Boats, Vans and Trains

Final Blog of the year…

Neustadt in Holsten

So this was our final destination where we have left the boat for the winter. It is quite a pretty part of the German coast with long beaches and plenty of coffee shops etc. As with many things German, they have taken the concept of a sea side resort and done it right. We were here for a few days before our Van was delivered so we split the time between a bit of sight seeing and packing up the boat. The marina itself was one of the largest in Germany and very well equipped.

Not our Marina but a very small one in Town

Jenny on her trusty Brompton. We cycled on a couple of days along the coastal paths. As you can see from the puddle, the weather was not always like this

Quite taken by the roof on this restaurant. Never really seen anything like it before. A bit like a layer cake

They had a few of these along the coast. Legless Crabs. Not sure I really get it if I am honest

Nice beaches. Clearly well maintained and segregated by use. There were water sport beaches, children’s beaches and dog beaches, all spotlessly clean.

We noticed this a lot. They decorate the power distribution boxses. We think that a) it makes them look nicer and b) it is designed to stop further spray paining artists. Look at the next photo to see the view that is in the picture. This village was all about the expressionist artist depicted on the electric box (Karl Schmidt-Rottluff) and his painting of this view.

The box is just out of shot to the left.

It was the end of October fest season and look what we found in Aldi. Yep, your very own Octoberfest outfit. Mike Pringle, I nearly bought you it to go with your hat.

Packing Up

Sorting out the useful Locker. This is a bit like the draw in the kitchen but larger scale. This is purely Andy’s domain, I’m much too scared to go into this particular locker!

Meanwhile below decks Jenny starts to check what needs binned before we leave

A Day Out In Lubeck

Lubeck is a large town between Hamburg and Neustadt. It was right on the border between east and west Germany. It is most famous for its marzipan and has lots of brick Gothic buildings dating from the Hanseatic League.

This is the Holsten Gate and is the entrance to the city. It was built in 1464. You can really see the effect of subsidence on the structure. Bit of a testament to the skills of the builders that it hasn’t fallen down yet.

Again, from the other side you can see the movement in the building. The brick work is brilliant. The Black bricks are glazed Black. I wonder what it looked like 500 years ago?

Being a city of Guilds they have some nice old buildings (I think Terry Pratchett must have had some inspiration from here). This is the Merchants Guild

Next year I may have a wee side line in photos of doors, we have seen so many truly spectacular doors and I’m a bit annoyed not to have kept an album of them.

This is a model of Marienkirche (translation is St Mary’s Church). I could not get a good picture of the outside as it is massive. Built between 1250 and 1350. Largely destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt. This set the standard for many other churches in the region.

Jen spotted these fantastic door handles. Could not find out anything about them – I love the fact they don’t match.

It is really hard to get a good picture that shows you the scale of this building. This is the tallest brick vault in the world with the nave being 126ft tall. And was built of brick over 500 years ago. Quite incredible

Some awesome stained glass windows. All new as they did not survive the war. The church has always had a Chapel of the Dead which is where these window are set.

I think this is a very moving monument to the destruction that happened during WWII. After the war when they undertook this staggering restoration , the bells were left where they fell.

This is what they restored it from. Incredible

Now here is another clock. Now let me tell you all about it…….

You can see why the town is a world heritage site.

And More …. Yes I did go in and buy some

Bongo Arrives and we Visit Hamburg

Antony and Susan did a brilliant job delivering the Bongo for us.

Every Bongo needs some glow in the dark cushions

Ah, that’s better. OK , so maybe I should leave the interior design to Jen

Off to Hamburg. The book says it should fit in a 2.1M garage . And it does ….. Just

We went to this brilliant car museum. Started by a couple of collectors. It was dedicated to porotypes and innovation

Fantastic collection . I hate to imagine the insurance bill

As you would expect there was a bit of a Porsche theme

View of the River. Some interesting accommodation.

One of the things that strike you about Hamburg is the architecture. It is outstanding. It is as if to get planning permission, your building must look nothing like those surrounding it. I try and keep the blog light hearted but I need to say that there is very little of old Hamburg left after the RAF bombed it with such intensity that it created a fire storm that absolutely destroyed the city and 20,000 people lost their lives in one night. The loss of life was comparable to Nagasaki. It was the single most devastating air raid in Europe. Lest we forget…

Just liked the sun coming through the clouds

View from the hotel. I would go back to Hamburg.

Boat out and Setting Off

We had decided by now that the plan would be to take the boat out and drive down to southern Italy in the Bongo for a few weeks before heading home at the end of November. As you will know things did not go according to plan

OK, so lets see how this awning goes up.

As it turns out fairly easily . It is an inflatable awning and dead easy to put up.

Nice evening . All sorted (or so we thought………)

At about mid night the heavens opened on this first night of camping. A 2 hour full blown thunderstorm. We got up in the morning to 3cm of water in the awning. In the middle of it was my rucksack of all of the clothes I had. Capillary action is a bitch!!! Everything was drenched. To be fair some of Jenny’s clothes where wet as well and some food had to be binned. Simple error. We were so tired when we arrived and it was such a nice evening we never ensured the tent was pegged out beyond the ground sheet. The rain came down the side and was carefully scooped up and deposited inside the tent. As it was still pouring down all we could do was pack up and try and find a better camp site further south where it was forecast to be drier.

We found a really nice camp site and set up (with a well pegged tent). We spent the first day occupying the drying room, before setting off to do some sight seeing. By now we were just North of Nuremburg. Lots of limestone gorges and caves.

Visiting the caves. Here are some pictures from out 1 km subterranean wander.

They did find the bear skeleton in the caves when they were first explored.

We also went to the other extreme and visited a sky walk (those of you who know me will know that heights are not my thing, but I have to say it was beautiful at this time of year. We also spotted Nessie on a small lake on the way to the sky walk . Must of been on her hols… Under the sky walk was a couple of slides that you could go down is a kind of go kart/sledge . Also not my thing, but fun to watch from above.

And it was all going so well. We had just filled up with gas, yes, I do mean gas, Bonnie the Bongo runs on LPG, having covered 500km for around £40, we were well chuffed. The van was finally sorted and packed properly after a wee trip to Ikea for some pots and stuff and I (Jen) was having my first taste of driving on the autobahn and Andy was just about to press ‘send’ on his text to Anthony to tell him how great it all was when……

…… after an hour of driving …

Broken Cam Belt ( as we found out later). To get to the high vis jacket and safety triangle, we had to unpack everything from the rack on the back and rake through all the stuff in the boot while cars were flying past at 120 mph, this being Germany and the autobahn. A couple of infants in a police car stopped to check on us, I have, honestly, taught kids in the nursery who looked more mature than these two did but, maybe , that’s just showing my age!? They were lovely and had a laugh with us and made sure we were safe and then suggested, if we didn’t get rescued they could come and help push the van off the road and we could just set up camp for then night! Fortunately, rescue arrived…

Never a happy picture (but have to say the garage were great, they let us camp out in the showroom while we tried to get the insurance company sorted and booked a motel for the next few nights, drove Andy to pick up a hire car and, generally, just took great care of us )

After doing battle with the insurance recovery company for a day, it was agreed that after the weekend we would make our way back to the UK and the Bongo would follow. So we found a nice motel and spent a day in Nuremburg ( mainly sorting train tickets ) and a day having a pleasant walk through some Bavarian countryside,

A rather fantastic fountain in the centre of Nuremburg

Some of the locals dressed up. We never did find out why.

Nuremburg leaves you in no doubt, you are in the heartland of Germany

I just like this shot of the railway going through the countriside

And some interesting ( I have no idea what this one is)

The Trip Home

Jenny carrying all her possessions after 7 months away ( the rest are spread across Germany in the van or in the boat)

The trip form Nuremburg to London was 8 hours. And despite some detours and late trains, German Railways did a grand job and got us back to the UK.

LZKQ1501 — And of course, on the way up the road we needed to get a run around to keep us going until the Bongo was back on the road…..

Bonnie the Bongo arrives back in the Uk around the 13th November and is being delivered directly to a Bongo specialist, hopefully, he can work his magic and she’ll be home safe and well by the end of November. We have a few wee trips planned before we go back to Neustadt in April to get Feath back in the water and the adventure will continue. Thank you for supporting us this year and we hope to have lots more stuff to share next year.

Sweden Denmark and Germany

So this is the last stretch of our sailing journey this year. Next week we do a final hop in Germany to where we take the boat out and pick up the camper van. It has been a brilliant trip , but the weather is definitely turning now and it is time to get off the water. We would like to say a big thanks to all those who have continued to support us on our trip. It has been great to keep in touch with everyone and have had so many visitors.

Before we start on this blog, some of you may remember the bank robbery we helped the police with in May. Well luckily he pled guilty and we don’t have to go back for the court case. Even the guys advocate said ” This was really hopeless, if it was not so serious it would be comical” ” the fact he went to rob a bank wearing a high viz jacket says it all”. So let that be a lesson to all you budding criminals out their. That’s a no to the high viz jackets and the home made balaclavas!

Ystad to Skovshoved(Denmark), with a stop over in Skanor

This is the last stretch along the bottom coast of Sweden finishing in Denmark

At a place called Skanor on the very southern tip of Sweden there is a small canal that acts as a cut through and takes 10 miles off the journey. The bridge at the top, where I took the photo from opens every couple of hours. Luckily we go the timing right and they do remove the string of buoys when the boats go through.

IMG_E7890 — Another nice sunset from Skanor

No really – its THE BRIDGE ( we went over it a few days later and we all survived. No dead body’s and did not even see Saga !)

Skoveshoved in Denmark and we had some very posh neighbours. Alas we had missed them racing the day before. Theses are classic 12 Meter yachts from the 1930s. They all have full time crew just keeping them ready to go.

This one was built in Bute (the Tartan wrap is the family tartan as the boat designer)

Vanity V – for the eagle eyed you will remember we saw this Fyfe a few months ago. Funny that out of the 5 of these boats , 2 were built within a few miles of Feath’s home port.

The marina had its own kayak polo pool. We have seen a few in Denmark, so guess it is a bigger thing here than elsewhere, (maybe if, on average you need to be in 2.5 clubs , you need to keep finding new sports?)

Someone had a different idea for the Kayak pool

At the entrance to the marina was this petrol station, it even has it’s own Wiki page. “First opened in 1936, it was designed by Arne Jacobsen and is an example of the functionalist style typical of the time. It is Class A listed and was thoroughly restored in 2002.”

Just south of the marina was this old WWI fort. Big guns!

The best protected camp site in western Europe!

This is an old hunting lodge in the middle of a massive park. The park was a dear and boar park for the royal family . They still use the building today. As far as I could tell , and from the photos, they still hunt in the park.

Jenny with her trusty Brompton. Just after this an old boy on his Brompton came past and stopped for a chat, 5 mins later he was off for a test drive on one of the electric ones. He has 2 Bromptons. the one he as on was about 10 years old and he loved it ( not sure what he does with the new one)

Dragor

Before the arrival of Geoff and Moira we decided to move south a bit. Moira had broken her wrist so we needed to find somewhere where she could get on and off the boat with ease. We had been told that Dragor was beautiful so we headed down to see if we could get a good berth (which we did).

