We had a marvellous weekend sailing away in the Stockholm archipelago. Unfortunately our return home was not a happy occasion as we were greeted with the news that my mother-in-law had fallen out of her bed in the convalescent home over the weekend and was rushed to hospital where she was extensively x-rayed and required stitches to her face. Fortunately she broke no bones, which could have easily happened at her age and there is an investigation underway to try and discover how it happened. She is shaken, badly bruised and looks like she has gone a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson. Still, it could have been considerably worse so we are grateful that nothing more serious happened and that she will be home soon.

As I said in my previous post, gale force winds were forecast and not ALL of the family was filled with joy at the prospect of a day out sailing in those conditions.



She really is a terrible wuss and much prefers the comfort of many quilts to going outside and getting some fresh air. I sometimes wonder if she is a dog at all, or a reincarnation of the heroine from the Hans Christian Andersen story of The Princess and the Pea. After we levered the dog out of bed with a crowbar, we packed up to leave home. I tried to remember what we usually took and carefully filled the bags with food, clothes and books for the weekend. It took a little time to load up the boat and remember where we stowed everything and the routine we use before we cast off, but eventually things were put away, beds were made and things secured for an early afternoon sail.

We had no particular plans of where we would end up, but the strong winds seemed to favour us heading north, so that is the route we followed, passing by the main harbour and heading towards Stockholm. In the harbour, the cruise liner Sea Princess was anchored for another visit.



I should have realised she was in port as we both noticed that town was very busy, even for a Friday lunch-time. I heard a lot of English speakers chatting outside shops and cafés, but was so pre-occupied with getting to the boat and remembering what to do that I didn't pay them much attention.

The boat really is enormous - like a floating city. The brisk wind meant that we passed this fairly quickly and soon we were passing Älvsnabben and making good speed up along the islands north of here, enjoying the fact that we appeared to have the water to ourselves. We turned slightly to the west and headed towards Dalarö Skans.



The word skans means fortress, and this one was built in the seventeenth century to protect Stockholm from naval attacks via the southern sea approach. It was strategically important when the Russian fleet came on their infamous burning raid through the east coast of Sweden as part of the Great Northern War in 1719. The Russians did not dare come within range of this skans and so most of the area escaped unscathed. A garrison was stationed there until the twentieth century. More lately it was used as a base for the sea scouts, but these days it is a conference centre and popular for weddings as well as a venue for summer concerts.

As you can see, the grey overcast conditions have disappeared and blue skies and sunshine prevail. Close by was the lovely archipelago town of Dalarö itself.



Dalarö has always been an important port and used to be the main custom house for Stockholm as well as a major fishing area. The town is very pretty and idyllic from the water and most of the houses date from the eighteenth and nineteenth century when the town was a fashionable summer resort for the rich and powerful factory owners in Stockholm. Many of the buildings are beautifully preserved and give the strong impression of how life was here over 100 years ago.

By now, it was early evening even though we had blue skies and we decided that it might be nice to drop by and say hello to our friends Bosse and Ann who are still working hard on their boat Tintomara II. Their boat club is in this area and we had never been through the fjärd up to Tyresö, so this was as good a time as any to go there. We debated whether it would be a bad idea to disturb their work day, knowing how irritated we got when people interrupted our work on Fiona, but decided that a quick hello plus the surprise factor would be fun for them as well as us.



So the captain looked around for a suitable bay to drop anchor for the night, leaving us with a short trip in the morning. We'd come around 30 nautical miles today and we were very happy with that, though we were both quite tired by the end of the day. While preparing our dinner of pasta puttanesca, I discovered that I had not checked the crisper before we left home and that our fresh vegetables for salad were still back in Nynäshamn! Not to mention the parmesan cheese for the pasta. I doubted we would die of scurvy if we went without fresh vegetables for the weekend, but it was a little annoying, so I made a mental note to write a proper list next time.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and still breezy and I awoke to the gentle rock of the boat and the twitter of forest birds. It really is charmingly simple and serene way to start the day.



After our quick breakfast in the cockpit (and this morning I realised I'd also forgotten the tea, biscuits and medicine!), we hoisted the sails and cruised the few miles up to their boat club for our surprise inspection tour. We were spotted entering the club bay by a member who recognised our boat and alerted Bosse and Ann who came out to direct us to their pier space and welcome us. Then it was on to the wharf to look at Tintomara II.



They have both been working really hard to get her ready for launching, but the more they work, the more they discover that needs attention. And Bosse is something of a perfectionist and likes everything to be done properly, so it takes a long time. We tried to infect him with our Aussie brand of relaxed attitude to boat reapir but he prefers his own methods. And his boat is really looking like a "work in progress" at the moment.



They are hoping to launch before midsummer, so I hope they can get her ship-shape by then. We then went down for coffee (no tea!) on our boat and chatted for a while. They even had to supply the buns as I had forgotten any biscuits etc at home. This was slightly embarrassing, but they didn't seem to mind and we laughed over all the things we forgot to pack.



The day began to cloud over and it looked as though the forecast rain would begin, so they invited us to stay at their pier space for the night to sit out the bad weather and they decided to give up work for the day (see what a bad influence we are) and to go home and do things around the house. Lars-Göran tied up the boat more securely and we both settled down with a good book to read.

In the early evening, there was a knock on our boat and Bosse came aboard with a shopping bag containing tea, salad ingredients and a bottle of red wine! What a wonderful, unexpected and welcome surprise and how kind of them to think of us and to go and buy those missing ingredients. But then they have proved to be generous and thoughtful friends. I was able to make up my greek salad and we enjoyed a glass of wine with our evening meal. I went to bed quite early again, while the captain wrote up the log book.



