Category: 2022 (Page 1 of 4)

Year 2022

Winter barging, on “The Squire”

February 7, 2023 / fiandadrian

Perhaps you remember from our last blog, we arrived in England and welcomed to the Fi and Adrian Sailing family a narrowboat called “The Squire”. This was to be our home for the 2 months over December 2022 and January 2023. Last year we spent the same time period on another narrowboat called “The Earl” and Bernie loved it so much, we wanted to give him the same experience again. Plus for us, its a nice break from sailing, but still presents lots of opportunities for adventures.

We began our trip unpacking and settling in to the boat, getting to know the ins and outs and making friends with it. We started at a stretch of canal near Fenny Compton in the middle of England.

Good thing we brought the cold weather gear and boots for muddy tow paths

Time to push off! We have to reverse up to the winding hole (a large space dotted along the canals where these long boats can turn around) which presented its own challenges as the first maneuver of the trip. All done though and we were on our way north. Quickly reaching Napton on the Hill, we make a left turn on to the Grand Union Canal bound for Birmingham. The Grand Union links Birmingham and London and was a busy canal in its day, shipping all manner of goods and fuel between these two cities.

We are reminded fairly quickly that this section of the Grand Union has been built to accommodate wide beam boats, and therefore have double width locks. Our skills from the previous year were quickly brought to the fore, and Adrian was navigating into the large locks with me only needing to open 1 of the gates on either side. Phew! The lock doors can be upwards of 3 tonnes so I was happy to not have to open 4 doors every time. We navigate towards Long Itchington, and enjoy the scenery, locks and the local watering holes.

After a few days of this pattern, we find ourselves in Royal Leamington Spa. I used to have to go to work here on occasion so it was nice to see it from a different perspective, and also discover some fantastic places to provision, and enjoy a hearty English breakfast.

By this time we had completed the Calcutt locks (3 locks), the Stockton lock flight (8 locks), the Bascote locks and a number of others, totaling 25. We had achieved this over the best part of a week, and were feeling prepared to tackle the famous (infamous) Hatton Lock flight. The Hatton Lock flight rises narrowboats up 45m in less than 2 miles and consists of 21 locks. Its grueling work, and was not made easy for us as we buddied up with a single handed narrowboater (so it was a little slower) and every single lock was set against us. Plus we started at about 2pm.

These double locks were some of the last built on the canals. They fill and empty quickly but lack some of the clunky charm of the earlier locks

Into the afternoon we went, setting the locks, driving the boats in, closing gates, filling up the locks, on to the next. The snow had settled on the ground and so the towpath and lock gates were slippery to walk on, the dog enjoyed running away from time to time and the night rolled on in. Granted the night time here is about 4PM. Onwards we went, up and up and up and the hours passed by. Every time we finished a lock, it seemed another came out of the gloom. It felt like it was never going to end. They call this flight the stairway to heaven as it is so arduous. Eventually, after running backwards and forwards, setting and resetting locks, grinding paddles, opening and closing closing 3 tonne gates, we reached the top at about 7:30pm. It was dark, we were exhausted, and we closed up the Squire, stoked up the fireplace and settled in for a beer, and a pre made meal heated up in the oven. We’d made in total about 2.5 miles that day and expended all our energy! We planned to explore the area the following day, rather than go and tackle another section of canal.

We weren’t disappointed! The area around the locks is gorgeous, and there is a cute cafe and a pub. Happy.

Onwards towards Birmingham however, and we find ourselves cracking through ice all of a sudden. Arriving in the area of Solihull, we find a few more wonderful English pubs, some good places to provision and stunning countryside.

Locks require good balance on narrow icy gates above a long drop into icy water

The ice is beginning to form, but just round the corner is free of ice where trees overhang the water

Leaving the bank is getting more difficult

The ice seemed to be getting thicker. The day we left to head into Birmingham, we were cracking through inch thick plates of ice. It is loud and it is hard to steer as the ice pushes the boat around to wherever it has split. We manage this by having 1 person steer, and the other person at the front running from side to side getting the boat to rock to crack the ice relatively evenly. Soon we find the stunning English countryside being replaced by industrial buildings, graffiti, and a lot of litter that speaks to the nightly recreational activities in this less than salubrious area of outer Birmingham.

The lock is on the right in the colourful Birmingham suburbs

The canals passes through many of the old industrial areas that they were integral in creating

Dog safely locked inside so he didn’t accidentally get stabbed with a syringe, or eat some human poo, we navigated through the 25 locks that would get us to the centre of Birmingham. This was not without a stop in a VERY brightly lit (read safe) area next to one of the universities here for a sleep overnight one evening.

Everyone is fascinated by ice. Some throw rocks to see if breaks, others beer bottles, and even full rubbish bins

The locks into Birmingham took us under huge bridges and under buildings and certainly had the air of Peaky Blinders. We saw deals being done, smelled the local relief points, and skipped over broken glass and drug paraphernalia. Eventually, the muck and darkness made way to more gentrified buildings and a cute towpath leading to the top of the locks and the centre. Gas Street Basin is the famous centre of canals in Birmingham, and would be our stop over for a few days. And then a few more days, as the ice got thicker and thicker.

A building has been constructed over a set of locks on the canal. The yellow rails are gantries to allow the lock gates to be maintained as cranes can no longer access the locks.

The final set of locks into the Gas Street Basin. They were covered in ice in coming days.

Strange that nobody is going boating today…

The solar panels weren’t providing much power at this time of year

After about a week, the temperatures has risen enough for the ice to again be navigable, and we said goodbye to Birmingham, keen to have some “field” time. For Christmas, we are heading for Stratford Upon Avon to explore, restock, and appreciate the countryside after so much city time.

These ones are supposed to resemble ears

Heading south, we find ourselves on the Stratford Upon Avon canal. A beautiful stretch of canal winding its way through the countryside, dotted with locks here and there, but nothing as massive as those Hatton Locks. We enjoy time moored in fields, and eventually end up just outside Stratford Upon Avon.

It is Christmas eve, so we quickly find ourselves a lovely pub for lunch, and also head to Waitrose for our turkey and Christmas trimmings. We stop off at Will’s birthplace and have a great wander around town. It would be great to spend a little more time here outside of the holiday season, however we need to get going back towards where we started as the winter closures would mean we would be stuck here, so Christmas day comes, we cast off the mooring lines and head out of Stratford.

Christmas dinner is cooked while moored up in a quiet field, and we plan how to get out and through the Hatton Locks again before the closures in a few days.

Christmas was a chance to relax and stay warm

Back to the locks on Christmas day. Not many boaters out today.

We didn’t get too far before we found the canal was empty making it hard to navigate. Some investigation showed the paddles at both ends of the lock were slightly open allowing the water to drain. It took a couple of hours to let enough water through from a large pound a few locks above and we were on our way again.