Dragor is the last place in Denmark to still farm geese on the common grazing land. There were loads of them. I was tempted to lure one with stealth and cunning back to the boat for a spot of dinner

And another WWI fort. this time some enterprising person has converted the bunker to a hotel. We planned to go in later in the week , but alas it was closed when we came back.

You will see the little mermaid in a bit, well, this is her BIG sister, far more impressive as you can see for fans of ‘Allo ‘Allo this is definitely the Madonna with the big…..

This is the longest swimming pier in Denmark (forgotten exactly how long it is – sorry). it is so shallow here that even at the end of these peirs it is barely deep enough to swim.

MSJX9138 — Jenny at another swim peer (little bit misty). I was watching a shoal of fish swimming forward and then drifting back with the current, how do they co-ordinate it so well?

IMG_E8015 — We went out for a bike ride and came across this lot . Guess it was the local riding club, taking talk like a pirate day to the extreme.

Further down the coast we came across a bunch of kite surfers

There was a massive lagoon with a lot of bird life, and loads of twitchers with huge camera lenses!

Took me a while to figure out what these were for. They had a number of them around. They are for Frisbee golf!

Dragor itself is a beautiful old fishing village. All of the houses are painted the same shade of yellow (it is a lime wash)

It was all like this ( think you get the picture)

View from the back of the boat in the evening

The airport was only 2 miles away, but surprisingly little noise.

Copenhagen

We went in to see if it would be better to be in the city when Geoff and Moira arrived

The little mermaid (did you know she has had her head removed a number of times?). I preferred her big sister, he’s always liked bigger b……!

Norse Goddess Gefjon. Story is she had a deal that she would get all the land she could plough in a night so she turned her sons into Bulls to achieve the feat

Queen Mary – Copenhagen’s first statue of a black woman (2018!!!!)

A little further on we stumbled across the Queen of Denmark getting on her yacht. all a bit surreal as there were just a few people hanging around. I assumes the launch was for some admiral or someone . Anyway she gave us a nice wave as she went past ( we are like that, me and the queen you know!)

The Cooks arrive

Geoff and Moira arrived for a week, it was great to see them both and we had a ball. Geoff being an Executive chef also meant that the cooking took a step up from my usual fair !

Dinner on the aft deck ( think this was the last time we could eat outside.

During the week the place was empty, but come the weekend it was packed as you can see. They had divers down the following week taking up the mooring lines

The floating cod. We managed to purchase some fresh cod from the fishing boats (once even before he had actually tied up)

The obligatory (not so) open top bus tour around Copenhagen.

There is a street food village in Copenhagen which was a must do having Geoff with us.

Moira demonstrating her broken wrist at one of the food stops

The ladies did a spot of cloths shopping and Geoff and I had a competition to see who could look the most bored. I think I have it in the bag

So this was a must photograph – the fabled Scandinavian open sandwich. Basically, make a sandwich, then take the lid off, then double the price. Job done.

We did a wee trip to Helsingor, which is just north of Copenhagen. This is the castle upon which Hamlet is based. Old Yorick must have been a wee fella judging by the size of his head.

A fish sculpture in the harbour of Helsingor made of waste

It has a fantastic maritime museum. Sorry Moira, but I had to include it! It buttoned up the back so we were very tempted to just leave her wearing it!

The Hamlet Castle (never saw anyone smoking cigars)

Copenhagen has the National aquarium called the Blue Planet (wonder where they got that name from). Well worth a visit.

This was the biggest tank ( you could walk through the tunnel ). They fed the sharks while we were there. Some poor girl had to row out in a rubbed dingy and drop a salmon on a bit of string in the water. There was a camera showing her on the surface getting pulled about and splashed by the sharks – all that was missing was the DaDum DaDum Dadum Dadum Dadum

You can just see the bottom of the dinghy in these photos with the salmon hanging off the stern. In the lower photo, you can see one of the sharks with the salmon in it’s mouth, towing the dinghy.

I love the shadows the Hammerheads make.

IMG_E4565 — The fish out of bed knobs and broomsticks ( showing our age here)

They have also just opened a butterfly house at the Botanic gardens. As Jenny pointed out, that would probably make it a caterpillar house. Luckily not the case.

Postman Butterfly, so called because it travels from flower to flower using the same route everyday just like a postman going from house to house.

Geoff modelling the latest fashion in living brooches.

I think this Postman is challenging Andy to a fight!

A Banded Longwing, apparently it taste horrid if you are a bird.

Peleides Blue Morpho has a wing span of 130-150 mm. It’s iridescence scares off predators and it’s underside is equally impressive as the poor old chap below showed us.

The underside of a Mosaic which is far more impressive than the top side!

Malachite, so named because it’s bright yellow green colour resembles the colour of the mineral.

IMG_E8084

IMG_E8074 — Another brooch butterfly, real name Black Cracker

IMG_E8078 — See through wings. Above is a Glasswing Butterfly and below is a Windowed Moth. The windows may serve as camouflage by imitating the holes in rotting leaves.

IMG_E8080

IMG_E8103 — There were also racks of chrysalises or chrysalides (I’m sad enough to have checked and both are correct!) Andy asked the lady who was freeing the newly emerged butterflies why the chrysalides were gold… she said they didn’t have a clue, they just were. Not the best way of hiding I would not have thought ( unless highly poisonous, but did not think they came from Australia!)

IMG_E8104

One last Malachite, enjoying it’s lunch.

From Denmark to Rostock

At this time of year it is getting harder and harder to find a weather window for any exposed sailing. Battering along in a force 6 for a few hours is fine, but 8+ hours fighting the helm ceases to be fun. So, leaving Denmark and getting down to Germany, we just had to go for it when the opportunity came. That involved a 4am start and 75 miles.

Blurred photo but you get the gist. I was feeling a little blurred myself

me with my happy face (4 hours in, just after sunrise)

Jenny’s happy face (she is so much better at this happy face stuff than me)

A beer/wine with a side helping of steak and chips after being on the go for 16 hours

The most German thing i could find on the menue

We were actually moored at a place called Warnemunde which is like a little coastal holiday resort outside Rostock. It is very pretty and worth a visist if you ever find yourself in this area. More trawlers converted to selling bratwerst and chips than able to fish

Has a nice beach (suspect the sea weed gets removed daily in the summer)

I like what they have doe with the tiles around this old lifeboat. Does not show up so well in the pic but very effective.

Apparently Edvard Munch stayed here for a year (did not see anyone running around screaming)

Beach Bingo. You get points for every time you see something not allowed happening on the beach. Think we scored about 10 points each, to be fair, the guy selling kites on the beach gave us a fair few. No shortage of dogs been walked. No idea what an FKK is but I bet we saw one couple doing it

Despite all of the rule breaking going on – still a nice beach

As we were here for a few days we hired a car. First time on the road in 6 months and on the wrong side! I have to say , first Hyundai I have driven and was impressed. To be fair it had a go faster engine, 4WD and even a HUD. Went like a rocket, which it needs to on the autoban. If you can see a faint glimmer of a light behind you only pull out if you are doing over 90 mph or you will have a Porsche parked in your boot.

Went to this rather whacky farmers market

Sold all sorts of stuff. No idea what these are but they are native to Japan according to the sign

The big thing was strawberry’s. Jam (been made as above), fresh strawberry’s, strawberry ice-cream, strawberry biscuits, strawberry bread, strawberry wine, strawberry cordial, strawberry chocolate….. you name it , they had it.

OK , not everything was strawberry. I thought these were some sort of black pudding, but they are actually smoked eel in a black bag

Had over 27 thousand tea pots. I guess you need a lot of tea to wash down all the strawberry’s

As is common with farmers markets throughout the world, they have an acre of sheds out the back containing ice sculptures carved by artists from all over the world

Took load of pics but they did not come out well with all the reflective surfaces. This one worked

Kids had been asked to design a sculpture

Jenny’s first day at Hogwarts enjoying some butter beer ( gluewein )

Night shots of the marian we stayed at. It was a 5 star hotel complex. 25 euro a night so not bad.

Another part of the marina. I did mean to try and capture one of the many cruise ships that went past at all times of day and night going in to the terminal just behind us, but when I remembered it was always pissing down

Rostock – no idea what the building was , but very nice

one of the gate houses for the old wall.

Part of the old city wall ( looked in far too good for an old city wall to me)

Rostock is famouse for the churches that are still standing despite the war. This one was quite spectacular. This organ has over 5000 pipes. Don’t ask me where they are. We did hear it in action and I can believe there are 5000

This has to be one of the most over-the-top pulpits I have ever seen The carvings around it depict many scenes from the life of Jesus and more gold paint than I thought was possible.

These embroideries were over 300 years old and in almost pristine condition. the one above was a banner for a wedding and the lower one is an alter cloth showing Mary in a rose garden surrounded by scenes from her life. The workmanship was impressive and, to think, it would all have been stitched by candle light!

Andy invested £2 in a book all about how the clock works so, prepare to be amazed………..

So I will give you the very short version as the book runs to 30 Pages. Built in 1472 it has 2 faces. Above the top face is a door where six of the 12 apostles march out at mid day and receive a blessing from Christ. The top dial is 16 square meters. the clock face is a 24 hour clock, the outer ring is a Gothic ring twice inscribed with Roman Numerals, you read the time from the sun arm of the dial in day time and the star end during the night (but amounts to the same thing in my view). There is a ring of Astrological signs within which there is a ring of carvings for each month- eg January is a man dining, February is a man basking by the fire side etc. There is a small hand that covers these. Then in the centre there is a rotating disk showing the phases of the moon. Bored yet? Well on the arm there are another 2 disks. each are weighted. The one at the top during daytime is an astrological hourly clock and the one at the bottom is just another clock (clock within a clock)

This bottom face is new as it starts in 2018 and goes to 2150 ( the old one was next to the clock ). The data on the 6 outer rings belong to the 365 days in the year ( such as months, days of the week, time of sunrise etc ) the 7 inner rings belong line by line to one of the years. On the outer rings there is no leap year (they just switch it off for the day!) Now the inner rings are the complex bit. They show the year within the sun cycle, the Roman interest number associated with the year, the length of time between Christmas and Shrovetide, the date of Easter, and the periodical golden digit….. Don’t ask… there is a page on that alone. Anyway the key thing is it is a hell of a peace of mathematical engineering from over 600 year ago. If you want to know more you can borrow the book!

The beach was about 15km long and is a huge tourist attraction, I went for a blowy walk along it during one of the rare dry spells.

Another early start but not as ear;y as last time. we sailed off just as the sun was rising and had our own pilot boat to se us safely on our way! (or maybe they had a really big ship to meet?)

A brilliant days sailing, Feath averaged over 6 knots over the 53 miles and made 9.5 knots on a few occasions. My favourite sort of sail day, just wish I could have had a few less layers on!

So, that’s it for sailing this year but, the adventure doesn’t stop here. The wonderful Anthony and Susan are driving our wee Bongo out to meet us and the next instalment will be from somewhere further South and, hopefully, a wee bit warmer.

The South Coast of Sweden

So, as we said in the last post, winter is coming, or at least summer is definitely ending. To be fair, the temperature has not dropped that much so far. It is still getting to 18 Deg C most days, but the wind has definitely picked up and the light has a softer feel to it.

So here are some of the pictures we took along the way. The south coast of Sweden is far more like Denmark, both in terms of the landscape and the buildings we see. Historically, this part of the World was heavily disputed and was, for a very long time, Danish.

