Sweden

It’s Friday and I am not sure how the week has gone by so quickly. Having said that it seems like a long time ago when we left Oslo. We headed down the Oslofjord on a lovely day, enjoying the sailing and the warm sunshine. As the day progressed the sun got warmer, making it feel like summer had arrived. Unfortunately the wind died. We tried to squeeze every knot out of the breeze but at some point we had to admit defeat.

As we motored south a small motor cruiser came close. We waved as they slowed down. They sped up and circled us and then after the second circle, they pulled up close and asked if we spoke French. I turns out that the wife on board was from Quebec. We conversed in French for a bit and then in English as her husband was Norwegian. That was not the only coincidence… They had just ordered a brand new Hallberg-Rassy sailboat albeit bigger and fancier than ours. Their choice was a H-R 48 to be delivered next summer. After giving them our boat card they zoomed off. As the day progressed the clouds became dark and nasty. We began to see lightning in the distance. I decided it was time to cut the days run short and find a protected spot. As it turned out we ended up in a place we had been before, about halfway down the fjord. The threatening weather didn’t amount to much but we had a peaceful evening.

Friday brought a strong (not forecast) north wind and an exciting sail. Wing on wing as we dodged between islands to our next anchorage. The wind continued on Saturday as headed into Sweden.

 

Our first stop was Stromstad, a town about 5 miles south of the border. Apparently it is a very popular spot for Norwegians to pick up cheap booze. We pulled into one of the visitors docks with no problems. They have a very large visitors’ harbour which is completely full during the summer season. Our attempts at checking into Sweden proved fruitless and apparently unnecessary. On the other hand we found a wonderful place for lunch. Alan had fish and chips while my lunch was a wonderful cold hot-smoked salmon with salad and hot new potatoes.

One of the nice surprizes was the discovery of another boat with an Ocean Cruising Club flag. We we invited for drinks aboard Belle Brise with Angela and Wilhem. It was fascinating to hear their stories of their circumnavigation. It gave us much to think about. On Monday we left to head south again. We had agreed to meet Belle Brise in a lovely anchorage in the island of Muson.  It was completely surrounded and a bit nerve-wracking to get into. The entrance had a bar that read 1.5 metres on our depth sounded. We draw 1.7. grass we figure. We anchored in 5 metres. Angela and Wilhem joined us for dinner and shared their knowledge of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.

The next two days involved some sailing, some motoring and most notably, lots of traffic. The summer holidays are drawing to a close, and many boats are heading back to their home ports. While there are bigger motor boats, these double enders are ubiquitous. The owners look like they are having so much fun.

We had a wonderful time passing through two canals/channels. It was fun to get an up close look at the holiday villages.

Wednesday morning, Alan was up early and itching to get going. This was a big day! We had 10 miles to go until we reached Ellös. What is so special about Ellös?

Ellös is the home of the Hallberg-Rassy factory where our boat was constructed in 1986. Unfortunately, being the summer season the plant and offices are closed. We have managed to spend money in the parts store across the harbour.

A new fuel gauge, a fitting for our mainsheet pulley, some Boracol for the teak deck. We resisted the expensive HR branded clothing. We decided not to fix the cap rail at this time with an $800 piece of teak. We have met several HR owners coming in and out, which is always fun. The dockage is free because they are closed. We have power and wifi but not water. The weather is warm and sunny and the local kids are making the best of their last week before school starts playing at the beach.