I slept badly because some of the ropes were not tied securely to the mast and in the strong wind they banged incessantly. I suppose I could have gone up and fixed it, but it was wet and cold outside so I preferred to stay in my nice warm bed. The morning was overcast and cool, with strong winds and we thought we would take a trip up to see Tyresö Castle and then start heading back to Nynäshamn.

Ann and Bosse came down mid-morning and we sat and had coffee (and tea!) and chatted for a couple of hours before we really had to cast off with their help, wave goodbye and head up the bay a couple of miles to the castle. They have included some photos and text (in Swedish) about our visit at their website.



The castle, built in 1633, is beautifully situated in sweeping grounds at the end of this long bay. When the Russians came through here in the 1719 raid, the clever owner of the estate, Maria Gyllenstierna played a trick on them at a place just south of here named Luraström (lura being the Swedish word for dupe or deceive). It is a shallow, narrow area, quite difficult to navigate so at that point she ordered the woods there be burned along with the main tower of the castle. The Russians thought that this area had already been raided and turned back and left, thus saving the castle and the whole settlement.

The sun came out as we arrived and we enjoyed our sunny position and saw the people on the shore enjoying the day at the outdoor café just across the bridge from the castle. It was quite busy and a real picture of early Swedish summer.



Again, it is a simple, rustic feel to the area and well worth visiting if you are passing by. We were really lucky with the wind as we could set sails and sail along the same area we came up the day before. The shores are lined with summer houses and really pretty to look at in the early summer with the new fresh green plants and so many lovely flowers blooming. We made fast time back to Dalarö, but then the wind turned and so we went by engine for a couple of hours until it swung around to a more favourable direction and we could sail to our club island for the night, making the hour long journey home from there Monday morning, before setting off to Stockholm and the normal working week.

It was a wonderful first sail for the season, with everything working well and the few niggling problems being far surpassed by the joy of being back in the water again.

Morning conversation:

Marie: (looking at the weather forecast) "They are forecasting gale force winds today." She is also thinking that the sofa and a warm cup of cocoa sounds nice...

Lars-Göran: "Great! We can try out the new storm sail!"



So I guess that means we'll be out sailing for a few days to see how everything works (or more likely, doesn't work).

We did get all the boat parts we needed in Stockholm yesterday. And when we got back to Nynäshamn, we discovered where those "lost" parts were hiding on the boat. We'll get a refund later on, provided someone doesn't lose the receipt (a very common occurrence around here).

So it's anchors away today and see you sometime early next week.

A very special wish to our friend Randall, who will finally set sail today in his little boat inshallah for Ystad - the first step on his voyage from Sweden to Marocco. He's been holed up in a little port town of Brantevik for the last few weeks repairing his boat. As I told him, long-distance cruising is actually defined as boat repair in exotic places - a lesson he is slowly learning.

Safe sailing, my friend.

Today is our third wedding anniversary and we celebrated it with a nice romantic dinner at Freja Restaurant overlooking the guest harbour, with a perfect view of our boat and the few foreign guest boats mooring for the night. The best bit was that Lambi stayed home, so she wasn't demanding to share in our dinner.



Lars-Göran chose a scrumptious plank fish, which is a mixture of seafood in a creamy bernaise sauce, served on an oak plank with delicious mashed potatoes ("pommes duchess" I believe they are called). I chose to have the swordfish and tiger prawn kebabs served with a coconut, lime and chilli sauce. A light Trentham Estate Sauvignon Blanc provided the perfect accompaniment to our dinner. Freja is a restaurant built in a classic old steamboat permanently moored by Frejasholme. It was the place where we held our wedding reception three years ago, so it is a sentimental once a year tradition for us.

I know I often joke that Lars-Göran is lucky to have me as a wife, but the truth is that it's me who is the lucky one and I feel very fortunate to have found my best friend and soul mate and be able to spend every day with him.

Yeah, I know, I know... "Oh, get a room you two"

Spring continues to burst forth around us and blaze with colour and fresh, fragrant smells. Today there was some light afternoon rain and I went outside and drew in deep breaths of my favourite smell of rain on the ground when it hasn't rained for some time. It reminded me so much of summer showers in Adelaide, especially after a big dust storm. Those first few drops are incredible.

Lars-Göran has been busy fixing the myriad of problems on the boat that sprang up once she was in the water. He was trying to get it all fixed so we could go out this weekend, but there are so many little niggly things that it may not be possible. I told him today that there was no need to put himself under pressure and that we'll take off when he is confident that she was ready. It puzzles us that things can mysteriously develop faults over winter when they haven't been used! He felt like he needed some of these pills.

I was really excited to see these products on sale in my little town. We got a leaflet in the usual Monday morning junk mail pile and I spotted them as I flipped through.

This ABC range is well known in Australia and I used to buy their pure tea tree oil for using on mozzie bites and stings. I went down to centrum yesterday and bought some of the oil and some of the body care range and it is beautiful and soothing to use. I love the really clean, fresh feel of it on my skin so I think I'll be a regular buyer of it. The air here inside the apartments is surprisingly dry and I find that I need as much moisturiser and to drink as much water as I did in hot, dry Adelaide. I think the central heating is what dries out the air so much.