The Island of Utklippan

This has to be on my list of best places visited this year. It is just such a quirky place in the middle of the sea.

Approaching the Island (technically more than one)

Here is a map . The rectangular basin on the North island is the Harbour and there is a light house and a hostel on the south island. The place is run by a Swedish?German couple who run it from April to November (as it is all rock and a nature reserve they cannot bury the water pipes so have to drain them down in November so they don’t freeze. They generate all of their fresh water using a water maker converting thousands of litres of salt water every day into drinking and washing water for themselves and anyone staying in the hostel as well as to support the bar and BBQ they run every evening.

View from far end of the harbour. The harbour was built during the 30s and 40s as a refuge for fishermen

Lighthouse and Hostel (even has a sauna – little hut to the right of the light house)

The light house started as a stone building where they would hoist hot coal up to signal to the ships. Eventually it was extended with a metal tower and a gas lamp was used. The light is now no longer used and is in a museum (The owner of the island is quite grumpy about them taking away his light and would love it back as it would be stunning to see it working)

View from the top of the light looking back over the island with the harbour is in the distance

Jenny in the top of the light house (they have put a small light in for show)

They have 4 species of frog/toad on the island. How the hell did they get there?

Karlkrona

Karlkrona is an interesting town as it has been, and largely still is, the home of the Swedish Navy. The architecture goes from grand to functional with nothing in between.

It has a fantastic Naval and maritime museum. We did not do the dockyard tour as you need to take passports and get checks done before you go in as it is still a working yard.

Large Church in the Centre of town – it was beautiful in side and had been newly renovated

Stirling Scotsac, this guy needs some of your tuition as his ascent was clearly too fast for him to be this far out the water.

Jenny choosing a living room decoration for Danny

Clearly people had problems getting reception for mobiles in the days of sailing ships

Jenny decides to upgrade the yacht. I am not convinced she will fit into most marinas. (and here’s me thinking I’d lost weight!)

The Island of Hano

This was a stop over on the way along the coast. One of those places it was nice to be able to visit out of season as during the season it would have been rammed and hard to get into.

Found this tucked away, it was clearly a busy place at one time

The light house. Still functions (it was nice sitting outside at night and looking up to see the light sweeping over you) . This light has one of the longest visible distances of any lighthouse in Sweden (23 miles if I remember correctly) it was built in 1905 and replaced an old wooden one

The island was used as a base by the British in the Napoleonic war. This is a grave yard for the unknown (all bar two who were identified) British sailors. The Cross was put up by HMS Plymouth on a visit in 1973. It is custom that British ships serving in the Baltic land on the island and hold a service

Next to the grave is another grave of a lady and het two children who died in the cholera epidemic (1834)

Jenny found this copper nail head in the rock. We could not make out the pattern on it or what it was for, any suggestions?

Me blending in to the spit at the end of the island

Ystad

We got to Ystad at the beginning of September and decided to take a week off sailing as there were a set of lows coming in (and Andy felt we deserved a holiday!)We chose it as it has good connections by train to places like Malmo and by ferry to the Danish island of Bornholm. Both of which we visited.

IMG_E7822 — The breakwater doing a good job of sheltering the marina from the waves.

IMG_E7820 — The wind was a bit blowy for a few days

When a Panorama goes wrong. The centre of Ystad with a rather stretched car …

We stumbled across an old monastery while hunting for the chemist . This building was originally a monastery , but was later converted into a hospital when the crown fell out with the church. By the Victorian era it had fallen into disrepair, but was then renovated.

Has a nice set of gardens, vegetable, herb, flower etc

There was a Photo exhibition inside. Don’t fancy lugging this around

A Trip along the coast to see a stone boat!

We have not done that many selfies, so I figured we are allowed one occasionaly

Some nice beaches. Unfortunately at this time of year they can become covered in rotting seaweed

a small town of beach huts (there were actually little streets between them),

Every so often down the coast there were more of these relics from what I assume was the cold war, but may have been earlier

I had half thought about typing in a big explanation of how this Viking clock/ calendar works, but decided I would end up having to re draw all of the diagrams. Needless to say it is very clever and to think of when it was put up, it is quite astounding.

General gist is the shaded areas are night. From the top, shortest day, then longest day , then equinox, with the red line joining the two stones that the sun rises and sets over through the central point of the ship.

I had seen it from about a mile of the coast when we sailed past and had no idea what it was

By knowing the time of year ( almost at the equinox ) you can count the stones between sun rise and sun set and then work out what time it is by which one has the shadow pointing to the centre. So, in effect, a sun dial. The Viking equivalent of a watch with a little window on it telling you the date. Maybe not quite so portable

And back at Ystad….

IMG_E7840 — Jen saw one taking a small fish

Oh, and I tried my hand at baking, Jenny Friendly Carrot Cake. Cant have been too bad as it all got eaten.

Trip to Bornholm a small island off Southern Sweden that is actually Danish.

One interesting fact about Bornholm, is that it remained occupied for a year after the end of WWII . The Germans refused to surrender to the Russians as they said they had been ordered to surrender to the allies. So apparently the Russian forces bombed the island then invaded and stayed for a year.

We decided that as it was still very windy we would let someone else do the driving and parking for a change and took the ferry out with the bikes ( I had read that it offered excellent cycle paths and was not disappointed).

Quite a posh ferry – and went at 40mph so fast as well.

When on the cycle path we found this little spot with loads of rocks with pictures carved in them. They were carved by a farmer who retired in 1988 (due to ill health) so took up stone carving as a hobby. In 1990 the council built a pond to help some rare frogs by the side of the cycle track. So the farmer decided to create a little place for cyclists to rest and decorate it with a few stones. The last stone was erected in 2004. The farmer past away in 2007. There were loads mostly based on Greek and Roman mythology or Hans Christian Andersson’s fairytales, so here is a collection of some of the ones we liked (note the church as crops up later)

Fields of Corn on the Cob ( I was so tempted to put a couple in the bag)

The Church from the stone carvings. Bornholm is famous for it’s four round churches built in the 12th and 13th Century. “The round churches were multipurpose structures that served as places of worship, but also as storage facilities and fortifications to guard against the many attacks. Their thick walls and round shape helped them withstand battering rams, while their upper stories could only be accessed through narrow passages, providing a place of refuge for local people and their treasures” (www.realscandinavia.com)

This is Nylars Church which was built around 1156 and is believed to be the best preserved on of the four. it is famous for it’s 13th Century frescoe depicted the Garden of Eden and the Creation. It is dedicated to St Nicholas, the Patron Saint of Seafarers.

Most of the churches we have seen in Denmark and Sweden have a ‘spare spire’, we have no idea what their purpose is but really should ask someone!

We arrived along with a bus loads of German tourists, even with so many people inside, it still felt almost organic, more like a cave than a man made building.

Two runestones were found near where the church was built and are now displayed in the church. There are about 40 runic stones known of on Bornholm. The first stones were erected in Denmark around 800AD.The Vikings erected them in memory of dead noblemen or fallen warriors.

we even found a vineyard….

Real grapes growing on real vines, never expected this (or growing corn on the cob) to be possible at the same latitude as Newcastle and Derry

He also distils his own whisky. Even Andy couldn’t talk him into giving us a tour as it was ‘the wrong day’. He makes it very lightly smoked as, he said, everything in Denmark is very smoky so he wanted to do something different.

Came across this Windmill. The small blades at the back are called a rose according to the guy I met later (tail fan) and it turns gears that in turn rotate the blades into the wind

A few miles up the road we came across this. Clearly was asking for further investigation. So in I go….

So this guy has a hobby of repairing windmills. Well , when I say hobby , he is just starting out. He recons 5 years for this and the out buildings. To be fair he managed to get it off in one peace which, looking at it, was quite an achievement.

Much of the wood will need to be replaced

The gear mechanism at the bottom of the rose or tail fan

The main cog – you can see the square holes where the pegs would have been

A Christmas tree farm specially for my old school pal, Jean, who grows Christmas trees outside Aberdeen.

If I could have come up with a way to bring this piece of glass home with us, without breaking it, I would have bought it. So many beautiful pieces but, living on a boat focusses the mind on what you need and have room for.

Just another beautiful cycle and walking path.

The church in Ronne, the main city on Bornholm.

I was convinced this had sunk, but it was just a very well loaded dredge boat dumping a load outside the sea wall

We went to Malmo for the day. This is the third largest city in Sweden. I get the impression this is the Glasgow of Sweden. A town that is functional and grew from the industrial revolution. It has had a new lease of life when the built “the Bridge” ( yes that one – see next blog) and is now probably also one of the design centres of Europe.

This is part of the new design centre. We arrived during a lecture on design. We did consider standing in the audience and nodding sagely at the lecture ( guessing when to do so as it was all in Swedish)

Malmo Castle houses the museum and the aquarium

So that’s it for this blog.

We are now in Denmark awaiting some friends to join us.

Bye for now

Visitors From Scotland and the US (Pt 2)

So, we left you with the Boys (and Girl) leaving and Dave and Alex arriving. This also coincided with the end of the summer season in Sweden. At the beginning of the third week in August, everyone is back at work and the schools are back. All of the seasonal holiday businesses and many of the marinas shut (or open for only an hour or so during the day ). It is like a big switch has been pulled. It is most un nerving. We are sitting in the marina and all of the boats around us are been packed up for winter. What do they know that we don’t? Does it start to snow next week?

Dave trying out my patented sunglass hat combo after Alex stood on the glasses . Note the subtle use of ducktape. He eventually resorted to gluing the legs back on. No style , that’s his problem

Just liked this little summer house, who wouldn’t want a lighthouse at the end of their garden?

Doing the Orange walk (never saw a wee guy dressed in his orange PJs playing a tin whistle the whole way round. A bit disappointed)

Many of the little islands have a number of boat houses on them

Of course no summer house is complete without your own smoke house

Jenny modelling this years pastel shades

The old Pilot house that you can rent for a fiver a night. Wood for stove provided and outside cludgy on the other side of the rock

Many of the islands have sloe’s growing on them ( more foraging…..)

It never ceases to amaze me that these buildings last for hundreds of years in this environment

Early start….for some of the crew, the rest slept off their jet lag and woke for brunch.

Not sure what this helicopter was doing. It came in and landed on an island as we went past , then took off again a minute later

Alex tries the “Princes” seat. Not looking too happy Alex. Maybe that is because he had just dropped a nice pair of Oakleys overboard

Alex takes the wheel, while Jenny relaxes ( not sure that this is in the book of relaxing positions)

OK Dave, all you need to do is put this end of the rope through that eye on the buoy over there and bring it back.

After 5 mins …….. Dave , why are you sitting on the wet floor of the dinghy?

After 8 mins – Dave, what garment are you attempting to knit? ( and you have still not got back on the seat)

After 10 mins Dave is looking very pleased with progress ( we did eventually get it and him back on the boat….) Sorry Dave, but the pictures are too good to waste

After Dave showed his prowess with rope work, we tested Alex on his Brompton assembly skills. Needless to say he did not fall off anything, did not attempt to wear the item he was working with and actually finished the job in a sensible time. ( Dave take note!)

