Postludium – sailing with sons

26-29 August 2022

During their holidays, our sons come to visit us. We want to show them a maritime side of Sweden so we plan a sail trip for the extended weekend. We want to sail south and meet our friends who live in the area of Kalmar in the middle of the way to there. So the target for the weekend sailing is Västervik.

We sail away on Friday after work. After initial challenges, we reach a cove at the island of Hasselö where we spend the night on a buoy. On saturday, we start early in the morning, there is quite a way to sail. We fight the opposing wind before we reach Havringe. I don’t want to go on the engine the whole time, but tacking in the narrow fairway is stressful as there are rocky shoals just beside the fairway.

Rocky shoals just beside the fairway

After passing Havringe we bear away and beat against south. This looks like a long day. I prepare the crew for a night sailing, the boys are not enjoying the thought of it. Then, a message from our Kalmar friends – they are not going to make it to Västervik. So the reason for the night sailing falls away. I don’t want to come back to where we started today morning, so we decide to go to Arkösund, which is on beam reach from our current position. We have good memories from there from the last year.

This is the last weekend of August and the harbour of Arkösund is practically closed. We can moor and pay for the mooring, but we cannot connect the electricity. Toilets and showers work, which raises the spirits, but most restaurants are closed. So from this year, we won’t have good memories from Arkösund.

We return along the fairway across Bräviken bay, which we know already. We can go under sail for the most part, even through the Oxelösund skerries. We arrive at Brandholmen without adventures. We meet our friends in Kalmar the next day, having travelled by car there.

This concludes this year’s sailing.

We haven’t done a longer trip, we haven’t reached any new shores. We have tried to reach Västervik twice and failed. We have scouted the ways to Stockholm, tried out working from the boat. We have discovered the richness of natural harbours among skerries. We’ve practised casting anchor, sailing beside buoyed fairways and sleep outside of commercial marinas. We need to extend and apply this knowledge during the next season.