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

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

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

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

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

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

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