28th
April Dartmouth - Weymouth
Because
Calibra Marine were so slow in finishing off the work of fitting our new
boom and Calpack we felt under pressure to get going at once. Thus our
shake down cruise was the first day trip - Dartmouth - Weymouth. As
a shake down cruise this was not ideal as most of the time we were a long
way from shelter).
It
was cold with little wind but otherwise uneventful. We just motored across
Lyme Bay on a calm cold grey day. Geoff Harwood joined us at Weymouth with
the aim of helping us across the North Sea.
29th
April Weymouth - Gosport
This
was a pleasant days motor/sail and we got considerable pleasure trying to
interpret the rock formations we could see exposed in the cliffs between
Weymouth and Swanage.
The
weather was brighter with some sunshine but it was still cold.
An acrid smell in the
morning was traced to the battery and warned us that the new alternator
was overcharging. I checked the charging voltage and found it was 16 +
volts.
(I
disconnected the alternator and then found that the vital Yeoman Chart
Plotter had stopped working – this was very unwelcome news and itself
put the trip in doubt.
30th
April
Replaced
alternator in Gosport - sunny day
This
involved a visit to Halfords and much hard work with a hacksaw as our
second alternator was bigger than the first and did not fit in our newly
installed bracket. The resulting iron particles made lots of rust marks on
the decks for some time afterwards. Luckily the alternator itself
worked well.
1st
May Gosport – Brighton (158 miles)
The
weather was sunny but we had no wind. The day was uneventful. The only
navigational interest was the passage past the Owers light ( through a
narrow gap in the shoals).
Brighton
is a dismal marina, high walls and a gloomy
feel. It was half empty and seemed to be failing financially.
2nd
May Brighton – Eastborne (183 miles)
Early
start for Dover with a v. good sail ESE to Beachy Head where wind became
very nasty (NE5-6) with not
enough progress made to get to Dover in a reasonable time. (On
the port tack we could only make 120 degrees). We
went into Eastbourne Marina and stayed there 4 nights due to continuing
nasty weather.
(On
Tuesday, after the Bank Holiday, I ‘phoned Yeoman to get guidance over
repair to the Yeoman. They gave information reluctantly but admitted the
instrument was mine to so with as I wished. The information enabled Geoff
to find and bridge round a blown fuse on the main circuit board. The
Yeoman has worked perfectly thereafter)
6th
May Eastbourne to Dover (229 miles)
This
trip we did on our own without Geoff because of our delays due to adverse
winds and his impending house move. Geoff
had intended to return to us after the gales but found an immense amount
of work awaiting him at home.
(This
part of the trip was uneventful with very little wind and we were grateful
to be making progress again. When leaving I heard an odd noise from the
sterngear and thought we had picked up something with the propeller. The
noise went away.
In
the exit from Eastbourne we went aground for some time because the
entrance needs dredging but often doesn’t get dredged till quite late in
the season. Our entrance into Eastbourne was thus only a fortunate
accident. If the tide had been lower we would have gone aground with a
strong onshore wind. This could have had serious consequences. The
Macmillan directions say the channel is dredged to two metres below chart
datum. The harbourmaster said that at the time of visiting the depth was
approximately chart datum. Thus the entrance had silted by two metres. I
had not been expecting such inaccuracies. Note that Nefertiti had radioed
ahead to check actual depths – clearly a wise plan.
Dover
was rather better than expected. The Port Authorities were competent and
helpful. The Marina we used was outside the locks and the toilets were
acceptable. In addition, there is a very pleasant and welcoming Yacht Club
near by.)
7th
May Dover – Dunkirk (281 miles)
(We
left Dover before the recommended time so the SW going tide carried us a
long way down channel. We then got the benefit of the stronger E going
tide on the French side. We closed the coast at Cap Gris Nez and
encountered dirty water. The channels among the sandbanks on the French
side are quite intricate with a good deal of heavy commercial traffic.)
We
crossed the channel in hazy
weather ok and saw
comparatively few ships. We realised in Dunkirk that we had problems with
the sterngear so I dived to examine.
(I
put on thermal underwear and lightweight waterproofs and socks but found
the water so cold I had to hang onto the dinghy for some minutes until I
could breathe freely again. In the meanwhile I tried to feel for the
problem with my feet but they were too cold to be much use. When I finally
got my head underwater I found the cutless bearing was rotating round the
shaft. My overwinter work had failed pretty quickly)
We
put Badger on a scrubbing grid halfway up the dock wall for 2 nights while
we refixed the bearing.
(
We had never dried out a boat before so the process was worrying. However
we did the text-book things including ranging the chain out on the inner
side deck, securing the main halliard to shore etc. and all was well. A
previous boat, we were told, drying out “en pirate” had “basculed”
outward with considerable damage.
Just
for the record we ended up finishing the job in the rain when the tide
went down again after dark with Kristin holding the torch and me in
constant terror in case I dropped something vital through the grid. It
also took me a week or more to get the sikaflex sealant off my hands.) The
terror was quite unnecessary because I could have spread out a sheet on
the grid to catch anything dropped. Of course I thought of that ….
afterwards.
(The
Dunkirk Marina was welcoming and pleasant. They kept a small flock of
ducks on a disused slipway and also had a pleasant Café.)
10th
May Dunkirk – Zeebrugge (323 miles)
A
pleasant day but at Zeebrugge adverse tide stopped us for the night. There
was of course no favourable wind.
(
We had a nasty incident in Zeebrugge Harbour. We were aware that the
Belgian authorities were very hot on vessels motor sailing and fined those
not showing the inverted cone. We had been motor sailing and duly showed
the cone. In the outer harbour we furled sail but did not lower the cone
– being quite busy looking for the Marina which is well hidden. A police
launch approached. Oh good we thought, they’ll tell us where it is. Not
a bit of it we just had a peremptory demand to lower the cone. This was
officialdom run mad as the cone only says “we are really a motor boat
not claiming the advantages of a sailing boat”.
Showing the cone gives no advantages and merely confirms that we
are motoring.)
(we
observed dreadfully polluted water most of the way from Cap Gris Nez to
the Elbe. It was particularly bad near Zeebrugge with clots of dirty foam
standing two inches high.)
The
Zeebrugge Marina was pleasant and quiet with good loos but the harbour
master left his office open over night. The surrounding district was
pretty dead with failing restaurants and shut shops. We couldn’t even
buy a beer and the drizzle made a long walk unenticing.
11th
May Zeebrugge - Veere (351
miles)
We
left Zeebrugge early and sailed eastward. Our intention was to go up the
Dutch coast to Ijmuiden but
wind on the nose sent us into the canal at Vlissingen giving very peaceful
inland journey. It was in the first canal that we had a very humiliating
experience. We were jilling about waiting for a bridge to open for us when
a man in a wet suit swam past us with his dog. He was obviously practicing
for something. A bit later he swam past us the other way, still with his
dog.