Not much water in the canal when we arrived

After redistributing some water we were on our way again

*The canal to Stratford Upon Avon crosses an aqueduct*. There is a fence on the tow path side

But don’t step off the boat on the other side

Retracing our steps, we find ourselves at our turn off point. Adrian navigates the Squire through a 7ft hole in someone’s garden, which leads out of the Stratford Upon Avon Canal to the Grand Union Canal and eventually, that huge Hatton Lock flight. Would I have come up the Hatton Lock flight if I knew what it was like, and that we would have to also come back down it, yes probably. Its a great workout. This time however, we mean business and start the locks at a reasonable time in the morning, and even manage to enlist the help of one of our local friends who came along and opened the last 5 or so locks for us (of 21). We felt like professionals at this point! We were done and dusted mid afternoon, and enjoyed a little wander around Warwick with our friend, and naturally had a few beers at the pub.

BUT – we are still not past the closures. We are on track though, and the next day after a bit of a sleep in, we head on through the next dozen or so locks towards Royal Leamington Spa and past the closures. Phew! We have avoided making the same mistake that we made last year where we got stuck behind the winter closures and had to organise to have the boat trucked over to another canal. Oops.

It is just outside Leamington that we have organised to have guests! Friends from the US have organised to join us and experience what is means to live the canal boat life. And we have some fun plans to show them what it is all about! First stop, 8 locks! Followed by a pub meal. It was so much easier having 4 people on the boat with 3 people able to work the locks. A lot quicker too, and so we found ourselves quite quickly at our designated pub for dinner, and predinner drinks.

Our friends were keen to experience more, and we wanted to take them on a journey through the countryside to Braunston, a cute town that includes a haunted tunnel. We spend New Years quietly, in a field of course, and plan to complete the tunnel on New Years day.

The tunnel is interesting as it is a little wobbly. The construction teams started at each end, then realised they were off by a few feet and had to put some bends in it. When we are a kilometre underground we hope their construction is more solid than their direction finding. No ghosts this time.

Once through the tunnel, we enjoy catching up over cards and boat cooked meals (there is only so many pubs one can visit before you can literally predict every menu), and travel along the canal towards the Watford lock flight. This is a flight that is so steep it has permanent volunteers on hand to assist boats up and down the flight. We pull up at the bottom, and I ran up the hill to the lock keepers hut to register our intention to navigate the locks. Registration complete, we were advised to begin the flight. “Red before white, and you’ll be right” the lock keeper said to me, and following his instructions, we let the boat in the lock, wound the red paddles, then wound the white paddles, and we were indeed, “right” making it to the top of the flight quickly. The flight consists of 7 locks, 4 of which are in a staircase configuration. This means you go up one lock, straight into another, and so ensuring you do the paddles in the correct order is important as to not get stuck.

A further way along the canal, and our friends said thank you and good bye, and again, we were just the 3 of us. In a field.

Unfortunately, the UK flu hit us at this point. We found out later that this has been the worst flu season in the UK for 65 years. The country is basically out of cough medicine and paracetamol, so I raided my handbag stash for paracetamol and we learned quickly how to make cough medicine at home.

Good pour of whiskey in a mug

A squeeze of honey

Good squeeze of lemon juice

Boiling water to the top

Slice of lemon floating around

Sip…

Repeat.
Thank you google

So we take it easy. The boating stops for a few days, we rest, drink our cough medicine, try to placate the neurotic spaniel who is getting increasingly more neurotic the longer we need to recover. Eventually we both feel okay to get our boating again, and decide we will slowly boat up to a small town called Welford.

We manage a lovely walk through the countryside in Welford. I am still coughing a lot, and unfortunately in my frustration with this I decide to cough purposely really hard. “CLICK” something goes in my ribs, and the next day I wake up with very very very sore ribs.

The winter light means its hard to take a bad photo. At least we think so.

Bernie as always wanting to make new friends.

By the time we get to Market Harborough, I need to go to the urgent care at the hospital to get some proper pain killers. Opioids in hand, I do start to get a lot better. PHEW! So most of January at this point has been a little – in the wars to put it mildly. But its okay, as we have our lovely fire, and our fields.

Market Harborough featured the usual muddy towpath, until it froze.

We went for a walk to the shops and it proper snowed

After some exploring around Market Harborough, we fill up with water and leave to head south towards our drop off point in about 10 days. The forecast indicates a couple of sub zero nights and it looks there might be some light ice. By the time we re climbing the Foxton locks the ice was becoming harder to navigate.

We found a parking spot with a view and enjoyed an end of day stout on the roof. The next morning a canal trust boat had come the opposite direction breaking the ice by the time The Squire ventured out for the day.

The day was spent ice breaking until we arrived at Kilworth marina the site of our lorry ride 12 months earlier. With coal and fuel on board we were prepared just in case the ice returned with vengeance and we couldn’t move.

The next morning arrived with the welcome sight of the The Duke and The Duchess, our sister ships, breaking the ice as they passed us. The Duchess in particular had great ice breaking capabilities that we appreciated over the coming days. It’s quite easy to follow another boat that is breaking the ice, but the lead boat works very hard.

We tried breaking ice ouselves but The Squire doesn’t do it that well at all.

Whilst many boaters thanked us for breaking the ice so they could move to get water and coal, this day we encountered the nutty fringe who were convinced the ice was damaging their boats, and probably crop circles are created by aliens and chemtrails are poisoning them. They shouted, swore, threatened and threw things. Who knew narrow boaters could get so excited?

This guy threated our friends with a boat hook, and threw stuff, and threw a bunch of colourful language our way. We’ve scoured social media to find his photos, but nothing. Nutters.

Over the next few days the canal defied the forecast and the ice thickened. The Duke and The Duchess did most of the ice breaking, placating the shouty boaters and getting cheered on by those short of supplies. We enjoyed a delightful dinner at Crick with the American couples aboard the Duke and Duchess and got used to people telling us tails of those determined Americans breaking the ice ahead of us.

Ice breaking, Note how much harder the lead boat is working.

Despite our best efforts the ice was slowing our progress enough that we were not going to reach The Squires home at Heyford. We agreed to take it as far as Fenny Compton where our first canal trip had begun a year earlier. It seemed to fitting to end our trip in the same pub it had started.

With bags packed we left The Squire and started the long trip home to Away. Please enjoy these little snaps from the trip.

You can turn anything into a canal home. This is an old lifeboat

Can you have too many steak and ale pies? Yes, yes you can…

What do we do if we meet another boat coming the other way?

Entering the Bosworth tunnel it suggests keeping to the right. Surely boats can’t pass in the tunnel?

