I must admit I felt a bit nervous as we headed out to the open sea from our safe haven in Hiiumaa. The wind was blowing and the waves were high, again, but this time they were behind us. What a difference it will make! No rocking or bucking, just gentle swaying of the boat’s rear end as she slid down the big waves. We were making excellent speed with just our smaller headsail, travelling southeast into a wide strait between Hiiumaa and Vormsi.

The sea around here is called Väinameri, literally “the sea of straits”. It’s surrounded by four large islands – Saaremaa and Muhu to the south, Hiiumaa and Vormsi to the north – and Estonian mainland to the east. It’s very shallow, you won’t find a single spot deeper than 10 meters. Further south we reached the sea fairway between mainland and the islands, busy with ferries going back and forth. The fairway has been dredged through some very shallow places so there’s no improvising here! We never turned on our echo sounder, knowing how nerve wrecking it would have been to see it tossing smaller and smaller numbers on the screen.

The islands offered protection, making the waves smaller, and we were able to hoist the mainsail as we turned to beam reach towards Haapsalu. It was the most wonderful way to finish a long day at sea, smooth and easy sailing as the evening fell, and we reached Haapsalu marina in time for dinner at a nice restaurant by the town bay.

• Sailing as it should be – and shouldn’t!

September 21, 2016

• Step on a foreign shore

September 8, 2016

• The journey has begun!

September 4, 2016