We caught a fish

Evening

Practicing knots

Linn fishing

Cycling

Calm morning

Anchoring successful

Freshly smoked "sik"

Sailing slowly

Other shore Utö

Best place to sit now

Sun setting

Old mining grounds since 1100

Dinner preparations

Cappuccino, kardemumma bulle

Our first natural harbour turned out to have fish surfacing every where as the sun set. Therefore we decided to try Dee's fishing rod. I taught Linn how to use it and because we didn't want the hooks to pierce our dinghy by accident we went to shore. There we could practice, but only caught seaweed. So back to the boat, dinghy pushed to the other side Linn's first shot wheeled in a "sik" whitefish about 12 cm my guess. I frantically looked for the net or what it is called to bring the fish in and could not find it. We both were so feminine airheaded about what to do that the fish freed itself before we could decide how to kill it. I was relieved that I got away this time not like last week when I had to put the mask on the hook for fishing for Stefan!
Just when that was taken care of the wind shifted and we needed to adjust all lines to be far enough from shore for the night. Right now I got up at 5 o'clock to check again,  because the wind is supposed to shift. But this time all is calm and the fish leave circles in the water around me again.
Yesterday was awesome! We started the day with different programs, Linn ran a round and I rented a bike to see the other shore and some old mining grounds. After another great kardemumma bulle and cappuccino at the bakery, we left around noon and set sail as soon we had passed all small islands north of Utö. Just when Linn wanted to climb on-board to leave, she lost one shoe in the water. Quickly retrieved I was on deck all day to dry.
We had south easterly wind and needed to go north so partly we could do butterfly. That turned out to be a course the auto-pilot, which now is called Alfons (Alfons Åberg the inspiration) did not manage well. Our speed varied between 1-3,5 knots during sailing.
Linn dished up the best leftovers lunch I have had so far on the boat.
Late afternoon we arrived at our natural harbour destination and our anchoring went really smooth. Linn got on shore without getting wet or falling, yeah!
Just when we were fast a boat came by with 2 young lads selling smoked fish and bread. We bought the smallest "sik" and it was delicious!
Today we want to pass the island that belonged to my grandfather,  my dad's dad, Långholmen and then anchor in Napoleon viken. Wendsday we want to dock in Saltsjöbaden and go to Stockholm by train.
Now I go back to sleep for another 2 hours!

Posted via Blogaway

First day on the water with Linn

Rain wet stuff

Celebrities

Having lunch and auto pilot steers

Swan mamma

Harbour office Utö

Fog horn

Linn preparing lunch

Restaurant Kroken

Linn's is longer than mine

Foggy again

Strawberries

Linn's work

Snail 2 of many many more

Snail 1

Biff à la Lindström

A bit of sun after fog

Yesterday we decided to stay one more night in Nynäshamn and give me as well as Linn a bit more time to get used to the boat. Weather forecast was rain over night and fog for the morning. That turned out to be an excellent decision again,  because it rained more than predicted and the wind changed direction, got stronger so I secured the boat with a second line to the bouy. Nice to have a dinghy to do that with!
After sauna we went to the harbour restaurant Kroken just located next to our boat. We both ordered "fisksoppa" that was excellent! Suddenly I received a SMS telling me that Roger, Anna Pia and Olivia also were having dinner at Kroken. These were Camilla's Swedish friends that we met during midsummer celebration. What a coincidence to bump into them! Without the SMS we would not have known and probably missed seeing them,  because we were exactly at the far end opposite to each other! So nice to meet them again, even if they had to go to get Olivia to bed.
A while later when I wanted to go to bed I noticed that the window above my clothes closet was dripping. I had not turned one of the closing nobbs completely closed, shucks! After wiping up on top of the closet I noticed that the floor and ground compartment were both soaked,  well some of my underwear, sleeping bag sheets and towel were drenched. Luckily we were still in Nynäshamn where I could use the dryer this morning.
After a breakfast with fresh bread buns Linn got the complete run down on safety instructions as well as leaving harbour instructions. On top of that we practiced throwing anchor and walked through the docking maneuver for later in Utö.
Since the fog went and came back of and on I purchased a substantial fog signal air horn. Now we were prepared to leave!
On the water we even could set sails and picked up speed from 2 knots to 4 knots.
At Utö harbour where Dee and I had been, Linn and I did a perfect anchor maneuver and tied up at the pier! The new anchor roll made a huge difference,  but probably my experience by now helps too!
The weather is very British momentarily with foggy rain lowering the sight. Still Linn and I had a nice walk and found snails everywhere, but also wood strawberries,  yummy!
Tomorrow after the fog lights up we leave to continue north back to the home harbour Bullandö again at the end of this week!

