Fram's Voyages
2016 sailing season was a bust due to our dog getting sick, so we are determined to get the max out of Roam this sailing season! Roam goes into the water on 22 April and we will be ready!
Update 19 April 2017; it's freezing in Sweden right now, and forecast to remain so for the next week, so we have put off launching Roam until 6 May. Too cold for waxing and anti-fouling. Gale winds expected for Saturday 22 April.
8 May
Roam finally went in the water . It was a sunny day but very windy. All went well, we were very happy that the big crane truck was there this time as well as the smaller one. We are border line weight; a bit too heavy for the small crane truck, but considered too light for the bigger truck. Dan did some fanagling and got Roam on the big truck's list so launch was a breeze. Engine started right up and we moved over to our slip. The rest of the weekend was spent loading all our stuff on board and waxing the cockpit and doghouse. Had some waxing help from daughter Madeleine who was home on a short visit from London.
2-4 June
Sunny weather; moved onto Roam for the weekend with our grandchildren, Olivia 5 and James 4. Hotdogs and fries for dinner. Olivia, Dan and I took morning swims on Saturday and Sunday from the dog beach so Varga could also come along. Vilda was with our friend Anna Carter. James slept, he's such a sleepy-head. Caroline joined us on Saturday afternoon.
10 June
Maiden voyage
Winds SW 3-5 m/s
Sunny and warm
Distance: 6.2 NM
Dan had trouble getting the engine started; no contact with the starter. Took several tries before she finally chugged into action. We hoisted the sails as soon as we cleared the harbor entrance and sailed out and along the south beach to the light house and back. Sails are in good shape and Nelson is still doing his job (wind pilot).
22 June
Skanör - Rødvig DK
Winds W-SW 0-4 m/s
Partly sunny
Distance: 25.2 NM
Time to destination: 6 hours
We had a very gentle sail, some sun some clouds, a little bit chilly but warm on land. Madeliene and Alfie were with us. It was Alfie's first ever sail and he mostly slept. Rødvig is a lovely fishing village on the south side of the bump that forms the south end of Køge bay. It has lime cliffs, reminiscent of Møn and even Dover England; not as high as Dover. Once we were docked and connected to electricity Dan and I took Varga for a walk along the cliffs while Madeleine and Alfie ran to the old church which is slowly falling into the sea as the lime cliffs erode. It is closed to the public due to the danger. But it's a beautiful trail that runs along fields and right on the edge of the cliffs, about 40 meters high. I kept Varga on a leash to keep her safe from falling over the edge while chasing a rabbit of which there were many. Back on Roam we had a nice dinner of steak fixed by Dan and french fries purchased at the local restaurant. Alfie tried his hand at knots under Dan's supervision. We were not impressed...
23 June
Rødvig DK - Skanör
Winds E-SE 0-3 m/s
Heavy Fog
Distance: 19 NM
Time to destination: 4 hrs
This was a fine state of affairs. After a nice breakfast with coffee and pain riche we got the engine going; again after many tries. I went around turning on instruments; The GPS wasn't working, the depth finder wasn't working, we had the compass and of course we knew where we were going but had to navigate almost blind around the steel fish poles/nets that are scattered outside Rødvig Harbor. They have no lights on the outside poles, just some radar reflectors which is no use to us as we don't have radar. We motored slowly and saw the tall black wooden poles slowly appear through the fog. It was rather eerie. Once we cleared the last one, we set our course to follow the coast line until it swung northwards, then we set a direct course for Skanör. A little breath of wind came up but not enough to sail so we motored the whole way home.
20-21 July
Nowhere
Winds E 10-12 m/s
Sunny and warm
First day of our summer vacation. Our plan is to sail up to the Gothenburg islands but engine wouldn't start at all. A new start motor is needed. Dan contacted Palmblads the local boat engine mechanic and he had to order a part. Hopefully tomorrow. It rained most of the night, heavy fog today along with misty rain. Ran errands, got a new cable for the AIS. Dan fixed the kerosene heater. I reorganised cabinets. Got groceries. No word from Palmblads.
24 July
Skanör - Falsterbo Kanalen
Winds E 4-5 m/s
Sunny
Distance: 10 NM
Time to destination: 2 hours
We finally got the start motor changed but when we left the dock to start our vacation (again) the battery charger alarm went off so Dan called the mechanic and agreed to meet at FalsterboKanalen which is where he has his shop, Palmbalds. They spent 2 hours working on it, he couldn't find the source so disconnected the sound of the alarm. He says we may need a new alarm box. Sigh. Our friends Carl and Leslie Montan stopped by for a drink while we waited for the mechanic to finish up. They were biking home from their cottage when they saw Roam docked by the bridge.
