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Jumbuck - ARC Rally Leg 3 - Visby Sweden to Gotska Sandon Sweden



Day sail this time, covering the 50 miles almost due north from Visby to the almost deserted island of Gotska Sandon.

Our original schedule would have seen us overnight anchored off The Islands sandy beaches, but with one day lost from the schedule in Bornholm due to weather, the ARC Team suggested move on to get back on track.

The sail north was great. Under yet another blistering hot sunny morning we were almost the last boat to depart Visby at 0745 local time, and enjoyed chasing back through the fleet broad reaching under the Code 0. It felt good to sail along in close company.

Slid around the islands western tip at 1600 local time, to deploy our anchor for the first time in an idyllic location. Trouble was it was supposed to be hard sand bottom, and of all the boats, we were unlucky enough to try it over a patch of rocks. So a little bit of consternation as we were blown back out seaward with the anchor rumbling, before we got it all back in and re anchored properly.

Grabbed a lift ashore to wander through the islands scrubby woods, and check out the small 'camp site' village set around the lighthouse on the Islands west end. We got back from the walk around 8.30 pm, and it was still daylight. Hard to get used to that phenomena.

The island is a Swedish national park, so only two wardens reside in the village (working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off) all year. During summer months they have maybe 2000 people come and rent one of the small wooden cabins, or simply pitch tents. Another 5000 visitors pa come by ferry for the day, to simply walk, swim, or visit the seal sanctuary set on the northern shore.

Some boats had sailed direct from Visby to Tallinn, but we valued the break en-route. Had some late supper in twilight before hauling the anchor back up at 2100 local time and heading off NW towards Tallinn, approximately 200 miles on.

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