Posted via Blogaway

Posted via Blogaway

Waiting for fog to leave

Japanese chicken game

Eva's record to beat

Fog

Well while I and Linn are waiting to see more than 50 m to sail to Utö I need to share two more things about Eva.
She managed to crack my personal record of sorting chicken 🍗 out of a bowl in 1 minute in 2 days so now the record is 64, mine was 48! So who ever joins me here can have a go at beating Eva's record. I promised I would create a certificate for whoever ended having the highest score at the end of my trip.
So welcome to join the chicken contest!

Second all my guests for Midsommar learned to sing Swedish snaps songs, but Eva could not get the "Helan går ..." out of her system so we all have it in our heads now. She kept singing it on the weirdest occasions,  now I miss hearing her sing!

Posted via Blogaway

What an awesome ending

Dragets Kanal

Old and new crew

Eva's favorite spot

Cleaning

Boat all docked

Behind us Dragets Kanal

Sun is out

New anchor roll

Saying farwell

Eva sailing and keeping course

In the middle Dragets Kanal

Finally I find time to blog about how the last day on the water turned out with my team Eva, Stefan and Torsten. After doing wellness at Nynäs Havsbad with Dee 2 weeks ago I knew I would return here to drop my team of and pick Linn up. So my team was in agreement when I suggested to do a wellness afternoon and then have dinner at their restaurant and made the reservations 2 weeks ago.

Additionally the train station is just 50m away from the harbour with a direct connection to Stockholm every 30 minutes,  so perfect for a crew change.
To get the most of our wellness arrangement we left Öja Landsort a bit earlier than usually 9.30ish. At first we went with the motor through a tricky passage that I halfway had sailed through in the opposite direction together with Aden,  Catherine and Martin. After that we could set sails and sailed north with a light south east wind behind us until we went through the cool passages in the middle Dragets Kanal again this time all the opposite way as with the other teams. Most the time we had sunshine and Eva even dared to steer under sail while we passed Nyes Havsbad on our approach to Nynäshamn.
We almost did a perfect docking,  but Eva and Torsten tangled up the boat hook and bouy hook and none wanted to let go so we were close to see them both in the water. Putting the boat in reverse got it sorted out quickly and Stefan at the front did not even notice our struggle.
Quick harbour drink and then off to our wellness appointment. We truly enjoyed that and dinner afterwards was excellent too. Back at the harbour we just did not want the night to end, because that meant farwell the next day. So it was 2 when we finally hit the sack!
This morning we cleaned up and I got the new anchor roll mounted and 30 minutes before my old crew had to take the train Linn arrived.
Now we are staying one more night here and it has started raining heavily. So let us see what tomorrow looks like?

Posted via Blogaway

Landsort lighthouse on Öja

Öja

Landsort lighthouse again

Small town again

Dessert banana with chocolate

Sun going down

More sailing

Harbour drink

Me and lighthouse

Landsort lighthouse

Small town

Stones and view

Stefan with small lighthouse

Cycling

Stefan

Wind had turned us around 180 degrees over night fast at the bouy. As planned after breakfast in the sun, we loaded the dinghy up with all of us and went on shore to go to the Naturum as small museum for the nature reserve area. After that we took the same walk as I had the night before along the shore through the woods over root paths and bridges connecting the small islands. I felt transported back in time doing this as a kid and loving it, still do!
We left Stendörren to go to Landsort on the island Öja, which is one of the oldest lighthouses erected. Additionally on the weather report you are always told what the wind is at Landsort.
4 hours sailing got us there and after an excellent bouy dock maneuver between 2 other sailboats we rented bikes to get to the lighthouse across the long island with just one gravel road.
Passing through another beautiful little town we reached the lighthouse Landsort with bunkers scattered around it in every direction you looked. To get the best view of our photo object we circled it climbing over smooth gray rocks. Also this reminded me of my childhood, how fun it always was to conquer jet another rock and get a beautiful view as a reward!
Back at the boat Torsten hunted down a big piece of meat for us to grill at the harbour shop master that had just been delivered while we were cycling. Since the pub in the town was closed my German crew were in need of another source to follow the soccer game Germany versus USA. I managed to set up the internet radio for them to listen while I got the grill ready for our dinner. Satisfied both because of the soccer result as well as our dinner choice, we had a wonderful 2 course dinner seeing the sun set afterwards from deck.
We ended the night with another late 10 phases card game that Stefan won! Absolutely another great day!

Posted via Blogaway