Falsterbo Kanalen - Fiskebäckskil
Winds NE 4-8 m/s
Sunny but chilly due to north wind
Distance: 198 NM
Time to destination: 39 hours
It was 19.30 by the time the mechanic finished all his work. We dithered about whether to go or wait till next day, but in the end, we decided to just GO. Said goodbye to Carl and Leslie and took off. It was a nice evening, though a bit chilly. We both wore our survival suits as they are warm and cozy with long underwear underneath. (read: normal sailing attire in Scandinavia) Varga had her life jacket for warmth and sat between us. We had an italian sausage/pasta casserole that I prepared earlier. The weather turned overcast as we sailed under Öresund Bridge. Heavy traffic as we passed Helsingborg-Helsingør, as it always is. So many lights, both from the city and out on the sea but we passed by without having to change course. Dan and I took turns keeping watch. Our GPS still isn't working so we set our course and then used lighthouses and lit markers to find our way. Once we were out in the Kattegatt sea, we just held our course using the compass, and could confirm our passage track with isailor app on our phones. Nelson did a very good job keeping us steady on course. We both listen to podcasts on night sails. I listened to P3 Radio's documentary about the Gothenburg disco fire. Luckily, our AIS was working so we could keep track of ships in our proximity. We passed by the mouth of Gothenburg's river entrance around midnight next day. Lots of traffic around there too, big ships going in and out or past and lit markers all over the place. The city lights just confuse the issue.
We arrived in Fiskebäckskil at 10.30 on the 26th of July. Getting inside the chain of islands that protect Skaftö is always a challenge as there are so many rocks awash and small rock islands to steer clear of. It was compounded by the need to tack after the lighthouse Bonden in order to get through it all as the wind was right on our nose. But the weather for the day was sunny and warm so we had no complaints.
28 July
Skaftö circumnavigation with a detour to Kärringön
Winds S 4-6 m/s
Sunny
Distance: 30 nm
Total time: 8 hours
Our friends Matts and Anna Rosendahl joined us on the boat yesterday. It took a while for them to get settled; they are both very tall and had a lot of baggage. This morning after breakfast we took off for a day's sail around Skaftö with a detour to Kärringön to deliver some medicine to Matts' daughter who is spending her summer vacation there. We kept Skaftö to starboard as we sailed around and under the bridge to the mainland. Took them through Malö strömmarna which is always very exciting because in places, the passage is so narrow that only one boat can get through at a time. But it is breathtakingly beautiful. We sailed the whole way until we got close to Kärringön, then we motored in and stopped only long enough to pick up Matts' daughter along with her little son Axel and went back out to watch an island-to-island running/swimming race that Anna's husband Marcus was participating in. We got ringside seats just north of the last swim to the finish line. While all the participants sweated and swam, we sat in the cockpit munching on hotdogs:) Marcus finished in the top half of the group and we cheered him on very loudly. After the race we dropped off Anna and Axel and continued our sail on jib alone so very comfortable and leisurely. Got back to LyckansSlip Marina at 17.30.
29 July
LyckansSlip - Gullmars Fjord
Winds S 6-10 m/s
Sunny with big black clouds scudding overhead
Distance 15 NM
Total time: 3 hours
We started out on a nice trip to Smögen and back, but half way there the weather reports started sounding alarming with a gale coming our way.- Winds jumped from 10 to 16 m/s gusts and we were already reefed so figured it wasn't going to be a comfortable sail back and decided unanymously to turn back and go back to the dock. We sailed back to Gullmarstrand hotel marina as it was well protected from this wind direction. Now we had a whole day to kill, so Dan and I went running with Varga and Matts and Anna read books on board Roam. It rained of and on the rest of the day and evening. Yuck.
30 July
Moved Roam to our bouy in the inlet. Kids all arrived for a week's vacation at the house.
3 August
All stations: Anchor chain on bouy broke and Roam was hanging on by one safety anchor that Dan had rigged in case of such a situation. The anchor chain is 5 years old so Dan has been a bit suspicious that it could break at any time so he put down a safety rope and anchor but it was not strong enough to hold Roam still in a gale which was raging at the time. Dan saw it all from the upstairs balcony at the house and raced out there in the rowboat and pulled up the safety anchor and moved Roam to LyckansSlip.
7 August
LyckansSlip - Skärhamn
Winds SW 10-12 m/s
Overcast
Distance: 20 NM
Time to destination: 4½ hours
Wind was on our nose, so we motored inside the outer islands for protecftion from waves. Waved good bye to Madeleine who stood on the balcony as we passed the house. Rain came 15 minutes after we docked at Skärhamn. We put our biminy up and had tea while we watched all the other boats come in and jockey for a space.
