It’s been an enchanting week.
It’s Sunday morning, and we are back in Kalmar city marina, reading the papers (online) over a coffee, in the warm sun in the cockpit, and chatting to our German and Swedish neighbours.
Invariably, the recurring themes include – what’s that flag, Ireland, Britain, Brexit, Boris, the backstop, the EU, where we are all heading now that the season is ending, and how absolutely lovely the Swedish archipelago is as a summer sailing destination.
We spent as many nights as possible in island anchorages, mainly in national parks, surrounded by swans and ducks, with dragonflies in the rushes, and on one occasion watched by a sea eagle circling, surveying the area for its next prey.
The winds have been light, and at a great angle for a one-sided beat, or rolling out the Code 0. Or motor-sailing through tight passages between rocky outcrops.
On Wednesday, we headed for a peaceful looking anchorage with a tree lined shore. But it is so easy to misread the nature of the waters, and we found ourselves way too close to visible and invisible rocks randomly scattered around the entrance to what was a very tiny inlet, surrounded by hard granite outcrops that didn’t promise a peaceful night. It had looked so inviting! We bottled out, made our way carefully back out, and carried on down the coast to the nearest harbour, with hot showers as an enticement.
After a very hot summer day on Thursday, we woke up to impending thunderstorms, and decided to get into Kalmar as early as possible. All our foul weather gear was dug out of the cabins once again.
By the time we arrived in Kalmar the skies had opened and we were totally soaked. William decided this was a great time to scrub the decks 😀
Is this how every cloud has a silver lining?
By gum but you do make it all sound just so inviting, these are memories to treasure – I can see a book awaiting to be written!