Fast sailing, family, friends

 

Within two weeks of arriving back to Positive Waves, we were already making plans to leave her again. Last summer the kids begged, and we promised, to spend some time at the family summer house in northern Sweden without parents. Only with Hans's parents, their Farmor and Farfar. Hans and I also wanted to spend a little time there, to see family and enjoy the long northern days, so it was time to move off the boat for a few weeks. Finding a place to leave the boat at the height of the Swedish summer sailing and vacation season was a little more difficult (and potentially expensive) than we had anticipated. Almost every Swede takes long vacations during the month of July, and the majority of boat owners spend those summer days afloat. Marina prices skyrocket and berths fill quickly. To make it even trickier, we wanted to leave the boat within easy public transit distance of Gothenburg. After looking at marina rates and calling around to learn that most marinas were already full or that they couldn't (wouldn't) offer a five-week solution, we almost gave up. But then Hans reached a very friendly harbour master on the island of Öckerö who said he'd make it work for us. Thank you!

Our old SLR camera broke so Freja took it apart and affixed a flashlight to a lens to create her own microscope.

 Fjällbacka to Lysekil

We had a couple weeks to sail from Fjällbacka to Öckerö, no big distance at all, and we had a couple weekends with friends and family lined up. We started with a "lively" sail to Lysekil. We learned last summer that Positive Waves really likes 15+ knots of wind, and does even better in 20 knots. We had a forecast for 15-20 out of the ENE which would put us on a beam reach. Perfect. We put one reef in the main and set out. The winds continued to build, and build. We rolled up the jib a little. Took a second reef in the main. At some point we put life jackets on. Winds were steady at 35 knots as we sailed past Smögen, gusting to 40. So that's really no big deal, especially on our boat. And we didn't even have any sea state since the wind was directly off land. But holy sh*t. It was the first time we'd had all the sails up since November and I felt a little caught on my heels. And even though I thought I'd secured all loose items down below, clearly I hadn't as we saw a Lego tower go sailing across the cabin and a pottery casserole dish fly out from under the stove. Rationally, logically, I knew that we were fine. I knew the boat could more than handle it; I was pretty certain the kids were fine (they were down below on their tablets); and I knew that we were in deep water for many more miles with the only obstacles being a crab pot here and there. But I started to get nervous, kind of scared, and when fear creeps in there is almost no going back. I certainly didn't have my sea legs, I didn't feel physically comfortable, and I was irrationally mad at Hans for . . . I don't know what. The wind? Or perhaps his gleeful expression as he was truly loving the sail and I was trying not to breathe into a paper bag. 

After an hour or so we ducked behind some smaller islands and Hans tacked with the reefed main and the staysail toward the harbour. We tied up next to a restaurant (unfortunately closed on weekdays) and walked into town. Our first proper town in weeks. Freja and I found a fantastic thrift store, Hans and Matilda went to the playground, and we all met in the park. Dinner in the cockpit as the clouds raced overhead and we cleaned up and readied to go further south the next day.

So many tea sets (rather, coffee sets since we're in Sweden) at the thrift store. If we didn't live on a boat, I'd definitely get a set!

Lysekil to Mollösund

We stopped at Mollösund again, which was much more lively than when we passed through on our way north. As the kids and I were walking home from the playground, chatting together in English, a man working on his fence asked if we'd sailed all the way from England. (PW is registered in Jersey so we fly the Jersey Red Ensign.) It's such a small village that we only needed to be there for less than an hour for our presence to be known. He was a little taken aback by the long, chatty answer the kids gave him, but he seemed to enjoy it and wished us fair winds.

Mollösund

An island anchorage with family

Continuing further south, we tied up to the rocks near a little marina where we planned on rendezvousing with Hans's sister, Sofia, her husband, Patrik, and their two kids (the cousins!). Again, more stress, more tight spaces, more granite rocks that don't budge. We got the boat secured with a few bumps along the way, the gang plank lowered, and we were ready for a few days of archipelago exploration. The water is crystal clear at the edge of the sea and I never grow tired of peering below the surface at the various types of kelp and sea grasses. There were plenty of oysters to harvest, but unfortunately not enough mussels for Matilda.

Cousins busy building something.

A raft/paddleboard!

Oysters anyone?!

Kids, what kids? We have champagne!

