Well, what can I say, it seemed a good idea at the time. But if I suggest sailing in Bråviken again, just shoot me.

We stayed at Harstena for a couple of days as there were very strong winds, rain and then thick fog. And yes, as I said last time, I finished the last chapter of my library book and closed it with relief. I really should have stopped reading it 500 pages ago. Why do I feel compelled to finish books that I’ve started reading? The book was Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. Set in medieval England and spanning about 50 years, it is a historical saga which chronicles the lives of people building cathederals. I really like historical fiction and was looking forward to reading this book. Indeed, I loved the first half of it, especially the parts dealing with the actual construction work of the cathederal and the whole historical backdrop of Maud and Stephen fighting for the crown of England after the death of Henry I. Great stuff! Mind you, it wasn't perfect. The bad guys were drawn as completely evil - no redeeming features at all while the good guys were so saintly that I wanted to throw up once or twice. And the female characters were rather more post-Germaine Greer than medieval in their language and relationships, but the narrative drove it along and I chose to overlook these few annoying features.

However, the last 500 pages were awful. It turned into a sappy soap opera that made the plot of The Bold and The Beautiful sound plausible. And so many convenient co-incidences to tie threads together that even Charles Dickens would have been embarrassed. I can't wait to return it to the library!

After the fog lifted a little we left Harstena and headed north. Visibility was next to zero and we had to rely on our navigation program and GPS to help us get through the area. It was a bit creepy doing that, as it was very still, deadly quiet and it felt like we were alone in the world. We didn't meet another boat all day. I was worried, but Lars-Göran used the instruments to guide us blind through the stones and into a safe and very picturesque bay at a place called Lammskär (lamb skerry - and yes, there were sheep here as well). It was eerie to watch the islands suddenly appear out of the mist. We did meet an old German sailing boat as we headed into the bay



The next morning it was brilliant blue skies, a brisk breeze and a balmy 26C and the boats were out again in force. What a contrast to the last few days.



We headed northwards again towards civilisation. We needed to do some serious food shopping but I needed to get to an ATM first and they are hard to find out here. I must have been mad not to withdraw enough money to last the whole time. My card works at the ATM, but not at the supermarket (don't ask!) so I ought to have kept cash on me. So we needed a place that had a bank. Hmm.. not many banks around here:



We do find places along the way with shops BUT no banks. How do they survive? Even Arkösund which is a large town and very popular in the summer has no bank or ATM. While it is very pretty, our cupboard is looking very bare so we must by-pass it.



We decide ... well, okay I decide that it might be nice to go towards Bråviken and we hope that the town of Nävekvarn has a Bankomat (what the Swedes call an ATM). You can see where we sailed on this map. I read a little about the town in our guest harbour guide and it seemed like it would meet our needs. Well, that was not to be. We had wonderful sailing all day and looked forward to docking in the town's harbour in the early evening.



While it was a pretty place, the harbour was quite uncomfortable because of the waves sweeping in straight from the sea. We thought we'd do the grocery shopping then quickly leave. But there was no Bankomat! Well, we have enough to last a day or two, so we'll have to try further up the coast. Very annoying.

But not as annoying as the long, frustrating day of tacking slowly along to open water. It took forever! We had to share the water with quite large boats and dodge the waves they threw up.



After six hours of a slow zig-zag course in the fickle winds, we decided to start the motor and head towards Oxelösund. We toyed with the idea of trying to stop there and shop, but when we saw the town again we knew we couldn't bear to spend 1 minute there!



*shudder*

Nope, we aren't that desperate. We decide to drop anchor in a small bay just north of the town.



Ah... a much better view. The winds look like they may be more favourable tomorrow, so we'll decide just where we can go in the morning.