Tomorrow looks like another day of running around in Stockholm picking up bits and pieces (hopefully for the last time!), including replacements for several vital pieces of boat equipment that my dear husband put "in a safe place" for winter - so safe it seems, that not even he can find them!

While enjoying a quick piece of toast before heading off to Stockholm, my step-daughter watched while I reached for the Vegemite to make the perfect combination of cheese and Vegemite. She was going to try the usual strange Swedish combination of apricot jam and cheese, but hesitated and asked if she could try my Vegemite.

I'm keen to spread the word about this wonderful delicacy, so I handed it over and awaited her verdict - But it tastes just like caviar. So, all you people out there spending a fortune on finest Beluga Caviar only need to reach for Vegemite at a fraction of the price for your canapes. Hey, it's even the same colour!

This week, Nynäshamn was visited by her first cruise ship for the season - the luxury liner Star Princess. She was on a Baltic cruise and she stopped here for the day.



The blurb says that the stop is in Stockholm, but because the archipelago area is so shallow, ships have to be fitted with specialised steering equipment before they are allowed any closer. Even with pilots aboard, it is too difficult to navigate these waters without this equipment, especially in a ship this size! So Nynäshamn is as close as they can come. From here, the passengers who wish to can take a charter bus or a train into town. Most of the passengers are Americans and quite a few choose to stay in Nynäshamn and take a look around here, so there were a lot of English speaking people checking out the spring sights. The ship is due to stop here another 20 times this summer and another cruise liner, Arcadia, is scheduled to stop here three times as well. Baltic cruises must be becoming increasingly popular.

I noticed today that foreign yachts have already begun appearing in the guest harbour. There were several German and Finnish boats stocking up on provisions today and I expect from now onwards that we'll see foreign boats here every week.

Spring seems to be exploding all over the place now. The most striking display this week has been of white blossoms on the ornamental cherry trees. Almost every garden has a tree and they choose to flower at the same time filling the air with their heady perfume. I love the smell, but I feel sorry for anyone suffering from allergies to pollen. It must be hell for them.



This tree is called "hägg" in Sweden. I discovered today through a friend that in English it is the Prunus padus or European Bird Cherry. I believe it is also known as a Mayday tree or Maybush. I guess we must have had them in Australia in some gardens, though I don't recall seeing them before. They are very common garden trees in Sweden and this time of year they put on a wonderful display. Yesterday when we were at Solna I saw many blossoming street trees with striking pink flowers, too. I have no idea what they were but it looked lovely as well.

The boat has had her finishing touches added and we've moved her around to her normal summer pier space. First, there were the last couple of things to be added to the top of the mast.



This is the bird's eye view of the boat from the mast top. Boy it's a LONG way down to the deck from up here. Sometimes when it is calm, Lars-Göran climbs up to the spreaders and takes photos of the islands around us - madman! However, this time he was actually adding instruments from the mast crane, so it was reasonably safe as long as you didn't look down.

He also got in a spot of sailing with a couple of friends while I looked after Lambi on land (her paw is still very swollen and sore).



This was in our friend's boat and while he was only out for three hours, it was still great to be out on the water again. Of course, it's been a while, so he forgot to dress warmly enough for the fresh breeze and when I asked him how he was after the sail, he said "Cold". Well, now he knows for next time.

Today we decided to load up the boat with the things we were storing home over winter - electronic instruments, cushions, bedding, the tv, dinghy and outboard etc. We literally overloaded the poor car but cleverly managed to squeeze it all into one trip - just...



Luckily it's only a couple of kilometres to the club, there is no traffic in this town and (more importantly) no policemen :) It didn't take very long to unload the car and pack all of this away into the boat. And I have to tell you that Lars-Göran managed to go aground today - already! I know Ian and Jenny will laugh at this. The first day and he hits ground - what talent. To be fair, it is very low water at the moment and he was trying to moor her at the loading pier, very close to the launching sledge. Very, very close to the launching sledge. Extremely close, if you get my drift. All that was hurt was his pride and we did have a laugh about it later. I was only glad that Lambi was not on board when it happened as it may have put her off the boat for the rest of the season. I had offered to wait at the pier with her while he collected the boat to make sure the space stayed free.

After loading, we fired up the engine and motored the short distance around to the next bay to her mooring spot on smörpundet.



It is such a relief to have her ready to sail. This week I'll start stocking up on basic food and provisions and hopefully next weekend we can set off for a few days to try her out again.

If only that lovely sunny spring weather will come back...

Today I am actually home for a change and have enough energy to write something here. I know it's been a week since I wrote, but I come home in the evenings so tired after long days of physical work and commuting back and forth to Stockholm that I fall into bed exhausted. I also have a huge backlog of email to answer, but that can wait until later (I haven't forgotten you, Jenny, Paul, Anne, Jane, Kay, Angie...)

I'm home today because Lambi had an accident yesterday and has managed to rip out one of her claws. She is in a lot of pain if she tries to walk (yes, she DOES actually walk sometimes) and I've been busy making up saline solutions to keep the area sterile while it heals.

It is lovely spring weather here and even Stockholm looks beautiful in the sunshine.



We have been in Stockholm every second day to visit my mother-in-law, who is still in the rehab centre a month later. Her wound is not healing properly and she is feeling depressed and anxious to come home. But while she requires such intensive physiotherapy and nursing care she has to stay there. There is no way this can be done at home unless she has a live-in nurse and that is not an affordable option. The surgeon will review her case next week to see if and when she can be discharged. So each evening, we negotiate the nightmare of peak-hour Stockholm traffic jams to go to Frösundavik. At least Lambi enjoys the ride there!



