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| 2007 Baltic Adventure |
| 09/20/07 |
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| Summary of Ship's Log from Rauma, FINLAND to Ijmuiden, The NETHERLANDS - Summer 2007 |
| Date Port Log (nautical miles) Engine hours Comments |
| Sno' Dog |
| Ship's Log |
| Our 2007 Baltic Adventure came to an end on September 1st when we left Sno' Dog in Amsterdam and headed home to Hanover, NH. I'd been in Europe since mid-June, but Nancy - and our boat - didn't arrive until the 5th of July. Our adventure aboard Sno' Dog actually lasted an all-too-brief 57 days - about 8 weeks. From our starting point in Rauma, we covered 1185 nautical miles (1365 statute miles) and we put 160 hours on our engines. Our average speed was a leisurely 7.4 knots. Discounting the 19 days we stayed in port, our average run was about 35 miles per day.
For me, the major high point of the trip was simply the adventure of it all! Just making our way successfully through the islands of Finland, Åland and Sweden using a new and unique system of markers was very rewarding. Our ports of call in Åland and Sweden were breathtakingly gorgeous. I gather not all adventurers loved the Göta Canal, but we did. There was some work involved in going the through the locks, but the rewards of scenery - and great stopping places - were well worth the effort. Venturing into the castle moat at Vadstena - with inches to spare - and the castle at Läckö Slott were most memorable. Other highlights for us were the town of Mölle in Sweden, Copenhagen and Aerøskøbing in Denmark, the Friesian islands - and just about every town we visited in Holland! (We do like Holland.) Going into this trip, I was a bit apprehensive about how we'd fare with our strange-looking, beamy craft in an area where 99 of 100 pleasure boats are less than 4 meters (13 feet) wide. I needn't have worried. Amazingly, despite being there at the height of the (very short) season, at every single port we entered, we were always able to find dockage - and sometimes for a large group of us. We were never turned away because of our beam - or for any other reason, for that matter. People were generally exceptionally friendly and helpful; I can't remember a single negative experience. I suppose the biggest negative was the relatively short time we had to accomplished all this. If we did it again - which we definitely would - we'd try to allow at least another month for this trip. That would have given us more time to explore the Finish coast, the Åland islands and the Swedish archipelago. We might also have ventured north along the west coast of Sweden - headed toward Norway - which everyone told us was very scenic. Another slight negative - much discussed - was the bad weather. We had a lot of wind and rain. Everywhere we went, people told us what bad weather they were having this summer; they all said we should have been there in May! But really, besides spending a week in Gothenburg waiting for winds to subside, it had little effect on our trip. You can see, by the hundreds of photos I took, that we did indeed have some pretty good weather as well. Plus, our PDQ offered plenty of protection from bad weather, we were seldom forced to don full foul weather attire. It was certainly the trip of a lifetime! Without our own boats, there's no way we could have made this amazing trip, I can't imagine any charter company allowing such an ambitious itinerary. It's also hard to think of any other boat that could make this trip with such comfort, speed and economy. Our total fuel consumption for the 1185 mile trip was 435 gallons; we averaged 2.7 nautical miles per gallon burning a mere 2.7 gallons per hour. HMC 9/20/07 |
