We'd decided that we would not stretch ourselves to reach the Åland islands, we would take a couple of days over it. I was desperate to have a night on an anchor again, so we opted for the island of Granö, 26 miles away. There was a SSE F3- F4 wind blowing, so with luck we would be able to sail (and we did) all the way, pretty much.

It was another early start (10:45 – well you try getting 3 women ready any sooner!) and we were soon sailing along in this very, very picturesque sailing playground .




Apart from dodging boats of all sizes, from very large liners through to speedboats, we had a lovely, uneventful sail. Actually, I exaggerate, it really wasn’t crowded at all, especially when compared to say, Southampton Water. We arrived at our anchorage at 16:40 and there was oodles of space, with one boat anchored and two others had their noses against the rocks. It was super and Elaine & Rosemary were waxing lyrical about cruising in these parts. Sun really makes a difference to one’s outlook! I barbecued on board that night and apart from poor CW suffering one minor burn in the gelcoat – another job to do, it was an uneventful evening and once again, we’d had a cracking day and we even had a nice evening sky to see us to bed.