On the way south we visited Oland one of the large islands on the way south). There is a nice little town called Borgholm which has a very large castle, well worth a visit. Unfortunately for the previous owners, that is exactly what a lot of people thought. Hmm, that castle looks rather imposing, I think we need to attack it. As far as I can gather it was fairly well destroyed a couple of times since it was initially constructed in the 13th Century. The Swedes and the Danes liked a good rammy, and then the Germans never wanted to miss out on a scrap and it would appear that this was the venue. Finally it lost its roof in a fire when been used as a print works.

There were some cattle grazing on the way into the Castle and Jenny spotted this sign. It would appear that they were encouraging me to go foraging for one of their cows. I could see an episode of Top Gear in my mind, but was not sure that one would fit across the handle bars of the Brompton.

To stop the walls eroding any further they have capped them off with lead.

A collection of hooves. Guess there were a lot of horse statues in the castle and this is all that was left.

I am sure we could fit this in the living room

It is a massive construction. Hard to believe that after 3 days of bombardment the walls were breached

Had a good view over the surrounding countryside

I think someone has been watching too much Game of Thrones

The other cool thing about Borgholm was the marina. For £20 a night you had all the usual facilities, plus a 25m pool and a sauna!

We then moved down the coast to Kalmar. The old town is rather beautiful. Definitely wort a visit so we stayed a couple of days. In essence the old town is an island with a fortified wall round it (although the wall has largely disappeared). Has a stunning castle. Clearly better defended than the last one. 22 sieges and the castle never fell.

The marina entrance has a touch of Hollywood about it.

Not sure what was going on , but the place was full of Liverpool fans. They were playing Arsenal. I wondered if I shouted ” come on the Gunners ” they would understand. But figured best not try

The Cathedral – looks baroque and would be equally at home in Spain. Unfortunately we could not get in to look .

The brick work is painted on. I think it always has been. Clearly some touch up work gone on here.

Found a great shop where you can buy everything from a door mat to ukulele. Brilliant shop, it’s like the centre isle of Lidl on every isle

Oh and remember the foraging for Blueberry’s. Now under the floor for 6 months…

A month ago we figured we needed to get a car sorted for when we come back in the winter for a few months. So being the totally impractical types ( and with the help of our friends Antony and Sue) we have ended up with this.

So when we stop for the winter , we don’t actually have to stop…….

Mazda Bongo. A very very small camper van

Jenny asked Antony to send some pics of the interior. What are you hinting at here ? Am I likely to need the Jack and jump leads….?????

We are currently sitting in a Marina in the south of Sweden while 5 days of strong winds blow over us , then off towards Denmark then South to Germany.

Bye for now.

Visitors From Scotland and the US (Pt 1)

So when it came to doing an update, I was fairly sure it would be a quick one as we have had some visitors over the last couple of weeks so felt that we have not seen as many new places. But as usual , by the time we downloaded the pics we realised we had quite a few. So appologies to those who appear in this blog, you were warned in the small print when you came on board, that we reserve the right to publish any embarrassing photos.

We had a few days before the boys came to visit so we went back to one of the islands that we have visited before called Ringso. It is a beautiful island and really nice walks. We actually met the guy who owns most of the island. He has 2 businesses, Pony trekking in the summer (using the ponies that run wild on the island) and then fallow deer hunting in the winter. When we met him he rushed in his house and brought out an empty packet of shortbread to show that he had friends visiting from Scotland. He also vocalised what many of the Swedish think of Brexit “we feel sorry for the Queen being surrounded by those idiots” ” and what about this Jacob Rees Mogg (he then just laughed out loud)” . I am not going to get into any politics here as this is not the place, but it is fair to say the Swedish think we have lost our minds. They love the UK.

Its ok guys, its not the winter yet. But give it 3 months I suggest you get rid of the horns and make like a pony

No, I have not been on the drink. Jenny took some pics of me doing yoga and this is the only one I consent to go to print.

Boys (and girl) Arrive

Well almost. We arranged to be at a place called Navekvarn to pick up the kids , but had a day to kill so went into Nykoping (the K is pronounced Sh in many places in Sweden). We also established that Navekavarn ( the K in this one is pronounced K!) is where many Brits keep there boats over the winter, something to do with the fact that Ryan Air fly in and out of the airport 20 mins away. We met many nice people including a retired Doctor and his wife from Shetland (he also kindly gave me a lift to collect the kids when they arrived).

Guess what ,the Swedish beach volley ball competition was on in the town. Clearly I did not want to hang around and watch partially clothed athletic woman run around on a simulated beach but felt it would be rude not to show at least a little support for the host nation

Never seen one of these before. A municipal pumping station ……

And even the busses have bike racks so you can take your bike on the bus. What a simple and effective idea

For those on facebook, you will have seen that we were here for the Crayfish festival.

Then the kids really arrive. It was looking pretty windy for the first two days , so we decided to do a walk the day they arrived and then head into Stockholm for a couple of days. We actually spent a night on dry land, our first since the beginning of April!

We then went in to Stockholm and did the Viking Museum ( which was actually better than I thought it was going to be) and then the big outdoor Museum, which has everything from old buildings , to glass blowing and pottery. Even a Zoo of native animals. The park also has an open air concert where “Felix Sandam” was singing. Apparently he is well known, although we only saw the last 10 mins. So if you are ever in Stockholm (and especially if you have kids – of any age!) worth a visit.

Fergus writes his name in the Viking Museum (it’s the one at the top)

The Pottery War Commences (maybe a new TV show in here somewhere?)

Evening out in the big smoke.

Out for dinner in a Swedish Tapas bar (where you order your food and drink on your phone)

It is circus themed place so not quite sure why the light shades have a jungle appearance. When you go to the loo each toilet has a different sound track (one where porky pig keeps laughing at you – not sure what that is about). Yes we did go into each one and test them out…. (*my least favourite was the one that kept saying ‘hello’ in a deep and creepy voice but they weren’t all scary, one had the whole welcome to the circus theme in Swedish)*

youngsters today, all this to look at and yet looking at their phone…… ( to be fair I think they were looking at some pictures they had taken)

Another concert we stumbled upon (all free by the way !) . Lukas Graham and Benjamin Ingrosso apparently

On the way back to the boat we missed our bus connection. It was getting late so we were all getting a bit hungry, so Jenny and the kids went off to find somewhere to eat. The found a English Pub! Now those of you that know us know that the only place to go to an Irish pub is Ireland and the only place to go to an English pub is England. However food was required so in we went. It was actually very good. It was the Dundee Utd and Celtic scarves above the bar and old boxes of Whisky that threw me. So really a British Pub. What is interesting is the many people in the Baltic see the Union Flag as English. This is nothing to do with any kind of naivety. It is because many signs are written in at least 2 languages, one of them being English. This is represented by the union flag (which is correct as it is the language of the UK). So it makes sense, the union flag = English= England. I had never really thought about it before.

So once safely back at the boat, we set off to tour a few islands.

A bit of fatherly advice (they do a good job of humouring the old man)

Fergus taking us through the Narrows ( it is a lot narrower than it looks in the pic)

Dugald about to go on the paddle board ” but what if I fall in , it will be freezing”. Note Jenny doing laps of the boat in the background !

Fergus acting as a support vessel for the open water swimmers

Amy tries to understand the laws of Physics, in particular Newtons 1st law (every object of a uniform motion will remain in that state of motion unless an external force acts on it – in this case hitting a rock). Dugald goes to the rescue.

I was taken by the rock formations, not sure how they were formed.

Taking a pic of the boat from the top of the island

Don’t pay the ferry man until you get to the otherside

For some reason they thought that me in the dingy as well would be too much. What are you trying to say guys!

Note that the barrel uses wood rather than iron rings to hold it together

The island has a bakery (and does exceedingly good cakes!)

IMG_4404_Moment (2) — Jamming with the boy (video available on Goodfeath face book site, if you’re interested)

What no one ever tells you about Sweden is the national obsession with crazy golf. Nearly every place we have been has a crazy golf course. So we had to give it a go. Go ask who won. Go on, Go on.

The kids then left back for the UK ( delayed 4 hours at the airport!). And Amy only left one item of clothing (something of a new record).

While we were out with the kids I had a text from a friend Dave who now lives in the US. He was coming to Europe with his boy Alex and wondered if he could join us for a few days as we started our trip south. No problem.

So, the day the Kids left , Dave and Alex arrived. ( see Part 2, coming to a media device near you soon!)

The Finish and Swedish Archipelago

Firstly I would like to thank the guest bloggers for the last post. Brilliant guys!

Once we dropped the Kinvig clan off in Aland ( part of the Finish Archipelago) we spent a couple of days having a look at the islands before heading back to Sweden.

The Finish Archipelago

We went on a nice cycle ride down through a number of the islands that were joined by a set of causeways. The islands are all made of this red granite that contrasts with the green of the trees and water.

Common across Sweden and Finland are letter boxes at the end of the road. In some places you see 20 or 30. We loved these ones as clearly the owners had gone to some lengths to make them look attractive. On some of the islands, the post boxes are all where the ferry comes in or at a road junction, it must save the postmen and women hours of traipsing up and down tracks.

A potting shed (it shows that despite the harsh winters they can grow some beautiful plants). This one was beside a lovely café at the end of our across islands cycle, I could have spent hours looking and still not have found all the wee bits and pieces that were perfectly placed in the nooks and crannies.

This is more typical of the bits of the Finish archipelago we visited ( I gather it is not all like this) but as you can see the islands can be fairly wind swept)

Rock towering appears to be the local past time. There were signs up forbidding you to move any of the rocks, I couldn’t work out if this was to protect the already built towers or to stop people from building any more!

Inside an old Radio station that has been preserved. This was from the days before GPS when radio Direction finding was used.

Not sure how long the old boy has been trying to start that generator.

A nice little marina (almost tying up to the rocks , but not quite)

There was a lot of algae in the waters around Aland, and with 30 degrees forecast for the next week and no wind it was going to get worse. If you ask the Fins, they say it is because of the Russians, but in reality it is all of the surrounding countries farming methods which allow nitrates to flow into the sea.

Showering out the back of the boat ( we did wait for the ferry to go past first)

The Aland and Finland courtesy flags, we debated if we should fly both or just one as Aland is an autonomous region of Finland which has a very strong sense of pride in ‘being Aland’.

Arholma

I think this has to be our favourite island of the trip so far. The weather was stunning which always helps , but in an island that is no more than a few square miles, it has everything, as you will see…

Speaks for itself…… Sunrise at 3.30am; makes having to get up to go to the loo worth while!

We used the kayak to paddle round to where the main part of the island was ( later on we moved the boat round)

There were loads of traditional farm buildings on the island ( they have been modernised to some extent inside but most are listed )

The car park at the restaurant on the island (which was very good). The roads on the island are just tracks

And for those who cannot afford the top end luxury of a quad bike…

This must belong to the old guy in the corner, he is waiting for the next snow before he can go home.

Floating toilet, rubbish dump and pump out station (for emptying the toilet tank on the boat, most are powered by electricity, this one was a good old fashioned pump handle which worked remarkably well). Great idea.

Came across this saw mill. I was desperate to find a local who I could brow beat into showing me it working (alas no)

So what do you do with a cold war pill box – make it into a viewing platform. We forget how Sweden and Finland were on the front line in the cold war. The place has loads of relics as you will see later

We came across this meditation garden. The bell has a beautiful sound ( well you have to don’t you)…… and he did, more than once!

Post Lady delivering the mail, notice the banks of post boxes, such a clever idea.

