Sailing in the Baltic

[vlazyjack]

At my sailing club last night we had a guest speaker talking about her preparations for a cruise into the Baltic. She made the point that their boat, a Moody 34, would sit some 4" lower in the water due to the lower salinity of the sea.
Anyone had any experience of this?

 

[Guest]

The waters definitely a lot less salty - don't feel much need for a shower after swimming in it, and it tastes less salty to the lips. I hadn't thought about it making my boat sit lower in the water, but come to think of it, I was surprised last season that she was lower in thw water than usual - with 4 on board seawater was sitting in the bottom of the galley sink for the first time ever. That explains it!

 

[pandroid]

An inch or so maybe, but I wouldn't have thought 4. Ours doesnt change noticeably and its 7.5 ton.

 

[FergusM]

Yes, the Baltic is brackish, rather than salt, so your boat does float a bit lower in the water. You can catch pike and perch in the Baltic, as well as salt-water species. The Baltic herring, strömming in Swedish, is really tasty, but smaller than North Sea or Atlantic herring.

I agree with Simon, it's nice to swim without getting sticky with salt.

Another thing you notice is that the waves often tend to a short, steep chop, much like you get in freshwater lakes, rather than the slower, 'heavier' waves you get in salt water. That's my impression, at least.

It's a lovely sea to sail in. I used to live in Sweden, and I'm married to a Swedish woman, so I sailed a lot in the archipelago around Stockholm. There are something like 20,000 islands, many of which you can moor up to. Bring your own spirits, as they are still expensive, but wine is reasonably priced, and the food is excellent.

On the downside, in Sweden at least, everyone is entitled by law to a holiday in high summer, and that includes people working for boatyards. So you can find yourself unable to have engine repairs done, for example, because their engineers are on holiday for all of July. Crazy!

Don't believe the stories about the Swedes being well-off, though. Many of the women can only afford half a bikini.

 

[mithril]

Yes it does sit lower in the water as the density of fresh water is lower than saline solutions.

Last year we went to St Petersburg via the Finnish Archepelago etc. Finland seemed to have the lowest salinityas you can actually drink the water but all in all we were less than 2 inch deeper in the water.

The Isselmeer is also reasonable low on salt but again little change in draght was noticed.

Here in Eastbourne I can see the dirty canal level mark from Holland and its little different to where we are now.

Check our web page for details of the trip. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[jenku]

>Another thing you notice is that the waves often tend to a short, steep chop, much like >you get in freshwater lakes, rather than the slower, 'heavier' waves you get in salt >water. That's my impression, at least.

True, but I think it's because of the Baltic being quite shallow...

 

[Guest]

Interesting log, thank you. We arrived in Petersburg just a few days after you left (don't have my log here, but was about 31 July-ish). Our paths must have crossed somewhere between there and Hanko /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[FergusM]

Hej Jenku

Where do you keep your boat? I used to have a Folkbåt at Bullandö, and then kept my Albin Vega at Rosättra, outside Norrtälje.

Hälsningar

Fergus

 

[jenku]

At Ropsten, right inside Lidingö island currently. Quite central so I can take out the boat after work and sail for a few hours....We have two Vegas at the club....and I had a folkboat at Vaxholm a few years ago....

 

[gjeffery]

Four inches seems a bit much! From Nicholls Seamanship, standard assumption is that:
1 ton fresh water has a volume of 36 cu ft
1 ton salt water has a volume of 35 cu ft

ie, only about 1 cu ft additional displacement volume per ton of boat weight.

If the waterline area of a 34 ft boat is 34' * 10 * 0.6' = 200 sq ft, the boat will float lower by 1/200 ft for each ton of its weight

For a 5 ton boat, thats FA^-2!

 

[jenku]

And then the Baltic is not really fresh water but brackish so it should be even less.

 

[whisper]

"Stromming" - beware of the fermented variety that come in tins - the latter are often distorted in shape and look as if they're about to explode. They are a delicacy allegedly but my memories are of them being ghastly.

 

[Guest]

Tho' by all accounts the salinity of the Dead Sea seems to make a big difference to the buoyancy of a person floating in it. Explanations?

 

[jenku]

Well the salinity of the Dead Sea is almost six times higher than that of the Oceans. And a human body does almost float in fresh water, so the difference is not that big after all.

 

[bilbobaggins]

For a very pleasant delicacy, try the tinned herring sold hereabouts in IKEA stores. No, really! Very moorish, very surprised1