Lady Hamilton 2019

FYRUDDEN TO VASTERVIK (36 miles)

Day 79  Sunday, 18^th August 2019

Yesterday we ate in the restaurant next to the marina and I took this photo from the balcony.   No longer ‘Billy No-Mates’!

We had to be there by 6 pm as the restaurant was closing at 7pm on a Saturday night.  We are so out of season!  I had an enormous pile of shrimps on toast, with a tasty dressing with dill, as a starter and my main was smoked fish (like salmon but not, the waitress told me!) with a sauce made from yellow berries (?), roasted vegetables and new potatoes.  Malcolm had three sorts of herring, all different, and new potatoes as a starter, followed by a main of delicious steak, gravy and roasted vegetables.  All very typically Swedish!   

This morning we left at 8 am and wend our way through many narrow passages.

Lots of holiday homes – remember Sweden has a higher number than most countries – but we can’t see any people.  They fly a flag when they’re in residence.  Love this mermaid holding a life ring in the photo below!

We see a white tailed eagle swooping down over the sea.  It dives on a bird in the water, the bird takes flight and the eagle pounces and grasps it in its talons – but then the eagle drops the bird and comes back looking for it.  We are so excited that we lose track of where we are, just for a minute, but soon get back on course and head to our next waypoint. 

We see the eagle just off the ‘fjord’ to Loftahammer, where we went last year on the way to Stockholm.  Last year we sailed outside the skargard and I felt envious of all the yachts going through the islands.  But now we’re leaving the archipelago tomorrow, and we’re exhausted by following the route through the islands.  We haven’t been able to sail as concentration is key, and what little wind there is, is on the nose.  Hoping to SAIL across to Byxelkrok on the island of Oland tomorrow! 

We got to the  WSSW Yacht Club marina and only had to take a very narrow berth, 3.2m, with booms out either side.  It was the only one with a green sticker and not a red one.  We are a very snug fit!  And you have to pay cash here too, 200 Swedish Krona, so I ask some members in the clubhouse about paying as we’ve only got 2 x 500 SWK notes.  They say we can go to the restaurant to change our note, but the one near the marina is closed and the other one is long way into town.  A couple from the Yacht Club invite us to jump in the car and walk back – but then tell us that we can pay in Euros, on the way to the restaurant owned by Bjorn of Abba fame!  (His daughter runs the restaurant, hotel and apartments. They both come from Vastervik where we are.)  They take us back to the marina – very kind of them.   

We might be playing Abba tonight!