2022_06_Erster_Trip_Schweden_183small
Alba is a 27 feet Sailing Yacht. She is the 290th ’Bianca 27' built by Rudköpings Shipyard in Denmark in 1973. The mission was to find an affordable Sailboat in Sweden. At the end of May 2022 we headed towards Stockholm and visited several boats. On the 5th of June we returned to stay for the summer. We plan to sail Alba over the next months through the archipelago of Stockholm until autumn, when she goes back on land for winter storage. In the long run we dream of sailing her through the Guidecca Channel in Venice! That means we will sail her season by season further south, until we reach the Mediterranen Sea.
Alba is a 27 feet Sailing Yacht. She is the 290th ’Bianca 27’ built by Rudköpings Shipyard in Denmark in 1973. The mission was to find an affordable Sailboat in Sweden. At the end of May 2022 we headed towards Stockholm and visited several boats. On the 5th of June, we returned to stay for the summer. We plan to sail Alba over the next months through the archipelago of Stockholm until autumn, when she goes back on land for winter storage. In the long run we dream of sailing her through the Guidecca Channel in Venice! That means we will sail her season by season further south, until we reach the Mediterranen Sea.
To see as many boat as possible, we rented a car and drove to different marinas. For greater flexibility we slept in the car somewhere on the way. It was challenging to organise and time the boat visits, which were several driving hours apart from each other.
The first sea trial on the journey was on a IW-31 designed by Sparksman & Stephens. The owner Joel welcomed us to Sweden and let us sail his boat around some islands. In the end, the interior was too small for us. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our first test sail, especially of such a special boat design.
While driving from one sailboat visit to the next one, we had the chance to explore many remote places like this scenic lake.
During many hours of driving authentic little places and villages revealed themselves along the way. We met many interesting people and really enjoyed the scenery of Swedish nature.
At the end of teach day we scheduled visits for the next day. Sleeping in the car was after all challenging and cold.
Finally, we found Alba, docked at land on an old shipyard. After an extensive survey of the boat on land, the owner agreed to lift her in the water for a final sea trial.
After a day of rigging and installing the mast we decided to set the deal and shook hands with Robin, the owner. There we were: boat owners and sailors of a beautiful old-timer to be.
The first night at the boat was freezing cold. Fortunately, in the morning the first sunlight finally warmed us up again.
The boat is at a berth we inherited with the purchase. It is part of a shipyard located one hour south of Stockholm. Interestingly, it used to be an old scrapyard, so the place feels improvised with its old structures and heavy machines. However, the overall atmosphere is very relaxed.
Ihlenburg Senior came for a visit for the first day of sailing. Strong gusts in the afternoon forced us to test the second reef in the main.