View from the front of the pill box. It turns out there was a round island race on called the Amfibiemannen. it consisted of running round the islands for 21 K and swimming for 5K between the islands . These were 2 of the islands on the route.

At the North of the island we caught up with the race. There were hundreds of competitors. Hard to see but the above photo has them crossing to one of the islands

There is a full gun emplacement on the north of the island which is now a museum. The race actually ran through this underground bunker

Move along, there is nothing to see here

What do you mean it looks like a gun? No it is just a rock, honest

This is not a high power optical device, it is just a Minion

Beautiful wooden boat (we found out later that one very similar to this sank outside the bay the following day – suspect that one of the through hull fittings failed)

Norrtalje

We then headed in to the mainland to be ready for Dave and Tracey to join us.

Free concert in the park. A Swedish Irish band. The male lead singer sounded just like the lead singer from the water boys

Found this in the park. There is art work in all the public spaces, some very traditional, some very modern but all really interesting and none of it defaced by graffiti.

IMG_4191_Moment — Doc Martin and Karin, (we met this nice couple who were moored next door). We did a trade, he played some Jazz and we taught them to drink whisky. To be fair I don’t think they needed much of a lesson. The Jazz was brilliant.

Visiting Stockholm with Dave and Tracey

Look, you can get a train to Inverness! (we never did figure out what it was referring to)

A shop for Jenny, (not quite my style though!)

We did see the changing of the guard, but before it starts you have the changing of the rubber matt ceremony (The guy on guard stands on the rubber matt until some other guy, wearing smart white gloves, comes along and removes it). Not quite Buck Palace…

Visiting the Islands with Dave and Tracey

Don’t worry Dave, Tracey has you………… Worry Dave!!!

Lots of the island have wood burning saunas that you can use so we gave one a go. Brilliant. Quick dip off the jetty at the end

some nice pics by Jenny of the local flora and fauna

Now in the freezer awaiting inserting into a bottle of Gin (Trevor – I will try and save you some)

Dave gets promoted to Master of Buckets and is showing off his skills with the best blue bucket which I managed to lose a week later.

Nice Picture. the flag flying under the Saltire is the flag of the Celtic Nations and is made up of the flags of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man, Cornwall and Brittany surrounding a celtic knot.

Tracey at the wheel of our retirement home as Dave called it

Is that a relaxed smile or a nervous grin

Jenny and Dave off for a paddle ( this was the shallowest bay we have been in and we will not be going back as it was a real scrape getting in and out)……. yes, he means it literally, we ‘kissed’ the bottom with our keel!

So the final island of the visit we at last took the plunge and tied up to a rock.

I have worked out how to do this slack lining. Do it on your stern anchor line

Jenny asking if I still have life insurance

Time for a BBQ – you have to go ashore early and bags your BBQ spot as the rocks get very busy. IN the morning there are cooling BBQ’s scattered liberally all around.

It looks like we are the only ones here in this photo, in reality, there were families all around, all chatting and being very sociable. A very pleasant evening indeed.

And when not on the BBQ, he was on breakfast. Cheers Dave

IMG_E7030 — Oh , and we found these little guys nesting above a toilet!

Goodbye to Dave and Tracey and Inside a Swedish Summer House

Last supper. This looks very civilised but, in truth, it was Pride weekend in Stockholm and this restaurant was joining in the fun. The staff were rainbowed up with hats, feather boas and wings and were having a ball while still managing to serve all their customers efficiently and professionally despite the retro disco (with DJ’s and real vinyl) and the fact that some of the customers had been there since opening time!

Inside Swedish summer house

Remember Doc Martin and Karin? Well, we were happily moored in Dalaro and suddenly, we heard footsteps on the deck and Doc Martin appeared round the corner. They had moored up across the pontoon from us and wanted to show us their summer house which is in Dalero. It is a traditional house build over three centuries with the earliest bit being an 18th century fisherman’s pub and kitchen.

I have to say it was an absolutely stunning building. This bit is 19th century and was the fisherman’s house with traditional wood burning stove. Through the door is the older 18th century pub.

Upstairs. The whole house is full of original features and is truly stunning.

Heading south over the next week to collect the boys and Amy. Really looking forward to having my family all together on the Feath.

The Kinvig’s sailing to the Baby Islands

Before we start we need to make it clear that this blog is written entirely by Madeline, Leila and Cameron. So this will be a far better blog than one written by Uncle Andrew and Auntie Jenny.

We started off on Madeline’s birthday where we got a flight from Edinburgh to Stockholm. Stockholm is a lovely sunny place during the summer. We arrived there late at night at a hotel and went to bed to get a good nights sleep. The next day we started it off by having a huge breakfast with salmon, potatoes, bacon and more. We then got a tram to Uncle Andrew and Auntie Jenny’s boat and then set sail to some small islands. I sailed the boat out of Stockholm and navigated the complex rights of way (That means I didn’t hit anything) We then anchored our boat at a lovely baby island and went swimming, paddle boarding and kayaking. I went paddle boarding with my brother (Well, until my Dad tipped us over) and then we went and had a lovely barbecue for dinner on the island. Leila Age 15.

Hello my name is Madeline. Yesterday I learned how to swim in my Uncle Andrew and Auntie Jenny’s sailing boat. I drove their boat past an ocean liner! It was sooo fun I loved it but, I was scared I would crash the boat against the huge cruise boat. It took 4 hours to get to a really nice baby island. At some parts the boat would get really wavy because some ocean liners and big fast speed boats went by. Then we went into our wet suits ( me and Leila) we were expecting the water to be FREEZAN! but it was actually quite warm, I went for a wee swim ( with my bouancy aid , a life jacket ). The water was covered in seaweed so my feet kept on getting caught in it. Then my dad said “take off my life jacket”, I said ” but I cant swim!” ” yes you can, you are swimming perfectly fine” “ok fine I will try” I took off my life jacket and tried to swim and I SWAM I was really happy and when we were all out of the water and dried off we had a lovely barbeque. Madeline age 10.

I was a bit scared in case we crashed into it

I learned to swim with Aunty Jenny and daddy

Dad coming in for an attack, repel boarders

Eating Uncle Andrews amazing burgers with the ants

The Galaxy liner passing in the distance

The Next Day…

I woke to a crisp summer morning, the silence occasionally broken by the gentle patting of the waves against the boats hull, originating from a far off passing boat that has since long gone. I drifted in and out of sleep for a few hours until hearing voices from above. I got dressed and climbed up the ladders to meet everyone on the deck. Madeline had gone out for a morning swim, Uncle Andrew and Auntie Jenny were stowing away the paddleboard and kayak for the voyage that lay ahead. We all had a breakfast of cereal and fruit before lifting the anchor and leaving the bay that cradled Feath for the past 12 hours. The boat sweeped between the Islands passing ferries, speedboats and other sailors as we went before arriving at a small harbour to refuel as it was the last opportunity to do so for a few miles. The task deemed more chaotic than we planned, to reach the fuelling jetty we had to traverse a queue of other vessels, big sailing yachts to small cruisers. The smaller boats decided they were more important and jumped the queue whenever a small space became available, instead of waiting for the other boats to leave and for the next boat to berth. Leila and I paddled around the dock in the small rubber dingy whilst my Dad and Madeline secured a spot for the boat. After such a terrifying ordeal we enjoyed some ice cream to calm our nerves before taking on our next task of finding a shop. A local pointed us to marina on the other side of the island to do our shopping, after the traversing around the rocky beaches we were stopped by a cosway that left only a small opening to reach the marina on the other side. The rubber dingy was deployed again for my Dad and I to scout out a shop. We passed through the opening to find a small dock, with the dingy tied up we had a look about but had no luck in finding a shop. Only a few houses. Admitting our defeat, we rowed back to Feath and got back on our way. A lot of exercise and 1 hour time difference (not much I know) had left me feeling tired and I dozed off for an hour or so. I woke to find that we’d anchored at our spot for the night, a similar bay to the night before but with a few more houses and docks dotted about. The paddle board and kayak came out and we played about on them for a few hours before dinner. Dinner was an extravagant meal prepared by my Uncle Andrew, Pork and Mushroom Stroganoth. I may not know how to spell it but boy it was good! I washed up the dishes and retired to the cabin to write this blog post before a good nights sleep. Cameron, age 16.

Day 3

I started off waking up in the tiny bedroom I was sharing with Leila. I woke up and heard voices upstairs. It was hard to get up with Leila in the way off the door,( since I was behind the cupboard ) It took a while, but when I got to the door I ran out of the cabin. I walked upstairs and saw Auntie Jenny, Uncle andrew, and dad. morning I said. Did you have a nice sleep everyone said. Yup I said. After getting changed and everything the boat started sailing away, off to the opposite side of the island. It didn’t take too long to get there because time went past very fast, it took an hour to get there. When we got there I watched Auntie jenny put down the anchor. finally we had breakfast it was yummy. I had cereal and some butter on bread. Cameron and Leila went out on the dingy to look for a path to a shop, because Cameron used all the bread and milk. They couldn’t find anything except for a big field. Leila and Cameron came back and got out. Then after a while I went for I tiny swim but I came out because I was bored with no one else coming in. Then we went in the dingy to look for a shop (again). we finally found a sign that read “butiker.” ( I think that meant shop). We followed the path that the sign said to go to. It took about 20 mins but we finally came to a village that had a football match. The players were from many different islands around Sweden. We met a lady with a dog that was a chocolate Labrador. We all got an ice lolly. I don’t know what team won? We came back and went swimming. After swimming we had a lovely dinner that was fried chicken with potatoes and broccoli. And now I am writing this. Madeline age 10.

After discovering that we were dangerously low on supplies (because of Cameron’s greediness), We decided that we would have to go on another adventure to the shop to get more supplies. The shop shut at 3 o’clock and it was 2:30 so we had to be quick. Cameron and I set sail on our dinghy over to shore. I was attempting to row the dinghy while splashing Cameron but he eventually took over as I kept going the wrong way. We got to shore and started our treacherous journey through the woods to get to the shop whilst getting many ticks on our legs. When we got to the road we realised we only had 15 minutes to get to the shop so we started running as fast as we could in the warm heat. We finally got to the shop with 10 minutes to spare. We bought cheese and ham and decided that after all our hard work we would secretly buy some chocolate for us to share. We had a nice long walk back enjoying our chocolate and rowed back to the boat on our dinghy. We got back to our boat and showed everyone what we got. Cameron gave the receipt to Uncle Andrew to show him how much everything cost. Cameron forgot that the secret chocolate we bought was on the receipt and Dad thought it was cheese so we thought we where in the clear, well until Auntie Jenny found out that it was chocolate and we got caught. Leila age 15

Inter-island football match we’d come across

Anchorage for the night (with strange people who tie up their boats weird)

Day 4

The best parts of today were, when early in the morning we went sailing to Finland, it was very rocky and I nearly went right out of the boat. When I tried to get up and down the stairs I kept on smacking myself on the walls AND I kept falling into the bathroom because that is the room right next to the stairs. ( We were going sideways). I was very hungry for some reason. Anyway when we got there we went for a walk. We found a swim pool , that we are hopefully going to tomorrow. Also a nice beach. We had ice cream I had mint chocolate. When we had came back we had a rest for walking a lot. I didn’t like the bathrooms when people were having showers because there were no doors so you could see people having showers. At 9pm the gun went off and people were racing to there flags at the back of the boat to put them down. For dinner we had hotdogs and potatoes and beans. Madeline age 10

Today we all woke up very early before leaving our anchorage to cross the Baltic to Finland. The wind was strong enough so my sisters and I hoisted up the sails and before we knew it we were flying across the vast Baltic under the hot sun. It was very rocky and the whole boat was tilted on it’s side, it was very disorientating inside the cabin and I felt the beginning of sea-sickness but it faded away quickly after I started steering the boat. Perched up on the high starboard side I used a gap between the trees on Aland which lied on the horizon as a way marker to our target entrance to the island. Uncle Andrews’s cunning plan was to go around most of the little islands to avoid the shipping lanes that would be riddled with towering ferries and a free-for-all of small boats trying to gain access to the harbour. We weren’t surprised to find that the plan worked and we had arrived earlier than expected. Afterwards we had some amazing pizzas for lunch before heading into the town to explore. We passed a music festival and saw a helicopter taking people for ride around the island (which looked quite dangerous) and headed back to the boat for dinner. Leila cooked us (but lost interest in) hotdogs, potatoes and baked beans which all was up to an acceptable standard, whilst I was washing the dishes I heard a thundering boom, I climbed up to the deck to find everybody in the surrounding boats frantically rushing to get there flags down. It turns out that it’s tradition to take down your boat’s flag at sundown which is quite interesting, if you don’t you will be deeply frowned upon by the community and almost certainly sentenced to death. Cameron, age 16.