(We
worried a lot about paying canal dues and finding charts for the Dutch
canals. We learnt in the end that most of the canals were free.
Veere
is a delightful and
typical Dutch Village. A Scots merchant built a reservoir for water for
village use and for wool
washing using offtake from church roof. Veere also has a superb rock shop.
We eventually found a chandlers where we succeeded in buying some
of the inland waterway charts. There was one long section we had to guess
but found that Dutch Buoyage is very good and easy to understand.
12th
May Veere -
Willemstadt via Westerschelde etc.
This
was a pleasant and fairly relaxed sunny day. We suffered from lots of
barges who cut corners outside marked channels. This was most unfair to
Badger who was trying to hide in the shallows.
(This
was far too negative about a very pleasant interlude. The canal banks were
lovely with very Dutch School scenery. At one point we sailed past a herd
of palamino horses.
Villemstadt
v. pleasant too with childrens’ evening events and a ‘marching band’
with only one instrument playing - the drummer. Here we moored in the
Marina in the Fortifications moat. One very sad sight – the Rathus was
to let.
13th May
Willemstadt via Haringvliet to Scheveningen (437 miles)
A
good days trip initially peaceful inland. We were delayed because the
first bridge was just too low to get under and would not open till after
9am. We then went out through the Haringvliet lock to sea and up the
coast. It was sunny all day with little wind.
It
was this day that we had to cross the notorious Maas Gul entrance to
Europort. We had dreaded the mass of traffic we would find there ever
since we left home and had hoped to avoid it by going straight across the
North Sea from Ramsgate to Den Helder. In the event, in calm sunny weather
with good visibility it was simple and straightforward. We called up the
Port Control as instructed and were told to report again ½ mile before
the channel into Europort. We did this and received a long detailed reply
which I misunderstood to imply we should wait. I did so turning Badger
about in circles while large ships appeared and passed for a few minutes.
Soon I was called up by port control. “Badger, what are your
intentions?” I explained and was told “Negative, you are to proceed at
once.” We did so with some gratitude. The incident showed firstly that
Port control was concerned about small boats, that they had identified us
and truly had control of the situation. It has to be said that the Dutch
Seacoast is low sand dunes, rather boring with only the odd gas platform
to provide interest. Scheveningen
is ugly with an awkward harbour with far too many large ferries
manoeuvring but it does have
a good if very tight marina with mooring in “boxes” (moor bow to the
pontoon and sternlines taken to vertical posts either side of the stern).
It also has a whole string of interesting restaurants next door. We ate on
the Yacht Club staging in the evening sunlight very pleasantly.
14th
May Scheveningen - Den Helder (493 miles)
Another
peaceful days motoring. There’s very little to see along the Dutch sea
coast, just sand dunes and the odd beach with dinghies and a café.
Den
Helder was The START of the rally proper (after 493 mile!!). We were met
by organiser, Stuart Bradley and welcomed.
I
was very pleased to be told that GPS selective availability had now ended.
This made our GPS much more accurate. It now gave positional errors of
about 12 feet instead of 100 yards. V. little news of our group and we
may have a very independent cruise.
We
left hurriedly because both the organiser and we thought the present
weather (good, no wind) was probably going to deteriorate fairly soon and
we wanted to be in the Baltic when that happened.
14th
May Den Helder - Oost Vlieland.(531 miles)
Afternoon
trip with some sailing. Oost Vlieland is delightful with 10 Dutch Barges
in the harbour. Touch of Totnes about the village, it
being about 50 years behind the times. It had some rather
impressive flood defences
with vast gates across the road into the village. We spent a most pleasant
evening with a Dutch couple bound for the Ijselmeer.
15th 16th
May Oost Vlieland to Brunsbuttel (705 miles)
A
long and hard trip for the two of us (31 hours and 160 miles) with Kristin doing very well. We
knew worse weather was due so we took the plunge. We started off with a
passage plan for Borkum but as we were going well switched to get to
Nordeney. At Nordeney we were still going well and the long term f/c still
looked dodgy so we continued. I have a transparency taken this day showing
absolutely nothing. The sea was oily smooth with no wind at all. It’s
hardly possible to see where the sea and sky meet and there is nothing
else. It was a very peaceful day. We were harassed by various official
boats. One with only a red flashing light kept station on me for 2 hours
in the night - very unsettling. Around dusk Kristin woke me up to tell me
a squall was about to hit us. The wind was very light easterly and yet in
the cabin as I dressed I could feel draughts all round me – very odd. I
made it on deck and the squall hit changing the wind to westerly strong.
This lasted perhaps half an hour and I had to steer by hand. Eventually
things calmed down again. Later
on in the night we met large amounts of Moored ships lying off the Jade (
I think) These we had to avoid and were very grateful when we reached the
Elbe light float around dawn. We were perhaps a little early on the tide
because initially the GPS showed a lower speed than the hull log but the
adverse current was slight.
The
trip up the Elbe was long and ended with a vicious squall of wind and rain
in which we had to enter the lock. We were v. glad to get in to a pleasant
marina right by the lock. then lunch and bed.
18th
May Brunsbuttel to Rensberg (742 miles)
peaceful
motor up the canal to Rendsberg. The Kiel or Nord-Ostzee Kanal is
surprisingly rural and quiet. Traffic was fairly light and because of
strict speed regulations we were very rarely overtaken. There were some
very large ships coming the other way but slowly so we could hide in the
shallows and avoid them. There are very few places to moor along the
canal. Most moorings are designed only for large ships and are unsuitable
for yachts. At Rendsberg is one of the few remaining transporter bridges
left in the world. It’s an odd contraption with a sort of bird-cage
suspended on wires about 2 metres above the water hanging from a high
railway bridge. Rendsberg has several stopping places, one a very well
found yacht club with a shore railway and winches for wintering boats
ashore.
19th May
Rendsberg to
Kiel (763 miles)
On
to the other end of the canal. This had a sting in the tail. We were in
company with some of the rally boats by this time and were rather late
following them into the lock. I had worked up to rather to high a speed
trying to catch up and had the breeze behind us. Also one of the
freighters on the port side of the lock was running its bowthruster which
I feared would push us onto the staging on the starboard side. The result
was I was in serious danger of crashing into the next yacht along. We were
saved by the skipper of that boat getting down onto the staging and taking
our line. In doing so he slipped and got his leg stuck between bits of
floating planking. Fortunately he got out without harm and we were stopped
in time. Altogether a nasty experience. Out of the lock we made for the
Durstenbrook marina at Kiel. This we thought would give us a chance to
relax and mend the boat for several days until Sarah and David join us.
