May 27, 2016 | 2016, Cruising, Destinations, Marina Reviews |
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.
May 17, 2016 | 2016, Boat dog, Destinations, Marina Reviews |
Freja was finally ready to go. Small repairs finished, hull polished, water tanks filled and galley provisioned. We took advantage of having our car by buying more heavy items than we really needed at the moment (anything that comes in a jar or can). We also drove to a big garden center to get some planks for Carl to make our fender boards. We bought two “deck” planks – the ones you’d use to make a deck or a terrace. They’re supposed to last about 10 years of normal “deck use” and are already treated for humidity ingress. All Carl needed to do was to drill some holes, round off the corners and sand them a bit.
We decided to make the very first leg of our journey a short one, so that Senna, our dog, could slowly become accustomed to the movement and heeling of the boat. We chose a beautiful anchorage only 2 hours’ sail from Vindön, just before the port of Ellös.
We plan to do longer and longer legs to get her used to sailing. Our limit will be 6-7 hours. She can “hold it” that long. We do have a small rug made of artificial grass that she can use, but she hasn’t had to yet. Her first trip in the dingy to get to land was a big success. She loved it!
Senna jumped right into the dingy from the stern stairs.
Mollösund
Our second leg ended at Mollösund, an incredibly charming fishing/summer cottage village with a small marina. It’s worth the time getting there early or staying an extra night. If you like seafood, you must walk over to Larssons Fisk (fisk=fish). We bought some salmon and plaice almost right off the boat (the shop opens right after the fishing boat docks and unloads the daily catch). They also have the most fantastic shrimp mix that they call “Mums”, which means “Yum”. And it is indeed yummy. It’s the most delicious variation of “Skagen Röra” I’ve ever tasted. It even beats the one sold at Lisa Elmqvist at Östermalmshallen in Stockholm, for those of you who know Stockholm and that famous seafood shop and restaurant.
Freja docked in front of the “fish processing” building in Mollösund.
On the way to Larssons Fisk
A window in the village of Mollösund
Looking into the window of a fishing cabin. Mollösund, Sweden
A lovely mailbox in the village of Mollösund, Sweden
The old windmill in Mollösund
A rowboat in swedish colours; Mollösund, Sweden
Typical “fishing cottages” in Mollösund. Many have been converted into summer cottages.
The marina in Mollösund is small, but if your boat is under 40 feet, you’ll be able to find a place unless it’s high season – the month of July. Most Scandinavians are on holiday in July, so popular marinas are full by 14.00. Some marinas accept reservations; otherwise you’ll have to get there early. Needless to say, the beginning of May is not high season. The electricity was not even turned on the marina, and not a single restaurant was open. Mollösund does have a surprisingly well-stocked grocery store about a 2-minute walk from the marna, and two fresh fish shops.
Restaurants, cafés and bars surround the marina, but they don’t open until the beginning of June. Diesel and gasoline is available at two different stations on either side of the marina entrance.
It’s cold on the west coast of Sweden in the beginning of May! You need to dress for winter sailing.
May 7, 2016 | 2016, Organising, Preparing the boat |
We’re finally finished with organising the boat!
It took about a week more than planned to finally finish the organising and setting up of our boat. Each item on the boat is now documented with its exact location, quantity, part name and number. The only things we didn’t document were our clothes, personal hygiene and cosmetic items — that would be just a bit over the top.
We’ve organised all of our parts, tools, and equipment on a spreadsheet.
Food and utility stores are documented since you need to know what to stock back up on — do we need more eggs? Butter? Toilet paper? Dishwashing liquid? Yes, this is a great big PITA — notice the glass of wine next to the Mac? But we will be thankful we did it – sooner than later.
The boat is still not in order, and our dog, Senna is tired of all the boring organising and tidying up.
We didn’t just organise the interior of the boat. The entire contents of the various deck lockers (sail locker, port and starboard lazarettes and the side deck locker) needed to be moved to the most logical place. For example, since the heating exhaust passes through the port lazarette, we put only “non-meltable” items there. Since the side deck locker is the most shallow, we put smaller items there, such as boat cleaning products, the filters for the water maker and other small parts.
Organising the sail locker
Organising the side deck locker
The long and thought-provoking (Do we really need this? Can we leave this with Adams Boat Care for now?) process of organising and tidying up resulted in an entire pallet box full of things! I was inspired by the book by Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. She says you need to be rigorous with your decision process and always ask “Does this spark joy?” If it doesn’t, it should go. In boating terms, the questions are: “Do we really need this?” and “Do we really have the room for this?” While we do have a few things we don’t really need (candles, a small Alvar Alto bowl that can be used for tea lights or to hold nuts or strawberries), they don’t take up much space.
This is what is staying at Adams Boat Care for the summer and then going back home with us in the fall.
At the same time we were in the process or organise and documenting, Carl Adams was getting the boat in shape to go. He contracts the rigging work to expert rigger Daniel Engström. We had to postpone rigging day twice because of high winds, but the day finally arrived — chilly, but calm and sunny.
Attaching the boom. The mast had already been put up before our arrival in Sweden.
Putting up the inner forestay with its Reckmann furler
Daniel in the air
Putting up the jib
Making sure the lines and halyards are correctly organised on the mast
Senna, our dog, found the entire rigging process really fascinating. So much so that she was completely wiped out at the end of the day.
Senna is really tired after rigging day
