This is "Onbekommerd"!

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Port

Look at the title of this post please....

Yes, we are in port. But that's not the meaning of 'port' I am trying to convey.
We have just opened a new bottle of port. That's the port I mean!
We only drink port if and when it is cold. It is now 29 June, the heater is on, it is blowing 25 knots in the gusts and we have had quite a bit of rain. It feels like summer has been cancelled. Fortunately we are snug in the boat, the harbour is full of yachts sheltering from the weather. One (slightly foolish) man was spotted brushing down his boat in the rain, wearing a pink hat and shorts. Lyn mentioned that his legs were as pink as his hat...
Anyway, we have lots to do, we are comfortable and it looks like we will be here for another two days.
Some day, we are sure, summer will arrive in Sweden and hopefully it will be when we are still here...

Location:Notholmsvägen,Västervik,Sweden

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

This is how it should be

After a few days with very unsettled weather, the forecast for today was good so we set the alarm clock for 6am and by 6:30 we were off our moorings. Although it was still a bit windy, it was a north westerly so we were under the lee of the land most of the time and had a great day's motoring. We had planned to get to Västervik in two days and had found a nice mooring about half way. But when we got to that spot we were going nicely and it was only 1pm so we carried on to the first spot where we ever back-anchored, a small island called Björkholmen. So now we are just 2 hours from Västervik, which we'll do in the morning. After that, there will be one or two unsettled days again but Västervik is a nicely sheltered harbour.
In the meantime, we are here with one British and seven Swedish boats. The British boat has a British / Dutch couple on it, with a guest who is a dual French - Swiss citizen. Quite an international bunch.
The view from the back of the boat is nice:








After dinner, the multinational crew met on Onbekommerd. The British skipper is a pianist and he gave us a concert, the first 'stranger ' ever to play Onbekommerd 's piano!









To end off, we had a sunset worthy of a nice picture.








A very nice day, all in all!

Location:Loftahammar,Sweden

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Midsommar


Today is 'Midsommar', the Saturday closest to the summer solstice, 21 June. But more importantly, yesterday was 'Midsommerafton'. On Midsommarafton, the 'stång', similar to a Maypole, is decorated and raised.





And once raised, music is played and families dance around the stång.





It is a very traditional family affair, as important as Christmas, it appears. All shops, restaurants and other businesses are closed and it is the start of the holiday season.

In the evening, there are parties, usually with a lot of food and drink.
We are at our Swedish base and this year it was the turn of the British to organise the party at the 'Båtklubb'.





So we started with Pimms as a welcome drink. The starter was organised by the Swedes, different types of pickled herring with boiled potatoes. For the main course there was cottage pie with peas and carrots followed by strawberries and cream. Wine, beer, vodka and aquavit lubricated all of this. One of the local Swedes provided the accompaniment on his cornet and his accordion.






The international gathering of Dutch, British, Swedes, a German and a New Zealander enjoyed itself.

Our plan is to start moving South tomorrow, but at the moment the wind is howling and for tomorrow it is predicted to be quite windy too, so we might be here a bit longer.

Location:Parkvägen,Nävekvarn,Sweden

Thursday, June 22, 2017

At home in Nävekvarn

Since yesterday afternoon, we have been in Nävekvarn. This is where Onbekommerd spent the winter. Also, we were here last year for the Midsommar celebrations.
It is the place in Sweden where we feel more and more 'at home'. It's a strange combination of attributes that lies behind this. The Swedes here at the Näve Qvarn Båt Klub (old fashioned spelling) are very welcoming (as are most of the Swedes we have met over our 4 seasons in Sweden). But there is also a significant contingent of 'foreigners ', made up of Hollanders and Brits. As we have feet in both the Dutch and the British 'camps', we get on well with all of them, it's a big happy family. We "mess around with boats", share experiences on and off the water and commiserate with those who have breakdowns (our Dutch neighbours have been waiting for parts to have their engine reconditioned for a few weeks now).
Tomorrow is Midsommar, a big event here in Sweden which we will celebrate, firstly by seeing the 'stång' (Midsummer pole) raised and afterwards with a party, this year organised by the Britis (supported by the Swedes of course). If last year's "Dutch" party is anything to go by, it will be fun!
More about all of that later!

Location:Parkvägen,Nävekvarn,Sweden

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Busy busy

One of our regular followers pointed out that there had not been a blogpost for some time, and he is right. We have had quite a busy 'social life' on the boat and that keeps one busy.
After the 'swan lake', we moved to Grinda and then to Vaxholm. Both of these are 'old favourites '. At Vaxholm, Gwilym and Janine left us and we moved on to Tyresö. We were there a few weeks ago as well, and this time my former colleague Arend was in residence there (with his wife Birgitta). Arend came on board:





Arend afterwards took us home for a nice grilled salmon dinner with Birgitta. We also met their 17 month old granddaughter Liv (and Liv's parents, Elena and Jakob).

