Today has been the very best day by far weatherwise for the whole long weekend. While Saturday and Sunday were cloudy and wet for the most part, it has been sunny and warm on this Swedish National Day.



For the very first time, national day in Sweden is a public holiday and while you may think that would make people happy, in practice the news has had a mixed reception. The government decided to scrap the old holiday on the Monday after Whitsunday and have National Day, June 6th as a holiday instead. The reason this is not as popular is that as a fixed date it will change days each year, which means in future years it will be just a single random day off and not the coveted long weekend that was the old Pingst weekend. And in some years, it will fall on a weekend and there will be (horror of horrors!) no extra day off.

The day itself is not new and has been celebrated as "Swedish Flag Day" since 1916, though it was treated as a normal weekday with no particular fuss or ceremony. In 1986 it was decided to change the name from flag day to national day, though it remained a normal working day. Even though it is now a public holiday, there is no real feeling of joy and celebration about today and most people are a little confused about how to honour the day. The date itself commemorates the day that the "father of modern Sweden", Gustav Vasa was crowned king in 1523 and also the day that Sweden's constitution was signed in 1809.



Many people feel that to honour the date a king was crowned nearly 500 years ago is hardly a reason to celebrate. And this is perhaps the same sort of dilemma we face in Australia over Australia Day commemorating the landing of the First Fleet in 1788. As in Sweden, Australia has not fought wars on it's own soil recently, no fight for freedom and independence and so there is no real need to show nationalism and flag waving except maybe at the Olympic Games.

What a contrast to Norway's triumphant celebration of Syttende Mai with mass parades and waving of flags and festivals to mark the day they became an independent nation. They are proud to stand up and proclaim that they are Norwegian and no-one can not be aware that May 17th is an important date for Norwegians if they are visiting the country that day. The country literally goes wild with joy.

If you came to Sweden today, though, it would seem like a dead, quiet day. Shops are closed, town is deserted and there is no outward sign that today is something special. In general, Swedish people like traditions and this is one that has yet to take root. Midsummer is the biggest holiday here and there are many joyful traditions associated with that day. It is one that no Swede would neglect and there is a festive air about the nation then. Perhaps in a few years as National Day becomes more known, it may develop into something more than it is today.

We went out sailing for the long weekend, despite the iffy weather. On our way through town, we came across the Nynäshamn version of the student parades through the streets.



There were several of these trucks full of students doing a crawl through centrum, accompanied by a lot of shouting, squealing and horns blowing. While I enjoy the spectacle and am happy to see the kids out enjoying themselves, I was also glad that I'd be out of town for the "celebrations" later that night. I'm getting too old and crotchety to put up with nights of broken sleep.

We met several friends on our walk down to the boat and all of them were astonished that we were contemplating going out. I was surprised in turn, as some of them have big, sophisticated boats with all mod cons and are ideally suited to comfort onboard in any conditions. It is wonderful to be out among the islands and on the water in any season, with the chance to switch off from land-based obligations and the working week and to just enjoy the weekend and recharge your batteries. Still, at least one of our friends told us about a market held in a picturesque archipelago town a few miles south of here next weekend, so we made a note to possibly check it out, especially as several boats from here are going to make the trip.



We set off. The only boat to be sailing out in the grey, overcast conditions. Even the guest harbour was fairly empty, except for half a dozen or so Dutch and German boats waiting for better weather before braving the archipelago. We are more used to weaving through the islands, so we don't pay them much heed, but I know that even experienced navigators from foreign lands find it a bit hairy and prefer a day of good visibility before attempting the route to Stockholm from here.

We are fortunate in that behind the large island in front of our harbour is a mini archipelago. It is a mere one hour sail from here and we found it completely deserted and were able to choose a good spot to anchor for the weekend. We set up the cockpit tent (or grog verandah as we prefer to call it) and relaxed with a few small jobs and watched the birdlife around us. The sun did peep out on occasion and some of us were very content!



It was a sort of lazy weekend, with book reading and chatting over a glass of wine and planning some of the things to do this summer. I've been pouring over some books about the coast around here and am keen to try out some new places. We also were in contact with our American friend Randall, who is still in Sweden, waiting for the strong winds and waves in the south to abate. He did set off from Trelleborg yesterday to make the 35NM crossing to Klintholm in Denmark, but turned back after several hours of strong headwinds and large waves. We consulted advanced weather forecasts for him and advised that he stay in port until Wednesday, as the winds would be far more favourable for him and his small boat.

We enjoyed our days away from home and the sail back in mostly fine conditions. Some people are so confident that they can sail with no hands.



The boat developed an annoying noise as we were motoring along, which seemed to come from the propellor axle. Something else wrong! It is beginning to get very, very annoying that things are constantly going wrong. Lars-Göran had no idea what was causing it, so we took her round to the service pier at the boat club and he raised her with the crane to get a closer look.



We were both dreading what we might find. Would we be able to fix it? How much was it going to cost? Would the money drain never end?

But the problem turned out to be simple and cost us nothing to fix. Thank goodness that Lars-Göran can drive the crane and we have the possibility to raise Fiona and see what is wrong ourselves. It would cost us over 1,000kr for a marina to do this, not to mention that they are shut on a public holiday!

So what was wrong? Well, every boat is fitted with zinc sacrificial anodes. They are meant to corrode and be replaced as they rot away. A much cheaper and safer option than allowing valuable metal bits of the boat (like the propellor) to corrode. It looks like this:



Ours had corroded and become loose, sliding along the axel and causing vibrations. We have spare anodes, so it was a quick simple job to fit a new one, lower the boat back in the water and breathe a big sigh of relief!

So we are ready for another sailing adventure next weekend. I wonder what will break then!