuxhaven
The lock wasn’t dramatic in terms of water level, we went down a foot at the most but still a new experience to Amir and Mary.
We were on time and managed to sail the full 60 nm canal in one day. Rain at first, but it cleared later.
The Kieler Canal reminded me of the Panama Canal, in a way, huge cargo ships passing by, looking impossibly tall under the 40 m bridges.
We spent the night at the small marina just before Brunsbüttel lock.
Next morning, once the rain stopped, we went through the lock and this time rose about a meter.
Timing was important now. Cuxhaven was only 25 nm further, but now we had to work with tides. Until 2 pm we had current with us. With 17 kts headwind but with the current, we still made 8–9 kts.
Today turned into a forced rest day. The tide didn’t work for reaching Norderney in daylight, and the harbormaster warned of 2+ m waves.
We used the time to rig the preventer and downhaul. Plan is to leave early tomorrow. Forecast shows wind shifting a bit, maybe even dry weather all day. We’ll see. For now it’s raining and gray.
Wednesday, August 6 – Helgoland
We stayed in Helgoland marina for two nights, weatherbound.
We arrived Monday just before the wind really picked up. Originally we planned to sail to Norderney, but that turned out to be not sail-able in daylight after all.
Helgoland wasn’t sail-able either, but we made it motor-sailing. When Helgoland came in sight, according to Amir the Island looked like Alcatraz. I’ve never been there but I must admit it did indeed.
Berthing was tricky. Four yachts had left big gaps on a pontoon, and we asked them to move a bit closer so we could sqeeze in but the harbor mistress told us that wasn’t allowed. Instead, we had to raft alongside a motor yacht that was already rafted with a sailboat. Less ideal, especially since that was on the lee side of the marina.
The wind picked up so much that Amir eventually swam a line to a mooring buoy to relieve the pressure on the boat on the pomtoon. No clue why the harbor mistress found this arrangement much better…
Tuesday was Amir’s birthday. They wanted to celebrate with dinner, but everything here turned out to be closed on Tuesdays. Oh well, we’ll have dinner on Wednesday instead.
Today Amir and I worked on the boat. The new bilge pump and anchor fuse weren’t working. The installer had routed hoses oddly and forgotten a non-return valve, so the old pump just circulated water instead of pumping it out. I ordered the non-return valve and will install it later when I’ll pick up my gear in Amsterdam or Scheveningen.
Saturday, August 9 – Enkhuizen, Netherlands
Last few days we’ve made great progress.
After celebrating Amir’s birthday Wednesday night, we saw the good weather had arrived early. Forecasts were updated, so we decided on an overnight sail to Den Helder on Thursday instead of Friday.
That was the right call. Most of Thursday we could sail—first west, then on a SSW wind. By 5 pm we reached the German Wadden. From there, it was headwinds, so we motored.
After a night of pounding, the wind shifted slightly, and from Terschelling onward we could motor-sail and later kill the engine and really sail. The sun was out, making the cool wind pleasant.
Off Texel we were visited by the coast guard and customs, triggered by mismatched AIS data and the Polish flag. I had warned Amir and Mary this would raise questions someday. Well, someday turned out to be today.
I could explain they just bought the boat recently and hadn’t done all the paperwork yet. I also ecplaine that I’d already told them to fix that as soon as they were home again. It obviously does help when you speak Dutch. The Custom guy also asked if we’d been to Helgoland. Yes we had… That prompted a check for tax-free goods. We hadn’t bought any, and after a full inspection they were happy and left.
By 6:30 pm we were moored in Den Helder. Too late for me to cook – it was my turn – so I treated Amir and Mary to the ‘blauwe hap’ (blue meal), a famous dish to Dutch sailors.
Under a full moon, we set off the next morning to Enkhuizen. The Den Oever lock was another new experience for them, especially as Amir briefly kissed the ground outside the channel. No harm done, but a lesson learned.
The rest of the trip was busy—beautiful weather and a Saturday in high season meant plenty of right-of-way practice. Sailing only on the genoa, we enjoyed it thoroughly, especially passing a dozen traditional Dutch tall ships under sail.
By 4 pm we were in Enkhuizen. After a visit to the chandlery, I was coocking, but just as dinner was nearly ready, the gas ran out. All three spare bottles turned out to be empty too! Luckily the supermarket had replacements, and half an hour later we were eating chicken with vegetables and rice.
Tuesday, August 12 – Sixhaven, Amsterdam
We stayed two nights in Enkhuizen, giving Amir and Mary time to explore one of the most beautiful historic towns on the former Zuiderzee.
Amir also found a 12 mm drill bit to fit the new anchor pin. We had bent the old 10 mm bolt, so with the right bit we could mount the proper locking pin.
The sail to Amsterdam was wonderful—perfect weather, 10 kts broad reach, so we tried out the Code-0. A fantastic sail, and with the main we had a perfect run to Amsterdam.
We arrived exactly on time for the Schellingwouder Bridge, and ten minutes later we entered the Oranjesluis. This time the lock was packed, another new experience.
Navigating to Sixhaven went fine despite the busy ferries and shipping. The marina is tight but very convenient, and we got a great berth.
From there, the free ferry takes you across to Amsterdam Central Station in just three minutes. Soon we were in the historic city center, where we had dinner.
Today Amir and Mary explored the city by foot and boat. They had been here before—30 years ago.
And sadly, tomorow the trip ends for them. They’ll be flying home again. Especially Amir found it very hard to leave his beloved boat.