8-9 August
Skärhamn - Rungstedt Dk
Winds S-SE 0, SE-E 8-12, E-SE-SW 6-8 m/s
Rain, haze, finally sun at the end
Distance: 141 NM
Time to destination: 29½ hours
We left the dock early after checking all our weather sites and charts. We motored out of Skärhamn in dead calm which lasted all the way to beyond Varberg. I was on watch and Dan was below sleeping when the wind suddenly came up (as we knew it would) and was at 12 m/s within 15 minutes; I started hauling up the main and Dan came up to help me. We just managed to get the sails up and then reef them quickly before the full onslaught came over us. Varga was tucked up on the shelf above the cockpit on the lee side, under the sprayhood, seemingly safe and protected from the spray of the waves and boxed in so she wouldn't get thrown about. Suddenly, the sprayhood fastening came undone and Varga almost washed off the boat. I had a line tied onto the handle of her lifejacket and that is what kept her onboard. She looked very accusingly at me and then crept back up to her place once I re-fastened the sprayhood. Dan and I both stayed in the cockpit for the rest of the night as anything can happen in winds like this. The seas abruptly built into very steep, short waves that Roam crashed down on occasionally. It sounds like we're hitting a rock when this happens, very unsettling. We got a total cockpit drenching twice in the course of the night. Poor Varga got as soaked as we did but I think she looked more pathetic. We sighted Kullens lighthouse from 26 NM away. As soon as we rounded it, at about 02.00 in the morning, we hit Öresund's current flowing out of the sound against us. It basically stopped us dead in our tracks. It was hopeless trying to make headway because the current was just too strong so we crossed over to the Danish side and tacked our way forward staying in the anti-current. We crossed over to the Swedish side to go in to Helsingborg as we were very low on fuel. Once there around 06.00 in the morning we refueled, Varga got to get off the boat and relieve herself, I was afraid I would have a tough time getting her back on, but she surprised us both by happily jumping back aboard. We took a short hop over to Rungstedt in Denmark, got docked and settled and then went to sleep until about noon. Cleaned up the boat, ate a hearty brunch and then went for a run. Treated ourselves to a restaurant dinner.
10 August
Rungstedt - Skanör
Winds S-SW 0-4
Sunny warm
Distance: 30 NM
Time to Destination: 8½ hours
It was beautiful day with puffy clouds and light winds. Sailed down the Danish coast so no waves either; smooth sailing, just the way we like it. When the wind died and we hit a low of 2 knots, we used the engine. Varga moved about in the cockpit and on deck so sea legs; check.
When we entered Skanör harbor, our berth was occupied by a guest boat despite the fact that we called in yesterday to tell them we were on our way home. We went out and anchored off the north beach till they straightened it out.
11 August
Skanör Beach - Skanörshamn
We ended up spending the night, the weather was so nice and sea so peaceful we decided to stay at our anchorage. The harbor is full of German sailors. We had dinner in the cockpit watching the sun go down, took an evening swim and slept like logs.
26 August
Skanörshamn - Amerikakajen DK
Winds SW 2-5 m/s
Sunny Hazy
Distance: 16 NM
Time to destination: 6 hours
220 DKK (no extra services)
We had a nice gentle sail to Copenhagen. I had a company party to attend at Tivoli and Amerika kajen is always much more peaceful than Langelinie. I ran off to the party and Dan joined me around midnight. We danced jitterbug with all the other nerds at Tivoli's dance floor.
27 August
Amerikakajen DK, Skanörshamn
Winds NW-W 2-7 m/s
Sunny
Distance: 16 NM
Time to Destination: 4 hours
Great sail, late start due to rain. Towards the end of the sail the wind increased significantly to 10 m/s from West. It was coming from behind us so fun sailing, but all that changed when we had to turn into Skanörshamn whose entrance is on the East side. The waves were pretty big and crossed the entrance so made for a very exciting and challenging entrance. Dan had to use full throttle to hold his own in the trough of the waves. A big wave (7th wave) came just as we were about to enter and I saw it and thought, we're dusted. But Dan always keeps his cool and he steered into it so we motored right through the middle.
23 September
Skanörshamn- Dragør
Winds N-NE 3-5 m/s
Foggy
Distance: 12 NM
Time to Destination: 4 hours
Harbor Fee: 145 DKK
Foggy morning. Slept very late after a lovely Friday evening on Roam. Light winds that lslowly moved towards East so we only had to tack once. Lots of ships in the shipping lane. Varge seemed at home on Roam. Dinner: Standard Roam dinner = steak grilled on Roam with french fries bought at the local restuarant.
24 September
Dragør - Skanörshamn
Winds NE-E 3-6m/s
Fog, then sun burned through
Distance: 12 NM
Time to destination: 3 hours
Our last sail this year. Really lovely sail. The sun took a while to come out but it wasn't as cold as yesterday. Got up at 8, took Varga for a short walk, had breakfast of yoghurt, juice, pain riche and coffee. Nelson did most of the work steering. Once in our berth, Dan took Roam's sails off for the year. The boom was taken off, I emptied all the cupboards and lockers. We have a Hodda now, which is a little hut at the harbor where we can store all our boat stuff for the winter. It's dry, but not heated. We had a last cup of coffee in the cockpit sitting in the sun in sleeveless shirts and shorts.
We've had a good sailing season, not as great weather as we would have wished but we certainly covered more nautical miles than we did last season.
Roam went up on the hard on 7 October 2017
2017 Grand Total NM: 536.6