Many bridges just carry pedestrians and farm traffic

And others were constructed to frame a beautiful canal scene

Leaving Welford the sun brought out the colour

We encountered lots of wildlife. This robin was particularly friendly.

We often saw this bird fishing along the canal

Look carefully. Yes its a fox sunning itself.

We can’t keep still…

December 2, 2022 / fiandadrian

By Fi

My family tells me that even when I was little, I never kept still. I was always doing something, going somewhere, making plans. Well, it seems that this is still true and true for both of us. Plans have been made for winter, and it does not involve staying in one place.

We aren’t keen to sail in winter at the moment as there is quite a lot of ice and regular storms. And we do need to leave the Schengen area to reset our visa, and also apply for some other permits so that next year we can sail in Scandinavia some more.

So while we were hiking in the woods around Norheimsund, plans were afoot.

When we last left you, we were driving into the snowy Norwegian night, for our next adventure.

We have winter tyres, but we were still pretty careful.

We drove for 3 hours in the snow, in our little front wheel drive Corolla. Holding our breath on the corners and hills, we were happy to arrive in our little ski chalet for the night. This is no where near our final destination, simply a stop for a rest from the intense driving conditions.

We meet a lot of taxidermy at this little chalet. Bernie was quite bemused at the wolf.

Bernie has his first taste of proper snow.

We enjoy a fireplace, pizza and a good sleep in our doggy friendly room, and head off early the next morning, back into the snow for a 4 hour drive to the south coast of Norway – to Kristiansand.

At this point we’re wondering why we have to leave. So intensely beautiful.

From there, we drop off our hire car and take the overnight ferry to Eemshaven in the Netherlands. Surely winter in the Netherlands would be nice! But alas, this is not for us.

Bernie found his bed straight away in our doggy friendly cabin. Settling in, Adrian and I have some dinner in the restaurant and Bernie has a sleep. He also wakes up multiple times during the night to tell everyone very loudly not to worry about the rolly waves.

It was actually nice having someone else drive.

We need to leave Schengen to reset our visas, so 3 trains later, we find ourselves in Hoek van Holland which is the opposite end of the country from Eemshaven. We’ve been travelling for 24 hours so far. Bernie is over it, poor guy.

He’s so bored at this point and wants to go talk to everyone else.

At Hoek van Holland, we board another overnight ferry, have a good sleep this time (thank you Bernie) and wake up in Harwich, England. Passing through passport control, we board another train bound for London. Arriving in Liverpool Street Station, we tube it to Lancaster gate, and our doggy friendly hotel opposite Hyde Park.

So over trains and travelling right now.

Bernie’s first tube experience after getting off at Liverpool Street train station.

After 3 days travelling, PHEW, we have made it to England where our new adventures start! We are utterly exhausted, and quickly find a pub for breakfast beers while waiting for our room to be ready. Once it is, we are all afternoon naps and takeaway food.

Bernie getting his English pub bearings again.

We have 1 full day in London to show Bernie everything the city has to offer. Ever since I first arrived here in 2014, I have wanted to take Bernie to Hyde Park for his walkies and show him London stuff. His focus is mainly cleaning up the streets of London of its wayward food stuffs.

We had some walks in Hyde Park, then we decide to take him to Tower Bridge to look at the sights. He sniffed the sights good.

Yay finally did the bridge after all these years!

We find London’s friendliest pub for dogs and have a nice meal and Bernie enjoys one of their signature “dog tails”.

Ok, to be fair, he was totally disinterested in the “dogtail” until I put peanuts in it, preferring to stare at the corridor where he quickly figured out the lovely wait staff were coming with food.

The next day, we board a train to Bristol, grab yet another hire car and visit friends in Langford. We’ve been here a number of times and love the local pub, and it is always wonderful to see our friends and their little ginger biscuits (read, ginger cats).

All the ginger biscuit love from Al and Billy.

Al and Adrian having some thinking time.

After a couple of days enjoying Langford hospitality, off we go again. This time we are taking our hire car north east, to the middle of the country near Banbury.

You may remember last year, we hired a canal boat for 2 months over December and January. Well we decided Bernie loved it so much, we had better do it again! So, we are very pleased to introduce our new temporary member of Fi and Adrian Sailing (or should I say Fi and Adrian narrow-boating) “The Squire”! The Squire is a 55ft cruiser stern narrowboat, complete with central heating, a coal fireplace, double bed and walkthrough bathroom.

The Squire! Painted up the same as The Earl from last year as we are using the same excellent company – longtermnarrowboathire.co.uk. They have a fleet of about 10 narrowboats on hire all year round for calendar months (i.e, you hire it for the whole of December, or December and January, or July etc – you get the idea).

At 55ft long, The Squire is a little shorter than The Earl from last year, but we like the layout better.

Our new swan friends on the left were already tapping on the side of the boat when we arrived asking for treats.

I can’t wait to be running around with Bernie, doing locks and navigating these beautiful waterways. We plan to head towards Birmingham and possibly south from there, taking in the sights of the countryside, hiking and enjoying the local watering holes. Hopefully we’ll see some snow, but I don’t think so. We’ll save the snow for next year when we are back home, Away.

My face when I realise the Grand Union canal is wide beam and therefore double width locks. Means loads of running around and pushing enormous five tonne gates, four times per lock.

Winter arrives…

November 28, 2022 / fiandadrian

When we last left off, we had just arrived in beautiful Norheimsund in the Hardanger Fjord in Norway, planning to stay here the winter. Norheimsund has not disappointed.

*Norheimsund surrounds a beautiful lake called Lake Movatnet which is fed by the dramatic waterfall Steinsdalsfossen.*

The flat part of white to the right of the middle of this picture part of Folgefonna, comprising of 3 plateau glaciers in the Folgefonna National Park. There is a ski area here, and loads of wild hiking. Our view from Away looks out on to the Fjord and the glacier above.

This stone bridge carries cars and pedestrians across the outlet from Lake Movatnet where the salt water from the fjord mixes with the fresh water from the lake. Depending on the time of the tide and how much rainfall we’ve had, the water rushes out like this, or in from the Hardanger Fjord.

Steinsdalsfossen waterfall is so famous it even has a car park, two gift shops and a coffee shop.

Usually, you can walk right under the overhang of the waterfall, but not during winter. So we enjoy the view with our icecreams. We decided this was part of our conditioning process, as it is going to get a LOT colder here soon.

The waterfall wasn’t always here, the river used to travel further west from where it is now, until one day the river broke its banks due to massive flooding and whether due to an avalanche or build up of snow, managed to change its path towards this overhang. The rock above is hard lava, and where the path goes is a softer rock, hence the overhang.

After a large amount of rain there is plenty of waterfall drama.

Its not long and the colours start changing as each day the sun gets a little lower.