Skärhamn

Skärhamn was next, with its big grocery store, waterside restaurants, and ice cream. We spent a few days there: tidying up, doing laundry, enjoying the beginning of the summer tourist season, and provisioning for our last week on PW. After weeks of remote anchorages, it was fun to be in a busy town, with all the anticipation for summer.

Skärhamn is home to an amazing watercolor museum and we were lucky to catch this summer's exhibit of art by Friendsreich Hundertwasser. His use of colors, mixed media, found materials, messaging about climate change and nature, and semi-abstract depictions is absolutely stunning. If I could have a soul artist, it's Hundertwasser. I was blown away and we actually went to the museum twice in as many days.

He even lived on a boat for a couple years! This image is a depiction of the view from one of his portholes.

Enjoying the start of the summer season. Tho the sun was warm, it was still very chilly in the air.

At and around Marstrand

We had our first real taste of summer at anchor just south of Marstrand. The temps soared to the mid 70s, plenty warm enough for me and the kids to swim off the boat. It was skin-tingling cold, as expected. Refreshing is an apt descriptor.

We shared the anchorage with a herd of cows that liked to wade in the water. (photo editing by Matilda.)

While the kids built a little village/fort/homestead on a small island, Hans and I tested our MOB devices. We have nifty little units that affix to the inside of our inflatable life jackets. If we fall overboard, the lifejackets will automatically inflate, at the same time triggering our man overboard device. The MOB will send an alert to our VHF, and to any other radio in the vicinity, and, if programmed correctly, it will also ping the location of the MOB on our GPS/AIS. I took the MOBs out to the entrance of the harbour in the dinghy while Hans sat in the doghouse watching our electronics. I activated the first one and it pinged the VHF. Then I ran the AIS test and, success, it pinged my position on our GPS/AIS unit. The second unit was succesful on the VHF test but not the AIS test. I called the company and they instructed me to send the unit back and they'll either fix it or replace it. At the same time, we'll also order two more so the kids each have one. Now of course the ultimate goals is to NEVER FALL OVERBOARD!! But if we do, it'll be good to have a tracking device. After a recent tragedy near Bermuda with an experienced sailor and fellow cruiser, we are also thinking about equipping our life jackets with personal EPIRBs. Hans has one that he used while fishing in Texas, so we may take turns using that while on night watches.

Our friend Gunnar met us in Marstrand for lunch and spoiled the kids with Christmas and birthday presents. Matilda was so excited to see him, her BFF (best friend forever), after many many months. We had a nice lunch, enjoyed coffee in the cockpit, and talked sailing, our boat, summer plans, etc. And there was a fair amount of good boat watching to do in the busy harbour. 

lunch with Gunnar

A sailing weekend with Fredrik

Next up was Hans's childhood friend, Fredrik. We have a fun sailing history with Fredrik. Over 10 years ago, when he was in medical school in Sweden, he and some friends flew to the Virgin Islands and hopped aboard Whisper. Hans and I flew back to the states for Christmas and Fredrik and his friends had a two week sailing vacation, taking care of our boat and drinking a few painkillers. Hans and I also spent time with him aboard Whisper, showing him some of our favorite spots and discovering some new places, like the phosphorescent bay on the south coast of Vieques. The last time we saw each other was almost ten years ago when Freja was only three months old and we went sailing on his Albin Vega north of Stockholm. I'm not positive, but I think Freja's first sail may have been on Fredrik's boat, a Vega, just like Whisper.

We had a fantastic time sailing on PW together, and our first afternoon and evening was nothing short of magical. A perfect breeze, the code zero pulling us toward our anchorage, easy mooring on the rocks, and a BBQ ashore. We had a few more similarly stellar days together with easy, fun sailing, sunny skies, and great conversation. One of my favorite parts of cruising is being able to share our life with friends and family. We love it so much, and it's even better when we can share the experience.

We dropped Fredrik off at the bus stop (literally), and we headed over to Öckerö where, over the course of a couple days, we met the harbour master, secured the boat, ran through a list of tidying-up projects and took the ferry and bus to the airport. Goodbye Positive Waves, see you in a few weeks. We'll miss you!

My dream: matching clothes with the kids.
Obviously Matilda doesn't share the same sentiments!

The glamorous side of boating life: going upside down in small spaces to access the inner workings of the boat's systems. In this case I needed to bleed the freshwater pump. Matilda, our little joker, saw the perfect opportunity to snap a picture.