Today we are heading more homewards again. We left Påskallavik in the afternoon thinking we'd moor at Oskarshamn for the evening, but the winds were so good that we flew past there in an hour, so we continued on through the archipelago, deciding that we'd stop and take a look at the small town of Figeholm, a few kilometres north of Oskarshamn. One of the reasons we were curious about the town was that our friends Bosse and Ann purchased their boat, Tintomara II from here.

The sea entrance to this area is fascinating as it's the beginning of the archipelago and the small islands make a tremendous impression. Figeholm has a small, friendly harbour where we tied up Fiona to a bouy and went into town and looked around. And yes, they also have a Konsum, so Lars-Göran could buy ice-cream. As with many other small towns we visited this trip, Figeholm used to be a busy, thriving harbour town with timber and shipping dominating the economy until after World War 1 when it gradually died away and today it is a pretty, but sleepy backwater of 1,000 people.



We visited the local folk museum and looked at objects from the more booming times here in the nineteenth century when it was a big shipbuilding town with a much larger harbour and population. Today there is something of an air of neglect about the place. When we looked at the main square, it was overgrown with weeds and it looked as though the local council had forgotten it existed. Which is sad to see.

When we left Figeholm, we kept making plans to stop in one or other place for a few days, but the winds were so good that we wanted to sail and spent days doing around 30NM at a time, quickly covering the ground between here and St Anna's archipelago. The other consideration was that we wanted to get the birds home safely as the weather has suddenly turned very chilly. While it is still clear and sunny, the mornings are very cold and short of running the heater all night, we are worried about keeping the boat warm enough for Bruce and Sheila. They are native to the Australian desert and while they have adapted very well to sailing around the Baltic, they don't like the cold. This morning it was only 12C inside the boat with a forecast tomorrow of 5C in the morning. Far too chilly for my little feathered darlings.

We thought about staying near Harstena again, but as they are forecasting strong winds tonight and it can be a little exposed there, we decided to try a new place instead and it turned out to be a great find for us. The islands of Håskö and Lisselön lie a couple of nautical miles west of Harstena and we could see from the chart that between them lay a protected, deep "lake" that we could anchor in and be safe from all winds.

But what a surprise to find so much more there!

We thought that there would be almost no-one out sailing at this time of the year, and that we'd be alone here on this tiny island. But it seems that this place is well known among travellers and we saw that there was even a guest pier here where several boats were moored. If you enlarge the picture, you can even see that there is a sauna and hot tub on the pier. No wonder there were so many boats here.



We lay outside in the bay and in the morning we took the dinghy and rowed ashore to see what was on the island. It is apparently privately owned, but the owner has decided to make a living from a variety of sources. He runs a farm, with several well-fed cows ambling around.....



In addition, he has a small scale fish farm set up in the bay, the guest pier where you can moor for only 30kr, the sauna and hot tub that one can hire out. When we went for a walk, we saw small, newly built cottages that one could hire and there is even a small kiosk that has fresh and smoked fish from his own fish farm, some very basic household supplies - and essentials like ice-cream. I was so surprised to see such entrepreneurial initiative, but I could see that it allowed him to still live on the island and make some money.

All around the island, though there were reminders of the older times when this was strictly farmland - things like this very old barn, roughly hewn from the trees on the island. I don't imagine that it would pass building inspection these days, but it has stood the test of time anyway.



From the hill above the guest harbour you could look back on the farmhouse, kiosk and see Fiona anchored out in the flad. The other boats are hidden from view in this shot, but are lying close to the buildings on the right.



The people who used to live on the island centuries ago made their living by fishing, farming and by acting as pilots. One of the more famous of them in the sixteenth century was "Hasse i Håska" who helped pilot King Gustav Vasa's ship through these stone-filled trecherous waters. One needed local knowledge to come through here safely, which is why these local guides were so highly prized. Very often this skill was passed from father to son and there are generations of families who guided boats for a living.

We went for a long walk all around, through the woods, up the hills and along the fragrant meadows. While it was a cold morning, the day is bright and sunny and everything still looks green and fresh.



It was a beautiful, well kept place with lots of open pastures, woods full of berries and more mushrooms than I've ever seen in my life (yum!) and such a great view of rolling fields down to the glittering water. It is good to know that this is still a living island. So many of these small landholders have abandonned their islands as they can't eke out a viable living. But this owner seems to have found a way - and good luck to him.



The evening sky darkens and a look at the clouds foretell that there will be a northerly gale overnight. It feels good to be safely moored, though the strong north winds bring an unwelcome chill straight from the north pole to here.



It seems we are in a race against time to get the birdies home if this cold continues. They seem happy enough, but each day is getting shorter, the sun is not as warming as it was even a week ago and we also feel that we are ready to snuggle up in a warm apartment as the autumn winds sweep in.

Wimps, aren't we?