How to go cruising in the Baltic this winter

Sweden offers cruisers a warm welcome for winter – Janneke Kuysters has advice on how to boost your sailing time in the region

Sailing in the Baltic is increasingly popular, and for all the right reasons: beautiful cruising grounds, lovely weather, interesting history and hospitable countries. But the 90-day limit for non-Schengen passport holders makes it harder to explore destinations further away, such as Finland, the Baltic countries, the Gulf of Bothnia and Poland. More and more cruisers are looking for ways to extend their stay in Schengen and Sweden is offering the opportunity to do just that.

Six months in Sweden

The Swedish Migration Agency, Migrationsverket, has a special residence permit available for visitors who would like to stay for a maximum of six months extra, on top of the Schengen-related 90 days.
This visitor’s permit can be applied for online initially, but an interview at a Swedish embassy or consulate is necessary if the permit is applied for in the visitor’s home country. It can be applied for when the visitor is already in Sweden, and this also involves an interview.

There are some specific requirements: first, you need to submit a detailed itinerary of your cruising plans. Second, applicants need to have sufficient funds for their stay (SEK450 per person per day) and third, travel insurance that covers all medical emergencies, including repatriation. The procedure may take some time, so it’s recommended to start at least three months before sailing to Sweden (see migrationsverket.se).

Whether a Schengen visa is required depends on the country of residency. The Migrationsverket website lists nationalities which require visas.

After the application is submitted, the Swedish Migration Agency makes the decision if the residence permit for visits is granted. The length of a residence permit for visits varies, depending on the purpose of the visit and what the applicant states in the application. For tourist purposes, the length can amount to a maximum of six months.

Endless opportunities

If you’d like to spend the extra days in Sweden alone, there are many stunning cruising areas to choose from. The west coast offers beautiful islands and skerries and a buzzing sailing community around Marstrand. The east coast, and especially the Stockholm archipelago, is considered by some as one of the finest cruising grounds of Europe. Thousands of islands and skerries, beautiful nature and lovely old fishing villages in the typical red and white colours.

You can sail around the interesting south coast to visit both archipelagos, but there is the Götakanal as well: a system of rivers, lakes and almost 60 locks to get you straight across Sweden from Gothenburg in the west to Mem on the east coast. Cruising up north to the Gulf of Bothnia is more challenging, but very rewarding: solitude and interesting historical locations. The Höga Kusten (High Coast) in the middle of the Gulf of Bothnia is a very interesting cruising destination in itself.

Or you can use the additional time to cruise further afield in the Baltic – there are so many itineraries to choose from. Especially when you consider leaving your yacht for the winter in Sweden: this opens up some excellent sailing opportunities at the early start of the season or end, when anchorages and harbours are quietest and nature is at its best. Three ideas:

1 Sail across from the UK to Norway, spend 90 days there and then cross to Sweden for a few months on the west coast or through the Göta channel to the east coast.
2 Sail the Baltic anticlockwise and end your trip on the east coast of Sweden, where you store the boat for the winter and pick up the next year to sail around the south coast to the west coast of Sweden and on to Norway.
3 Sail through Denmark to Bornholm and then on to Finland. From there, you sail up the Gulf of Bothnia to the north of Sweden and sail down the east coast to Stockholm and beyond.

Extended adventures

Australian couple Denise and Bryan Keith have used the residence permit to extend their sailing in the region over the past year. “We left France in February with the intention of making our way to the Baltic Sea,” they explain.

“While most boats we encountered were heading west, we found ourselves among the few heading east. It seems that the Baltic countries are not on many cruisers’ agenda. We’ve been so fortunate this year having had a perfect summer. Most days were warm and sunny which made exploring these ‘new to us’ countries so perfect. We expected crowded marinas but we found in Latvia and Estonia they were not ridiculously busy and we always found a place for our yacht.

“Now we’re in Sweden and our sailing season is coming to an end. The weather is changing and the autumnal colours are showing themselves throughout Stockholm.

“Even though the season here is ‘officially’ over, we’ve continued to sail the stunning Stockholm archipelago and into Lake Mälaren, which during September has been magical. Bushpoint, a Swedish flagged Boréal, has joined us in our exploration of the archipelago.

“Our aluminium yacht Willow II, a 44.2 Boréal is designed for higher latitudes, hence our decision to sail these waters. Because of the residence permit for visits, we’ve been given the opportunity to extend our season and as we are wintering Willow in Stockholm, this gives us time to prepare her properly for the three months we’ll be away. We’re already looking forward to returning early next year, to continue our Scandinavian adventures.”

Canadian/British couple Jackie and Gary King sailed their Brewer Custom 46 Inspiration Lady across the North Sea for extended Nordic cruising. Gary says: “We’d applied for our Swedish residence permits during our winter stay in St Katherine Docks in London. It took about three months for the whole process to be completed, including a visit to the Swedish embassy – a straightforward process, at relatively low cost to us.

“The only thing that took some research was the travel insurance with medical costs and evacuation covered; but in the end we found an insurer who could help us with this.”

They also utilised the extended time to explore further afield this summer. “We had such a good time,” says Jackie. “First, we crossed to Helgoland to check in to Europe. Then on to Denmark and across to Sweden: we sailed up the west coast all the way up to Norway. Then back south again, and around the south coast of Sweden into the Baltic to Gotland, the large offshore Swedish island.
“From Gotland, we sailed to the Stockholm archipelago, a beautiful cruising ground in itself. After a month of delightful cruising there, we sailed south again and transited the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal back to Cuxhaven, where we cleared out to sail back to the UK again.

“Having the extra time gave us peace of mind, especially when we got stuck in some places, waiting for a weather window.”

“The only thing that seemed a bit puzzling, was the approach non-Swedish countries took,” adds Gary. “Other cruisers who have used this system have had similar experiences: it is quite unknown and authorities in other Schengen countries have a different approach. It didn’t bother us, we were always treated courteously and efficiently. We have enjoyed every day of this summer’s cruising.”

Weather windows

Not every application is automatically awarded a full sixth month permit. After spending a lovely month on the east coast of Norway, where their boat had spent the winter, Canadian cruisers Jayne Finn and Mike Evans sailed their Najad 405 Loons Lace to Sweden. “We opted to apply for a Swedish residence permit. This process was clear and straightforward: after filling out the form and uploading the information regarding our funds and travel/medical insurance, we went for an interview at the Swedish embassy in Ottawa,” explains Mike.

“Of the six months we requested in order to cruise much of the Swedish coast up to Stockholm, we were granted five. This gave us enough time to cruise the beautiful west coast of Sweden, including a visit to the Najad boatyard.

“Our plans were delayed, however, by some boat repairs and a health issue and, realising we could not follow our plan of more extensive sailing in Sweden, we instead went south and made stops in the Netherlands, France, the Channel Islands, Galicia on the north-west coast of Spain and the Portuguese coast, all the way to the Algarve in Portugal.”

Jayne says: “It gave us peace of mind to have the time to explore the different countries we sailed through. Our itinerary included some tricky passages like the German Bight, English Channel and the Bay of Biscay. Waiting for a weather window for these passages is less stressful when the Schengen clock isn’t ticking so loud.

“We’ve used one month of the 90 days of Schengen stay, and five on the Swedish residence card. So we had six months of blissful cruising in Europe. The landscapes and nature in this part of the world almost gives you a sensory overload at times. We love the nature as well as the rich cultures of the countries we’ve sailed through.”

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