From the Gota Canal to Stockholm

We enjoyed the canal, but it was nice to get out to the sea again. Well, when we say sea, it was more like a loch, as you are surrounded on all sides by land. The Swedish archipelago is the largest in the world, between the Finish and Swedish Archipelagos there are in the region of 50 thousand islands. It is hard to nail down an exact figure due to the other interesting fact that the land mass is rising here at nearly a centimetre a year. There are new islands every year and over a thousand hectares of new land. So, a port built 50 years ago is now half a meter shallower which is a lot in the shipping industry. Much of the sea here is 20 meters deep so in 2000 year you may be able to walk across from Sweden to Finland (may need the odd bridge).

Enter a caption

Anyway rather than prattle on about it, here are some pictures….

Exiting the Canal

As you can see, if rocks and trees are your thing then you will love it here.

There is a narrow channel on the way out with a castle on one side (have to say if I was picking a spot for a castle this would be on the list)

and a ferry port on the other. Clearly with islands come ferries (normally at speed and demanding right of way)

A fine example of Swedish madness. Drive a expensive fragile lump of plastic at the rocks then tie up to them hoping that the anchor out the back holds. To be fair all of the Swedes we have spoken to agree it is mad (but still love doing it, quoting, “It is the Swedish way!”)

Arkosund

This was a beautiful little marina just north of where we exited the Canal. We arrived early as we had been warned that the Swedes try and be at their destination by about 2p.m. in the peak season to ensure they get a spot.

This is one of the SAR boats (equivalent of the RNLI). Had a good chat with them. The main issues they have here are, a) pulling Swedes off rocks when the wind changes (he agreed it is a crazy way to park a boat), b) putting out fires on islands in the summer, c) boats icing in the winter, eg the pilot boats after 2 hours can become top heavy in a rough sea. The sea here has so little salt that it can easily freeze on the deck causing the boat to capsize and d) not being able to see the ice flows until you hit them (they have a hovercraft to help)

Someone did not get the memo about only immaculate houses being on show. This one has clearly sunk at one end . If this was brick it would have probably just fallen down.

We stayed an extra day and went Kayaking. Jenny got to be a back seat driver…

From the scale of the map they provided they clearly did not expect to see us back within a month or so!

IMG_6579 (2) — Bin day, archipelago style. we saw lots of these, but alas never saw the scaffy wagon/barge/boat

IMG_6580 (2) — We are now totally familiar with this scene, but this was our first encounter with all of these little summer houses ( some not so little) with their own little marina.

the mandated selfie (come on, paddle faster)

IMG_6585 (2) — more houses with little marinas ( I want one )

IMG_6593 (2) — Think they are Crested Grebe

Ringso

That’s us with the anchor sail (stops her swinging around as she is prone to do)

UITT3281

DAPJ1659 — We took a picnic and went for a walk. Most of the islands have several BBQ sites like this dotted around them (and note, not an old can of Tennents to be seen. Scotland, you have a way to go!)

GNHG9897 — They put toilets on many of the islands (they are just toilets with a big hole underneath into a storage bin which they then come round and empty – for those interested it holds 500 litres of…..). I have to say this one was immaculate.

Some interesting flowers found on the way, any ideas what they are?

UCNV3325 — Nice spot at the southern end of the island

XODY9107 — Daisies – I love daisies (Jen)

Andy proving what a perfect lunch spot it was.

Before lunch, it was a perfect spot for some yoga, Andy’s staff pose is coming along well.

I can still scratch the middle of my own back…….

but am struggling with unsupported head stands, I usually use poles to stop my hyper mobile shoulders from collapsing but I forgot to bring them with me on the boat……better keep practicing.

The colours in the water were very vivid. loved the patterns of the ripples over the rocks.

Getting busier by the time we got back from our exploration.

IMG_6639 (2) — When at anchor you should show a light at the top of the mast…….if you’re posh, you do this!

When I went to pull up the steps the next morning, we had started our own shrimp farm.

Fresh bread, milk, smoked fish, strawberries, ice creams etc, delivered to your boat

Fifang

More Swedish parking…..note Feath, sensibly anchored well away from anything that can cause her harm.

If we owned a boat as pretty as this one, it would never get anywhere near a rock!

The whole island was covered in a network of paths, this bit was quite boggy so we turned round

My favourite walks usually take in some mixed woodland like this, just perfect.

There were loads of really old, interesting dead trees, the textures and colours were fascinating

Andy was very taken by the vividness of the lichen

I loved the way this tree had it’s hands up

You can even see it’s smiling face, or, at least, I can see a face in there!

Right, done that….(elapsed time….0.02 seconds!)

Spotted a little grass snake swimming with a fish in it’s mouth

We watched while it dislocated it’s jaw to swallow the fish, quite an impressive sight.

Then we saved a Unicorn from drowning. Being Scottish, we have a duty of care to all Unicorns, they being Scotland’s national animal, so we couldn’t leave it to drown.

Andy performed CPR and the unicorn is looking healthy enough to try and return it to it’s owner.

Stock take…… I found 4 cans of beans I didn’t know we had!

We decide at this point that the rock was full and no one else would try and tie up to it…

Nynashamn

Next stop was a marina, washing to do, food to buy…. we didn’t get any photos of the marina but will be returning on the way back down the coast. A really safe marina with lots of facilities and super helpful staff who sorted us out with a day ticket for a trip into Stockholm on the train. The public transport system here works….. one ticket covers trains, buses, ferries and trams and they are timetabled to arrive and depart in sync with each other, the buses and trains even leave from central transport hubs, yet again, Scotland, you have a lot to learn!

Stockholm from the water. Again lots of copper roofs.

I have a new chart for the boat , may be a bit old.

This is the Vasa museum. I suggest you spend 5 mins on google as it is a fascinating story. This ship is 98% original having been underwater for 300 years

Very tall ( by order of the king). Unfortunately not that stable ( like very unstable- so floated for less than 20 mins)

We spent a couple of hours here but could easily spend twice that

As we had to go off and make some essential purchases. Traveling by bus was fun with this lot.

Think this was some form of school , but a very impressive building.

I was warned not to try and enter Stockholm by sea on a Saturday morning. I now know why as we must have passed 50 boats in a matter of minutes, all heading out to sea

Fair Ground in the centre of the city (not for me thanks!)

Rano

Yet another beautiful anchorage on another beautiful island.

Jenny spotted some evidence of large rodents. The mice here are big!

LXWJ1653 — Clear evidence of Bill the Beaver hard at work.

UUGM8796 — Love the way they work round the trees

XYSI1487 — Jenny was impressed with the size of the teeth marks.

VKDM1551 — All of this hunting for Swedish Beaver is hot and thirsty work

WEPO6549 — We found some ant hills. This one was clearly a punk ( over a meter high)

I did my bit for the nature hunt and spotted this elk. Managed to sneak up without disturbing it.

Time to deploy the essential purchases….

……to continue the beaver hunt. YOu can see the felled trees and a path into the water just in front of the kayak

We found the lodge across the bay from the felled trees but no sign of the beavers (it may be that they were trapped and removed as they can change the ecology of an area and the whole island is carefully managed to support the existing wildlife)

Karlsunds

It was very wet in Karlsunds but we met another British flagged boat from the Isle of Man so we got chatting……… well, drinking with the Horst and his son Stefan who are very interesting German Manxmen. Horst’s life story would make an excellent, if somewhat racy film if his stories are anything to go by. If you are reading this, thanks for all your help and suggestion of anchorages and places to visit.

Stockholm

We have seen loads of sea eagles but still haven’t managed to get a decent photo!

You build your house wherever there is space and, if that’s at the top of a cliff, you just build ladders to get to your boat which has to be lifted out of the water on hydraulic rams to stop it being smashed off the rocks.

Some parts of the route we chose are very narrow, you really wouldn’t want to meet all those wee boats we saw leaving Stockholm in this passage.

The other house that didn’t get the memo!

IMG_E6743 — The Nordic Museum, didn’t have time to go and look around but it’s quite another spectacular building.

IMG_E6744 — Looking one way from the bridge you are in the city…..

IMG_E6745 — …..and looking the other way, you are in the country.

IMG_E6746 — Liverpool Football and Red Socks fans, this is what your ticket money has bought. $2 billion dollars!

IMG_E6748 — The crew were polishing the decks all day. notice the red ensign, she is registered in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.

IMG_E6749 — Ferries lined up in front of the Royal Palace.

IMG_E6755 — Tour buses lined up in front of the Royal Palace.

IMG_E6756 — Can you guess what this shop sells?

IMG_E6761

IMG_E6764 — Every city has a Dragon Slayer….

IMG_E6765 — ….and a man on a horse but this one seems to have lost his road cone!

IMG_E6773 — He can’t resist and old tram but we still haven’t managed a ride on one of them.

IMG_E6774 — Mama bear playing with her cub at the entrance to a public park.

IMG_E6775 — When they finished the decks, they started on the windows….

We waited in Stockholm to pick up the new crew. Watch out for the next post written by our guest bloggers.

Across Sweden

So here is the thing. If Denmark is the happiest place to live in the world (you need to read Living Danishly, but apparently it is), then Sweden must be a miserable place. The only thing is, they still all appear very happy. Confused… Here is my reasoning.

It is fairly clear that a week before we arrived in Sweden the Government issued an order that all of the nice little wooden houses need to be erected (exactly like the ones you used to get in kids Duplo sets or those seen in guide books). All woodwork must be given several coats of Red, Yellow or light Blue paint, except the window frames and fences which must be white. We don’t care if the kids are starving, get the place looking nice for the Kinvigs. An army of remote controlled grass cutting robots are carpet bombed across the countryside so every house has one continually keeping the grass at 18.5 mm. The drives are swept and all the cars are cleaned. Gardens must look like they come from the front of some Chocolate box (and I am talking good quality chocs here). All fields growing wheat or corn must have the regulation wild flowers growing in them. All woodland must have a mix of trees planted between the rocks. And finally all paths used to do all of this work must be removed so it all looks totally natural.