In
fact Sarah and David didn’t join us. David had injured himself severely
and at that point was in hospital. Their non-appearance at least meant
they did n’t have to wait for repairs with us at Kiel. They did join us,
but later on.
report
from Badger at Kiel
Date: Sat, 20 May 2000
We
have had a fairly hard delivery journey so far. The winds have mostly been
adverse, Northeast so we have motored most of the 732 miles of the trip so
far.
Tue,
23 May 2000 09:25:19 BST
Just
a quickie - we are still at Kiel awaiting repairs. The
repairs we made at Dunkirk have failed - probably due to the dodgy Prop.
We are in the kind, if slow, embrace of the British Kiel Yacht Club
awaiting further diagnosis and repair
Report
from Simrishamen
In
our last report we were at Kiel with very dodgy sterngear. We found this
out because a very kind harbour master dived to inspect it for us. I’d
found the water in Dunkirk very cold for my taste and expected the water
in Kiel to be colder so I was glad to be able to avoid immersion.
We
transferred to the British Kiel Yacht club and implored help which they
gave generously but slowly, partly because of the competing pressures of
the Queen’s Birthday reception and both English and German Bank
holidays. At this stage we’ve effectively abandoned the Rally. We are
far behind and catching up would not be any fun. Further it would mean not
seeing the most beautiful bits of Swedish and Finnish waters.
We
were not sure why the cutless bearing had failed again. It might have been
that the attachment bushes were not big enough but we felt that the most
likely cause was the appalling vibration that happened when only one blade
of the folding propellor unfolded. This gave us dreadful vibration and
severe out of balance forces.
The
action taken by the German engineer was to refix the cutless bearing with
very long stainless coach screws well puttied in with a fibreglass/resin
mix and to replace the propellor with a fixed two bladed equivalent. The
repairs were expensive but, to anticipate a little, gave no trouble for
the rest of the season.
31st
May Kiel – Rodby Havn (813 miles)
Kiel
proved to be a lovely town with fascinating Art Deco buildings, much
sculpture and a very relaxed feel.
We
had repairs done and left on the 31st May for Heiligenhafen on
the German coast on a beautiful sunny if windless day. Unfortunately we
were hassled by an officious guard boat at the edge of the shooting range
so decided to leave at once for Rodby Havn in Denmark rather than continue
in German waters.
(We
were told we must be at least six miles off the coast in this area. The up
to date charts show that the danger area extends to six miles offshore
only at one point and that we were well outside the zone border at the
time of interception. This we thought boded ill for our journey to
Heiligenhafen and we did not wish to risk a further brush with officialdom
so we turne north at once. The result was a gentle motor trip. We did
notice that many of the buoys shown on the Danish charts were missing. We
were told later that buoys were being withdrawn in Danish waters very
quickly.) Danish small craft charts are not very impressive. They are
clearly made up of bits of larger charts crudely put together with the
lines of longtitude having occasional kinks.
Rodby
is a scruffy but real fishing harbour with a very neat clean small town
behind. The shopping centre had a divided highway with small statues on
plinths with concealed floodlighting, buildings were well separated and
gave a feel of quiet comfortable living.
1st
June Rodby Havn – Klintholm (868 miles)
The
next destination was Klintholm with one of the few hills we had seen since
leaving England. It’s the home of the famous Mons Klint Chalk cliffs.
(After
the cliffs near Calais we had seen nothing but sandbanks and very low
coasts so any vertical relief was very welcome.)
That
days sail had been long but good with prolonged periods of real sailing in
the sun. Klintholm has the distinction of being Denmarks most expensive
marina but is far outshone by English ones. There we met A Danish couple (
Stenn and Rosemarie) en-route for England’s South Coast. They might even
come to Totnes. (In fact they did and called in at Effings). We received
much kindness from them.
3rd
June Klintholm – Ystad (927 miles)
We
stayed 2 nights in Klintholm for the weather was roughish but then left to
have a super sail (59 miles) to Ystad in Sweden. It was a good sunny sail
but a long day. Incidentally we are becoming accustomed to day sailing
distances of 40-50 miles at a time.
We
did have one fright on the way. According to the chart we were just
crossing a power cable that can give a compass error of up to 70 degrees
when we suddenly heard a low pitched humming. We had great difficulty in
finding its source and it continued after we’d left the power cable
behind. Eventually we discovered that when we started to sail at 4.8 knots
or more the hum started. It was we presume due to the wind blowing over
the slot in the extended boom.
Ystad
is delightful with a wealth of little old brick and half timbered houses.
The harbour is neglected and ugly but the town well worth visiting. It is
most untypical of Sweden. There we found our first soured milk of the trip
and it is our staple for breakfast with our meusli - quite delicious.
Because of exploring we stayed 2 nights in Ystad and our trip is put in
context by Ossi and Vanessa whose large boat we admired and visited. They
are on a three year trip and took 8 months to get to Sweden from
Australia. They are off to Finland to see his mum. Their boat is
beautifully designed for the tropics but a little bleak in our rather cold
climate. It is about 50 fet long and was specially designed for their
needs. Except for the loo door the interior was open from end to end.
5th
June Ystad – Simrishamn (965 mles)
Our
latest leg has been Ystad round the corner to Simrishamn with wind on the
nose all the way. This Bay has the most notorious water (little biscay) in
Sweden and produces very rapidly an unpleasant chop that stops Badger dead
in the water. Most of the other boats taking this leg made similar
comments after arriving. This was a pity because he day was sunny and
reasonably warm. We just couldn’t make much progress under sail on a day
when we felt we should have had some good sailing.
The
forecast that night was horrid and the reality confirmed it today with a
rising gale NE(of course), heavy rain and lousy visibility. Our next leg
is 50 miles to the NE to Karlskrona and will not happen until conditions
are tolerable at least.
Simrishamn
in the rain is very agreeable with a welcoming library with the internet,
good buildings and some nice herring for supper. We are now off to
investigate the library cafe. Another report will happen when we next find
a computer.
Date:
Thu, 15 Jun 2000 13:15:06 BST
Subject:
Sailing again
Our
last report was from Simrishamen - galebound and wet. We made the mistake
of wearing shoes with our light weight waterproofs on shore. The shoes got
soaked in about 15 minutes and took ages to dry. The gale continued and
at least that gave me the opportunity to sort out a partial
solution to the gas bottle problem. ( I hadn’t mentioned this before. We
started the trip with one full and one half empty calor gas bottle. We did
not expect to be able to refill them and were worried about running out of
gas and not eating!! I bought a Swedish gas bottle, adaptor and length of
hose)
We
were in contact with Sarah who decided she could leave David, now
recuperating, with the aim of joining us on Friday. This put us on our
mettle as she expected to join us at Karlskrona, our next port, at
5 p.m.and we didn’t know if we could make it with the gales we kept
having. However the forecast for Friday 9th June was good.