We are passing by Central station and looking over Klara Sjö towards Kungsholmen, which I admit looks quite pretty at this time of the year with lots of green grass and leaves and the sun glittering off the water. But the queues of cars are still a pain in Stockholm. While it is similar in size to Adelaide, it is built on a series of 14 islands, so you get bottlenecks at the main bridge and tunnel access to each island as traffic from various directions converge. The newly opened Södra Länken has made a huge difference to our approach from the south, but we still get caught in various spots now and again.

The most depressing thing about going to the rehab centre is the staggering number of young men there. Most of the patients in the facility are my son's age (early 20's) and are the victims of accidents - either car, motorbike, snowboard, climbing, diving etc and are now in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. It is so sad to see them fighting to come to terms with what has happened to them and learning to cope with their new life. Mother was saying that she felt lucky that she had a chance to enjoy her life first before her accident (she was in her early 50's when it happened) and her heart goes out to these young men who were just starting out on their road of discovery before being struck down.

Why is it that there are so many young men injured like this? We speculated about the deadly mixture of testosterone, youthful belief in being invincible and speed being possible factors, but who knows. Last week I was reminded of it again when a young man clowning around on a big float in a uni student parade here fell off the truck onto his head. A moment of stupidity and look what happened. Likewise for three young men who were flooring it in a high powered BMW in nearby Muskö a couple of weeks ago. The driver lost control and now lies in hospital with multiple injuries. He was luckier than his friend who will be buried here next Friday. The boys were all in their early 20's. So incredibly sad.

Mother feels sad to still be in the centre and frustrated at the slow pace of recovery. All we can do is to visit her, bring her treats, take her outside for some fresh air and do things like her hair and paint her nails.



See what I mean about the walls? It's like being inside of a packing case. Still, I hope she doesn't have to be there much longer. They are to review her case next week so fingers crossed that there is some good news for her.

We do have good news on the boat front. She is in the water at last, after eight long months on land and it feels great! It has been an intensive time these last weeks with epoxy treatment, polishing the hull, dressing the mast, varnishing the woodwork, painting the waterline etc but all worth it to get her launched.

We had a minor disaster with the car on the weekend. We came back from Stockholm on Saturday evening and went to the boat club to check something before going home. When we wanted to leave, the car was dead. Luckily there were friends around who drove us home and then the following day took a look at the car to help find the fault (which turned out to be minor). It is one of the benefits of living in a small town where people know you and are willing to offer help, despite being busy with their own work. It felt really good to know that we were not on our own. And we did enjoy the Sunday morning walk to the club through the spring sunshine.



While Lars-Göran and his friends fiddled with the car, I continued with painting and polishing and Lambi continued with looking decorative. Somehow I feel I am more suited for that role, but she seems reluctant to swap places. Still, we put her to work later on to add the finishing shine to the hull.



It wasn't all hard work for her, though, as we had a visit from Lars-Göran's daughter who spent the afternoon sunning herself and dogsitting in the cockpit. She has been accepted for tertiary studies at a school in Skåne and she will be moving there in August, to a small town called Tomelila. She is both excited at the prospect and a little worried as it will be her first time away from home. But it is to a course that is in a field she loves, it was her first choice and will also involve a three month assignment in South Asia as well, so I am really pleased for her.



We decided to launch the boat on Wednesday and to mast her the same day. So we had to make arrangements with friends to help with the masting in the evening and were confident that we could launch her ourselves. There is often a big circus surrounding boat launches, but we've done a few now and as long as we take it slowly and easy we knew we could do it. And soon she was sitting happily on the wagon and Lars-Göran could drive her down to the launching pier.



As soon as we got down there, a couple of friends who were nearby came along and offered to hold the ropes to keep her steady while she was hoisted into the water. I really love the casual helpfulness of the people in this club. Many people are happy to down tools and help out when needed and both of us appreciate it and are only too happy to reciprocate. So while Jan and Biörn helped, I could take the pictures.



It is still nerve-wracking to watch your own boat being launched. I'm much calmer and more matter-of-fact when it is someone else's boat. I am quietly reassuring to the owners as I know how nervous they are and also how relieved when they are finally in the water. I let out a big breath when she was safely floating. And who was first aboard? Need you ask?



The launch is just not officially complete until the poodle gives the all-clear. Once she gave her sniff of approval we could sit down and fika in the cockpit in peace. It was then time to rinse out the water tanks and get ready to mast her. The VHF antenna needed to be fitted first, which was done on the pier.



You have to admit that this is a lovely environment to work in. The view is always beautiful across the water towards Nynäs Havsbad and out across to Bedarön. I never get sick of looking at it no matter the season or weather. Around six in the evening, Ulf and Biörn arrived to help out. They attached the wire to the mast and I began to winch it up while the men steadied it. But within a minute, Jan and Rolf also came along, so I got to be a spectator while "the boys" did all of the work.



There was a tense moment when the bolt from the shackel holding up the mast came loose and panic ensued as the boat was moved and the mast carefully lowered again to repair it (all the time worried that the mast could fall and do a lot of damage). But it went smoothly and in just over an hour she had her mast attached and all the rigging wires in place.

Yesterday was spent properly aligning the mast and tensioning the rigging correctly. And of course, the raising of the flags - a Swedish flag in the aft (to show the country that is her home port) and an Aussie flag in the port side to show that there is an Australian crew member aboard. A huge thankyou to our friends Ian and Jenny from the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron in Adelaide, who sent me the Australian ensign.



