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Baltic Sea - 59°42'54" N 21°33'27" E

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At sea. We were crossing the Baltic Sea, going from Helsinki to the Swedish archipelago. It was almost midnight and the sun had just taken a quick bow beneath the horizon. A ferry was passing us, under engine in the twilight. I took a picture of the ferry as it went by us and hailed the night watchperson on the VHF radio. “Your ship looks marvellous in this light. Would you mind taking a picture of us?” The next day, as we sail into mobile phone coverage, an email arrives. Sent via email from the Viking Ship Gabriella, from Watch Officer Ronja Åström Looks like he used his binoculars to get a closer picture. He said in the email, Here are all the pictures we managed to take, sorry we don’t have that good cameras here. No worries, Ronja.  Those pictures are perfect.
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Tallinn - 59° 26' 31" N 24° 45' 35 E

By Kate and Sean -
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It never really gets dark this time of year. The sun traced its way diagonally across the sky, we had a lovely run of good winds pushing us towards Tallinn. Even though it was well past 11 pm local time, there was still enough ambient light to read a book. Our first views of the port of Tallinn We dropped our sails as we approached the port, fully aware that we would need to be maneuverable around the large ferries and cruise ships that were coming and going past us.  We radioed ahead to be granted permission to enter the harbour, then watched for the swinging pedestrian bridge that we would again have to call on the radio to ask that it be opened.  By 01:00 we were tied up in our berth.  None of us knew exactly what to expect from this former Soviet-Bloc country. A bit bleary from a night passage, but happy to be here. Prior to us arriving, Pat had found a walking tour and signed all three of us up.  Having that scheduled gave us a reason to put ou...
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East to Estonia (via Finland) - 60° 15' 25" N 20° 44' 11" E

By Kate and Sean -
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  Cat Statue - for Jenny! A cool shortcut through a canal with a bascule bridge, then a wiggle through the archipelago  It was a quick and easy motor-and-sail to Remnarhamn.  It was notable for two reasons: It was the first sail of the year that it warm enough for the whole crew to wear shorts and it happened to be Sean's birthday. NOW it feels like summer!    While underway, Kate manages to bake and ice a cake for Sean's birthday! We arrived late in the evening and celebrated in style.  Happy birthday Sean!    With the forecast being for persistent westerlies, our need to get Pat to a drop off point near an airport and our desire to do a bit of sailing, we changed plans.  Rather than pottering and wiggling our way through the rocks to Helsinki, we decided to head south (through different rocks) then plot a course to Tallinn in Estonia.   Our next couple of anchorages were in Finland so up goes the flag So, with a look at t...
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Åland - 60° 06' 00"N 19° 56' 54" N

By Kate and Sean -
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Pronounced aw-lund A new country and we are now above 60°N.  The nights are very short and it does not get properly dark.  Something we should expect as we are a mere 600km from the Arctic Circle and very close to the longest day.  No auroras for us! Åland is a Swedish speaking, autonomous region of Finland.  The season up here is very short, measured in weeks rather than months.  Even the main marinas in the capital of Mariehamn do not open until 1 June and are closed by the end of August. Gord tries out the sea berth. It is actually the longest berth on Chinook! Even with all that toe room, he decided to stay in the aft cabin with Jenny. We had a fabulous sail across from Sweden - a short hop of 32nm and our first landfall was the tiny resort island of Rodham.  Since it was early in the season, the cafe was yet to open but we were able order fresh bread.  This was delivered to the boat and was eaten before we set sail! A crosswind made ...
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