Now if I was asked to do that lot I would be fairly pissed (if not knackered). But it is the only explanation for the absolutely beautiful countryside that is Sweden.

(Oh and before we start, we have reduced the quality of the photos to make it easier to load. Hope that is ok)

Gothenburg

The thing that struck us about Gothenburg (other than Jenny being slightly upset that Batman did not live here – I had to explain that that is Gotham ), is how there is a total mix of architecture and styles, but it all works. Even the container dock looked beautiful with all of its multi coloured containers. This was a big tick in the box for me as I have always wanted to visit and I have to say I was not disappointed.

Jenny navigating us in through the outer harbour. Sun was warm but still a chilly see breeze

Container port (it looks a lot prettier in real life)

I spotted these on the way in. Clearly if they don’t want you here you will find out fairly quickly.

Built out of the rock. They make a lot of use of copper roofing in Sweden and it really adds to the sky line.

Even the bridges had a fresh coat of paint for our arrival. To match the copper roofs.

Would not have had this down as a building that dealt with shipping containers. Love the roof

We parked up in the very centre of the town in the city marina. It was high school graduation week when we were there so there was a number of party boats going up and down . Apparently it is always like that. The amazing thing was – come 11.00 pm everything stops , even on a Saturday night. So it was great. A real buzz about the place then when you want to go to sleep – bang , lights out.

There was a maritime museum next to the marina ( Jenny suggested I exhibit myself, I am not too sure what she meant…).

View back down the river. Despite all of the different types of architecture , we think it works.

View from the back of the boat in the Marina. The “Viking” is a 1906 steel sailing ship that is now a hotel. So if you want to stay in a hotel that has sailed round Cape Horn this is for you. I did look at the prices and they looked ok. The building next to it is called the “lipstick” by the locals amongst a few other names. It was built in 1989 and is offices and residential .

A view from the other side of the marina showing the Opera house

Old tram……*we had to hang around for quite a long time for Andy to get a photo of an old tram but, as always, he got what he wanted in the end.*

I liked this fountain. It had five naked female bronze sculptures, one from each continent ( Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania). The stamps round the edge are the stamps of the Swedish Iron merchants. I was allowed to stare. It is art you know….

The Haga district ( nice little shopping district)

Bit of sculpture. There was a load of deep and meaningful text about it but, in summary, it represents a drop of water hitting a lake and spreading outwards (associated with how education and equality spreads out )

We were in the City at the same time a Pride week . Unfortunately we missed the festivities , but all the Trams had flags and may people were still waring Pride shirts etc.

The Trollhattan Canal

Now before we go further we need to clarify something. The Canal we used to get across Sweden is popularly called the Gota Canal, however technically it is 2 canals. The first starting at Gothenburg is the Trollhattan Canal, which is 80% just the river Gota with a Canal bit at the top. The Gota Canal starts at the first lake, is nothing to do with the river Gota and goes all the way to the east coast of Sweden (Simple, I will test you later). The key thing is the Gota Canal was designed by good old Thomas Telford who build the Caledonian Canal. So we have now done both of his largest engineering projects.

The trip stared with us getting under a lifting bridge that did not lift. I had called them on the Radio and asked for a lift as we are 17.5 plus about a meter of electronics. “Its ok came the reply” , “we are 19 meters, so you are fine”. “Are you sure” I say ( like the guy does not know the height of his own bridge ) “as the sign says 18.3”. “Yes” came the reply….. long pause….. ” just go slowly”. Oh good I think, rather than just ripping the electronics off quickly I will now have the pleasure of listening to them grinding off the underside of the bridge.

Needless to say the boy knew his stuff and we passed under without so much as a kertwang!

Next bridge opened but the light stayed at red so I gave them a call and they said I had to hold as a container ship was coming . Then a lady came on and said I was fine as long as we passed starboard to starboard (wrong side ) as she needed the room to manoeuvre. I said no problem

You cannot see her , but she waved and over the radio came “welcome to Sweden”

Nice little hut at the end of the garden – there’s loads of these, everyone seems to have a garden room/ hut at the end of their gardens and most have a swim platform too.

There are about 5 of these passenger boats that cruise up and down the Canal. you know they are not to be messed with as they use wooden fence posts as fenders!

Holy Shit , someone has taken the wrong turning and we have found the Panama Canal. (it may not look like it from the pic but this is massive)

At the Top of the wall of the previous photo. it is hard work as it is so deep there are little inlets up the wall to hook your ropes around. Problem is they are far apart. So what you need to do is make use of the boat hooks and the ladders that go down the side of the lock. Not a big issue on a calm day and no one else to bang into.

The Canal Basin between locks. Note the old Canal staircase (a set of locks where the second gate from one lock becomes the first gate on the next one) on the left (B on the diagram later)

A view back down the new stair case….. it doesn’t look all that deep when it’s full of water!

lock gates…… now you start to get an idea of just how deep they really are.

To give you a view this boat is just slightly smaller than us.

on the stair case the up hill gate is twice the height

This gives you a view of the locks. We went up route C.

A bit overgrown, but imagine fending off against that rock wall

More of the original locks. I love the way nature takes over and re-establishes herself as soon as people ‘move on’

“Jenny, shall we go and have a look at the PowerStation?” I get the look. Really? we are in a beautiful area of the country and you want to go and look at a concrete building with some big noisy machines instead of a nice walk by the river (amazing how she can get all of that in one look). “It is only a short walk , then we can go somewhere nice. Honest.”. So off we go.

Well you know how I said the Swedes make the country look beautiful, well they do the same with power stations (eat your hart out Robin Kinvig).

Olidan was the Goverment’s first Hydro plant in 1909 and was the largest for some time. It was originally planned for 8 turbines, with the first 4 ready in 1910. By 1919 they had 13 turbines. 10 of which still work today with a capacity of 100MW

Andy using me to give a sense of scale to this picture of one of the turbines.

Lets face it, this is a cool county emblem (clearly did not get the memo about the coat of paint) we originally thought it was only the electrical supply company – but it is on lots of local authority items. Maybe Batman does live in Sweden after all as I am sure his county would have a sign like this.

Dam controlling the water flow to the power plants. you cannot see but one of the pillars is carved into the face of a water sprite (apparently not a evil one, just a bit cheeky. Looks like an old man with a flat hat) It was drawn as part of the design of the dam by the lead architect.

View from the bottom of the overflow looking down river

View up river, This is supposed to be spectacular when they open the dam….. he promised me a spectacular waterfall and this is all he could manage!

This is the second and newer power station built totally underground in 1942 (a new turbine was added in 1992)

Jenny disguising herself as an elk on the gorge walk

View of the power station (by now Jenny had to admit that as walks go to see power stations, this was not bad)

Jenny and I both have a bit of a soft spot for Saab’s as we used to have a Saab 90 ( very rare in the UK as only 300 imported) so we went to the Saab museum. Jenny impressed one of the curators as they did not know that they had ever exported any Saab 90s to the UK. Always good to be a blonde girl with more car info than the experts, makes up for all the times I went into Halfords to buy bits for the Saab 90 and was told, “yes dear, your car doesn’t exist, what is it really?”

Hi tec. the Solar panels in the roof were used to cool the car

Only produced for the American market – a Saab SUV

Yes I did have to have a play….there was only one car so he won every race, made him a very happy champion boy!

Lake Vanern

One of the problems with touring Europe is gas supply. We normally use calor gas, but this is peculiar to the UK. In southern Europe they use camping Gaz and in Scandinavia they all have their own propane bottles ( butane freezes here in the winter). I managed to find one bottle of camping Gaz in a shed behind a harbour masters office so was pleased with myself as I can now get that exchanged in the major city locations (I had one already so two should keep us going).

Some nice stained glass sails. These looked spectacular when the sun was shining through them but I couldn’t get it to work in a photo, need some lessons in lighting I think.

A panorama of the little bay we found to spend our first night in

Some wizard has left his hat stuck to a tree

View of the boat with storm clouds building on the other side of the lake, we found out later that they had dumped a load of hail the size of golf balls on our next port of call and done thousands of pounds of damage to cars with roofs and bonnets all dented. *We enjoyed sitting out listening to all the thunder rolling round us and only had one short burst of rain.*

No point in going for a walk, the forest is impenetrable. *I think my Elk impression is better!*

WHIE3454 — Found an old boat – this is the bow section

BEHV6255 — Jenny took some underwater pictures

FEGR5629 — We also saw a load of lily beds but too early for them to be on the surface

QJBG2649 — Jenny captured this beautiful picture of a damsel fly

Spiken (on lake Vanern)

Spiken is one of Europe’s largest fresh water harbours. Some of the catch goes to the fishmarket in Gotenburg but most is smoked and sold locally, and very good it is too!Sweden even manages to make it’s ‘large’ harbours look quaint and welcoming to visitors.

On the way in we saw this castle (Lacko Slott) and decided to have a closer look later

Not a brilliant pic , but these kids must be the envy of the neighbourhood as they have a slide into the lake. *There were quite a few of these, I love the casual attitude the Swedes have to health and safety which allows their children to grow up being able to manage themselves confidently in any situation.*

A cheeky Gull…. *Andy was eating his lunch right underneath this signpost!*

There were loads of swallows nesting under the pier ( guess it was safe place for them)

I think this has every type of cloud in one picture.

A thing we have noticed is the Scandinavians (especially Sweden ) love big old American cars . Came across this lot at the entrance to the marina. At this time of year we are coming across 2-3 a day when out walking etc. No European sports cars, just big old lumps of US steel.

We went back to the castle that we passed on the way in. It was late in the day and the day before Mid Summer ( something they take very seriously in Sweden) so we decided to come back the following day

Preparation work for the Mid Summer festivities

We did the tour of the castle before the “frog dancing” began. – ye old time piece, requires “one large tower” to operate correctly

Lacko Slott with medieval fayre setting up around the grounds.

There was an exhibition of glass in the castle. You would never guess that these were from the 60’s would you. *I love these, blue glass has always been my favourite colour and, yes, I do know that poison was always stored in blue glass but it’s still beautiful.*

This was rather cool . We liked the other view of the same item below

This was our favourite peace, it was actually wearable. Better have your clean undies on!

Outside the festivities started, first with the pole being paraded through the crowd

Then the erecting of the pole. Many of the girls and some of the men had fresh flower garlands in their hair

Once up, the dancing starts – (video of the dancing has been posted on Goodfeath facebook site)

The dances mainly consisted of a cross between Old MacDonald had a farm, with actions, and the hokey cokey . I loved the girl with the lollypop in the foreground. “Oy what are you looking at”

Jen grabbed this snap of a Swedish girl with the home made garland. She did look like something out of a children’s book

Viking ship in the grounds of the Castle

We went out on the bikes and found this beautiful little marina.

There was an old boy just come back from fishing and tried to make us take one of his catch. Alas we did not have a bag. Good size fish. We chatted for ages. turns out he has prostrate cancer which was so sad as he was clearly one of life’s characters. He promised to come to Scotland if he survived the winter. Eventually his wife called him and he had to go. Jenny and I talked on the way back and both felt privileged to have met him. Funny how some people you meet have such an impact on you.

This is just the typical country houses they have in Sweden

Again , nothing special, just an old barn. But helps you get the idea of how picture book the country is.