We get a little more adventurous one day and go for a walk up a very large hill. Climbing to 1.5 hours straight up brought us to this scenic campground with stuning views of the Hardanger Fjord. Bernie of course really appreciated the view by sniffing the ground incessantly. He had a great day and fell into bed.

You can almost see the glacier – Folgefonna – in this photo. Its our constant view down on Away in the fjord.

Quaint campground inclusive of huts next to the lake.

We have been walking and walking, and exploring the town. We’ve caught the bus into Bergen and bought some of the most expensive fish ever.

We wander around the old dock areas named Tyskebryggen in Bergen. Bernie was allowed on the bus so he got to have a day out touristing with us.

We do love some interesting street art. Bergen definitely has a more “city” feel than Norheimsund.

More walking.

Views over the Folgefonna National Park from the east side of Norheimsund.

The winter weather sets in and things get frosty. We awake one morning to some icy windows. No snow yet. We are also busily preparing the boat for winter. Norheimsund does get snow, sometimes a lot, and so its best to be protected from that.

Fi does a little trip to warmer weather. Sunshine, friends and family for a short while. Apologies for not being able to see everyone, it was a quick trip!

Bye Fi! Off she goes to Bergen airport to begin her 40 hour journey back to Sydney for a couple of weeks.

Bernie misses Fi for the first 5 minutes.

Adrian stays on dog sitting duties and discovers more secrets in the hills around the town.

Hidden Folgefonna and the entrance to Norheimsund harbour from the Hardanger Fjord. Lake Movatnet in the foreground.

While Fi was away it rained. And rained.

Its borderline freezing… but at least he wore his raincoat to keep the rain off.

And before Adrian and Bernie know it, Fi is back! And brought Arnotts mint slice Vegemite and Milo with her! No time to waste, so more hiking in the hills to get over the jet lag. There is so little sun these days, the jet lag sticks around.

Yay she’s back! And brought the sunshine too!

The low light here makes for some spectacular scenery.

Up into the hills we go one morning! Backpacks packed with our camp stove, tea bags and milk, lunch, water and some snacks.

You trip over waterfalls everywhere in Norway. This one had a particularly interesting opposite bank where the grass stems were frozen solid. Made for some cool photos.

We cook up a hot lunch and cups of tea in the hills. Bernie as always very helpful.

Coming back past the waterfall on the way down. Bernie as usual really appreciating the view.

Those frozen grass fronds in the afternoon light.

Water spray from the waterfall freezes wherever it lands.

Down down we go, appreciating the afternoon light.

More walking and amazing photos. The local lake freezes over.

Not a lot of flowing water left for these ducks.

Its sheltered in our little corner of the fjord, but some days the wind howls off the peaks and the main fjord turns foamy white.

Fi stepped out of the cockpit one morning to this view. The mist was unbelievable and made the whole world look black and white.

Just to prove the photo wasn’t in black and white, here is a local fishing boat making a cameo.

In our typical fashion, we can’t keep still for too long. So some other plans are afoot. One frosty afternoon after preparing Away for some extended alone time over winter, we hire a car, bundling up the dog and some belongings into the back. We say farewell to Norheimsund – its hills, waterfalls, glaciers and lakes – and drive into the cold Norwegian night…

Finding winter

October 18, 2022 / fiandadrian

One of the very great pleasures of cruising is making a plan and then changing it. The freedom to follow ones own program is somehow liberating, if a little disconcerting at times. One evening in Risor we pored over the weather forecasts, discussed visas, sent emails to the brains trust, went through many possibilities and eventually at 1am settled on a new plan.

Watching weather windows for the North Sea crossing change from ‘a nice day out’ to ‘you are going to need a change of underwear’ was weighing heavily on us, when we found what we hope will be an ideal winter hideout for Away in Norway this winter.

We had a call to the marina who noted we were still 300nm away, ‘but thats probably not far if you are Australian’. Agreed, but we need to get our sea boots on and start making some miles between the regular blasts off the North Sea.

See, we can get up early. The street lights are still on.

We prepared to leave at first light. The solo sailor from the 24ft boat in front of us was having his first beer and lamenting that we didn’t drink enough to make a fair race to Kristiansand. We wonder how his race went. For us the wind was just on the nose by 15 degrees more than our forecast. We motor sailed into a bumpy swell all day to ensure we made good mileage and reached Kristiansand by dark.

This little chap flew into the rigging as we were leaving. Fi made him comfortable until he felt well enough to fly back to land.

We arrived just before dark in a lovely protected bay. We knew the winds were to pick up to gale force from the south west, and so we chose a protected spot. This was confirmed by a local as we docked so that was good. She did however forget to mention to us one important point…

Tied up safely to this lovely protected dock.

The next morning, we were startled awake by the sounds of crashing dishes and a large 17 tonne aluminium boat cracking the fragile wooden dock. We were being rocked side to side by the massive wake of the passing fast ferry. Wish our local friend had mentioned that before we got comfortable and decided not to wash up that night.

The two of us spent a few minutes catching flying plates and consoling a shocked spaniel. We gathered our senses, got dressed and vowed to get outta there. We couldn’t stay with that level of wake, and we had half a day before the gale was due to arrive. We started the motor and got out of there quickly, before another wake was due to come through – and before coffee. Not a great start.

Settling in to our new passage, we make coffee, and find a couple of options to hide out the wind. Our path would take us to the island of Helgoya where we thought we might be able to tie up. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts inclusive of getting our rudder stuck on a rock, we decided to leave and find somewhere else. Another 10 miles down the way, we find a beautiful anchorage, empty islands, protection from the gale, and a free deep dock to which we could tie up. We spend a few days hiding from the wind in what really is an autumn paradise, with only sheep for company.

After a few days, the winds died down, and we planned to head west along the coast to an anchorage near Egersund. As the day progressed, we experienced the North Sea swells and wind chop. The chop picked up and up as the tide turned against the wind, and before we knew it we were in washing machine conditions with the boat being rocked around. No one was happy, and we realised we were not going to make our anchorage. A quick replan found a sheltered bay for the night. We were greeted by a local who helped us dock in 20 knots of wind. We were tired after the day, but we didn’t want to stay here as it was simply a port for local fishing vessels, and there was the possibility of making further progress.

Despite the wind being on the nose, we headed out with the motor on, and motor sailed all day. Fortunately, the washing machine had run its cycle, and so the waves were a little tamer leaving the bay.

The only boats we see are fishing boats putting out boat traps

We hold on tight getting into this harbour

Motor sailing all day, we dodged the lobster pots and fishing boats. Evenutally we arrived on an island called Rott at dusk, where we expected to just spend the evening and get going the next morning. What we did not expect was the amazing warm welcome we received.

Waiting on the dock was one of the locals who welcomed us and helped us tie our lines, and invited us to their community hall for a tour, and a beer.

