Why you don't pay harbour fees in Valdemarsvik

Valdemarsvik is quite a small place, so small that it has combined the tourist bureau with the harbour office. So this morning we reported to the tourist information to report and register (yesterday when we arrived the weather was too bad to go and later on they were closed).
We got a most enthusiastic reception, were given the code to access the sanitary facilities, a voucher for free WiFi Internet and the assurance that we could approach them anytime if we needed more assistance. And then they gave us a little card to hang on the boat and told us that all this was at no charge (I forgot to say that water and electricity are also included). It was then explained that the reason it was free was because of the environmental remediation in the harbour entrance. Valdemarsvik has been a centre for tanneries since the early 1800's (the last one closed in 1960). From 1904, chromium was used in the tanneries and the effluent was discharged into the stream 'Fifallaän', which runs into the Valdemarsvikken. Test have shown that there is a lot of sedimentation containing high chromium levels and also some mercury. We were told that there is no danger to human health, but there is a danger to wildlife. So they are dredging the end of the Vademarsviken, where the harbour is. Of course the people doing the dredging are Dutch.....





Now we have not noticed any disturbance at all, so the free harbour seems rather generous. But after Stockholm at SEK 300 per night and upcoming Västervik at 320, we are not complaining.

By the way, the only disturbance we have had was a swan at 4:45 this morning, picking at the 'kabelaring' (the rope around the boat) and getting hold of the electricity cable. He or she made such a racket that we both woke up. Lyn chased him....

Location:Hamngatan,Valdemarsvik,Sweden