Setting a Course for the Baltic with Sailing Yacht Florence

After conquering the Arctic Circle and the remote wilderness of Svalbard, Matt and Amy of Sailing Yacht Florence are swapping icebergs for island-hopping as they set their sights on the Baltic Sea. The duo are embarking on an anti-clockwise loop through some of Europe's most spectacular cruising grounds – from the historic Kiel Canal and the Swedish Göta Canal, to the island-scattered archipelagos of Sweden and Finland.

It's a very different kind of adventure from their last. Where Svalbard demanded a full refit, upgraded lifejackets, and a rented rifle, the Baltic calls for a different type of preparation with careful navigation through uncharted shallows, a Swedish visa, and – with any luck – a few more opportunities to reach for the UV tops than the foul weather gear.

We caught up with Matt and Amy ahead of their departure to find out how they've planned the route, what surprises the Baltic has in store, and why a sea notorious in Britain for being bitterly cold might just be one of Europe's best-kept sailing secrets.

After the extremes of the Arctic, what made the Baltics the next destination? Are there specific things drawing you there?

We have been drawn to the Baltic for a long time, lots of islands in the Finnish and Swedish Archiplagios makes it an ideal place to explore by water. We have kayaked there on past holidays and Matt raced through there on an 18ft Beach cat in the 2009 archipelago raid, smashing 2 and a bit daggerboards on uncharted rocks so we will try to avoid that this time.

As well as the islands, when we were taking Florence through the beautiful Scottish Caledonian canal on our way north to the Arctic, we read about another canal designed by the same engineer, the Göta canal which goes through the centre of Sweden, so we added that to the to-do list. Part of the appeal is also that the Baltic, like the Caribbean and Mediterranean, offers a large number of countries to visit within a relatively small area.

For Svalbard, you gave Florence a complete refit including insulation, new heater, staysail furler. What preparations have you made to Florence for this trip?

We planned some work but other projects overran. In the Finnish and Swedish Archipelagos it is the done thing to moor bow to the rocks with a stern anchor out, local boats have anchoring systems and windlasses on the stern. We had planned to add something for anchor handling to Florence's stern, but the interior cosmetic work overran so the anchor will be handled out of a bucket on the stern rather than anything fancy.

How different is the packing list this time compared with the Arctic?

There is a British saying to describe something being cold as saying it is 'Baltic'. However, if you look at the summer temperatures the Baltic can be surprisingly warm. We do have to get there and back across the North Sea in Spring and Autumn though so the packing list is rather extensive to cover everything from lightweight UV cover ups to boosted mid-layers, boots and OS1 foul weather gear. Hopefully we will get more use out of the former!

You mention you are heading to 10 countries – how did you decide the route, and which countries or waypoints are you most looking forward to – any must-see stops like the Stockholm archipelago or Gotland?

The planned route is anchored by our dates for passing through the Göta canal in Sweden, this is only open in the summer season. That meant that an anti-clockwise loop worked best time-wise. The other reason is that prevailing winds are generally W or SW so motoring W through the canal should cut out some upwind work on the way back, or at least that is the theory. The Göta canal, the Stockholm Archipelago and the Turku archipelago (in Finland) are probably the biggest things we are looking forward to, but the beauty of cruising is you often discover something unexpected that ends up being a highlight.

The Baltics span multiple EU/Schengen countries – has that added extra layers of planning compared with checking in and out of Norway and Svalbard?

All of the countries we are visiting being part of Schengen is both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side it means once we are checked into the first Schengen country we don't need to do any other formalities until we leave the Schengen area. The problem is that we are limited to 90 days on a Schengen visa, to get around that we went through the process of obtaining a Swedish visa so we can use our 90 Schengen days in the rest of the Baltic, then move onto our Swedish visa once we reach Sweden. This is in fact a common thing for non-European yacht crew to do when sailing for extended periods in the Baltic.

Navigation-wise, does Baltic sailing throw up anything different compared with what you were used to?

Shallows and Rocks! As blue water ocean sailors we get nervous when the depth beneath Florence's keel is less than double digits, but in the Baltic that is most of the time, oh and there are plenty of rocks, and not all of them are charted as Matt experienced on his last sailing trip in the Baltic. We also have to be aware of the GPS signal jamming or spoofing due to the Russian conflict in the area, this means we cannot always rely on our GPS position, and other vessels AIS signals can be erroneous or missing. So there will be lots to keep us on our toes.

What do you expect daily life aboard to look like in the Baltics compared with the 24-hour daylight and watch routines heading to Svalbard?

Whilst not as far north as midnight sun territory, we will still enjoy long daylight hours, meaning we can make a big distance in daylight. If we combine that with the fact that once in the Baltic distances between anchorage or marinas are short, we are hoping not to need too many overnight sails. That means a more relaxed watch routine with whoever is most tired taking a break below for a while. Daily life should revolve more around exploring from the boat at anchor and enjoying the varied cultures and foods of the Baltic.

What Gill kit do you expect to be reaching for most on this trip, given the milder but still changeable conditions?

In the Baltic we hope to be reaching for UV cover up tops and lightweight trousers an OS3 jacket to throw over the top if rain or spray threatens. But with the North Sea to be negotiated at each end of the trip we are taking no chances and have our OS1 ready to grab when the weather and sea-state get more demanding.