The community building was moved here and reassembled by locals. Its set up for their end of season dinner. The wooden boat in the background was used to ferry pilots out to passing vessels.

We chatted all evening, and eventually needed to get back to Away, to eat and prepare for another big sail the next day. If it was earlier in the season, we would have stayed. The island was beautiful, and we have made new friends who we hope to see again. Thank you Rott, it was truly an experience (I hope you are all reading this!).

The next day was our end of season sailing test where we put everything we had learned to the test, or so it seemed. Getting up before dawn to use all the daylight hours we just managed to get the boat off the dock between gusts. There were gust warnings and gales further off the coast but also the promise of fast downwind sailing. We gybe our way through some skerries , eventually leaving the Stavanger area behind us. The rain increases so we navigate the narrow channel near Norheim from the inside whilst avoiding the shipping and still sailing at 7 knots.

Winds gusting 36 we are truckin up the coast

We are so close to Hardanger Fjord and dead keen to get there so we decide to keep pushing on, even though it was pouring with rain. We are busy sailing, and dodging tankers, and neglect to listen to the new gale warning out. Perhaps we should have.

Leaving the tankers behind, we reach the last stretch of open ocean that we need to cross before we enter the protection of the Hardanger Fjord. Oh, and that gale…

The waves picked up, and the wind shifts. Its time slot between some rocks and island before gybing towards the fjord. The wind jumps to 35 knots on the beam, the seas become white and foamy. The autopilot is struggling to change direction but when we turn it off we can’t turn the wheel by hand. Fi coolly depowers the sails and starts the engine as the rocks are close, and we turn onto a more comfortable down wind blast into the fjord.

Sailing downwind, the boat responds better in the strong conditions, and we hold on, watching as the fjord comes into view, then out of view again as another squall smashes us. Hold on.

Eventually, eventually… the waves even out. The boat feels better, the fjord is here.

Sailing in, we find another protected anchorage, and happily drop our anchor. The wind here is now 2 knots, as opposed to the 30 knots outside the fjord. Sigh of relief.

Another sleep is had. We toy with the idea of spending the day here, but for our final push to our winter anchorage, the day is forecast to be sunny with no winds, whereas the day after is raining and blowing again.

So that morning, rather exhausted and reluctant, we up anchor and motor into the fjord. We are not disappointed with our decision.

Are you sure its not another one of those sailing days?

After a day of beautiful views of snow capped mountains, we are reminded its autumn again. With 30 minutes until we arrive into Norheimsund, our winter berth, the wind increases from 2 knots to over 35 knots. Nervous about docking in these conditions, we cross our fingers that the marina is indeed as protected as they say.

Will we finally find Bernie the snow we promised him?

As we get to the marina, breathing a BIG sigh of relief, we see that it is very protected. Its flat calm water and only a breath of wind. We are amazed at how quickly the conditions change in the fjord.

We tie up, and chat with a local who helped us in. High fives all round and Bernie is already off running and making mischief. All ready to pack up, the weather decided to give us one last challenge, and again 30 knots smashed down the bay, straight into the back of Away. Fortunately, our docking lines were secure, and we just had to try to put up the bimni in 30 knots. Not that easy, but all done, mostly dry, and we opened a bottle of wine and finally, we were home for the winter.

We have other plans for this winter. But for now, we are going to enjoy the beautiful town of Norheimsund, relax and prepare the boat for snow.

Accidentally in love.

October 11, 2022 / fiandadrian

In our last blog, we arrived in Risør, Norway and tied up to the stone wall here to wait out some gales coming from the South. Risør was a convenient port to stop into given its distance from our most recent Swedish anchorages. We did not do too much research on the area as we expected to pass through rather quickly on our way to Scotland. Well, one gale turned into 3, and 3 nights turned into 8 fairly quickly.

Risør is protected by a group of small rocky islands, or skerries.

Can there be too many cute white houses and narrow lane ways?

Risør is stunning. Our first day here we went foraging for mussels and oysters in the dingy in the local area. It is lobster season now and there are pots everywhere. Just before the rain hits, we make it back to Away to cook up a seafood feast.

In to the soup. Coconut ginger and lime broth.

Just reward for some determined shucking. Four kilpatrick with cured reindeer instead of bacon, and 8 natural with an asian inspired sauce.

Fi bringing Away fashion to Risør. In the background you can see the high ground behind the town where extensive German WW2 gun emplacements now make great dog walking, mushroom hunting and exploring.

The guest harbour is a little exposed outside the breakwater, but at this time of year we found a spot inside the harbour wall.

We helped a solo French sailor in a catamaran dock behind us. It transpired that his catamaran was the first catamaran built by Garcia who also built Away. He left us a thank you crab on the deck when he moved on, which Bernie discovered on his way to his morning wee. He will now walk round the deck the long way to avoid the location of the strange creature with big scary claws.

Looking down on Risor harbour from the gun emplacement. Away is center left.

You are allowed to explore the WW2 tunnels

Underground rooms once housed munitions and soldiers

The old town water supply now reflects the autumn colours.

We found lots of mushrooms in the woods. There is even an online Norwegian mushroom identification service that will tell you if they are safe to eat!

When the local press arrived to interview us about what a strange black boat from Australia was doing in the harbour, we knew it was time to move on. They published a nice article in the local paper.

Risør, Australia _ Skipshunden Bernie avgjør hvor «Away» skal seile (1)Download

By this stage, and after a few more doggy walks along the coast, we were totally in love with Risør. In total we spend 8 days here, the second longest we have spent anywhere this trip except for Copenhagen – maybe Stockholm too… The food, people, nature and exploring opportunities were fantastic. We meant to leave after a couple of days, but spent one evening planning until 1AM. What was going on with the north sea? There was gale after gale coming over, and constant 4-5m conditions with only a slim 1.5 day break in between them. We need 2.5-3 days to cross, and it was not looking good. That night, we made a plan to stay in Norway for the winter and travel to the UK for December and January to reset our Schengen visas and apply again for our Swedish residency permit. It was hard to admit defeat, but we don’t want to scare ourselves silly and end up becoming land lubbers again.

The next day, pondering out big decision, we do some more exploring in the hills, and get to planning.

Perhaps I wasn’t so unhappy to spend a few more days here.

The colours are changing. Soon this place will be covered in snow, and the harbour most likely frozen.

Adrian and I do research and make calls to Norwegian marinas in the area. We find a marina in one of the most beautiful fjords in Norway, a few hundred miles north from where we are now. The marina doesn’t freeze over, we can stay in the water, there is skiing, cross country skiing and amazing hiking to be had all winter. It is also possible for us to travel with Bernie over to England in late November from there. We book in, and begin passage planning to get there before Fi needs to jump on a plane and head back to the sunny (or rainy) wilds of Sydney Town.

