Sailing: Norway Drift

My first sailing experience! My friend and co-worker, Andréas, invited me to go sailing together in his sailboat, Malou. It is an offer I can not possibly refuse. I want to try the sailing experience and am now given the opportunity to go on a proper lengthy sailing journey, together with a pro, in a classic wooden sail boat.

Malou was built in 1964 and it has been in Andréas’ families possession since 1972 when his father bought it. In 2023 Andréas inherited the boat, taking on the responsibility of caring for the boat for another 50 years to come. In fact, Malous is K-märkt – meaning that is an object of cultural or historical value – and as Andréas proudly explains, that means we are legally allowed to empty the latrine straight in the ocean, otherwise illegal nowadays both in Sweden and Norway.  I do not know whether K-märkt comes with other perks as well. Emptying the latrine directly in the ocean seemed to be the important attribute 😉  

The routes from our two open sea crossings can be found HERE!

2025-07-20, Sunday – The Slow and The Calm 

It is an early morning start at Långedrag harbor. When I arrive Andréas and his father are prepping the boat for our Skagerak crossing. The plan is to sail straight from Gothenburg, Sweden to Kristiansand, Norway. A crossing of about 120 nautical miles, estimated to take around 25-30 hours. We will try to navigate by dead reckoning  – navigating only based on speed and direction, no GPS allowed.  

The ocean lies completely still and the wind is conspicuous by its absence. We rely on the mighty iron sail to propel us through Gothenburg’s archipelago to the open sea, where we are hoping to catch stronger winds. 

The winds are not doing us any favors, after leaving Gothenburg’s archipelago, there is indeed a stronger wind, but it is still weak and we are only doing about 1 NM/hour. At such low speeds, there is plenty of time for repeated cooling baths/swims along the boat. The last week(s) have been incredibly warm, and it shows, the ocean temperature is well above 20 degrees. 

Eventually, the wind does pick up speed, but not in the direction we hoped for. We are pushed north along the Swedish coast. The wind is not strong enough for us to force the boat west, which is where we want to go to reach Kristiansand, so as of now, we go where the wind goes.  I must say though, with the ocean lying still, moderate winds, blue and sunny skies, it is an extremely tranquil and comfortable ride – enjoy it while it lasts. 

In the evening, the wind finally turns and we can now sail directly west out over the vast and empty Skagerrak sea. I’m excited to see the night sky  – out in the open sea, there is little to no light pollution. Andréas told me that it becomes so dark that it is even possible to see satellites. 

2025-07-21, Monday – Arendal Drift 

During the night we alternate between steering and sleeping in 3-hour shifts. Slowly, but steadily, the wind picks up more and more speed and we are finally covering some distance. 

I find it serene, at least during my first shift, to sit in the middle of the ocean, under a crystal clear night sky, with no land or other boats in sight. It makes you feel small and humble, and you forget about the everyday problems. Andréas did, however, oversell the night sky slightly. Turns out it does not get pitch dark in July, satellite watching is for other parts of the year. 

When I start my second shift, the wind and especially the waves have increased significantly. The boat is now bumping and shaking across the waves, it is much more difficult to steer the boat and the experience is not so serene any more. When the wind picks up more and more speed, the boat starts drifting and I feel inclined to wake Andréas and ask whether we should not reef sail. The answer is, we should: “reef early and reef often” and “if you think of reefing, it’s too late”. 

Reefing sail in strong winds is an interesting procedure for a rookie like myself. I turn the boat directly towards the wind so that Andréas can reef. As the wind hits from the side, the pressure rotates the boat to the point that the railing is submerged, which at first makes me feel a bit uneasy. However, Andréas assures me that it is completely fine: “the boat tolerates much more than the crew”. Having reefed, the boat is now much easier to control. 

Late morning, land ahoy, finally. We are now relatively close to Arendal. Continuing to Kristiansand could mean that we will not arrive until midnight as overall progress has been much slower than initially anticipated. After sailing for about 27 hours straight, neither of us are eager to sail for another night, so we decide to alter the plan and instead make camp somewhere in Arendal. At this point I’m also starting to feel seasick. I let Andréas steer us to the finish line, while I keep my eyes fixed on the horizon. 

In the Arendal archipelago, we find a small island (Gjerstadholmen) to which we can dock. After 30+ hours sitting still in the boat, my body tells me it needs movement. I swim ashore to the larger island of Tromoy to go for a run. To my enjoyment, there is a national park on the island, Raet, for me to explore. Returning to the boat, I find Andréas deep asleep and after a while so am I. 

The dead reckoning navigation went great thanks to support from GPS. Dead reckoning, as it turns out, not that surprisingly, is extremely difficult. 

2025-07-22, Tuesday – Tacking Against the Wind 

Today we are heading north, towards Risör, facing nothing but head-winds. We start off by relying on the iron sail for a couple of hours, until Andréas decides it is time for me to learn how to tack against the wind. Apparently, the best place to learn this skill is in a narrow and trafficked canal; Full thrust against the cliffs, narrow turn, move the sail to the other side, avoid other boats, try to steer the boat as sharply into the wind as possible without oversteering, and repeat. We keep going until we have had enough, tacking against the wind is not particularly fast, especially as we are going towards a current that continuously pushes us backwards. The iron sail gets to roar again.

