The start of the journey to the UK: Ellos - Goteborg 16/9/23 66NM

On Saturday 16th September David, Judith and Atom set off for Goteborg. We said goodbye to Ellos at around 7.15 in the morning just after it had got properly light.

Once clear of the islands we set sails with the wind almost on the nose. Atom was perfectly happy at around 32 degrees apparent but we found we were tacking through close to 120 degrees. There is no tide in the Baltic but some quite strong currents flow North as the land water finds its way into the North Sea. On with the motor until we could tuck back in behind the islands. The entry to Goteborg was interesting with an angry Danish Tanker who took exception to our very presence just outside the navigation channel and a nerve wracking passage under the bridge. Atom's air draft is 23m and the bridge is 45m, but from where we were it looked like the mast was in jeopardy...squeaky bum time, but we needn't have worried, the maths was right. We finally got to Lilla Bommen marina in central Goteborg at 18.00 to find they had given away our pre booked, pre paid, very expensive berth and wanted us to park a 44ft boat on a 20ft dock. After some strong words, a large powerboat was ejected from the tiniest corner of the marina which we were able to thread Atom safely into backwards. Thank God for thrusters and no wind or tide!!! The harbourmaster did at least help with our lines though and the marina is fabulously located right in the centre of the city.

We spent a nice sunny Sunday sorting out the boat looking forward to the arrival of our great friends Donald and Julia, hugely experienced sailors who would sail Atom back to the UK with us.