Winter is coming… Our journey towards Scotland.

October 6, 2022 / fiandadrian

By Fi

So we kinda need to get moving now. There is still hundreds of miles to go for us to get to a good jump off point to cross the North Sea and into Scotland and winter is coming.

So, on one sunny day with enough wind, we were off! Tacking up the Danish coast towards Helsingborg in Sweden.

Although sad to leave Copenhagen, we are exciting to get moving on to new adventures.

We made it the measly 20 miles into Helsingborg safely, although it took us twice as long as it should have as both the wind and tide were conspiring against us.

This is our track from Copenhagen to Helsingborg – tacking most of the way beating into the wind and current. We averaged 2-3 knots so it ended up being a looooong day.

Tied up in Helsingborg. There wasn’t a lot to do here as the town was shutting down for the winter but we did find a good bakery.

Helsingborg was a nice town. We wandered around for a day or so, waiting for the wind to fill in so we could continue north. We are beginning to feel a little rushed these days as the North Sea is notorious and we want to get across it asap before the real wintery weather sets in.

The day we were there, the wind stopped and the sun came out. Delightful Autumn conditions.

Bernie wanted to see too. His first attempt to jump up resulted in him falling off backwards so I picked him up and he ran around on the wall.

We spot this gorgeous Springer and Bernie says hello. She’s 9 months old and watching her owner clean.

We head north, and stop off one night in a lovely little anchorage, and then north again to Varberg, another west coast Swedish town.

Sunset at our anchorage. Its nice to see sunsets again now the seasons are turning.

In Varberg we tie up in the now empty harbour (the season is over) and have some dinner and plan a couple of days exploring. We take a look at the Varberg Fortress which is from the 17th century and is currently used as a museum and cafe, and also local residences. Its current exhibition was the Bocksten Man, a bog body found in a local bog here. He was discovered in June 1936 by a farmers son, fairly well preserved but what was particularly interesting is how well his clothes were preserved. It gave researchers an accurate glimpse into what middle class apparel looked like at that time – believed to be around the 1400s.

Varberg was a pretty industrial town harbour.

The fort area was old, large and impressive. We take Bernie for walks.

The walls are so thick! We have a salad and a piece of carrot cake in the museum cafe.

The town is lovely and we have a couple of meals out. This church (below) has a tendency to ring its bells for about 30 minutes every few hours and there is a plethora of hotted up 90s Volvos driving around town blaring out their music. This doesn’t seem to be limited to the younger generation either, an old mate was driving his Volvo around blaring out Nat King Cole at one point. Perhaps its a Varberg thing.

Onwards we go, perhaps a little tired of the bells and souped up Volvos now. We have to motor the whole way to Gothenburg as there is little wind, and any wind there is is right on our nose, plus it is raining all day and cold, so we put the throttle on, and steer using the autopilot controls from the navigation station inside. We also take this opportunity to have a hot shower while underway, and turn our diesel heater on. Away really is pure luxury.

Here I am steering and navigating from inside with a great view of everything. Bernie to my right, never far away from me when we are underway.

We tie up at the marina which is on the coast, about 40 minutes from the city. Gothenburg had been recommended to us to visit, and we plan to come back as we are cognisant of our timings now and need to continue moving. We had been tied up for an hour or so, and had a visit from some locals who invited us for nibbles and drinks at their house overlooking the marina. We felt so privileged that they welcomed us into their beautiful home! They confessed that they too used to have a Springer Spaniel and one look at Bernie convinced them we must be good people to have visit, but only if we brought him too. He had a lovely time with them as did we and it was great to get some local knowledge of the area.

We can take Bernie on the local trams and so we take this opportunity for him to see the vet and get a tapeworm tablet for his passport records for Norway, and do some provisioning.

We find a great seafood restaurant right next to the marina and they give me all the wine.

Onwards north again one rainy morning we go, this time we want to stop off at a couple of anchorages. We mostly don’t have a solid idea of where we will anchor, rather we aim for an area, and look for good anchorages as we travel. There are literally thousands of places to stop, so we don’t worry.

There are so many pots that I get the binoculars out to spot them coming with as much notice as possible. They can be hard to see, tiny styrofoam balls or little sticks with black flags.

Spotting crab pots in the wind and cold might sound like its not much fun, but it beats working any day,

After dodging hundreds of crab pots, we stop in a nice bay just south of a town called Skärhamn, protected by a rock wall, cook some dinner and turn in for the night. We want to move on again the next day.

So more crab pot dodging for us the next morning, and we get some really good sailing in this day. The wind is strong, we are reefed and we travel nice and fast to another gorgeous anchorage just east of a town called Kungshamn. Upon arrival, we note the need for little Bernie to have some land time (we’ve been boat bound for the best part of 2 days) so we dingy in to shore and happily are able to pick up an apple, some oysters and some berries which I discovered later are European Cranberries and they taste absolutely gross. Ah – lesson learned! The oysters are pacific oysters and were totally delicious. They are a pest in these parts.

Away anchored in this very protected bay. We hid from the breezy overnight conditions here.

Love foraging for seafood. I’ve happily found an oyster and looking for more.

The oysters were great, the apple was full of pectin and so a little tasteless but good for cooking, and the berries, although they look juicy and delicious, are gross. Every day is school on Away.

Our next leg would be the very next day. The wind was forecast to be on the beam at 20 knots gusting to 28 which is ideal for Away. We leave early, dodge more crab pots, and get the sails up. Soon we are scooting along at 8-9 knots consistently. We keep up this speed for the best part of 8 hours, reaching a top speed of 10.5 knots at one stage. We are crossing the Skagerrak, an area of water on the south coast of Norway. We want to do 70 miles so going fast is key.

Bernie and I keeping watch. It was rolly and he felt safest here.

The water was rushing over the decks all day. This was the wettest day from seawater that we have had.

Whilst this wasn’t the most comfortable passage we have ever had, we were fast and could arrive before the wind got even stronger at our destination in Norway called Risør. It is our first port in Norway and did not disappoint! Upon dropping the sails, we motored in through the islands and the town opened up before us. Risør is home to heritage listed houses all painted white and it is beautiful to see. The town is surrounded by cliffs and the changing colours of the seasons.

Just opposite the town are some beautiful islands where you can tie up and swim in the summer. Its a little cold now.

The sun set colours are stunning as we dock the boat.

We tie up here on the protected side of the dock as we will need to wait out a gale or two before moving along.

Away tied up nice and safely on the north side of this solid wall, safe from the southerly gales.

From Copenhagen in the south, to Risør, our first Norwegian port.