9th
June Simrishamn to Karlskrona (1023 miles)
We
headed off to Karlskrona early in the morning at 4.10 with a calm sea and
a beautiful light. The sun came up some time later and we went to a watch
system. Basically the trip was a non event with nothing to see and no wind
and no problems. We read books while on watch across the bay.
Karlskrona
was lovely.
We
had some difficulty persuading ourselves that we had the right entrance
through the underwater barriers into the Fortress/naval base. We found
there a good harbour. Sarah Harcup joined us after a coach journey from
Gloucester. (while she had
showed her passport at every border we had not been approached. In fact I
had shown mine – as a form of ID when using the internet at Simrishamn
Library!) We spent a day in Karlskrona seeing the sights including a
splendid wooden naval church. The others, probably more interesting, were
shut because it was the weekend.
The
marine museum had an amazing underwater tunnel through a shipwreck; the
boat deliberately scuttled to provide foundations for a fortification.
We
liked Karlskrona and the students, 18 year old or so, drunkenly
celebrating graduation from high school and driven by long suffering
parents around the town in ancient American cars with teeth.
11th
June Karlskrona – Bergkvara (1062 miles)
We
headed off through the skerries to the open sea - a good introduction to
intricate pilotage we knew we would have later and had a good sail up to
Bergkvara a sleepy little holiday ish place with a campsite nearby.
I went for a walk through the village centre and have rarely seen a
place so empty. It looked as if nothing ever happened. The weather was
bright sunny and wind quite fresh. Badger revelled in it as we did. I have
to say she was barely in control surfing at up to 7.8 kts.. Bergkvara
itself was beautiful near the harbour.
12th
June Bergkvara – Kalmar (1083 miles)
The
morning took us to Kalmar. Kalmar Castle is amazing with tops to the
turrets more suitable for turned wooden bed knobs. It is where the Kalmar
Union was formed and is thus historically important. We’d been lucky to
see an exhibition on the subject in Oslo at Christmas 1977. We liked the
town architecture and the splendid central church. The weather in Kalmar
was dull and we missed out on some of the exhibitions because the season
had not yet started. One oddity was a fairly recent Russian submarine on
exhibition in the harbour and selling Soviet souvenirs.
13th
June Kalmar – Figeholm (1133 miles)
We
set off quite late really, at 0555, north from Kalmar initially motoring
but with stiff winds forecast we put 2 reefs in the main. We were soon
heading north pretty fast and once touched 8.1 kts. Towards the end of the
50 mile trip we were getting tired and took down the jib. Badger still
made more than 6 kts.!!
We
reached Figeholm a little sleepy village at the head of intricate passages
through the skerries. While it had been cool out at sea it became rapidly
warmer as we penetrated inland and we rapidly got out of our seagoing
clothes in harbour for the wind was positively hot.
14th
June Figeholm – Vastervik (1165 miles)
This
was a shorter trip - 32 miles through verry narrow passages with some
sailing but more motoring in surprisingly strong winds F5 or so to
Vastervik where we spend 2 nights. The skerry country is wonderfully
beautiful with smooth granite rocks just showing above the surface, little
islands with natural harbours, pine trees and peoples secluded houses all
showing up on superbly marked out routes.
It
takes all three of us to go through the narrow channels. I helm, Kristin
keeps her eyes on the chart and Sarah looks ahead with binoculars for the
next buoy but three. Some of the rocks are quite shy; showing up only as
slightly lighter patches of water.
PS
we are getting quite accustomed to long daily passages when conditions
are
good. During one period we did successively 46,55,59,38, and 58 miles.
Total
mileage from the start stands at 1165.
Date:
Mon, 26 Jun 2000 10:07:33 BST
Subject:
Report from Stockholm (26/6/00
16th
June Vastervik – Fyrudden
We
left Vastervik on 16th of June bound for Fyrruden. This was
another pilotage - finger on the chart - day. Actually we are a little
more advanced technically with a black self-adhesive arrow made from
insulating tape. This was a beautiful sunny day with a cold wind and
squally showers through tiny islands via a well marked but intricate
passage.
During
the morning the engine stopped so we had to resort to the sails in very
light conditions until we could reach a spot where we could anchor for
examination. Sailing was tricky with an adverse breeze and narrow channels
but we eventually found a tiny bay and dropped the hook. On examination
the engine seemed fine and started with out problems so we carried on.
17th
June Fyrudden – Arkosund (1227 miles)
More
gentle passage making through the very beautiful East coast skerries. This
area, so early in the season was very quiet with most Swedes still at
work. At Arkosund we stopped at a small guest harbour run by a local yacht
club who were having a dinner – all dressed in their best with communal
singing. The shower here had hot water but no roof making it a bit chilly.
That
evening I guessed that we had fuel starvation due to a blocked lift pump
filter. I stripped and cleaned it finding some muck in it. Next morning
the engine wouldn’t start so I re-bled the fuel system. That cured the
immediate problem.
18th
June Arkosund – Nykoping (1245 miles)
Initially
it was a pleasant sail though we passed close to a rather unpleasant industrial area
but with wind increasing to F4 and overcast it got unpleasantly cold. The
last few miles are along a dredged narrow passage through a shallow lagoon
(The echo sounder did not work due to mud) leading up to a world
championship canoe course – rarely used because of cross-wind. Here
David joined us and our crew was now complete. Finding him was eased by
the number of mobile phones on board once we realised that to call another
English mobile in Sweden we had to dial England first.
19th
June Nykoping – a deserted island(1258 miles)
Off
towards Nynashamn with interesting pilotage but engine stopped again so we
stopped for repairs at a deserted nature reserve island with dry toilet
and rubbish point. Quite beautiful. I changed oil filter as symptoms were still those
of fuel starvation. We ended by spending the night moored by rock wedges
from bow and the stern anchor. (the
latter has a rather feeble warp and we don’t trust it much)
20th
June off to Nynashamen (1286 miles)
No
engine trouble but a shortish passage sailing and motor sailing.
Nynashamen has the most superb smokery and fish-shop. We could have bought
the lot and we ate a great
deal of their produce. It was here that we saw the first of the very old
fashioned telephone boxes that
are still preserved. They have opaque doors at chest height and a
completely open basket weave bottom section that is clearly horribly
draughty.
21st
June Nynashamen – Stockholm (1332 miles)
A
beautiful very hot day with light winds so motored much of the day after
an 0625 start (the sun had been up for hours!!) We made the intricate
passage with worries about the engine and some blue exhaust smoke. Just as
we entered Stockholm harbour the engine severely overheated and stopped.
