After the bad weather has passed, we take a short trip down to Brunskär, in sunny weather with almost no wind. Brunskär has a small jetty where we can squeeze in without being in the way of the passenger ferry, and a total winter population of one old lady. The lady’s nephew greeted us at the jetty, showed us where the walking paths across the island was, and made sure we felt welcome. We also bought a jar of honey made on the island. Very nice walking on the island, and we find enough bilberries for dessert.

The day after we continue – still using engine in very light winds – to Björkö. Björkö is a popular natural harbour, deep enough to get into land in several places and well protected from most winds. We’re lucky enough that another boat is leaving just as we start looking for a good place, and they wave us in at the spot they just vacated. The distinguishing feature of Björkö is the small sweetwater lake – entirely without exits for the water – that is nested in between high cliffs. In the morning we go for a walk to the southern side of the lake and do yoga before breakfast.

From Björkö we continue to Boskär, still keeping to short trips as we spend quite a lot of time working with the translations and internationalization of tamedhunden.se and the iOS and Android apps. While we feel that we’re Almost Done ™, we’re very familiar with how much time the last stretch of testing and fixing takes. Boskär is nice, with good walking paths and the weather is spectacular. I (Fredrik) try out a new recipe for flatbread to go with huevos rancheros, and it turns out very nice, if slightly too stiff to work as a proper wrap. In the morning we continue to the small guest harbour at Brännskär.

While we have a good afternoon at Brännsär, the night is rough with wind and waves coming in, but we manage to get some sleep. In the morning, it turns out that the boat beside us has used the same buoy as us, and it can’t handle the load. With the wind picking up further, we decide to head out to find a better protected harbour, rather than staying and asking the (seemingly very inexperienced) crew of that boat to move.

First we head for Nagu, but when Fredrik ‘optimizes the route to save some distance and go in more protected waters, it turns out that it would take us under a 14 meter bridge (we’re 16 meters to the top of the VHF antenna…). Some quick replanning and a phone call to the new guest harbour in Tackork and we have a new destination without obstacles. The route in to the Tackork harbor is extremely narrow, but once in it’s incredibly well protected, and can get the dogs walked, work done, and we lie safe over night.

In the morning we leave for Nagu, where we plan to either re-stock there, or continuing in to Åbo (Turku) before heading north and swinging back towards Åland in the coming weeks. After about a month’s vacation from billable work, Fredrik is in talks with contracting agencies regarding two separate contracts, and plan to take interviews while we’re in a safe harbour with hopefully good internet connection.