We cannot see a window to Scotland yet. We are starting to become very concerned that in actual fact we will not make it to Scotland. We don’t want to scare ourselves on the north sea so much or risk our safety. In Risør we sit out our first winter gale, and watch the weather patterns roll over the north sea – 40 knot winds and 4m waves roll over and over the sea with only 1 days break in between, and we become increasingly more nervous. We need at least 2.5 days to cross.

Away’s guide to Copenhagen

October 1, 2022 / fiandadrian

We wrote in the cruising association guide that the Margretheholms havn marina in Copenhagen:

‘was not going to suit most British cruisers. You enter the shallow marina through an industrial dockland area where rock is being unloaded for the ongoing land reclamation works at the entrance. The marina is surrounded by abandoned ship yards from a bygone era that resonate to the sound of rave parties till the early hours on weekends. The supermarket is a 45 minute walk and the sites of Copenhagen a further 30 minutes beyond. However before dismissing Margretheholms havn, its worth noting one of the best bakeries in Denmark is only a few hundred meters from the marina, which is close to the street food markets open 7 days, and a selection of fine dining restaurants including the worlds best restaurant are within walking distance. The opera house and Christiania are a 30 minute walk which may be excessive as there are art galleries, rock climbing gyms, bars and the indescribable Empirical flavour adventure just around the corner.’
SV away

It would be easy to judge Copenhagen by its cover:

This is the view that greeted us as we made our way into the marina. A lot of work happening, machinery and various industrial buildings make for an ominous entrance. Not to mention the rather suspicious looking wolf.

Possibly the best bakery in Denmark. The entrance is behind the plant in the silver urn. You can sit out side in the ‘seating’ area and enjoy your sausage roll or egg on brioche while hoping your seat doesn’t disintegrate while you are there. The Danish are wonders at repurposing.

The delights of Reffen are many, and mostly housed in repurposed containers and ramshakle shacks.

And you can get any type of food you like! Thai, Korean, Kurdish, Nepalese, Indian, South American fry ups, burgers and the list goes on.

Sorry UK friends, we found the best curry and naan ever at the street food market.

A surprise at every turn, of course there is crowd funded company trying to put a punter into a low earth orbit, although not in this rocket.

Yep thats the world famous Empirical flavour company where they extract flavour and then mix it into new products… usually alcoholic beverages (https://youtu.be/qhFWh0R30kE)

Our local night club. We realised if something looks like a drug den, its probably a posh restaurant or funky club or amazing startup.

One of our favourite resturants is in a yurt in an organic veggie garden. Most of the the land is contaminated by the shipping industry, but this plot was the barracks area and is suitable for organic gardening.

A fantastic local restaurant. The food was awesome and the walls are so thick you could have heavy metal inside, but instead live jazz starts up on a Friday night.

What could be better than fine food and conversation… lets add a little live jazz.

This is the local skiing facility inclusive of the biggest rock climbing wall in Europe. It also burns rubbish for fuel.

The is the iconic little mermaid status viewed at maximum zoom from our recommended viewing spot on the river bank at the street food markets. From here you can watch the throngs pouring out of cruise boats, taxis and tourist sightseeing boats from a safe distance and enjoy an authentic locally brewed beverage.

This is where you find cinnamon rolls on Wednesdays, since 1652.

Copenhagen is where we have spent this most time this season. In total we stayed here for 6 weeks, three as we passed through from Germany towards Sweden, and 3 when we sailed back from the east coast of Sweden heading to our planned winter home of Scotland. Needless to say, we hope to come back. Good food, good drink, good friends and overall a wonderful place to spend time.

However, as all cruisers know, we have to say goodbye to these amazing places and people and move along for new adventures. Our plan is to sail the west coast of Sweden and across the south coast of Norway relatively quickly, as the window for sailing across the north sea will be closing soon. Hopefully we get one! Or perhaps we will just stay in Denmark somehow. They have an Australian Princess – surely that counts!!!?

Copenhagen, Paris, Copenhagen, London. The team splits up and conquers all.

September 22, 2022 / fiandadrian

Fi’s in Copenhagen

By Fi – Once we got to Copenhagen, Adrian and I were keen to go touring with Tara through some of our favourite cities. Adrian was first up to go and meet Tara in Paris. So after 2 nights of decent sleep, off he went leaving me with Bernie and the delights of Copenhagen. First stop for me, friends! We had some friends who arrived just after us and who were keen to catchup and see some of the sights. I met them in the street food market, Reffen for a spot of lunch. It was so great to catch up and hear about their cruising adventures since we left them on the Kiel.

So good to catch up with fantastic people!

That evening I also caught up with our friend Morten and went back to Reffen for dinner. I swear they know me there now!

2 days were spent washing, which sounds boring but it meant the boat was lovely and fresh and Bernie’s bedding was all clean and smelling great. Very cathartic.

Copenhagen for me and Bernie was social, with some boat work and walks thrown in, but Paris for Adrian was… well… Paris.

Adrian’s in Paris

By Adrian – Its always lovely to visit Paris. We started with a bit of orientation: Louvre, Seine, Arc de Triomphe, and a stroll down the Champs Elysees.

We climbed up the arch and enjoyed watching the traffic for a while.

Of course the Jardin de Luxemborg is mandatory when one is in Paris. Even better with fresh macarons.

A walk in the park. Just like an Australian park, except totally different.

We found this tower all lit up at night with about three million people walking around it taking pictures

We try to tick off all the Paris must do’s, but alas, as we are there on a Sunday and Monday, many things are closed – however, this is Paris – there is much to see!

Found some art. Were all the chairs art?

Ate the required amount of fancy French food

and enjoyed the warm summers evenings with a dose of french onion soup, escargot and a glass of red.

Adrian’s in Copenhagen

By Adrian – Fi and I had one evening to catch up on things, before she headed off to London and I found myself alone with a fur shedding slightly neurotic spaniel.

Bernie and I went on long walks, studied industrial architecture, tackled some boat jobs

Fi’s in London

By Fi- Donning my suitably colour coordinated outfit for the cabbie, I toddled off to Copenhagen airport to fly over to my second home, London. Getting in around dinner time, I thought the most English-y thing to do would be to take Tara to the pub for a pint and a feed of proper stodge. We are staying in Notting Hill.

So matchy matchy… Bernie clearly wants to come too.

For our first full day in London, we decided to get our walking shoes on and go exploring. We looked at Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, then Covent Garden and then on to Camden Markets, finishing with a lovely dinner at a local Notting Hill restaurant called Beach Blanket Babylon.

Beautiful tribute to Diana from her sons.

We weren’t sure which country we were in here…

Inside Camden Markets has been really cleaned up.

The next day was a breakfast wander down Portabello Road to look at the markets, followed by lunch with some friends at South Bank, and also chilling out for the afternoon so we had the energy to dance the night away in Soho! We had a great lunch, and spent the evening at the Scotch in Soho, and moved on to another club later, but by that point I didn’t take note of its name. It was somewhere near Leicester square…

Girls looking slightly less sharp in the early hours.