We then sailed in very light airs, blanketed by high cliffs and buildings
and very fluky, right the way through the commercial harbour past three
very large moving passenger boats and passed by innumerable fast ferries
and motorboats leaving huge wakes that left us tossing and stopped in the
water to the Vasahamen marina right next to the Vasamuseum. We berthed to
an outside pontoon in rough water but were moved by a very kind motor boat
to an inner berth where we still are. The engine (refilled with oil )still
works if smokily. The only fault we´ve been able to find is a jammed
thermostat. The engineer returns tonight with a new one and we will see if
the engin is reliable enough to continue with. We think so. I think the
engine was saved mainly because the fuel pump stopped delivering fuel
before the engine was ruined.
Over
midsummer we’ve been observing swedish customs, eating well as always
and visiting the sights including Vasa -SUPERB, Drottingholm theatre
-wonderful (Kristin got to work the wind machine on the standard tour),
the Drottninholm palace – disappointing (because a bit gimcrack really
and the painted decoration not much better than some farmhouse interiors
if on a much larger scale) and Skansen folk museum - pretty good. We have
had enormous help at the marina about Smorgasbords, gas refills, engineers
etc, Hopefully we’ll be off again on Wednesday.
Report
from Mariehamn
Date:
Thu, 06 Jul 2000
Our
last left us in Stockholm with a dodgy engine. On 26th of June
it was mended with a shrug of the shoulders and a view that the
next few hours running would show if it was ok after its abuse.
Note:-
I now believe that all the stoppages of the engine were due not to fuel
starvation but to overheating because the newish thermostat jammed shut.
It did not fail safe and open as it should have. Eventually the injection
pump stopped working because of the overheating and so the engine stopped.
On the last occasion, we were motoring hard and this safety measure
didn’t really work. A secondary influence is that the motor is massively
heavy (200Kg. Of iron ) so that overheating takes a long time. Gentle and
occasional motoring does not bring on the proble at all. It seems to take
at least two hours running to get up to temperature in ordinary use.
The
result has probably been unfair wear on bearings, cylinders and the
injection pump. We don’t know yet how serious the problem is.
27th
June off to Drottningholm theatre again by the steam ship to see behind
the scenes at the theatre. This occurred courtesy of the director
(importuned by Kristin over the ‘phone). We had a super time admiring
the contraptions that surrounded the stage. The whole thing was sailing
ship; wooden engineering with pulleys, hemp ropes windlasses and capstans.
There was verry little room left for off-stage actors. Kristin admired
especially the ambiance and the stage itself. Behind were lovely rooms for
the resident actors and their families with porcelain stoves, original
wallpaper etc.
That
evening we celebrated our trip and the engines recovery with an excellent
Smorgasbord at the Grand Hotel where the Aquavit was cheaper than the
beer. (hic) Actually it was dearer; we just didn’t read the menu
correctly.
We
also got our gas cylinders refilled with much relief at a price much the
same as we would have paid in England.
28th
June Stockholm to Furusund
(1367 miles)
Off
to the NE to try to get to Finland. We reached Furusund in adverse winds
and moored up in the marina with the dirtiest loos we’ve seen.
The local stall had very good smoked fish though. We stayed 2
nights because of a small gale
30th
June Furusund – Vaxholm
We
then fled SW to Waxholm in gentle NE breezes. And then were turned away
because a veteran boat rally was happening there. We overnighted in
another harbour at Vaxholm with no facilities - no water , electricity or
toilets so left without visiting the boats – pity because the boats were
immaculate wooden Skerry type boats, long narrow and very elegant..
1st
July Vaxholm – Gustavsberg (1393 miles)
Next
SW again in sunny weather and NE breezes through the extremely narrow
Baggenstacket to Gustavsberg. We had headwinds that day whether going S,
NE or E – sod’s law at work. Gustavsberg was lovely and we stayed 2
nights asafter visiting the Porcelain museum (excellent) the rain came
down. The harbour had an excellent chandlers and a very good DIY shop with
an extensive range of composting toilets for mountain huts. These were
surprisingly expensive – up to £1000 but including in effect a sewage
works inside.
3rd
July Gustavsberg to Malmkvarn
South
in favourable winds and NE to Malmkvarn ,a small marina
belonging
to the Swedish Cruising Club with a nice restaurant alongside. A
place
of incredible beauty.
4th
July Malmkvarn – Fejan (1443 miles)
Onwards
the next day North to try for the Aaland Islands. Quite early in the
morning a small RIB (rigid inflatable boat flew slowly overhead. This was
attached to a microlight aircraft and this was the first seaplane
microlight I’ve ever seen. As friends pointed out a RIB requires a very
large amount of power to unstick from the water so the microlight must
have had a powerful engine. On the waynorth, while crossing an enclosed
lake we were ambushed by two large Liners that appeared from behind rocks
and made straight for us. We did a 360 degree turn anddodged. We arrived
at a little island - called Fejan. This was a former cholera quarantine
station. It was also very beautiful and the place where the crew made the
acquaintance of dry toilets. They were very well built - worthy of Lem
Putt. The Pub there had a restaurant but we gave it a miss - quite luckily
in view of the black smoke that poured from the kitchen window at one
point.
5th
July Fejan – Mariehamn (1483 miles)
We
were up well after dawn and left at 0555 for the Aalands after a
favourable forecast. We had to motor but had a quiet open water crossing -
apart from a tug and tow without the appropriate markings and a magnetic
anomaly that slewed our course by 20 degrees. The pilotage up to Mariehamn
was not too difficult.
At
this point we are 60 degrees north and almost 20 degrees East which is
certainly a record for us.
We
radiod in to anounce our arrival to Finnish Immigration and clearly were
expected to go to Mariehamn West. This would have been very inconvenient
so we persuaded them to make the journey (1 kilometer) overland to
Mariehamn East. The engine behaved pretty well (except for a little oil
burning),
The
Harbour was delightful and so is the Town of Mariehamn. After this report
we are off to see the Sailing Ship Pommern.
Adios
till next time
Subject:
Again from Mariehamn
Badger
has slowed down now and had a quiet week or two exploring the Aaland
Islands.
8th
July Mariehamn – Kumlinge (1514 miles)
From
Mariehamn we wandered off via the shortest Canal in the world, with swing
bridge (open on the hour) to Lumparn - an inland sea with shores invisible
if the vis. is poor. Thence via various intricate passages to Kumlinge in
the North of the archipelago which has 450 inhabitants, a supermarket that
sells ammunition and fishing gear as well as food, two banks, a hireable
office and a fascinating church with 15C murals. It also has a smokery
just by the marina. We enjoyed the mysterious smoked Sik. No we don’t
know what it was either except delicious. The island has wonderful
wildflowers, views and wild strawberries. Unfortunately it also has ticks
that carry encephalitis and Borrelia so expeditions into the long grass
were out. Kumlinge was lush
11th
July Kumlinge – Kokar (1538 miles).
