This morning we are feeling really torn about what to do. It has taken quite an effort and a not inconsiderable amount of money (for us, anyway) to get this far and it seems too early to be heading home already. On the other hand, we haven't really enjoyed the trip as much as we'd expected to. We've talked a bit about why that is so and have found no real answer. We've not had any major problems with the boat, we still enjoy being onboard but there seems to be too many days when we are simply doing transport stretches of sailing, rather than the sort of weaving here and there and exploring that we like to do. Neither of us had any idea that those opportunities would be so restricted on the west coast. We also had no idea that there would be so many people sailing here and so few decent anchorages because of the prevailing winds and waves.

We decide that for today, we are not going to put in the long and tiring 35 to 40 nautical mile stretches we have been doing lately and instead, we'll take it easy and perhaps pop just across to the ten islands which makes up the northern archipelago. I had previously been fascinated by seeing tiny communities with narrow lanes and pretty pastel wooden houses with fancy carpentry.




The day begins well and soon we are heading into the main strait between the islands of Björkö and Öckerö. About 12,000 people live on these islands, which have a car ferry service direct to Göteborg. This makes it a popular place to live - you can get the best of both worlds with a calm, peaceful environment and the sea being so close by, plus good access to "the big smoke". The Norwegian boats have not been in evidence today, but they have been replaced by an army of boats from Germany and Denmark (with a few hardy Brits and Dutchmen thrown into the mixture). It is a lovely day for sailing.




We have winds directly on the nose again, so we have to tack and this is not always easy in a busy strait with weekend traffic in all shapes and sizes buzzing around us. We have also noticed that Fiona seems to be a little sluggish in the water. She is not sailing with her usual strong, wave-splitting motion and we think that her hull must have a lot of barnacle growth after being in the salty North Sea. We use ant fouling paint on the underwater sections of the boat to help to prevent the buildup of barnacles and other organisms, which in turn reduces the drag on the hull and makes her faster. As the very effective paints are highly toxic to marine life, they have been banned in Sweden since the early 1990's, so we have to use quite useless paint which the barnacles seem to love. Lars-Göran thinks he might take a dive under the hull while the weather is still warm and check out what is happening.




The combination of adverse winds, heavy boat traffic and the sluggish sailing of the boat starts to grate on Lars-Göran, so I suggest that perhaps, yet again, it is not the day for such a trip, so we head out to sea at a convenient opening between the islands and sail towards the southern archipelago instead.

Along the way, we pass the very distinctive sea markers at the island of Vinga.




This is also a place we would have liked to visit, especially as it has become famous as the childhood home of one of Sweden's best loved singers, Evert Taube. It also has a lot of historical significence as the previous border between Norway and Denmark was here and with the main harbour at Göteborg in the distance and the bare, windswept rocks it looked a really fascinating island. Unfortunately for us, there is no decent night harbour here. There is a deep bay which faces west, so it can only be used in stable weather with winds from the east. Even so, huge cargo ships pass by almost constantly and the swell from these can be driven into the unprotected bay. So on we go, out into the ever increasing waves, looking for some shelter.





We crossed the main shipping lanes into Gothenburg, with their huge bright red and green buoys and just south-east of Vinga, we looked at a horseshoe-shaped island (Stora Rävholmen) as a possible anchorage. However, it was also quite open to the west and the strong surf was rolling in. By this time, we were almost resigned to going back to the mainland and had even thought of mooring at the wharf where we picked up the boat five years ago. But, on the spur of the moment, we decided to just try a narrow, shallow opening that appeared to lead into some sheltered waters. I also recalled that SKX had a buoy in the area, but knew that it was unlikely to be free at this time of the year.

By now, it was after 6pm and on the way into the inner bay, I counted 30 or boats moored to the cliffs. However, right inside where we wanted to be there were only a few boats and the buoy was available, so we quickly snaffled it and congratulated ourselves on this turn of luck as a big blow was forecast for later. As the wind picked up, it sorted out those inadequately moored, with some retiring to sea and others heading towards our bay. We had a good night with only light winds stirring our bay.




We explored the island in the morning. It is formed from rugged convoluted granite, much veined with quartz and covered with patches of springy turf, supporting a small flock of recently shorn sheep. I was glad to find the sheep as I could have sworn that I heard bleating overnight but didn't say anything in case I was going insane and starting to hear things. There was even a discrete hut with toilets and rubbish collection facilities. It was hot again (30C) in the morning, so the noble ideas of some boat maintenance quickly evaporated, and as we were in a lazy mood, we decided to stay another night. The wind howled and blew strongly and we even had a wind shift, so we re-anchored a little further into the bay and relaxed in the sunshine with a good book and a glass of wine.