On my final full day in London with Tara, I managed to drag my exhausted self out of bed to accompany Ta to a cool immersive art piece called Dopamine land. That night we decided to stop in our accomodation for dinner and ordered takeaway.

The next day, Tara and I parted ways. Me to get on to a plane at Stanstead Airport back to Copenhagen, and Tara to begin her long journey back home.

Arriving home to Away, as I walked down the path towards the boat, a little spaniel head popped up, jumped off the boat and ran towards me like a scene out of chariots of fire. Needless to say he was happy to see me! As was Adrian – its great to be home, and I had a great time!

Back together in Copenhagen

Once the band was back together, we took the opportunity to have some time in the amazing restaurants in Copenhagen. Naturally we went to Reffern the street food markets, but we also visited 56 degrees, Oens Have and Empircal, all the while enjoying bread and breakfast at Lille Bakery.

Copenhagen is a little like a black hole for us. We love it here and get comfortable very quickly. We do however have to move on, but the weather has been conspiring against us and is on the nose (i.e coming from the north, which is the direction we want to go). We are watching closely for a weather window to head across the north sea to Scotland where Away will spend winter. It will happen, and we are currently working on a plan to ensure we are in the right place at the right time to tick off this bucket list passage across the north sea.

Stockholm to Copenhagen in a week

September 16, 2022 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

On a beautiful summers day we left Stockholm and retraced our steps south through the archipelago. A police launch accompanied us accosting jet skis and other over enthusiastic boats ignoring the speed limits.

Bernie guided us through the narrow bits.

With the sails hoisted we weaved our way through the islands and found an appropriate bay for the night. There was a sauna but only for club members, so we stayed aboard and kept moving the next morning. By afternoon we were tacking our way towards the edge of the archipelago. Fi spotted a sheltered anchorage with shallow access and a very narrow entrance channel which are often less crowded.

The channel was dredged to 2.2m, although we saw 1.4m on the way in. No Hallberg Rassy’s in here. In fact no boats at all.

Another overnight stay and we were headed down the coast to one of our favourite areas from the way north. We found an anchorage in a deep bay in the middle of an island. As we approached I noticed a high powered RIB with black suited people approaching. This time a couple of them came aboard, asked their questions and even checked our passports. Bernie was very excited. All the while we were sailing towards our destination.

The long bay led to a sheltered anchorage in the centre of the island. The same black rib came in the next day checking out the boats, but we are known to them now so no problems.

There was plenty of space with only five or six other boats. Beautiful walks on the island, and a small settlement as well. Tonnes of Nordic blueberries everywhere.

Bernie thought we should have bought him a cinnamon scroll

An English couple in motor boat who were also members of the Cruising Association blew their horn and held up a sign ‘Beer?’. We obliged and learned that they had had come from the Netherlands over a number of years, doing a section of the trip each year and storing the boat over winter. We enjoyed a chat with them, and had them over to Away as well the following evening.

After a couple of nights in this idyllic spot, we decided to leave again and get going on our first overnight passages on Away. Snacks prepared, dinner and breakfasts ready, we headed out of the anchorage at a reasonable time in the morning. We are aiming for south Sweden and the area near Karlskrona.

The winds were light but we made good progress with the big red sail.

The sun set as we passed the northern end of Oland Island (the long thin island on the east coast of Sweden). We stayed to the east of the island to avoid the narrow channel around Kalmar and hopefully get better winds overnight.

As the sun went down a small yacht cut across our bow and headed west. We took the opportunity to test the radar. It works very well for larger boats, those with radar reflectors and smaller boats that are a mile or two away. For small crunchy fiberglass boats within a mile we are not sure we would pick them out from the noise.

During the night we heard the Swedish navy requesting a boat doing 8 knots to the south east of us to contact them. We didn’t hear the boat reply so we are not sure of the outcome. So much intrigue during the night…

By morning we were turning West and heading for Karlskrona. We sailed most of the day and decided to find a stopover for the night rather than keep going for a second night.

Karlskrona is a Swedish navy centre. This boat passed us and then stopped . As we sailed along the coast it didn’t move, but never got any further away. At dusk we noticed it in the distance checking up on us in our anchorage. The next morning it was waiting for us as we headed out to sea again.

Fi found another nice little spot tucked out of most of the wind, and we decided to have a mini impromptu picnic on the rocks on shore to have sundowners and watch the sun set. Bernie took the opportunity to sniff everything, run away, and also get in the water.

Bernie was very happy to be off the boat and enjoyed a long swim.

The next morning we left in comfortable time as we didn’t need to get in Copenhagen too early the following day. Again we were prepped for another overnight sail. The wind was in the mid twenties and but forecast to die out overnight. There were two swells from half behind us which every now and then conspired to roll the stern and cause the autopilot to complain that it needed bigger rudders.

We heard ‘Warship A’ talking to ‘Warship B’ on channel 16 with broad American accents. These anonymous vessels later passed to our stern. Perhaps they were using the standard shipping radio channels to make sure everyone knew they were there…

By 9:30pm we were able to make a small heading change to get the swell behind us for a more comfortable evening. Container ships kept us company during the night in the nearby shipping channel and the ferry traffic from Ystad crossed our path from time to time. Otherwise the wind remained consistent, and we were happy with our sail plan. We take alternating watches, and each of us sleep when we can.

Bernie is never far from Fi when we are at sea.

Never ever far… Fi has some other kind of doggie level patience.

The wind and swell dropped in the early hours and the big red sail came out for the final leg north into Copenhagen. We almost made it under sail, but as the wind dropped to 4-5 knots the lure of hamburgers and beer was just too strong and we motored the last hour.

Ahhh, our favourite market Reffen, and some excellent food and drink.

Its great to be back in Copenhagen with its world class food and atmosphere.

Next time we hit the bright lights of Paris and London.

Stockholm again

September 13, 2022 / fiandadrian

We had a few days in Stockholm before Tara flew out on the next leg of her European jaunt. Fi was not going to miss the opportunity of an accomplice on the rollercoasters. Its not that I don’t like paying money to be sick and scared out of my brain, but I do prefer a quiet dog walk.

So the designer thought that this might be fun?

To torture people who don’t like heights?

Was this really the most glamorous dog water bowl we had seen…Bernie seemed to think so

The Vasa was perhaps the least successful warship ever made. It was made between 1626 and 1628 and sank roughly 1300m into its maiden voyage when a puff of wind blew it over. In software engineering circles its held up as an example of why you don’t blindly accept all the requirements from the customer or you can end up with a failure. Further reading suggests this was not the case with the Vasa, but the story persists. It was just poor design.