Golden Eye is presently in Stockholm. Summer 's itinerary May-Aug is Aaland Is, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Gotland; then likely Gdansk, Kiel, Oslo, wintering Denmark or W coast of Sweden (suggestions welcome!). I look forward to meeting port officers and rendezvous with any OCC boats. Ernie Godshalk +1 603 854 0424

Ernie, You are following much of the route that we sailed in 2008. Snippets of which are written up on our blog: Voyages of Shimshal

As an alternative to the Kiel Canal do consider the infrequently visited Limsfjord as a route back to the North Sea. We over-wintered on the West Coast of Sweden on the island of Orust which of course has state of the art facilities.

Geoff Payne has posted about his Baltic plans for this summer in the "Chart Exchange" section so do watch out for him. We are sending him some charts and harbour guides when he gets to Orkney. We also have British friends over wintering in Oxelosund just south of Stockholm. I think they are heading for the Gulf of Bothnia so do watch out for Helen and Dave on board SEEWOLF as you may cross their paths.

Simon