It's been full on with getting the boat ready for the weekend. The snowfall the other day did disappear as fast as it arrived and now there are no signs of it anywhere. The only lingering reminder is the muddy puddles underfoot, left by the melting snow. Very cold artic air will apparently spread southwards from the Arctic next week, which won't be fun, but for now we are back to more autumn temperatures.

Our boat is moored in a small, horseshoe shaped bay, surrounded by woods that make up the nature reserve of Råssnäs. It seems to be a popular relaxation area for people of all ages and I've seen that the forests are criss crossed with walking trails that are very well used. When I've wanted to take a break from cleaning up in the boat, it is but a short hop over to the nearest walking trail and a whole new perspective.




Why am I carrying that dog, I wonder? Honestly, she does walk (sometimes), it's just that Lars-Göran always seems to snap the photo when she is in my arms. Actually, I think there was another dog coming and I didn't have her leash with me, so it's easier this way. I have to say that she loves to explore the forest floor, nose to the ground, eagerly sniffing everywhere, finding disgusting things to roll in the minute my back is turned and generally romping through the leaves. Stop rolling your eyes, Justine. She does walk!

I get a childish delight by shuffling through the leaves as well, stopping every now and then at a small clearing to look through the trees and across the water. I love walking through crisp golden leaves, listening to them rustle - it's almost as good as walking in crisp, icy snow! I'm still really conscious of the ever changing leaves and the sense of winter drawing near. The colours are beautiful and it is cool, damp and very still inside the canopy of trees.




Through the clearing, I could see Fiona bobbing out at her buoy, looking a little forlorn and lonely. I feel a little wistful when I see her like this - all alone and without her mast and sails. There's almost a feeling that she's being abandoned by us. I know that's not true, but I can't help how I feel as I look at her. She brings us such adventures and joy that I feel she's a family member and am anxious to care for her and do the right thing. Perhaps it's just the season and the grey weather that is making me feel so pensive.




One bit of good news is that we sold the outboard motor to the dinghy and managed to buy a new SILENT electric motor! Yay for us. We advertised on the Swedish version of ebay (Blocket) and it sold to someone local in the first few hours. With that money, we went straight to the marina and picked up a brand new Minn Kota motor for the same price. Brilliant! We had to try it out and it was great to glide along quietly, without the smell of petrol to follow us and being able to talk to each other as we motored along.

Saturday was mostly sunny, though a little windy and we were really nervous about how this was going to go. It's the first time using this type of crane and the first time we have used a wagon for her to stand on. We hoped it would all work itself out somehow. It's also a large boat by this club's standard, so the guys operating the crane and tractor spoke with us so that we would all know how what was going to happen. We also elected to be the last boat to come up that day so that nobody had to wait around for their turn should it take longer than we all thought.




Which of course, it did. Am I surprised? The initial raise went without a hitch. I was rather surprised to see that all of the lovely red anti fouling that I painstakingly painted on the hull in April has almost worn off, leaving the black that I hate showing. I'm going to have to investigate these paints further. In Sweden, they are very strict with what kind of paint you can use on your boat and it depends on where you are located which rule applies. These very specific regulations for pleasure boats and sea-going vessels have been valid since 1998 and the paints may not contain substances like copper which are harmful to the marine environment. There are different paints for east and west coasts as well, so I have a bit of reading to do before the spring.

The boat was raised and placed on the service pier while they went off in their tractor to get our wagon. Meanwhile, Lars-Göran connected our high pressure cleaner and washed the hull.




It's a wet messy job, especially as the wind was blowing the spray back towards him. Typical!

I watched in surprise as ALL of the remaining paint bled away. I used Hempel's Mille Light (recommended for the east coast), so I wondered if I'd been too miserly with it, only putting on one thin coat. Should I use primer first? Or should I do what 90% of the east coast sailors do and order the illegal west coast paint next time? I'm anxious to be environmentally friendly, so I'll have to study exactly what the differences between the paints are. After all, watching it all bleed off the hull and into the water can't be good either! On a positive note, there was almost no barnacle growth, but then we has such a cold summer that perhaps they didn't grow anyway.




After she was clean, the boat was loaded on to the wagon. Fiona is a heavy boat and she weighed down the wagon and the wheels. I can't speak highly enough of the men who helped us all afternoon to balance her properly on the wagon (that in itself took a lot of adjustments as it's all new to us as well). They patiently raised and lowered her several times, added timber under her keel as support and even went and got a portable air compressor to pump up the wagon tyres when she was resting her almost 6 tons of weight on it. We can see that we'll need to add another set of tyres in the long term, but for now it was fine. They spent ages to make sure that everything was secure before driving her away to her winter place.

And look at the pier covered in red. It looked like a slaughterhouse!




Poor Lars-Göran was running around like an expectant father in the maternity ward waiting room. I suppose this is his baby, so to speak, so I could understand his nervousness at every creak she made. There was a minor panic when the pole for the wind generator got tangled in the crane as they were driving off, but it was quickly fixed, with no damage and we made a mental note to either remove it next time or remind them to raise the cradle of the crane to full height before we pass. See, it's not easy having the biggest boat - you are right on the boundary for everything.

While the men took the boat across to her winter place, I took the high pressure cleaner and cleaned the grubby pier. This took a while, but was much easier than if I had to do it with a scrubbing brush and a lot of elbow grease. Soon there was no sign of red paint and I could go over and see if Lars-Göran had calmed down at all. Next time, I may need to slip a chill pill into his breakfast.




And here she is in her spot until the spring. There was more work to set her on blocks and make sure that she was securely fastened there. Afterwards we went over the hull carefully, checking for any signs of the return of the dreaded osmosis (böldpest), but she looked good. We then planned out the painting which is my responsibility and we thought we ought to try and paint match the freeboard, as we need to fix a nasty scratch on the port side, caused by a huge nail sticking out of a pier on Göta Canal (they really ought to maintain them much better than they do). I'll also try and wax her as well as paint the red and off-white stripes before we cover her for winter. I think we were both glad that she was now on land, so we can work hard at maintaining her in good condition.

Then it was time to relax with a late lunch and coffee while thinking about the winter projects ahead.




First task is to order a covering frame to which we can connect tarpaulins in order to keep the rain and snow off the boat. We'll also need to buy a new colour plotter and an electric windlass, so we have decided to go up to Stockholm in early November for the Scandinavian Boat Show as most of the dealers will be there and we can ask questions and buy at a good price. It's also a good chance to drop in and visit my mother-in-law who enjoys having us to stay. And we can book a time with Lambi's vet to have her teeth cleaned. She'll be thrilled - not!

I'd say we had enough to keep us busy and out of mischief for a few weeks. Now it's off home for a celebration drink. We did it!