The next day we retreated to Saltsjöbaden where our niece Philippa and her husband Sean came on board.





They stayed for the night and enjoyed the sunset (behind the Grand Hotel) with us.







The following day (we are now talking yesterday), they came for a 4 hour trip to Nynäshamn with us. The weather was great and we had a smooth trip. They took the train back to Stockholm from there, but only after giving in to the typical Swedish temptation: ice cream!






This morning was quite a bit more windy, so on our trip to Ringsön (a favourite anchorage), we got quite a bit of water over the deck. Nothing unusual, but it had not happened for quite some time and the boat is 'as salty as a herring'. Tomorrow we'll return to Nävekvarn where we will stay for the Midsummer celebrations on Friday. More about that later.

Location:Tystberga,Sweden

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Swan lake?

No, we did not go to the ballet today. And we are not on a lake either.
But early this morning, in our idyllic anchorage, there was a swan with a single cygnet worth taking a few pictures of.















Location:Värmdö Grinda,Värmdö,Sweden

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Dinghy and reflections

Our good friends Gwilym and Janine have been with us since Saturday. We first went to Arholma, then we wanted to go to a small harbour on Blidö which was still closed so we ended up in Furusund. There too, they were still hard at work to prepare for the coming season (and it is already 14 June). Here you see more stern buoys being laid:











We stayed an extra day at Furusund as the weather was cold, wet and windy. But today it was glorious and we set off to Träskö Störo, an island with lots of bays in which one can tie up to the rocks or anchor. We did the latter and we can use the dinghy to get ashore. Here Gwilym and Janine are on their way. Unfortunately Janine fell into the water when getting into the dinghy on the way back, but no harm was done!











Originally, there were two more boats here, but they have left so we are all alone. It's very beautiful as can be seen in these reflection shots Lyn took:






















Location:Värmdö,Sweden

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Going back South

As reported yesterday, we were going to leave early to take advantage of a 'weather gap' on the 5 hour crossing of the Sea of Åland. We woke up at 4:45 to find that there was thick fog around. So back to bed! By 10, the visibility had improved a lot and we left lovely Mariehamn (it was 'Åland Day' to boot). Shorty after getting out of the fairways we hit a fog patch and deliberated whether we should continue or go back. As we could see the sun above, we're away from any dangerous grounds and had chosen a route out of the ferry lanes, we decided to carry on and this was the right decision: a little later it cleared completely and we had a great trip towards Sweden. The first bit of Sweden you approach is the Tävaren beacon:





Our plan was to go to Fejan, an island that was a quarantine station to avoid cholera to reach Stockholm from Russia and Finland. When we got to the guest jetty, it appeared closed, completely deserted.
We looked at the options and found that the island of Lidön, a bit further inland, has a sheltered anchorage. We are there now, together with 5 other boats. It's very idyllic, well protected (as long as the wind is not from the East) and we can currently hear the birds singing.








Location:Norrtälje,Sweden

Thursday, June 8, 2017

It's a small world

The last few days in Åland have been quite remarkable, full of surprises actually.

When we approached Mariehamn from Kastelholm, we noticed something which is quite normal in the Netherlands but very unusual here. A 'vlet' coming towards us!





It was called 'Gipsy Life', which from the looks of it was quite appropriate. The crew was just as excited as we were and we took lots of pictures of each other.
They appeared to be going towards the East harbour whilst we usually go to the West one. When we walked over to the East harbour later, they were not there.
We went to the East harbour to meet our Cruising Association friends Alan and Lucy (we actually found them in the supermarket, Mariehamn is a small place). We had tea on board with them.





We got talking about some of the particulars of Åland, one of which is that the first 2/3rds of the 20th century were economically dominated by ship owner Gustav Erikson, who owned and operated a fleet of 'windjammers', carrying grain from Australia to Europe. One of the most famous ones, the 'Herzogin Cecile ' ran aground and was lost off Salcombe in Devon. Alan and Lucy live in Kingswear, close to Salcombe and are quite knowledgeable about the 'Herzogin '. The captain of the ship on that fateful trip was a Sven Erikson and his house, called 'Pelles' is now a museum. His daughter, 84 year old Freya, runs the museum. She interestingly grew up in South Africa after her parents abandoned shipping life after the stranding of the 'Herzogin '.
The museum is still closed (until next week when the season starts), but though our Åland friend Ralph we managed to organise a 'private viewing'.
All very special!








The last picture shows Freya, who certainly does not look or act 84 years old!

Our last few days in Mariehamn were very pleasant. The season has not started yet, but the schools broke up today so the atmosphere in 'town' was festive.