It looks great flying in the breeze and I'm sure I'll be inundated with questions about it again this summer. Would you believe that as soon as it was raised, the guy in the boat next to us said "Oh, are you going to New Zealand?" What is this obsession with New Zealand, anyway? And as if the flags are remotely alike...







okay, so they may be slightly similar, but still, how could you choose NZ and not Australia? *shakes head*

And this is the flags from the other angle



Now all we need to do is add the sails, bring down the cushions, bedding, books and fill her with food and we can head off to test her out on the weekend. I can't wait!

It has been a crazy, busy week with lots of work hours to put in, plus visits to see my convalescing mother-in-law (who hopefully comes home in a week or so) and of course a mountain of work on the boat, especially as we are into long hours of daylight. Of course, that means that I wake up promptly at 4.00 a.m. EVERY day as the light streams in and the birds begin to chirp, but that is a whole other post that I simply haven't the energy for right at the moment! In fact I haven't the energy at the moment for things like shopping, cooking, cleaning etc, so if you were considering dropping in for a visit in the next couple of weeks, THINK AGAIN!

In addition to working on our own boat, it is a very busy time for the whole boat club and poor Lars-Göran had to make time to launch several boats for members. Most of these are special jobs for boats that are either awkward to launch or those that take a long time for various reasons and are not suitable for the normal Monday evening launch times (when Lars-Göran also works).

A couple of the more interesting ones that he launched this week, included this lovely, sleek wooden sailing boat that is pictured here. This is a rather special boat, with an Aussie connection, would you believe. I was talking to the owner of the boat last year when he was putting on her mast and he told me that this actual boat won a gold medal for Sweden in the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne!



The owner of this boat is the brother of our friends who restore the old wooden archipelago sailing boats. It must run in the family as this one is also beautifully and lovingly restored and cared for.

The other interesting boat is a beautiful wooden motor yacht called Spirit.



She is owned by a well known Swedish actress and singer who lives here in town. She and her husband, who are both really lovely, friendly people regularly take Spirit out on weekend jaunts with family and friends. It is a very elegant boat and looks so majestic as she motors along the waterways. There is a very active society for owners of similar sorts of boats and we have on occasion seen their meet-ups, where dozens of these classic craft are moored together in guest harbours. It makes for quite a sight. I love the warmth and refined grace of these boats from a by-gone era.

The impetus for us struggling with the work on our classic boat is to get her out on the water as fast as we can. The sea is really beckoning us and it feels so wrong to be stuck on land.



Perfect weather and winds to head off to Gotland, if only we had a sailing boat...

But there is no rest for the wicked and the next step is to paint on the waterline stripes - one the same colour as the hull and then a red "snob stripe" above it. We spent a while at the paint shop collecting colour samples and travelling back to the boat in an effort to match them to the hull, finally selecting a shade called antique white. Paint is another thing that costs an absolute fortune here. The tin was the smallest you could buy (at 470ml or 0.47dl for the Swedish readers) and cost a eye-watering $30 a tin. Thirty bucks for ordinary gloss finish house paint. And we also needed a small tin of red. Not to mention another small tin of varnish at $35 and there was no change from the hundred dollars we offered. This boat just soaks up money and I feel like we are haemorrhaging cash at the moment.

Anyway, the next "fun" job was to tape the hull.



We started with a highly scientific method, but that soon degenerated into the proverbial dog's breakfast so we chose the simple but effective ruler, plus moving the tape up and down until it looked okay. It's not easy to draw a line on a curved surface that looks even and allows for the angle of the hull. Luckily Lars-Göran has a good eye for things like that so I let him go on with it and escaped up to the deck to apply the sixth coat of varnish to the deck rail. Last coat tomorrow and I never want to see that deck rail ever again!

Later, while Lars-Göran began polishing the hull, I sanded the door to the boat (under strict poodle supervision, of course)



All of this supervision is hard work and when I went to the clubhouse for a drink of saft, it all became just too much for our tired little lady who fell in a heap and went to sleep. If this is "a dog's life" then sign me up, please!



After many hours of work, including some fiddling around with the engine, we headed home. Not before we discovered that the engine needs a new fuel filter, fan belt and impeller for the cooling system. Another few hundred dollars to spend at the Solna supplier on Tuesday.



And out in the bay, we saw this sailing boat, yet to be masted and rigged, but still able to be rowed out for a short journey. Now wouldn't that be nice to own, instead of the seven ton money eater that controls us?



Hmm... maybe not. Where would we all fit on such a small boat and of course I need a bathroom, with shower and toilet, not to mention a galley with oven and fridge, a roomy double bed.....

This was something I heard on a Swedish nature program last week. The presenter likened the emergence of Swedish spring to getting sauce out of a bottle. You shake it and there is nothing, nothing, nothing, then suddenly all of it comes out at once. Haven't we ALL had that happen to us at least once :)

Anyway, I thought it was a great analogy as I have been surprised in past years about how spring here literally explodes onto the scene. Last week, all trees looked lifeless and dead, then overnight (literally) new growth appeared and today they are starting to look so green and fresh!



This is the area just behind where the boat stands on land, so it is a lovely, peaceful environment to work around. I never get tired of seeing and hearing the woodland sounds.