We drive to Gjeving harbour where we fill up on gas before continuing to the small island of Gunnarsholmen where we anchor down for the day and relax with baths and a mighty BBQ. 

2025-07-23, Wednesday – Risör 

Another day of head-winds. We start off by trying to tack against the wind, now we are not trapped in a narrow channel and have the vast ocean to our disposal. We go out to sea for about 1 hour before turning back towards land. When coming back to land we are back at the point we started, zero progress made. It turns out that we, once again, are going towards a current, a very strong current (1.5 to 2 knots). Luckily the iron sail never lets you down. 

We make our way to Risör where we anchor in the harbour. Risör is a very charming coastal town – and that means something when coming from me – with well-preserved wooden houses, an idyllic archipelago, and a strong boat culture. Every year the town arranges a wooden boat festival. We are one week too early to participate in this festival, but there are already many wooden boats on site, or maybe they are here the whole year around. Among all the wooden boats, Andréas is like a small child in a candy-shop. 

After touring the town, I went for a long nice run in the Risör surroundings. Risör is not the best of harbours to anchor down in if a good night sleep is high on the priority list. It is a bit of party town, nothing extreme, but the music continues playing well into the night. 

2025-07-24, Thursday – Back to The Homeland

Today we are crossing back to Sweden, specifically, Väderöarna. We sail by the iron sail to Jomfruland, where we take a break for swimming and eating and mentally preparing for another night of sailing. 

2025-07-25, Friday – Exploring Väderöarna 

This time the crossing is much more smooth. The sea is relatively calm and the wind is gentle, but still strong enough to push us forward at a good pace. Once again we alternate between steering and sleeping in shifts. 

In the early morning, the wind completely dies down. The iron sail takes us the final stretch to Väderöarnas harbour. The harbour is cleared every day at 10:00, we are slightly early and have to anchor down outside and wait. Väderöarna is a very popular island, due to its uniqueness. I have for many years thought of kayaking to the island, but never found the time to do it. Now I’m finally here. 

After anchoring down in the harbour, we go for yet another swim. Afterwards, I took on the challenge of exploring the whole of Väderöarna main island. It is not a particularly large island, but it is very rugged so it takes time going around the entirety of the island. When I get back to the boat, I notice I have dropped my swim goggles while out exploring, buggers. However, while taking yet another cozy swim, I get a sense for where I might have dropped them. I decide to go back and check first thing tomorrow morning. 

Tomorrow we will set sail for Sotenkanalen. In the canal, it is not allowed to sail, and we are obliged to go by motor. Because of this Andréas initially did not want to travel by Sotenkanalen, he has now, however, changed his mind deciding that: “I have proven myself as a sailor sufficiently”. And I can do nothing but agree. Andréas has certainly proved to be an excellent and skillful sailor, tacking against the wind when everyone else decides to go by motor. 

2025-07-26, Saturday – Bohuslän July Experience

Swim goggles retrieved! A bit of a slow day having to wait for the 10:00 o’clock emptying of the port. Once we get going, we make way for Sotenkanalen, we clear the canal by motor, raise the sail again and continue to Gullholmen. 

The Gullholmen harbour is full – Bohuslän is busy, really busy, during July –  instead we anchor against some rocks at a nearby island, Råön. We spent the evening exploring the island. The island is relatively untouched, only a few houses at the southern side, and no garbage to be found – unfortunately, these days, that is rare. Bohuslän at its peak. Just like Väderöarna, Råön is rugged and it takes the better part of the evening going all the way round. 

In the late evening, when going to sleep, I teased Andréas about his comment a couple of weeks before we started sailing: “Make sure to bring a lot of warm clothes: long underwear, rain wear, etc.” I said: “It is a good thing I brought all these clothes I have not worn once”. I opened my mouth one day too soon. 

2025-07-27, Sunday – A Sailor is Born 

Last day!. We alternate between motor and sail while following the main fairway to Marstrand. Once at Marstrand, we rely on the sail all the way to Lånedrag harbour, Gothenburg. 

Thanks to the strong winds, the big waves that occasionally washes over the boat and the colder weather, I finally get to put my long underwear and rain wear into use, and I regret opening my mouth the evening before. 

On the final stretch towards Gothenburg, a weak tendency of Andréas competitive nature emerges, trying to race ahead of other sail boats. Andréas does actually compete in the occasional sailing competition. I will let the results from his last race remain unspoken. 

We arrived in Gothenburg happy, content and slightly tired. Sailing is tougher than one might expect, especially with two all-nighters. Somehow I have managed to hit my tailbone during the journey, but that is the only minor injury sustained. Overall, the experience has been fantastic. Andréas gave me a pass on my performance, and I give him an A on teaching. 

Thank you for this experience Andréas.