The days are very long. Lyn woke up early, at 3:30 and took these pictures.








That's an early sunrise!

The club is most hospitable and flies the flags of all visiting ships





But all good things come to an end. We expect a good weather gap to cross back to Sweden tomorrow. Early start, 5am to profit from the light airs.

Location:Sjöpromenaden,Mariehamn,Åland Islands

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Mixed bag

Yesterday, I ended by sort of lamenting the absence of freshly baked bread due to the early season. I was wrong! When the lady harbourmaster came around at 8:30 last night to collect the harbour fees, I commented that I was sorry that we were too early in the season for the famous fresh bread delivered to the boat (she had told me earlier that the coffee shop was still closed). Then she remarked: 'you are giving me a perfect excuse to start baking". How many rolls do you want? What good news!
This morning, this bag was delivered to the boat:





Note the weather forecast and especially the phrase "mostly good visibility"......

At 9:30 we set off on our trip to Kökar. This is a group of islands at the extreme south eastern end of the Åland archipelago. We wanted to go there last year but were prevented by unfavourable winds and our first reason to return this year was to see Kökar, which is reported to be stark, almost treeless and very different from the rest of Åland.
To get to Kökar is tricky. You navigate from mark to mark, from island to island and sometimes from rock to rock. Navigation marks sometimes look like this:





It's not difficult, with two people, two plotters and the paper chart, but it's intense concentration. Good fun, an adventure.

Some 13 miles out of Kökar, we noticed that the visibility ahead was getting worse. We could not see marks or even an island which was half a mile away, which meant we were relying on the plotters. We jointly decided that carrying on in these conditions in these waters was not good seamanship and turned around. We stopped at a place called Degerby for lunch and to look at the long term plan. The weather continues to be unstable over the next 6 to 10 days. Add to that that is is still eerily quiet everywhere (we are usually the only guests or share with maximum two others). So we have decided to give up on Kökar and look for a weather gap to return to the Swedish mainland. That may only be on Friday, looking at the forecast.
We are currently at Kastelholm, a place we visited twice last year. Nice, very sheltered and at the moment deserted. A Finnish yacht came in an hour after us, but no harbour master in sight.
So for those looking at today's funny track of Onbekommerd on MarineTraffic.com: we are fine, but we motored over 45 miles to get basically 15 miles from where we were.


'It is as it is', Lyn reminds me....

Location:Finland

Saturday, June 3, 2017

A pilot station, a radio beacon and now an idyllic harbour

From around 1820 to 1920, Rödhamn was a pilot station. It is located very strategically on the shipping route between Finland and Sweden but there are lots of rocks and islands around, so pilots served an important role.

After 1920, a radio beacon was set up here, manned by three operators who lived on this small islands with their families. As radar and Decca were developed, the use of radio beacons became less important and now only a small museum reminds us of these days.












The only use left is as a harbour, run by the ÅSS, the same club where we were guests when we were in Mariehamn. Officially, it opens on 1 June but they are still setting everything up. In peak season, there can be up to 70 boats here, now we are 4: a Swede at anchor, a member at the 'members jetty', ourselves and a British yacht which has just arrived. The lack of freshly baked bread, delivered to the boat in the morning but only from next weekend, is made up by the quiet atmosphere, just the sound of the birds.








































Location:Finland

Friday, June 2, 2017

Life on Åland

We are still in Mariehamn. That's due to a combination of factors. Firstly, the weather has not really been playing ball the last week: best described as 'winter' for most of us. It has been really cold, most days below 10C as a maximum. The sun has shown itself regularly, one day with lots of rain but otherwise not bad. The main problem has been the wind, often over 20 knots (6 Bft) and yesterday and today gusts up to 30 knots. So we are patiently waiting, the heater works well so it is comfortable and we have enough to to, both on and off the boat.

Off the boat, we went to a special art exhibition of a group of Finnish painters who - around the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century- came to Åland to paint the landscapes. The exhibition was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Finnish state, this year.

This picture shows the Western Harbour, where we currently are, around that time:





I walked up to that point earlier and this is the view now:





We also revisited the Mariehamn in miniature exhibition. This shows Mariehamn in the 1920's and is very nice. We were struck by this building:





Which still exists today:





It's the restaurant of the ÅSS, the sailing club where we are moored (the restaurant is 20 m away from us).

Last night we went to the Jazz evening at one of the local hotels. Thanks to our association with our local friend Ralph, people are getting to know us and talk to us even when Ralph is not with us. It's a small and closely knit community!

Tomorrow, the wind is expected to drop and we hope we can do a bit more exploring in this fascinating archipelago.

I end with a picture of the 'rush hour' we see daily in the harbour at 2pm when 2 ferries leave and 2 arrive all together.










Location:Sjöpromenaden,Mariehamn,Åland Islands