The
next island, as always, to windward, was Kokar. This had a natural hard
made of a smooth slope of metamorphic rock, another smokery with wonderful
salmon. Sara and David said the smoked salmon in the hotel in the town in
the cwentre of the island was even better. It was a bleaker island with
much evidence of past glaciation. We went ona boat trip (busmans honymoon)
to Kallskar reputed to be a place that inspired the Moomin stories with
wonderful views, smooth pink rocks like Arpstatues, and the home and
garden of a serious wierdo who lived there ninemonths of the year. What
must it have been like in the winter? In Kokar we had a serious 22m./sec.
gale but survived Ok. We were well protected from the winds and secured to
the jetty. Other late coming boats had more difficulty. Some Skerry boats
set out into the forecast gale but most came back after a few hours saying
conditions were dreadful. This we would have expected especilly as these
boats have no spray hoods or dodgers. They said that the wind was actually
gusting up to 25 m/sec or a good force 11 in our terms. Kokar is quite
isolated in the south of the Aalands with fairly open if rocky water all
round so that it is less safe to leave in severe weather than other parts
of the archpelago.
14th
July Kokar – Foglo (1561 miles)
We
left for Foglo, different again, more sheltered, more lush, and another
serious gale. Luckily we listened to forecasts, not as easy a it sounds in
Finnish English from Turku. So we had good berths. Others came later and
werenot so lucky. We did see lots of classic wooden boats in the Islands -
very good for sheltered water sailing but poor in rough weather. At
Degerby the port for Foglo we celebrated Sarah and David’s 40th
wedding anniversary with Champagne in borrowed glasses and a reasonable
dinner at the local posh restaurant.
17th
July Foglo – Kastellholm (1582 miles)
Next
we went to Kastellholm with a superb new marina costing 7.50 pounds per
night including Sauna. The
Swedes and Finns cooled off after their steaming sitting in the sun
wrapped up in towels and drinking quite large amounts of beer. The folk
museum next door was excellent and the Castle even better. There is a golf
course opposite but every paradise must have its flaw. That night we had a
severe thunderstorm that interrupted our slumbers. Close to the marina
were some amazing multicoloured flowers purple and yellow/orange. We’ve
not seen them before and have no idea what they are.
19th
July Kastellholm – Mariehamn (1595 miles)
Today
we made for Mariehamn again to catch up on the tall ships. We left very
early so as to arrive at Mariehamn when other boats might be leaving.
Mariehamn was humming because of a jazz festival, a circus and the Cutty
Sark Tall Ships Race We had a super sail back across Lumparn but when we
needed the engine it didn’t give any drive. The prop shaft had separated
from the engine coupling. So we anchored and put it right only to find we
still had no thrust. This we traced to a defect in the gear linkage.
Removing the teak decking in
the cockpit put all right, at least on a temporary basis.
The repair was a rather fraught process because we were now late
for our preferred arrival time. We were exceptionally lucky to get into
the Marina, which is large and almost totally full. In a couple of days we
will leave Sarah and David to return home by ferry and plane and ourselves
start the return to Sweden and the Gota Kanal. We spent part of the next
few days watching boats trying to get into the marina, wandering up and
down the lanes in it and then mooring outside under difficult lumpy
conditions. Rather surpringly the Aalands are well supplied with places to
anchor, the water oftne being shallow with a good sticky clay bottom.
However Swedish boats are usually equipped only for anchoring by the stern
so cannot make use of the anchorages. We found it necessary to use marinas
because of a need for hygenic “facilities” and also because the
marinas were, by our standards, cheap.
We
of course went off to see the Cutty Sark boats including the vast Mexican
one with the unpronouncable name. Rather oddly it has a pair of guns on
board. Well it is part of the Mexican navy.
Regards
to you all.
report
from Stockholm part 2
I’m
having difficulty with dates. My watch says it’s the 26th
July. We stayed several days at Mariehamn in the Alands for the Tall Ships
Race looking at the boats. During that time Sara and David left for home.
The
last evening we attended another sailing rally at Mariehamn. This one was
for Aalands working boats in a variety of local types and styles. They
just turned up at the local boat museum where there was a jazz band
playing. The masts, the hemp cordage and above all the smell of tar were
immensely memorable.
22nd
July Mariehamn – Kapellskar (1638 miles)
The
next morning after a good forecast Kristin, Badger and I set off at 6 in
the morning. We spoke to another CA boat that had got to Lake Onega in
Russia after appalling organisation and Bureaucracy. We were rather glad
to have missed both the problems and the bad weather they had to endure.
We
had a good N to NW breeze and sped across the 20 mile gap to the outer
edge of the Stockholm Archipelago. We should probably have reefed but the
sailing was good though Badger develops considerable weather helm when
over
canvassed.
By early afternoon we’d got to Kappelskar where the only facilities were
a jetty, a tap and a dry toilet. It was an extremely beautiful wooded
creek. From time to time the entrance was blocked by one of the
international ferries. We had no wash because the entrance was a very
narrow buoyed channel through the rocks.
I went off to an associated campsite to have a shower and found the
area extremely remote even though within a mile was a teminal for the
Sweden- Aalands ferry line.
23rd
July Kapellskar – Vaxholm (1668 miles)
The
next day it rained hard all day. We again set off early and motored 28
miles down to Vaxholm. It was dire. The rain was unrelenting, visibility
was often poor and Kristin’s waterproofs weren’t. Luckily the water
was calm and when one could see the scenery it was beautiful. The rain
stopped more or less at Vaxholm so we wandered off to shop and spent a
quiet evening. Our strategy throughout has been to get up early and go so
that we arrive when harbours have spaces left. The alternative of being
turned away is one we do not want to risk.
24th
July Vaxholm to Stockholm- Vasahamn (1679)
Next
day again we got up early for the few miles into Stockholm, arriving at
10am when many were leaving the Vasa Marina so we got a good inside berth.
I had a fright when the engine wouldn’t start that morning but we
eventually got it going. This
trip was in dry and later sunny weather. In addition the fact that we knew
the route helped enormously to reduce stress levels. That by the way was
Monday when the museums are shut. The Tall Ships are chasing us and will
arrive today. I stripped down the starter motor to discover the motor
brushes were worn out. After a lot of phoning round and advice I found a
supplier in the City and got spares. I fitted them and all was well. I had
of course been quite unable to obtain spares for such an obsolete engine
in the UK.
We
are now on a busy cultural week We’ve visited the Nordiska Museum (good
in parts) and are off to see the Far East Museum, the National Museum
(Gallery) and the Modern Art Museum. Our more cultural needs are taken
care of with a Smorgasbord at the Grand Hotel on Thursday and the Opera on
Saturday. Tuesday and today have been very wet with high winds.
Report
from Vanersborg
Our
last report from Stockholm told how we were off to look at museums. And
so we did. The National Museum houses a small collection of old
masters with some good Rembrandts.
