Denial is such a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Last night, in the spirit of that superb sunset and the appearance of the most spectacular full moon, we relaxed with a glass of wine and only listened with half a mind to the weather forecast. They had promised a windshift to south east, which would send waves across the bay and straight to where were were moored out in the open. "But it's only going to be four metres per second" we thought. "We'll be fine".

Famous last words or what?

By 1.30am we were rocking violently in the increasing waves. They don't call this place Little Biscay for nothing. I thought we were going to be thrown out of bed, so in the pitch black we had to get up, batten down the hatches, secure the bird cage and prepare to head in to a sheltered harbour. Our first pyjamas åkning!

This was perhaps not the best time to discover that we were missing one chart - number 923 to be specific. You know..... the one for this bit of coastline. We had loaned our charts last year to a friend who was picking up a boat in Göteborg and I hadn't checked them thoroughly to see whether they were all there when he returned them. Oops.....

The chart would have given us a detailed map of the harbour at Halmstad. We were moored between Grötvik and Halmstad, so the waves were sweeping across the whole bay to just this point. We have an electronic chart of the area and a ship's pilot guide with a black and white line drawing of the harbour area, so I hauled them up into the cockpit to look at them and started the motor while Lars-Göran went to the fore to draw up the anchor.

It wasn't cold, though the wind was starting to blow strongly. We had discussed the way we were going to do this as it required team work and you know, it went without a hitch and soon we were loose and I was driving towards the lights of the harbour (not easy to pick out among all of the other lights in the town!). Lars-Göran hurried back to the cockpit and took over the driving, assuring me that it was "a piece of cake" to get into the harbour (Hamnen är lätt att hitta även utan navigationshjälpmedel)

Hmmm..... where have I heard that before?

We found the shipping channel and turned towards land, scanning the shore for the harbour's leading light. I had noticed a boat behind us (at 2am??) and saw that it was gaining rapidly, so I mentioned it to Lars-Göran. He hadn't seen it at all as he was so intent on driving and trying to find the entrance and he got a shock when he turned and saw an enormous cargo ship bearing down on us. He made a large turn to get out of the way and as it passed, I couldn't resist saying "Follow that ship!" as it would of course lead us straight into the harbour. Which it did.

We had no idea where anything was in this harbour, so we found a temporary spot near the mast crane and tied up for the night, awakening the next day to this view.




What a fabulous contrast between the old and the new, with the grain silos and timber piled up on the piers and these elegant sailing ships gliding by. In daylight, we could see the harbour really well and we moved the boat to a bay near the boat club, exactly opposite this pier and dropped anchor. I thought after the crazy night we had, a lazy day would be in order, so I stripped the beds and washed the sheets, towels etc setting them up to dry in the warm sunshine. I had planned to spend the day reading my book (Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress), lazing on the deck under my umbrella with a cool drink. But that was interrupted when another gorgeous sailing ship came into view.




WE both wondered what was going on up river. I looked at my guest harbour guide and saw that this week, Halmstad was hosting the international Baltic Sail Festival which featured several of these gracious old sailing vessels. Well, we had to go and see what it was all about, didn't we?

We put the motor on the zodiac and motored up the Nissan River and into Halmstad itself, where the festival was in full swing. The boats are often chartered out during the day, so many of them were headed out into the bay with paying guests on board. We thought we may have a look at the town again while we were here and while the weather held.

This lovely town dates back to the thirteenth century and had lovely wide streets and boulevards. I believe that in the middle ages it was the biggest town on the west coast, though today, with 90,000 inhabitants it is no longer a metropolis. There are some beautiful buildings on the river, including the castle (now the tourist bureau, no less) built in the 17th century by King Christian IV of Denmark.




I love the warm colours of this building and the towers with their interesting curved rooftops pointing up into the clear blue sky. In the main square, where the weekly market was in full swing lies the beautiful medieval church of St Nikolai. A devestating fire in 1619 razed most of Halmstad and this church was one of few buildings that survived the fire.




The town was really buzzing today, with many, many visitors crowding the streets and squares and sounds of eating, drinking and laughter echoing around the many cafés and restaurants. It is a happy place and there is a great, friendly atmosphere here. Neither of us particularly likes crowded, stressful places but we felt quite at ease in Halmstad. People were smiling and friendly and the pace was fast, but not pushy and frantic like it can be in Stockholm.




We had been to Halmstad in November five years ago on our journey home with "Fiona". We came here to escape a huge autumn storm that was about to hit and stayed several days on that occasion. While we were here, we had bought some waterproof gloves and warm boots for me (badly needed and much appreciated) and we had been impressed with the town and all that it offers.

In the main shopping street, we noticed that every shoe shop was having a sale. Could we possibly buy more shoes here? We spent an enjoyable afternoon looking at the shops (yes, we bought shoes!), checking out the books on sale at the Salvo's shop (what a bargain!), finding some decent sunglasses for Lars-Göran (not before time!), buying and writing postcards and eating icecream. We tramped all over town and returned, loaded up with parcels, to our zodiac which was tied up to a ledge on the river bank.




We were tired, but very happy with today's haul and thought we could come back up the river in the morning to see some more of the boats.

The following day, it was overcast and drizzly and we spent the morning onboard making plans and enjoying the parade of fine sailing ships that went past us at regular intervals. I think we must have had the best seat in the house!




The boats were from several different countries and we noticed flags from Holland, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland as well as the blue and gold of Sweden. The schooners simply glided past so gracefully that it was a pleasure to sit there and admire them.




When they came back into port in the afternoon, we cranked up the zodiac again and went up the river to see them all lined along the bank, with the timber masts arranged like a big forest of trees. People were visiting the boats and reading their history from plaques that were arranged on boards at each morring place. Most of them began life as working boats - tug boats, cargo ships, herring luggers etc and have been lovingly restored by their owners and used these days as pleasure boats. I read on a couple of the boards that they even had a jacuzzi!




On the opposite bank, right outside of the tourist office, the beautiful old school ship "Najaden", lies berthed. She is a permanent fixture here in Halmstad. She was built as a training ship by the Swedish navy in Karlskrona and launched in 1897. She was used as a fully rigged training ship until 1938 and afterwards was bought by a Halmstad businessman and used as a tourist attraction for the city.




Even though it was cool and overcast, the view looking down the river towards the harbour was lovely. We have the busy guest harbour in the foreground, the sight of the awe inspiring sailing ships behind them and far in the distance, the storage silos, which can be seen from far out at sea, like skyscrapers rising from the landscape. It is a study in contrasts from various ages.




The Dutch ships were particularly dominant and seemed to go out with passengers more often than the others. The shore was lined with enthusiasts waiting to watch the passing parade and we never tired of seeing these boats go by. What a stroke of luck to have been here while this festival was going on. It has fired us with real enthusiasm for the Tall Ship's festival to be held in Stockholm next year. Remember Bethy, we are tying up to your lovely boat on Strandvägen for that!




What a lovely, restful and fun couple of days we have had in Halmstad. We are thinking of leaving in the morning and heading for a small island group out off the edge of this bay. You just can't keep us away from islands, can you? The only slightly worrying thing is that we have no paper chart for the area. We have an overview chart, that you need a strong magnifying glass to see in detail, though we do have the electronic chart. I shouldn't worry, but I like to see the paper chart and be able to plot the course and see the rocks. But Lars-Göran is confident and declares it "a piece of cake".

Oh dear.....