Today it's back to normal work for me, while Lars-Göran continues with the boat. I won't be down to do anymore until Wednesday and hopefully my sore body will have recovered by then. Yesterday, we finished sanding the wooden rail and I put the first protective coat of varnish on it after we uncovered her. It feels so good to have the tarpaulins off as it was a bit like limbo dancing when negotiating my way around the struts and ropes holding it all up.



You can see the poodle supervisor on the left of the picture. I was commenting to Lars-Göran the other day about how many of our photos feature that white, fluffy presence in the background. Funny about that!

My friend Kay sent me this link to a newspaper article in Aftonbladet about a new Swedish Barbie doll being launched later this year (sorry the article is in Swedish). Apparently, the Italian fashion house Benetton and Mattel, the makers of Barbie, are joining forces to create a line of clothing for girls, called "Barbie Loves Benetton". According to their website, Benetton says the line will feature fashion from London, Paris, New York and Stockholm and a range of four special edition dolls. Now I can understand London, Paris and New York being touted as fashion capitals, but Stockholm??? Really? What about Milan?

What amused me most in the advertising blurb about the Stockholm Barbie was the presence of the polar-bear bag! Hmmm... wrong country. Despite many Australians believing that polar bears do in fact inhabit the streets of Stockholm, there are none in this country at all. That would be Norway, not Sweden (and then only off-shore at the Svalbard islands, not on mainland Norway).

Still, it wouldn't be the first time that an advertising company stretched the truth to make a point.

The other surprising thing was that the outfit is so colourful. People would not be seen dead wearing colour during the winter months. Everything is in shades of black (believe me, there are at least 40 different shades of black in this country) and grey. Poor Barbie would get the hairy eyeball if she trotted around Stockholm dressed like that.

Obviously Bentetton and Mattel have a lot to learn about what is lagom here.

Well, not really, but it did feel like it today. My body aches in places that I never knew I had. I ought to have realised when I bought the boat that we needed a couple of slaves as well to do the maintenance. I remember sailing Fiona home for the first time in November 2001 - 500 long, cold, stormy nautical miles from Göteborg to Nynäshamn. We were scared of her because she was considerably bigger and more sophisticated than our old boat and we made a vow to ourselves that we would learn to know every square inch of her. She is making sure that we keep to that promise!

For the last couple of days I've been sanding the timber areas of the cockpit and the wooden rail around the deck. One of the things that really appealed to us about her was the beautiful timber detail . But of course it only stays beautiful with constant work.

Yesterday I hand sanded the cockpit rail and the wooden cleats (under strict poodle supervision):



The whole time I was sanding, I was daydreaming about my lovely nail tecnician, Renata from Perfect Nails at Prospect, who I used to visit every three weeks for my refills. I had lovely acrylic nails in Australia - long, perfect and always painted a startling shade of orange. *sigh*

Acrylic nails are not common in Sweden and horrifically expensive, so I had to grow them out, but I really miss them (and my chats with Renata). I found this site the other day and thought of myself and Lambi being pampered in Renata's salon. I think it's very us. But I bet you can't buy anything as frivilous as that here for pets.

However, back to reality as my daydream came to an end and I realised that there would be no nifty nail varnish for me, only boat varnish...



Once that was done, we went off to Stockholm to visit my mother-in-law in her convalescent home.

Today, I sanded the wooden rail around the deck. Last year we did this and used a new type of teak oil. Whether we didn't apply enough coats, or didn't do it properly I don't know, but what I do know is that it hasn't lasted at all. We decided to use the same varnish we used for the cockpit rail as it seems to be a long lasting finish. We have a variety of sanding machines, so I alternated between an orbital sander and the B&D Mouse and hand sanding, while Lars-Göran used a B&D Powerfile to sand the more awkward areas. Again, under the eagle eye of the poodle supervisor!



As you can see, it is another glorious, sunny spring day and that really helps to make the work seem less arduous. We were delighted with the amount we managed to get done and we ought to finish it tomorrow, so I can start to varnish it and then commence polishing the hull. I must be crazy!


















In the late afternoon we left the hard work behind us and decided to look at a couple of houses in the area where we are considering buying. These two are in the right price range and appeal to us immensely, especially the yellow one - in part because of the colour (we both love yellow houses) and also because it has a large, glassed in conservatory around the back overlooking a compact garden. The whole area is beautifully quiet, with only the sounds being of birds twittering in the trees. We would be surrounded by nature - with woods leading to the sea to the east, a nature reserve to the west and fields to the north and south. It is absolutely the place where we want to live. While we were there, a couple of the neighbours came out for an early evening stroll...



And just a short way up the road is this magnificent house



Now I bet they have servants to do the varnishing.

As hard as it is to believe, the day dawned cold, but incredibly sunny and we did manage to paint on the last coat of white epoxy treatment and to add the first coat of anti-fouling paint to the hull.



Yes, I know, I know.... why black? It really ought to be red and if I had my choice that is the colour it would have been. However, this paint is breath-takingly expensive (around $175 a tin) and we were able to get this batch for half price from a person who had sold his boat and no longer needed it. With that sort of discount, plus the fact that it lies below the waterline anyway, so only the fish get to see it, we decided that this once we could put up with black. Strangely enough, it is a very common colour here. I really prefer red for our boat, but I'll wait until next time it has to be painted.

The anti-fouling paint had to be applied quickly to the wet epoxy surface, but luckily it is a dream to apply and we finished it in no time.



See how Lars-Göran kneels before her reverently, applying the finishing touches to the keel area, supervised by Lambi from her perch in the car. And check out the blue sky. You can tell, this isn't a day to apply grey paint. It can't be a co-incidence, surely?