The Modern Art Museum has also a good collection of ‘classic’
moderns, but also - a great thrill- the reconstruction of Tatlin’s
Monument to the Third International; previously seen only as a poor
quality photo in an Art book. Then
there was the Far East Museum with a small statue collection, a good
exhibition of Japanese work -clothes and a super set of Chinese
brush paintings including an
exquisite study of monkeys dating from 1055-60.
Quite amazing. We find it quite impossible to date Chinese
paintings by style.
The
next day was bad!!. I did an oil change only to find water in the oil.
I checked the obvious possibility of a water pump leak - which it
wasn’t. And then bought spares and waited for Anders the engineer.
On
Friday came a wonderful firework display for the Tall ships who followed
us to Stockholm.
Saturday
was the day of the Opera. Had
I mentioned that Sarah and David had very kindly paid for us to go. We’d
booked the tickets from the Aalands with some difficulty and were to pick
them up at the Box Offfice – a cause of some anxiety. We chose to go by
steamer because it provided dinner. This was a fiasco. Getting our seats
at table took ages, the service was slow and incompetent. At our table one
man (distinguished Dutch critic attending first night) got only a bottle
of wine. French neighbours got only
starters and we only chimay beer and main courses. The staff seeme dquite
unperturbed by the situation. The Opera house at Drottingholm was
wonderful with superb singing and music. We did not like the production
(of Tamerlano by Handel) which gave few clues as to what was happening and
we have no Italian, the language of Tamerlano. The stage performed well
though, with a superb set change in 5 seconds and silence.
Anders
came Mon. to strip off the cylinder heads. After careful examination
he concluded it was the head gaskets so the repairs were only
expensive. He did not think the cylinders or pistons were in bad
condition.
1st
August Stockholm – Skansholm (1714 miles)
We
were away again- quite late in the morning at 0830 as the first bridge was
shut until 9a.m.to allow commuters to get to work. Then it was through an
easy lock onto Lake Malaren to the west of Stockholm - all the while
listening anxiously to every change in the engine note. Next came a
15.5metres high bridge. Would
we get under? Yes we did. Then westward past superb scenery getting
steadily more beautiful and lovely weather to Sodertalje where we exited
through a second lock, stopping for the evening
in a very pleasant marina in a wood. The engine seemed to be
performing adequately though to our fevered imaginations it was rather
noisy. The oil consumption seemed acceptable and we had no real cause to
worry – but we did worry all the same.
2nd
August Skansholm – Arkosund (1762 miles)
Today
saw us proceeding steadily southwest through the East coast skerries
towards Arkosund. At the pinch points (20-30 yards wide ) we found lots of
boats going the other way. This was the end of the swedish holiday season
and all were going home. Sad really. This was a lovely part of the trip
latterly in sunny weather. At one point we passed a flock of twenty-five
swans. Again here we were retracing our steps, recognising some of the
islands we’d passed on the outward journey. This was very relaxing.
At Arkosund we enjoyed Rally company for the evening but got bitten
to death by mosquitoes.
3rd
August. Arkosund – Soderkoping (1785 miles)
We
left early in the morning in drifting rain that quickly worsened until we
could see nothing. I retired below to navigate via GPS and Yeoman leaving
Kristin to see what she could without glasses (which were quite useless in
the fine rain). Luckily the visibility improved fairly soon and we made
our way gently up through the sound to Mem the start of the Gota Kanal.
Here
we paid our dues of 2800 Skr (c. £230) and started up the canal. Our main
anxiety was working the boat through the locks with just the two of us. We
quickly evolved a procedure that usually worked well. It had to as the
locks filled fast with considerable turbulence.
This
is the procedure we evolved (based on the recommendations in the Canal
Guide)
1.
Prepare Badger with short warps on either quarter made fast to
cleats and with bowlines (loops) on the outer ends. Also attach port and
starboard bow lines running each through a block at the bow and back to
the port and starboard sheet winches.
2.
Decide which side of the lock to approach. Kristin picks up the
appropriate bow and stern line and steps ashore when I approach the rather
rough granite lock entrance.
3.
While Kristin climbs the lower lock slope I motor gently forward
aiming to have the stern level with the end of the lock when Kristin drops
the stern line over a pin at the nearer end of the lock.
4.
I make this fast to the boat with the line taut and vertical.
5.
Kristin walks forward to a second pin and drops the bow loop over
it.
6.
I then have to pull in the surplus warp and make it fast to the
winch.
7.
By this time the lock gates are closing and water is ssoon coming
in to cause considerable turbulence in the lock. There is only just enough
time to do this if all goes without a hitch.
8.
While the lock is filling I wind in the bow warp to keep it taut
and the boat tight to the lock wall to prevent it swinging about
violently.
9.
When the lock is full Kristin recovers the warps and steps aboard
while I drive the boat out of the lock.
Because
Kristin cannot jump it is necessary to get very close to the lock so she
can get ashore safely. We both wore life jackets in the Canal. At
Sodertalje I didn’t notice what was above me and got a whole lot of tree
down on me as I pushed the mast into overhanging branches. (MEMO – look
up as well as ahead) Each lock had a rise of 2-3 metres which is a great
deal by British Canal standards.
We
got to talk with others in the locks - quite chatty really.
That
evening we stopped in Soderkoping. a pleasant town with many old wooden
buildings. It was also raining which discouraged investigation.
4th
August Soderkoping – Berg(1811 miles)
Early
starts were generally unnecessary on the canal as the lock were only
manned between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The
next day we started on the main rises of the locks with several double
locks up to lake Roxen. Looking at the major set of locks ahead we stopped
at the foot of the Berg in a primitive harbour. It had no facilities but a
marvellous view out over the lake and a place where Kristin could have the
first swim of the year. In
addition, it gave us the opportunity to check out the seven chambered lock
ahead.
5th
August Berg –Borensberg (1822 miles)
The
seven chambered lock of Berg took us more than 2 hours the next morning
and was succeeded by four more double locks so it was afternoon when we
emerged onto a long uninterrupted pound. We stopped at Borensberg for the
night and I’ll stop here myself as I’m being chased off the library
computer.
Subject:
final report
Date:
Wed, 23 Aug 2000 09:59:41 BST
6th
August Borensberg – Motala (1831 miles)
We
left you on tenterhooks in Borensberg. We had met in the previous flight
of locks at Berg the delightful family Bellander. Their lawyer friend
Schultz was astounded that we came from Totnes whence his wife also
originated. Hans
Bellander
and Schultz came to see us by car in Borensberg and invited us to visit
Askersund at the north end of Lake Vattern. We accepted. The next morning
we set off across another lake to the last severe upward flight of locks
at Borenschult. This was a reasonable 5 chambered lock and a level passage
into Motala followed where we stopped.
