After our pleasant but short stay in Mollösund, it was time to continue southwards. Our first stop was Marstrand to fill up our diesel tanks. There are two fuel stations at Mollösund, but as it was still “dead” season (not even low season) in Mollösund, we were afraid that the diesel in the tanks there would not be high quality — perhaps diesel bug had been growing there all winter. Since Marstrand gets a lot more traffic all year-round , we figured it would be a better idea to fill up there.
Passing a little fishing village on the way to Marstrand
About 1’000 swiss francs later (which is about the same amount in USD), our diesel tanks were filled and we were on our way. Ouch! For those of you who don’t live in Europe, fuel is expensive here because of all the taxes on it. It is kind of unfair that boats have to pay road taxes on diesel, but that’s the way it is…
Rörö
We stopped for the night at Rörö, just north of Göteborg. Rörö is a little fishing village that’s turned into more of a weekend and holiday village during the past 20 years. The fishing huts and boats are still there, but there are more and more beautiful new houses. I say “beautiful” because I appreciate the modern style of Swedish house and apartment building architecture. It seems to be all about wood, large windows, simple lines and discrete colours.
We were the only boat in the marina at Rörö
Rörö is still a working fishing village
Charming fishing huts in Rörö
Rörö marina has lots of space for alongside mooring, important for us, since Freja is usually too wide and too long for normal boxes or Y-berths. In addition, it’s much easier for Senna to get off the boat from the side. We’ll see how it goes if we ever have to moor bows-in as some marinas in Sweden require. As it was dead season, we had access to water but the electricity was not yet turned on.
Fishing boats – and us.
Crushed mussel shells high up on a cliff on Rörö. How did they get there? Seagulls?
Looking our over the open sea on Rörö island
We had ideal sailing weather as we slid past the islands near Göteborg.
We saw this beauty – HMS Falken, an training boat from 1947 for the Royal Swedish Navy.
Senna enjoying the sail
You’ll need a large-format “Båtsport kort” (Chart for pleasure boats) to make navigation easier in the archipelago.
Still rather cold but we’re enjoying the sun!
Ockerö-Hamnholmen
Our next stop, south of Göteborg, was an anchorage called Ockerö-Hamnholmen (not to be confused with Ockerö just outside Göteborg). We were alone in this fabulous anchorage. If you have a dingy, you can go to the northern side of the anchorage for stupendous views of the open sea and the entire cove.
The advantage of off-season sailing: we were all alone in this lovely anchorage
We had a clear and sunny day, and saw all the way out to Nidingen, a well-known lighthouse and weather-reporting station in Sweden.
You’ll need a dingy to explore the three islands that make up this anchorage
We continued on to Glommen, just north of Falkenberg, and and them sailed on to Båstad.
This is Senna’s second-favorite place if the boat is not heeling over.
Båstad
Båstad is a well-known tennis championship and summer holiday town. We were thoroughly charmed by Båstad and stayed 3 nights. For once, the marina was “open” – electricity was on, cafés, restaurants and shops were open, and there was lots of life around the harbour. It could have been because we were there during the ascension holiday. The Thursday is a holiday and most people take Friday off from work, giving them a big 4-day weekend. Back when I lived in Stockholm, this was always the first big sailing weekend.
View of Båstad marina and the hills above the town
Summer weather had suddenly arrived as well. We went from about 10°C to 26° in a day. The down jackets went into the closet and the shorts came out.
Båstad marina at 20.00 and still lots of sun — the days are getting longer and longer
The marina itself is quite pleasant with lots of alongside places as well as boxes for boats 40-42 feet or less. Ice cream shops, bars, cafés, and restaurants abound. Don’t come during the tennis championships or in July, though. I’m quite sure it’s overfull and quite loud.
View of the interior part of the marina in Båstad
The town of Båstad is a short walk or cycle up the hill. You’ll find a supermarket and boutiques selling clothes, decor, shoes, etc. There’s also a tourist office stocked with information about the area around the entire peninsula, called the “Bjärehalvön”(Bjäre Peninsula).
The rolling hills above the town of Båstad
After 3 lovely days in summery Båstad, we were off to yet another well-know summer holiday town, Mölle.
Beautiful sail to Mölle
Mölle
The marina in Mölle is rather small, so it’s best to get there early. The problem is that if it’s full of Danish boats, they don’t have far to go, so they tend to stay late. When we arrived at about 14.30, the marina was still full of boats from Denmark. We tied up to a fishing boat quay while they finished eating their lunch. After a half-hour’s wait they started to leave, one by one, and we could finally tie up for the evening. There’s room for 6 or seven larger boats alongside and there are a few boxes for smaller boats 38 feet and under.
Calm Sunday evening in Mölle marina. You see the Grand Hotel in the hill in the background
Bronze statue in the harbour of Mölle
It was a summery Sunday — about 28° — almost unheard of in early-May in Sweden. The harbour in Mölle seems to be the centre of activity for the area and the various seafood cafés, ice cream shops and bars were full. The restaurants and cafés at the marina are more of the fish and chips variety, so if you want to have a really good meal, you’ll have to walk up to the Grand Hotel. Or cook a good meal on the boat!
Sunset and golden light in Mölle Harbour. This was taken at about 21.30.