| 5 July Rauma, FINLAND daily cumulative daily cum. PDQ's arrive aboard the Suomigracht 5 July Pederas J H, Rauma 2.2 2.2 1.1 1.1 First night aboard. Filled fuel tanks. 6 July Jurmo, Åland Islands 48.1 50.3 5.7 6.8 Sno' Dog followed the inside route 7 July Rodhamn, Åland I's. 47.2 97.5 4.5 11.3 Beautiful Island - all 7 boats together 8 July Mariehamn - W. Hrbr. 10.4 108 1.1 12.4 Pretty, turisty port. Dinner with group 9 July Mariehamn - W. Hrbr. - 108 - 12.4 Rhumb Line departed. Fuel: 176 L. 10 July Idö (Paradis I), SWEDEN 33.1 141 3.3 15.7 Calm crossing - mist on Swedish coast 11 July Vaxholm 41.1 182 4.1 19.8 Re-joined Rhumb Line - with new crew 12 July Stockholm 10.2 192 1.2 21.0 Vasahamen J H - near Vasa museum 13 July Trosa 46.9 239 5.1 26.1 Western (inside rte) thru Södertaje 14 July Söderköping 57.7 297 6.1 32.2 Entered Göta Canal at Mem - 2 locks 15 July Norsholm 11.7 309 3.0 35.2 Göta Canal - Day 1, 6 locks, v pretty 16 July Ljunsbro 25.4 334 2.6 37.8 Göta Canal - Day 2, 10 locks 17 July Vadstena 25.4 359 5.0 42.8 Göta Canal - 3, tied up in castle moat! 18 July Forsvik 17.4 377 2.1 44.9 X'd Lk Vättern in 30-kt winds 19 July Lyrestad 25.7 402 5.6 50.5 Passed Hi-pt of canal, headed down 20 July Lackö Slott - Castle 33.0 435 4.8 55.3 Another castle! Fuel: (Sjödorp) 230 L. 21 July Vänersborg 35.8 471 4.2 59.5 Thru Spiken, south on Lk Vänern 22 July Gothenburg 42.3 514 6.3 65.8 Down Trolhatte Canal Fuel: 292 L. 23 July - 29 July Gothenburg - 514 - 65.8 @ Lilla Bommen J H, waiting for winds 30 July Varberg 43.2 557 4.6 70.4 4-6 seas in the Kattegat 31 July Mölle 49.6 606 4.6 75.0 6-8 seas, glad to get into the harbor! 1 Aug Mölle - 606 - 75.0 Very pretty town. Intim rest. excellent! 2 Aug København, DENMARK 36.2 643 3.9 78.9 Passed Kronborg Castle, Helsingør 3 Aug København - 643 - 78.9 Good dockage in Christianhavns Canal 4 Aug Dragør 12.0 655 1.8 80.7 Short run after another day in K'bhvn.. 5 Aug Kalvehave 39.7 694 3.9 84.6 Fuel: 290 L. South along Sjæland cst 6 Aug Svendborg 60.3 755 5.3 89.9 Croosed the Store Baelt in calm seas 7 Aug Ærøskøbing 12.7 767 1.9 91.8 Lovely short trip to the island of Ærø 8 Aug Ærøskøbing - 767 - 91.8 Stayed another day, rode bikes 9 Aug Maasholm, GERMANY 28.7 796 2.7 94.5 Sad to leave DK, but Maasholm pretty 10 Aug Rendsburg 37.7 834 4.7 99.2 Thru lock into Kiel Canal. Fuel: 11 Aug Cuxhaven 48.7 882 6.7 105.9 (Brunsbüttel) 282 L. Met other boats. 12 Aug Langeoog 50.2 933 4.7 110.6 Rough seas until inside Wangeroog 13 Aug Norderney 13.4 946 2.0 112.6 Extreme tides. Great place to bike. 14 Aug Delftzijl, NETHERLANDS 32.7 979 3.1 115.7 Happy to be in Holland 15 Aug Delftzijl - 979 - 115.7 Calm water from here on... 16 Aug Groningen 13.8 992 3.0 118.7 Downtown tie-up in the Oosterhaven 17 Aug Groningen - 992 - 118.7 Rented a car, picked up Nancy's 18 Aug Groningen - 992 - 118.7 parents at Schiphol (Amsterdam) 19 Aug Lauwersoog 23.4 1015 4.8 123.5 Scenic trip thru the Reitdiep 20 Aug Leeuwarden 22.3 1038 4.3 127.8 Downtown tie-up with elect & water 21 Aug Sneek 26.2 1064 5.3 133.1 Downtown tie-up with elect & water 22 Aug Urk 27.4 1064 5.9 139.0 Thru Lemmer, another scenic town 23 Aug Elberg 17.0 1108 2.3 142.3 Very pretty town with moat 24 Aug Spakenburg 20.2 1128 3.6 144.6 Downtown again - gorgeous! 25 Aug Nieuwersluis a/d Vecht 25.6 1154 6.1 148.2 Thru Muiden, up the Vecht 26 Aug Amsterdam - Six Haven 13.8 1168 3.3 154.3 Our final destination - whew! 27 Aug - 31 Aug Amsterdam - 1168 0.2 154.5 Fwd Tank 1/4, Main still 1/2 full ! 1 Sept Ijmuiden 15.9 1184 4.4 158.9 Loaded aboard m/v Slotergracht 17 Sept Middletown, RI USA 1.2 1185 0.4 159.3 Filed Fuel Tanks: 100.3 US gallons Totals: 1185 nautical miles 159.3 engine hours 435 gallons (US) fuel Average Fuel Consumption: 2.73 gallons/hour Average Mileage: 2.72 nautical miles/gallon Average Speed: 7.44 knots |
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| Some Final Thoughts... |
| Some Final Thoughts... Scroll Down |
| Back to Sno' Dog Log - Page 1 |
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