Motala
has a wonderful Canal museum with original drawings by Thomas Telford who
laid out the Gota Canal and designs for the lock keepers cottages ,
barracks for soldiers and so on. It also has an eccentric motor museum
with appropriate music and props - a gangster getting out of a 30’s
american car and a swedish poet declaiming his poetry from his Cadillac
Imperial. It also has motor cycles , childrens models, a plastic bicycle,
old radios and a grimy workshop- all well worth a visit.
The
next day we duly made our visit to the Bellanders but by bus as Vattern
was rough and were royally entertained and very much wish to see them
again.
8th
August Motala – Vadstena (1840
miles)
The
next day we set off across the lake into a head wind (what else) and a
short chop which Badger does NOT enjoy. W e made a pigs ear of raising
sail and a German boat went by us out onto the lake but soon returned not
likeing the conditions.
We
made an executive decision and went south to Vadstena where we moored in
the castle moat - a wonderful posers mooring. The town and castle were
delightful but the best was Saint Brigitta’s monastery church with two
superb alter-pieces, which we spent some time trying to understand (with
blue pie-frill clouds indicating heaven for example).
9th
August. Vadstena – Tatorp ( 1871 miles)
We
went across the lakenext morning still
with an adverse wind but lighter and sunshine to Karlsborg on the west
side of Vattern and on past Forsvik through the narrowest sections of the
canal to Lake Viken which was perhaps the most beautiful part of the trip.
From the technical point of view interest was in the causeways out in the
lake used by horses and oxen pulling boats through narrow passages blasted
out of underwater reefs in the lake. At the north of the lake we had a
super sail down to Tatorp. a harbour so remote it hardly existed. AT a
small local café we asked about another settlement a kilometer further
south but were told it was smaller than Tatorp! Kristin had a swim in the
lake
10th
august Tatorp – Lyristad (1886 miles)
We
left Tatorp through the first of the downhill locks having to learn a new
set of procedures - actually much easier. We passed a pretty steam launch
being interviewed by the press and set off through wooded countriside and
on into farmland.
On
the way we passed a rope ferry and were held up for an hour by a defective
rolling bridge. Eventually we stopped for the nght at Lyristad which has a
very good Pizzeria rather than face the multiple downward locks to Sjotorp
at the end of the canal.
11th
August Lyristad – Mariestad (1900 miles)
These
we tackled easily in the morning emerging onto lake Vanern in time to
change the engine oil and then have lunch at the Marina Cafe. After lunch
we set off south to Mariestad which has a large and imposing Cathedral
which we only saw in the early morning
12th
August Mariestad – Lacko (1922 miles)
We
then left for yet another castle at Lacko, halfway across Vanern in misty
rain. This time we were not in the moat only because there wasn’t one
but we were next to a really fairytale castle with pointed towers etc.
In the castle were various rather wierd exhibitions which we saw
but did not appreciate and a well laid out kitchen garden.
13th
August. Lcko – Vanersborg (1960 miles)
We
set off hoping to sail for the last time
of the year across Vanern but first had a fascinating twisty path
to follow through skerries to the open waters. Of course, the wind was
light and adverse so we resorted yet again to our engine. This has now
developed a fresh problem - a fuel leak from the injection pump, which
will undoubtedly be costly to fix.
At
the sout western end of the lake we got through a railway bridge without
the problems we had expected and into Vanersborg where we stopped two
nights because the Trollhattan canal was shut.
15th
August Vanersborg – Lila
Edet (1979 miles)
This
took us from Vanersborg, through the enormous and scary Trollhatten locks
to a small Marina in Lila Edet in misty rain. The canal bridges would not
open until we got very close so each approach was anxious because of the
river current behind us. Still we made it.
The locks demand more description than I’ve given. The locks are
indeed huge being about 50 + metres long maybe 15 metres wide and with
drops of up to 10 metres. They are vast. In addition, being intended for
ships, they are poorly equipped for handling small boats. They do have
small bollards set into the walls but these are rather too far apart to be
convenient. During ascent one would have to manouvre loops of rope from
one bollard to another using boat hooks. This would be most unpleasant if
the water is moving fast. There really is no way of climbing up the
ladders in the lock to get warps to the top. It was easier on the way
down. We moored to starboard and found no mooring bollardsat the surface.
The topmost ones were at or below water level. Eventually we resorted to
putting our warps round the stanchions holding the fence that protected
the onlookers – hardly ideal. Some of the locks had rough walls
which added to the problems. Luckily the lock keepers were merciful
and lowered the water gently. Even so we were glad to be out.
We
went down river to Lila Edet which was apparently the only stopping point
before Stockholm. When we got there the marina was blocked by a working
barge but we eventually managed to get in and relax. The morning’s locks
had been rather a trial. The river was not restful either. The stream
appeared to be running quite fast; at one point I convinced myself I could
see it sloping. The bridges only opened reluctantly so one was always on
tenterhooks expecting to be swept into them by the stream. In fact they
mostly opened on time.
16th
August Lila Edet – Gothenberg (2008 miles)
The
next day took us to Goteborg and a Thai supper. Bits of Goteborg are
pleasant but it’s a busy place, modern and much less attractive than
Stockholm. Here we met more rally folk and said goodbye to them because
they wer edue to hack on home while for us the trip was nearly over.
17th
August Gothenberg – Kullavik (2024 miles)
In
Vanersborg I’d made calls to select a laying up place so we made south
with our 19 year old charts to Kullavik which we reached at Midday. By
4p.m. the boat was laid up with the mast out - wonderful service. Brother
in law Einar drove down from Oslo on Sunday to collect Kristin, our
cushions and equipment and I followed by train on Monday.
So
thats it we’ve travelled 2024 miles, had a wonderful time. the boat is
safely
ashore and we are flying home on Friday. - more reports next year.
Tailpiece
What
have we learned from this trip? Our conclusions are not very earth
shattering.
1.
We’ve found we can keep up a consistently high average daily
mileage, albeit mostly by motoring and without sailing at night
2.
Overnight passages are not something we are good at unless
conditions are quiet. It’s ok going across to France but busy shipping
lanes make for stress and increased tiredness.
3.
The skerry coasts of west and east Sweden and The Aalands are
wonderful cruising grounds, easily accesible incluing the ability to hire
boats in Aaland.
4.
We missed news from home and should buy a short wave receiver to
get BBC World Service.
5.
We found it quite possible and in fact comfortable to live on board
Badger for long periods of time. We did not feel a need to check into
hotels at intervals.
6.
People are people everywhere. We experienced enormous kindness
wherever we went. Now we were only in safe peaceful prosperous countries
even though we were far away from home. Marinas were good and very cheap
by English standards, shopping was easy and bureaucracy was pretty
relaxed.
7.
We feel we need to replace the engine, which is now probably
unreliable.
8.
The main is blown out and needs replacement.