This has been one of the nicest places that we have stayed on the west coast. We discuss perhaps spending a little time in this island group, but a quick look at the chart shows us that there are very few places that we could use as a harbour and really, while it's nice here, it's nothing to rip your nightie over, if you get my drift. So we'll have to just bite the bullet and start heading southwards. We pass several fishing towns, like the one on Dönsö. This time they really are genuine fishing harbours, rather than the tarted up tourist fishing harbours we have seen further north. These islands all have ferry links to Göteborg, so you can live here and have a half hour commute over the water for work. It sounds like an idyllic life.




Today we have half-wind sailing, so it is fast and smooth at around 6 knots. The sun is shining and now that we have made the decision to just keep going down the coast, it feels as though a weight has been lifted from my mind. We know that the islands end here and that we have to face staying at harbours behind seawalls for now onwards but it still feels good to be headed towards home. We savour the last few glimpses of islands before we reach open water. There is a brisk wind, so we hope we can make Varberg by this evening. Yes, I know, another 40 nautical mile day.




There are a lot of family groups out walking on the islands. Many of them come across from the mainland in small motor boats, so they are able to moor in the shallow waters and enjoy a welcome day in the sunshine by the sea. We approach the lighthouse at Valö and know that this marks the end of the archipelago and that we won't see another one until we reach Blenkinge on the east coast.




Once past the fringe of islands, the sea is rougher, but we also have room to move and feel free because we no longer have to watch out for shoals, just set a course and sail. There is surprisingly little boat traffic now and that also adds to our feeling of euphoria. After weeks and weeks of dodging boats we are all alone. Or almost. Very occasionally a bot passes by, heading northwards. One of the most striking was this superb wooden boat from Germany - what a beauty!




As we are far out from land in order to keep to our course, the view is not all that fascinating until we get to the lighthouse at Nidingen. For those who listen to the VHF weather, you'd know this lighthouse as one of the boundaries of coast stretches they report. It is built on a reef about five nautical miles offshore and its name speaks for itself - Niding (meaning vandal or hooligan) is a dangerous place, a real ship's graveyard with over 700 wrecks literring the waters. It was thought that in the past, bands of "nidingar" lured the ships onto the reef in order to plunder them.




The island itself is only a kilometre long and a few hundred metres wide. You can't mistake the unique twin towers, which was constructed like that so it could be easily distinguished from the light at Skagen. There were no sign of nidingar today and we passed by without incident. Had it been a little earlier in the day and the weather a little more calm we may have anchored and taken a walk around, but it was no place to try and stay the night as it was so exposed.

Late in the evening, the powerful fortress at Varberg came into view and we started our engine and headed into the harbour, past the magnificent building, constructed between 1287-1300 by Count Jacob Nielsen as protection against the Danish king, who had declared him an outlaw after the murder of King Eric V of Denmark. Don't you love these royal squabbles?




Apparently this summer some people started a rumour that the moat has it's own "moat monster" - a brown, furless creature that has been witnessed emerging from the water and eating a duck! Hmmm... I notice that this was reported in the sensationalist afternoon rag Aftonbladet, so it's probably not true. Or the witnesses were well and truly sloshed. Or maybe both! I only know that if I mention this to Lars-Göran as something I saw on an Aftonbladet newsboard, he'll look at me with contempt.

(edited to add later - It has even spread to the mainstream media)




The other striking building you can see in front of the harbour is the Kallbadhus, which was built in the 1820's when Varberg was a fashionable spa resort where the idle rich came to "take the waters" in the belief that it could cure all kinds of ailments. I think it has a bit of an oriental look - can't you picture it in some Indian palace?




Of course the guest harbour was jammed with boats and there was not one spare place to moor. This is what I was afraid we would meet by returning so early in the season, but we are going to have to grin and bear it as there are no other options. A boat club in a nearby bay at Getterön had space to take Fiona, so we managed to take Lambi to land, buy an icecream and enjoy the warm summer evening. I'd like to do a little shopping in the next day or two, so I hope that may be here in Varberg, which looks an interesting town. And I'd like to see if I can spot that moat monster. I didn't have any luck spotting Nessie when I visited Scotland a few years back, so I figure I'm due for some good fortune. Do you think it eats toy poodles?