View across a wheat field – loads of wild flowers

The Bromptons doing well on some single track

Lake Vattern

We went and visited a museum in Karlsborg at the start of the lake. This is the entrance to the museum. The museum is on a working army base inside an old fort. The fort was built to act as a second capital of Sweden (in land) if needed. Even the gold reserves of Sweden were to be guarded in the fort in times of trouble. It was started in 1819 but not operational until 1870. Covering over 250 acres it is still one of Northern Europe’s largest buildings

Yes, I do know what one of these is. *He did try his best to put on a washing without any help but having the instructions in Swedish didn’t help.*

Locking up in the Gota. They don’t hang around when they let the water in . It is like white water rafting on a fragile plastic raft jammed in a concrete box

QQZY8443 — We found another beautiful inlet to stay for a couple of days. Time to practice some paddle boarding

TQAR0397 — Jen on the board, *I don’t think I’ll ever get the stability in my ankles, knees and hips to stand up but it’s lovely knelling and paddling around so that’ll do me!*

I promised myself that I would try and learn the guitar on this trip . Guess I had better stay out for a couple more years at current rate of progress

Jenny’s blanket construction (yep, we definitely need a couple more years)

MJCM5115 — Jenny taking pics of some small fish. *I adjusted the settings on my camera and can now see what I’m pointing the camera at, which helps!*

RTSP8549 — Small fish hiding – *I watched for a wee while and the two of them kept peeking out from behind the branch at me.*

The Gota Canal

NSCX9297 — Some beautiful wild flowers beside the canal – *all the verges were like this, many had even more variety in them.*

FJJQ4451 — More wild flowers (*playing with the de-focus setting on my camera!*)

Beautiful part of the Canal , if not a little narrow

We were glad to be following someone who’d been here before for this stretch, the channels are very narrow and, if you stray out of them, very, very shallow.

Unfortunately I did not have my camera out in time , but there was a young osprey in the nest on this box

7 locks in a row making it the biggest staircase on the Canal . We did this when the temperature was over 30 deg. A little warm. On a quick day, you can get through this in about an hour…. we did, as we had to be clear of the locks for one of the passenger boats coming up. No shade, no rest and very hot…..I had to have a wee lie down when we got out at the bottom!

Many houses have little paths to swim platforms on the Canal . Some people like to show off!

We met this girl trying to get her kayak in the water after passing a lock gate . She was getting exasperated as no one would let her pass through their land to get back on the Canal. So Jenny and I helped her . Turns out she is a travel writer/blogger who does all sorts of adventures. She was doing the whole of the Canal. Linda has a web site called wilderness-stories.com. Worth a look if you get the chance – some good pics

Norskoping

We met up with this other UK boat and joined up for a couple of days.

*This waterfall is the overflow from the old mills, the stream seems to run all the way through the town.*

*In the entrance to the Stadsmuseum there was a Mother’s Day exhibition, lots of very pretty hearts and this amazing tree with silk heart leaves.*

*Must be one of the longest scarves in history, Doctor Who must be very jealous!*

One of the large looms on display, most are still in full working order and they sell tea towels and other products made from their own cloth in the shop. We were lucky enough to be there in time for one of the working demonstrations….. so noisy, can’t begin to imagine what it would have been like to work in a factory with 20 or so going at the same time.

*Most of these looms are controlled by using punch pattern cards, a process developed in Soderkoping and subsequently used all over the World.*

*This loom produces most of the product sold in the shop using this pattern.*

The dancing bobbins. A very clever machine which plaits threads into cords and can even wrap electrical cords in woven thread straight from the machine. Some of you may be old enough to remember that pendant lights used to have fabric covering their electrical cables, this is the machine that does that. Video of it and one of the looms working is on Goodfeath Facebook page.

*A carding machine….. fleece goes in at one end and thread comes out the other… ingenious.*

Soderkoping

After a very windy and stressful day getting blown around in the locks with our new British friends (Neil and Jill), we decided to stop here and wait for the wind to die down and the storm to pass. Fortunately, it was a good place to stop, quite quiet despite it actually being a caravan and camper site and nobody else was using the laundry room, so I got all caught up with the washing. It was an easy walk or cycle into Soderkoping town which we did both days. Neil and Jill had decided to carry on into the big marina in town, when we met up later, they were wishing they’d stayed with us as getting safely tied up had been a horrid and difficult process.

There are statues and works of art all over the country, I loved this one. It’s called Rabbits Crossing and has it’s own, official yellow road sign. I didn’t get a photo of the other side of the canal but the rabbits were diving into the water to be safely pulled out by their friends on this side.

We walked into town through the woods one day, beautiful paths with mountain bike tracks and sitting areas with benches and tables. So much time has been put into making the country accessible, and well worth it, we saw lots of people of all ages, using the paths and enjoying their countryside.

This amused Andy – a church with a spare spire, just in case! We met up with some German people we had (not literally) bumped into at different points all the way through the canal and they were saying that one of the 200 year old trees around the church was blown down in the winds the night after we took this photo.

*Andy’s favourite bit of all, planning for the next adventure……..*

Limfjord – 1st-13th June

This blog covers our trip down the Limfjord. It is down, as we entered from the top on the east side. It is one of the ways you can get to the Baltic from the UK by entering from the west side. So I guess technically the northern half of Denmark is an island (much like Scotland with the Caledonian Canal). It is 1500 sq KM of salt water, all of which is fairly shallow so it actually gets relatively warm (compared to the North Sea )

Hals ( First Stop at the entrance to the Baltic)

Found this in the marina (with the thickness of glass it must weigh a ton or three)

Beautiful 3 master came in. Can I play please, please…

“Jenny, Jenny. They let me play with the big boat!!!!” *(he was like a kid on Christmas Day, huge smug grin on his face and everything!)* This sticks in my mind as shortly after I read that one of the classic sailing yachts had been run over on the Elbe by a container ship and wrecked. We were playing with the same container ships on the same bit of the river in the last but one post.

2 ice breakers. Tim spotted what they were. You can tell by looking at the bow. Ice breakers lean on the ice to break it rather than cut through it. *(guess we need to get out of the Baltic before winter sets in, don’t think fibreglass hulls do well in ice)*

Aalborg

Tim demonstrating his flag raising skills. No, it’s a towel in the background, not just an errant flag that Tim has miss placed.

Flag fact time- the blue chequered flag is the flag for ‘N’ in the maritime alphabet and is normally used to indicate a negative response to a question but is used here to signify that you need a bridge opened so you can pass underneath. Above, Tim is demonstrating it flying correctly on the Starboard side, underneath the courtesy flag so “no offence” should be caused!. The bridge operators keep an eye out and then when they can (rail bridges are subject to time table, and road subject to rush hour) raise the bridge for you. It is quite some feeling bringing the transport across a city to a halt (Aalborg is split in 2 by the Fjord) just for little old Feath. Some pics below

Road bridge across the city

Rail bridge across the city

We found this street food place next to the Marina. I have seen one before in Denmark. Lots of little food stalls all under one roof. Have to say the chips cooked in duck fat were outstanding (we had to have an extra glass of wine to cut through the fat and save our hearts!) *I love the lights, a simple and effective use of old summer dresses.*

We had a crew change in Aalborg. Tim left ( he said it was one of the nicest airports he has been in ) and David (Junior when on the boat ) arrived. This was us doing the passage plan for the next day.

IMG_3496_LI — Out door swimming pool (just a big wooden structure over the Fjord). As you can see only one sun bather and that was it (Red arrow). May have been something to do with the way the pool was acting as a jelly fish net. There were thousands in the pool (Blue arrow). My photo shop skills know no bounds.

Think this was a Bank originally. No work here for a stonemason as every building, old and new, seems to built from brick, I’m amazed at the variety of patterns and colours of brick used and the fabulous roof tiles, some of the rooves are a work of art in themselves.

Nice old street with a pottery at the end

Loved some of the stuff but they would not ship to the UK

This was the Jelly fish in the Marina ( there were more than this in the pool)

David impersonating a gnome (some bugger has swiped his fishing rod)

A motor down the Fjord the next day in no wind

Veno

After a stop over at Nykobing we headed on the Veno to see our friends Trevor and Marianne. We met them through David in Norway where they work most of the year. When they are not working they stay in their Danish house on the island of Veno which is absolutely stunning (Andy definitely had house envy). Trevor used to do a bit of serious racing in yachts and was on Drum with Simon Le Bon when the keel came off. They are a smashing couple who fed us and looked after us during our stay . Thank you, again, for making us feel so welcome, arranging a deep enough berth for Feath and generally spoiling us while we were with you.

I love these little rowing boats that belong to the rowing club ( according to the book I am reading the average Dane is a member of 2.8 clubs )

I want one of these !!! mini 12 Meter yachts, about the size of a Kayak. Saw this in Struer, just south of Veno when we went shopping (Veno has no shops). *Even going to the supermarket becomes interesting when you have to get a bus and a ferry to get there!*

Jenny gets over excited over a gluten free cone! *My first cone in decades……. and every bit as good as I had wanted it to be.*

So after a stroll along the beach, out comes the Sloe Gin. One of Trevor and Marianne’s many skills is making many varieties of Schnapps etc from all sorts of things they gather. Needless to say we tried a few

What do you mean I have to walk some more. I was just getting started on the Gin.

David’s “Trusty Stead” next to the Bromptons ( Marianne’s mother’s bike I think). *I think it looks like a mummy looking after her wee babies…*

Off for a bike ride and walk round the North of the Island

The Lagoon, the fences are up to protect the area during the nesting season, this is quite a common sight around Denmark and there are even some areas of water you are not allowed to sail through until all the babies have fledged.

KBOT0543 — The flowers here are just like on the “machair” on Tiree where Jenny’s dad comes from. *Veno reminded me a lot of Tiree, apart from the trees and hills!). The sand and plants were almost identical and the island is famous for it’s potatoes and lamb. I felt very at home here.*

We discover there is a round island race coming up so Davis quickly masters our paddle board. Unfortunately we missed the bit where he fell in trying to get back on the boat and was left stranded in the harbour.

NGBZ0036 — Trevor on the paddle board. David collecting some pacific oysters. The fjord if famous for its Limfjord oyster. The Limfjord one is flat, where as the invasive species of pacific oyster is an irregular shape and harder to open. The box in the water is full of pacific oysters that Trevor and Marianne had collected. The pacific ones grow to a good size in 2-4 years . The prized Limfjord ones take between 20 and 40 years ( so hardly a surprise the pacific one is doing so well) They both taste the same in my view. We went to a fish farm where they take them and leave them in fresh sea water for a month or so before shipping them (that way in the summer where there is algae in the sea water that can be harmful if not cooked, they can carry on selling them). Also found out that your fishing licence in Denmark gets used to fund fish hatcheries who grow young fish then release them ( brilliant idea)

PUMG4885 — I go foraging for the real deal. they only live in deeper water.

Managed to get a small bag full – *there’s that happy wee boy grin again, he was VERY pleased with himself!*

Andy bought me a waterproof case for my camera so I could take it when we go diving. I decided to have a practice when we were snorkelling first to get the hang of the controls. Unfortunately, I had the settings a bit wrong and couldn’t see anything on the screen, so had no idea what I was managing to photograph. Below as some of the lucky snaps I managed to get.