Back in Denmark

We left Ystad early, at 6am, to take advantage of the light easterly wind. The 51 mile trip to Rødvig was easy and relatively uneventful. The AIS once again proved very useful. Of course we can see all the ships around us, but the AIS information on the plotter shows the course and speed of the big ships very clearly. Add to that information on the 'rate of turn' as they change course, plus a mention of their destination and you can predict quite accurately what their future course will be. At Falsterbrorev, between Sweden and Denmark, there is a traffic separation system in the shape of a roundabout: oceangoing ships coming together from three directions and the AIS (Automatic Identification System) helps us a lot to navigate this!

By 14:30 we were in Rødvig, Denmark. We could still (just) find a berth, but a bit later the harbour was basically full, 'a madhouse', someone exclaimed.

This morning we took a relatively short trip to Præstø (neither the æ or the ø are used in Swedish, they are typically Danish). This is a somewhat sleepy small town in a characteristic Danish landscape:





And the streets are typically Danish too:





The final typically Danish touch is the ice cream shop. In Sweden, but probably even more in Denmark, ice cream is almost a national 'dish'. We have been told that even in mid winter, lots of ice cream is consumed. Not just by children, like in many other countries, but just as much by adults. We happily joined the habit today! Sorry, I did not have a camera or phone with me....

Location:Havnepladsen,Præstø,Denmark

The last stop in Sweden

We had a good rest day in Simrishamn. One of the special features there is the fish shop, where they sell all kinds of (often smoked) fish. At 11am it was already full of customers. We got smoked herring for lunch, smoked mackerel to eat with the drinks and very nice smoked salmon for dinner. All of that for 140 Swedish Kroner, about £14.





This morning we left Simrishamn just before 7 for the 27 mile trip to Ystad. We passed Sandhammaren, the 'Cape Horn of the North'.





And also saw this boat sailing in the early morning light:






By 11:30 we were in Ystad, our last Swedish stop. Having said that, Ystad has more of a Danish than a Swedish feel to it. That is unsurprising as Skåne, the southernmost part of Sweden, has been under Danish rule a lot in the past. In fact, many of the Swedes in other parts of the country seem to consider Skåne not really part of Sweden and the local population not as 'real Swedes' either.
Nevertheless, we quite like Ystad, with its Danish looking streets:






Tomorrow we are planning to leave early for the 52 mile trip to Rødvig in Denmark. The first part is along the Swedish coast to Trelleborg, then we cross the Falsterbro shipping 'roundabout' and on to Stevns Klint, the chalk and lime rocks north of Rødvig. The forecast is for a rare day of light easterlies, which is just what we want!

Location:Segelgatan,Ystad,Sweden

A magical place and a long trip

After Kalmar, we spent a night in Kristianopel. That is almost a 'traditional ' stop for us, whether we are going North or South in the Kalmarsund.

The reason is clear when you look at the view we have when waking up.





Then we had to decide where to go next. The 'traditional ' next stop is Karlskrona. But for a few years we had wanted to go to Utklippan, a small rocky outcrop in the sea Southeast of Karlskrona . We had never done it as we wanted 'perfect conditions ' to approach and leave this unknown place. We looked at the weather forecast and this was the time to do it!

It's not far from Kristianopel to Utklippan, just 4 hours. And you can see the lighthouse from far away. When you approach, the tension builds.





Utklippan means 'outer rock' and that's what it is. On two skerries, which form the most Southeastern point of Sweden, a small 'basin' has been blasted in the rocks to form a shelter for fishing boats in bad weather.
There has been a lighthouse there since 1840, but it was finally decommissioned in 2008. These days there is what the harbour master calls a 'tourist light', a weak light on top of the old lighthouse.
But the real magic is that there is nothing but the small harbour and the sound of the seagulls. The harbour is on Norraskär, the northern skerry, the lighthouse, a youth hostel (only to be reached by taxiboat) and the harbourmaster's house are on Södraskär. You can borrow a dinghy to row between the skerries (or hitch a ride on the harbourmaster's RIB as we did).
In the end we were there with 30 boats from 7 different nationalities.
Pictures can't show how special the place is, but here are a few:





















We were sorry to have to leave, but this morning we continued our trip South and West. The original plan was to do 30 miles to Hanö, but after half an hour we looked at the weather forecasts for the next few days, decided to put in a big effort and changed course to Simrishamn, a 52 mile 8.5 hour trip.
We'll take a rest day tomorrow!

Location:Strandvägen,Simrishamn,Sweden

The number one Swedish summer city

With the weather being a bit unstable, we try to put in significant distances when we get a chance.
So today we did a 7 hour, 46.5 mile stint from Figeholm to Kalmar. A nice, relatively uncomplicated trip. The first hour or two a bit knobbly ', after that the wind dropped and veered to come from almost behind and we ended up doing over 7 knots over the ground for the last 15 minutes or so.

On the way, we passed Dämman. This lighthouse was built at the expense of Lloyds in 1864, paying for the lighthouse was obviously better than settling lots of claims from ships that had run on the rocks there. In 1969, the lighthouse was replaced by a modern light 500 metres to the East and Dämman fell into disrepair. In 1995 a businessman bought it from the state (for SEK 250000, just over €25000) and it is now a restaurant and hotel, presumably quite exclusive as you can only get there by boat (we saw the boat, unsurprisingly called 'Dämman", on the AIS) or by helicopter.





We got to Kalmar in between a few rain- and thundershowers, fortunately it was dry when we were tying up.

During our visit to the Systembolaget (the state run store where any drinks with an alcohol content over 3.5% are sold), the uncharacteristicly talkative Swedish till operator told us that Kalmar was voted the best Swedish summer city. We checked this and it appears to be the true outcome of a vote by a national magazine.
We quite like Kalmar, not too big, not too small, nice pedestrian areas.

So here is to Kalmar!

Location:Skeppsbrogatan,Kalmar,Sweden

Encounters

We see some really interesting sights, moving from harbour to harbour.
A few days ago, a bit outside Loftahammer, we saw this nice boat with lots of interesting topsails. A fisherman, judging from the net hanging in the rigging.





That's quite different from what we saw yesterday on our way to Figeholm:





We hope for the occupants of this sailing canoe that no wave managed to hop inside!

With some sadness, we said goodbye to the 'skärgård' (archipelago, scherenkust). It is the wonderful collection of tens of thousands of islands, some no more than a rock, some big enough to have a few villages and even bus services on them. The skärgård stretches from around Figeholm in the South to Arholma in the North.
Yesterday we did the last 30 miles from Västervik, the last bit to Figeholm was quite tricky with some of the buoys marking underwater rocks being very close together.
A big feature of the skärgård is that it offers very nice protection from wind and waves. It can be 20 knots 'outside' and in between the islands it can be almost still.
We now enter the Kalmarsund, between the Swedish mainland and the island of Öland. It is about 80 miles long and up to 5 miles wide. Not 'open sea', but enough for waves to build up uncomfortably if the wind is strong.
As today it's up to 20 knots, we are going to stay in Figeholm which is a very nice small and protected harbour. Tomorrow looks better and we'll start moving towards Kalmar itself, a big town about halfway down the sund.

Location:Sjömansgatan,Figeholm,Sweden

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

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