After we finished, we decided to sit and have coffee and buns with some friends who were working nearby on their own boat. We sat in a sunny spot by the old clubhouse and chatted for a while. Ulf, who is thinning on top, decided that he needed sun protection and as we had no cap, he chose to use the lunch box instead!



Somehow, I don't think it's a look that will catch on. His wife, Maggan, looks quite bemused by it as well. I told them about an elderly Greek man who lived in my neighbourhood in Adelaide. In July 1991, it became compulsory for cyclists to wear helmets, with hefty on-the-spot fines for those riding without protective headwear. Yes, I guess you can see where this is heading. The old man used an empty 2 litre plastic icecream container as his helmet, with holes poked in the side, through which he threaded string to be able to tie it on. It cracked me up every time I saw him!

And by the way, have I mentioned that we have finished the epoxy treatment?



We were so happy, that we decided to do more work. After all, it is a public holiday in Sweden today (for Ascension Thursday) and so the wharf was really busy with people home from work for the day. And it was a beautiful, warm spring day. As there were people around, we decided to get some of them to help collect our mast from the mast shed and bring it over to the boat. Four strong men were enlisted to lift the monster piece onto the wagon.



Despite them being fit and healthy, it took two tries and it was a real strain to lift it out of the shelf and place it centred and secure on the wagon.



It still took the four of them to safely steer it along the wharf to where our boat was standing. Is is a huge mast and from this angle it seems to stretch out for miles. Still, you can see it is a glorious day and on a day like this, nothing can dampen your spirits. The boat you can see to the right of the picture is Adrenaline, the lovely Wasa Atlantic belonging to our friends Ulf and Maggan. Yes, that Ulf, with the unusual hat!

Once we reached the area beside our boat, it was time to lift the mast off the wagon and on to the trestles we had set up nearby.



Then it was time to stop for a break and chat, while Lambi wondered if she ought to change owners as Nils seemed to like to treat her like the princess she firmly believes she is.



I spent the remainder of the afternoon uncovering the plastic from the mast and adding more parrafin oil to it. I was amazed that the oil I had smeared on the mast in autumn had been absorbed and she needed treatment again. Still, compared to the pain of epoxy treatment, it was a breeze to stand there and rub in the oil.



Most owners were down here today, uncovering their boats, polishing them, repairing bits and pieces and catching up on all of the news. You could hear drills, sanders, grinders, polishing machines, vacuum cleaners etc all around the wharf. Some people simply sat and enjoyed the feeling that summer was nearly here.



These are our friends Douglas and Stina with their elegant wooden boat Blanka, built at the beginning of last century and still going strong. They both love the old wooden archipelago cruisers and actually own TEN of them, that they are restoring. They love nothing better than taking over some poor, neglected wooden boat and painstakingly restoring it to it's former glory. It is a real labour of love. I still remember the mellow summer evening we spent inside Blanka early last summer, sipping rosé and eating homegrown strawberries and chatting all night. Yes, it is almost time for that sea life again.



See, through the emerging new growth, the open waters and stark outcrops and islands beckon us. We have set May 19th as the day to launch Fiona, so we have a lot to do before then to ensure she is ready.

But.... at leat we have finished with the epoxy!

Obviously God didn't have a boat that required epoxy resin treatment or he would not have been able to afford the luxury of a seventh day of rest!

We dragged ourselves out of bed on this grey, foggy morning and made our way to the boat to paint on layer seven of the epoxy. See how Fiona dwarfs the car?



She loomed above me like a giant zeppelin while I mixed and applied the second-to-last coating. You would think that it would be easier with the end in sight, but today it felt very long and hard. I suspect it was because we were being constantly interrupted by people wanting various tools, help, advice etc.




I have also noticed that the days we paint the grey layer are unaccountably the hardest. There seems no logical explanation for this. The white epoxy and the grey one should be exactly the same composition. But for some odd reason, the grey does not appear to blend as easily or spread as well as the white. It has also been overcast and cold on the days we apply the grey primer. Co-incidence? Who knows, but I do know that days one, three, five and seven have been arduous.

Last day tomorrow.

But so this won't appear as a completely negative entry, I'm happy to report that our nesting pair of seagulls are back again! I spotted them this morning in the garden opposite the apartment. It seems so odd to see these sea birds fossicking around in a surburban garden instead of down by the seashore.




This pair nested here last year as well, so it must have been a success as they are here again. The house is on the market at the moment as the elderly woman who lived there sadly died late last year. I used to wonder if she noticed the gulls were sharing her home. I think they are nesting on or around the garage and each morning they come out and dig around for food. It's lovely to watch them while we eat breakfast.

It makes a change from looking at the letterbox. Why look at a letterbox? Well, when the wind blows from the south, the lid of the letterbox at this house flaps wildly. Some nights the constant banging drives us crazy to the point where we almost went out on a couple of occasions and taped the thing shut! The only thing that stopped us was if we taped it up, it might have worried the old lady who lived there.

One windy morning, I was telling a pathetic joke at breakfast and when Lars-Göran told me that it wasn't funny and nobody was laughing, I pointed to the letterbox and said "Well, the letterbox thinks it's funny". And from that day forward, we called it The Laughing Letterbox and you know it doesn't annoy us as much now that we have personified it.

Though it was laughing today as we left for the boat. Damn letterbox!

...are out with mum for a walk in town.



It must be spring!

