It is only 6KM in circumference and there are 60 permanent inhabitants and no cars at all. Hanö boasts the most powerful lighthouse in the Baltic (which I suppose is true) and the legend has it that there used to be a dragon which covered the 20KM distance between Tärnö and Hanö every night with only two strokes of its wings. But when the light on Hanö was lit for the first time, the dragon was blinded by the light and crashed into the island. The mark of the impact is still visible.....
We walked to the lighthouse on the highest point, 60m above sea level and also to the 'English cemetery'. During the Napoleontic wars, the British fleet had a base here and a few sailors were buried on the island between 1810 and 1812. Much later, in 1974, a cross was erected by a British naval vessel. British naval vessels still call here from time to time and when that happens, a service is held at the cemetery (which, apart from the cross, only has one single gravestone).
The harbour is very small: according to the pilot 'the harbourmaster claims that 70 to 100 boats can be accommodated'. We have no idea how he could squeeze those boats in, there are currently about 40 of us and we are two or three deep. Anyway, we'll happily come back another time to see how much fuller it can be!
The forecast for tomorrow is good, so we'll move on to Simrishamn.
I promise to get the laptop out there and post all the missing pictures (assuming the Internet connection is good enough.....).
Location:Bönsäcksvägen,,Sweden
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