Our sailing with Madde went really well. We picked her up at the busy summer holiday harbour of Gräddö. The marina was packed solid and we squeezed into one of the last remaining spots in the early afternoon to wait for her to arrive. I can't believe that people actually choose to be in a place like this for a night and pay a lot of money for the privilege. I can't think of anything worse than being tied up to a rocking pier, rubbing fenders with neighbours on both sides, hearing everything they say and being constantly tossed around by waves and swell sweeping in from the nearby ferry terminal and passing motor boats. Why do this when you can drop anchor in a peaceful bay for free almost anywhere in the archipelago?

Anyway, for us it was just a stop to collect Madde and fill up with diesel and we were out of there as soon as we could!

The day was sunny and bright which surprised Madde as it had been raining back in Stockholm when she had left home earlier in the day. The weather is often much nicer out on the islands and in the coastal regions than further inland and I was glad for her sake that it was good. As she came late in the day, we only sailed a short distance away to an island group called Lönnskär and dropped anchor in a pretty bay for the night, eating dinner outside in the warm evening sun.

The next day it was up with the anchor and heading off again. Madde wanted to help, so Lars-Göran got her to pull up all 20 metres of anchor chain while he "supervised".



It is not an easy or fun job, but she was keen to do it and managed really well. As she likes sunbathing on cliffs and swimming, we went to the small bay we had discovered at Tjockö, so she could walk around on the island and work on her sun tan in the afternoon. After dinner, she and her faithful companion retired to the rocks again to soak up the remainder of the evening's rays while enjoying a good book.



The winds were good for heading south east, so we sailed down the coast to the northern end of Blidö and dropped anchor. It was another warm, sunny afternoon and she spent the day diving off the boat and swimming around.

Overnight the weather turned and we woke to grey skies and heavy rain. We decided to motor the 5 or 6 nautical miles to the small mainland community of Spillersboda where Madde could get a bus back to Stockholm. Poor Lambi had been unwell all night and Lars-Göran was up with her at least five times as she was sick. In the morning I discovered a tick embedded just above her left eye and this may explain her sudden and violent illness. It was tightly dug in, so Lars-Göran used a special tool to literally screw it out of her head. Poor puppy was still feeling under the weather and stayed well rugged up while we motored along.



The town itself was rather cute with some lovely old turn of the century homes and when the weather cleared in the afternoon we walked around a little and had pizza at the tiny pizzeria housed in a converted barn right at the water's edge.

Madde took her bus back to Stockholm and we dropped anchor just down the bay a little, hoping that the weather holds for our southward journey in the morning. We have been spoiled with sunny conditions so far, but a pattern of rainy days seems to be developing. Every weather report starts off "Fine and dry BUT...." and after the "but" it is always bad news. But we can live in hope for good weather.