It is hard to believe that these little darlings were only eggs a few short weeks ago. Things are really moving along at a rapid rate as the days lengthen, more birds return and the town springs to life.

Today we laid on the sixth coating of epoxy resin. It sure isn't getting any easier. I thought that by now we would have a rhythmn worked out and that the work would go faster. But each morning it is harder and harder to get out of bed knowing that the early morning paint job awaits us. The weather is not co-operating either and I can tell you that when I looked out of my window this morning and saw fog, drizzle and cold north winds I wanted to pull the covers over my head and stay where I was.

When we got to the boat, I'd swear that it had grown overnight to the size of an aircraft carrier. Or so it seemed as I mixed up the first batch of epoxy and started rolling it on. The hull stretched up above me and seemed to go on forever. However, the time passed quickly and the blend went on a little easier than yesterday which was the hardest day so far - a day when everything seemed against us. We were finished in good time and were then able to head up to north of Stockholm to see Lars-Göran's mother and bring her some clothes as she will soon be allowed to sit up for a few hours each day. We are hopeful that she will be home in two weeks or so.

On the drive north I saw that the wood anenome (vitsippor) are in full flower throughout the forest areas.



They are lovely to look at and are quite widespread in this area. From the side of the road, it looks as though the ground is covered with patches of hailstones or a light covering of snow. The other flowers that are sprouting now are the buttercups (smörblomma).



I always think of the old Foundations song Build Me Up Buttercup whenever I see them (not that I ever had a clue what that song was about). I don't know about everyone else, but Spring can never show up soon enough for me. I'm definitely NOT a cold-weather person and I enjoy the warmth and splash of welcome colour that comes with this season. And spring means picnics, lush greenery, walks in the park and that soon it will be time to set sail.

If we can finish the boat.

Layer seven of eight will be applied in the morning. If I can force myself out of bed, that is :)

Yesterday, April 30th was Valborgsmässoafton or Walpurgis Eve.

It was named after St Walpurga (Valborg in Swedish), an eighth-century abbess in Germany. In Sweden, her name-day falls on the 1st of May and is known as Valborgsmässa. The word for eve in Swedish is afton. It is believed to have been brought to Sweden by early German settlers.

On the evening of April 30th, crowds of people gather around roaring bonfires. In university towns, many wear white caps and as the fires blaze they sing spring songs like Sköna maj välkommen (Welcome beautiful May), Vinterna rasat ut (Winter is gone) and Vårvindar friska, leka och viska (Spring winds are rising, playing and whispering).

Apparently, during the Viking Era, the fires were set both to hurry along the coming of spring as well as to scare off witches, but today they remind distant watchers of the warmth soon to come. The fires were also meant to scare off any wild animals in the area as it is time for domestic farm animals to come out of their winter quarters into the open fields again. It is also a great way to dispose of any branches and leaf litter lying around. These crackling bonfires can be seen all around the countryside.

The traditional meal on this evening is gravlax, a type of fresh salmon marinated in salt, sugar and fresh dill, served with fresh potatoes and a dill/mustard sauce. However, we decided to eat sushi instead, which gave us an opportunity to try out the new sushi bar in town.

Lars-Göran had never tried sushi before, but being Swedish, he is used to the idea of raw fish so he was not adverse to giving sushi a go, especially as I raved about it. The restaurant was clean and inviting and the sushi was very fresh and well-made. The menu is small, but very select. As this was a first for my guy, I chose a mixed platter containing both nigirisushi and makisushi. These were served with thin slices of pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. Nigiri is a small oval made of pressed rice, with a slice of fish and a touch of wasabi on top. I selected four different toppings to try - raw salmon, tuna, swordfish and prawn. Maki consists of fish and fresh vegetables rolled in a sheet of nori (roasted seaweed) and rice.

I really savoured it as I have not had sushi since I left Australia nearly five years ago. It was heavenly and I wish I could eat this every day. Lars-Göran also enjoyed it (the maki in particular) and I look forward to introducing him to some different tastes next time.

The bonfire in Nynäshamn is a little different as it is lit on the beach near the nature reserve at Lövhagen. Because it is on the beach, one can go there by boat and lay by anchor in the bay and watch it, which several people from the boat club did.



We can't do this until next year, so we joined the large, lively crowd that gathered on the grassed area between the woods and the shore where the local boy scout troop had set up the bonfire. There was a choir that led the singing of spring songs and the mood was of a friendly family orientated gathering, with hot coffee, hot dogs and soft drinks for sale and several people enjoying a picnic on the beach. Most people gathered around the pile of leaves and timber waiting for it to be lit.



Around 8.30pm, just as dusk was falling, the boy scouts appeared with flaming torches, gathered around the pile and set it alight while people cheered.



People drew near the fire and watched as it roared into life. I was rather surprised to see many unsupervised children quite near the inferno, but nobody seemed concerned and it all went on without a problem.



While it was a clear night, it was still very cold standing out on the beach, so I was glad that I'd worn my winter coat, hat and gloves and that we had scored a spot close to the fire, where it was lovely and warm.



The fire burned steadily and the people seemed very content to stand around and watch the flames and chat to friends and family. We spoke to a few people we knew there and Lambi was kept busy with her canine friends. Once the fire was reduced to glowing embers, the night ended with a fireworks display.



Isn't it beautiful to see the reflections of the fireworks in the water? Lars-Göran thinks this is a very new addition to Valborgsmässoafton, as he can't ever remember seeing fireworks before. I thought it was a perfect ending to a very low-key but enjoyable evening