Today I am actually home for a change and have enough energy to write something here. I know it's been a week since I wrote, but I come home in the evenings so tired after long days of physical work and commuting back and forth to Stockholm that I fall into bed exhausted. I also have a huge backlog of email to answer, but that can wait until later (I haven't forgotten you, Jenny, Paul, Anne, Jane, Kay, Angie...)

I'm home today because Lambi had an accident yesterday and has managed to rip out one of her claws. She is in a lot of pain if she tries to walk (yes, she DOES actually walk sometimes) and I've been busy making up saline solutions to keep the area sterile while it heals.

It is lovely spring weather here and even Stockholm looks beautiful in the sunshine.



We have been in Stockholm every second day to visit my mother-in-law, who is still in the rehab centre a month later. Her wound is not healing properly and she is feeling depressed and anxious to come home. But while she requires such intensive physiotherapy and nursing care she has to stay there. There is no way this can be done at home unless she has a live-in nurse and that is not an affordable option. The surgeon will review her case next week to see if and when she can be discharged. So each evening, we negotiate the nightmare of peak-hour Stockholm traffic jams to go to Frösundavik. At least Lambi enjoys the ride there!



We are passing by Central station and looking over Klara Sjö towards Kungsholmen, which I admit looks quite pretty at this time of the year with lots of green grass and leaves and the sun glittering off the water. But the queues of cars are still a pain in Stockholm. While it is similar in size to Adelaide, it is built on a series of 14 islands, so you get bottlenecks at the main bridge and tunnel access to each island as traffic from various directions converge. The newly opened Södra Länken has made a huge difference to our approach from the south, but we still get caught in various spots now and again.

The most depressing thing about going to the rehab centre is the staggering number of young men there. Most of the patients in the facility are my son's age (early 20's) and are the victims of accidents - either car, motorbike, snowboard, climbing, diving etc and are now in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. It is so sad to see them fighting to come to terms with what has happened to them and learning to cope with their new life. Mother was saying that she felt lucky that she had a chance to enjoy her life first before her accident (she was in her early 50's when it happened) and her heart goes out to these young men who were just starting out on their road of discovery before being struck down.

Why is it that there are so many young men injured like this? We speculated about the deadly mixture of testosterone, youthful belief in being invincible and speed being possible factors, but who knows. Last week I was reminded of it again when a young man clowning around on a big float in a uni student parade here fell off the truck onto his head. A moment of stupidity and look what happened. Likewise for three young men who were flooring it in a high powered BMW in nearby Muskö a couple of weeks ago. The driver lost control and now lies in hospital with multiple injuries. He was luckier than his friend who will be buried here next Friday. The boys were all in their early 20's. So incredibly sad.

Mother feels sad to still be in the centre and frustrated at the slow pace of recovery. All we can do is to visit her, bring her treats, take her outside for some fresh air and do things like her hair and paint her nails.



See what I mean about the walls? It's like being inside of a packing case. Still, I hope she doesn't have to be there much longer. They are to review her case next week so fingers crossed that there is some good news for her.

We do have good news on the boat front. She is in the water at last, after eight long months on land and it feels great! It has been an intensive time these last weeks with epoxy treatment, polishing the hull, dressing the mast, varnishing the woodwork, painting the waterline etc but all worth it to get her launched.

We had a minor disaster with the car on the weekend. We came back from Stockholm on Saturday evening and went to the boat club to check something before going home. When we wanted to leave, the car was dead. Luckily there were friends around who drove us home and then the following day took a look at the car to help find the fault (which turned out to be minor). It is one of the benefits of living in a small town where people know you and are willing to offer help, despite being busy with their own work. It felt really good to know that we were not on our own. And we did enjoy the Sunday morning walk to the club through the spring sunshine.



While Lars-Göran and his friends fiddled with the car, I continued with painting and polishing and Lambi continued with looking decorative. Somehow I feel I am more suited for that role, but she seems reluctant to swap places. Still, we put her to work later on to add the finishing shine to the hull.



It wasn't all hard work for her, though, as we had a visit from Lars-Göran's daughter who spent the afternoon sunning herself and dogsitting in the cockpit. She has been accepted for tertiary studies at a school in Skåne and she will be moving there in August, to a small town called Tomelila. She is both excited at the prospect and a little worried as it will be her first time away from home. But it is to a course that is in a field she loves, it was her first choice and will also involve a three month assignment in South Asia as well, so I am really pleased for her.



We decided to launch the boat on Wednesday and to mast her the same day. So we had to make arrangements with friends to help with the masting in the evening and were confident that we could launch her ourselves. There is often a big circus surrounding boat launches, but we've done a few now and as long as we take it slowly and easy we knew we could do it. And soon she was sitting happily on the wagon and Lars-Göran could drive her down to the launching pier.



As soon as we got down there, a couple of friends who were nearby came along and offered to hold the ropes to keep her steady while she was hoisted into the water. I really love the casual helpfulness of the people in this club. Many people are happy to down tools and help out when needed and both of us appreciate it and are only too happy to reciprocate. So while Jan and Biörn helped, I could take the pictures.



It is still nerve-wracking to watch your own boat being launched. I'm much calmer and more matter-of-fact when it is someone else's boat. I am quietly reassuring to the owners as I know how nervous they are and also how relieved when they are finally in the water. I let out a big breath when she was safely floating. And who was first aboard? Need you ask?



The launch is just not officially complete until the poodle gives the all-clear. Once she gave her sniff of approval we could sit down and fika in the cockpit in peace. It was then time to rinse out the water tanks and get ready to mast her. The VHF antenna needed to be fitted first, which was done on the pier.



You have to admit that this is a lovely environment to work in. The view is always beautiful across the water towards Nynäs Havsbad and out across to Bedarön. I never get sick of looking at it no matter the season or weather. Around six in the evening, Ulf and Biörn arrived to help out. They attached the wire to the mast and I began to winch it up while the men steadied it. But within a minute, Jan and Rolf also came along, so I got to be a spectator while "the boys" did all of the work.



There was a tense moment when the bolt from the shackel holding up the mast came loose and panic ensued as the boat was moved and the mast carefully lowered again to repair it (all the time worried that the mast could fall and do a lot of damage). But it went smoothly and in just over an hour she had her mast attached and all the rigging wires in place.

Yesterday was spent properly aligning the mast and tensioning the rigging correctly. And of course, the raising of the flags - a Swedish flag in the aft (to show the country that is her home port) and an Aussie flag in the port side to show that there is an Australian crew member aboard. A huge thankyou to our friends Ian and Jenny from the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron in Adelaide, who sent me the Australian ensign.



It looks great flying in the breeze and I'm sure I'll be inundated with questions about it again this summer. Would you believe that as soon as it was raised, the guy in the boat next to us said "Oh, are you going to New Zealand?" What is this obsession with New Zealand, anyway? And as if the flags are remotely alike...







okay, so they may be slightly similar, but still, how could you choose NZ and not Australia? *shakes head*

And this is the flags from the other angle



Now all we need to do is add the sails, bring down the cushions, bedding, books and fill her with food and we can head off to test her out on the weekend. I can't wait!