It was clear to both of us when we woke up that the journey would take us south around Sweden – as far as Martina can come along, we’ll see. Cool!
We refuel – me petrol and she the first (and last?) rays of sunshine. We have a potentially long way to go, but with two of us it’s entertaining. So off we go.
Through the Archipelago we head out into the Baltic Sea. At first, we sail around the islands and islets, but soon we’re out and happy that the conditions are favourable. It gets even calmer in the sund between the island of Öland and the Swedish east coast, the Kalmarsund. – Yes, let’s go to Kalmar and see what awaits us there. Martina is all in.
It’s great how quickly we can accept the new, unexpected and yet also exciting route change. We will still be at the mercy of the weather AND the sea, but if it goes well it’s no problem. – Why should there be problems? Why do we always think ‘problem-oriented’? Heavens, we are clever enough to find solutions at any time!
Arriving in Kalmar, we first shake our tired bones (the wind chills us), go to a restaurant right by the harbour and devour a delicious-looking menu of the day. Then we walk over to the renovated water castle, stroll in the castle garden, fool around again, do some shopping and make ourselves comfortable in the small guest kitchen in the harbour. Martina works, I write, outside it’s raining .
We are by no means the only ones in the harbour; there are some sailing boats with several sailors, a family with small children is also on the way, but we are the only ones who use the guest kitchen, also as a place to stay. – Towards evening, I grab my folding bike, explore the town and do my exercises, while Martina starts preparing our meal. She makes a bigger portion right away, which we can cook up tomorrow before we leave and take with us in our thermal containers. Perfect.