Down the rocky road

There is a saying in Sweden that there are those who have hit rocks and those who will hit rocks.

We have had a lovely week, exploring Kalmarsund.

We visited Kalmar Slott, a wonderful medieval castle, beautifully preserved, with original walls decorated with marquetry, and a moat.

Some days we stopped at small harbours, cycled to the nearest grocery store to stock up, and chatted to the locals.

An elderly man in a wheelchair seemed to pass his days in Monsteras sunning himself on the quayside and watching the antics of visiting Irishmen coming alongside. He told us that he had worked in London for 20 years in construction alongside Irish builders. Diane the harbourmaster was an American, who decided that she ‘preferred Swedish politics’ and stayed after a holiday two decades ago.

In Paskallavik we had our photograph taken, or rather Melodrama had its photo taken, as we were the first Irish visitors ever.

And in Pataholm, a nooky little wild anchorage, with a charted depth of 3m we discovered that the sea bottom can be a little closer to the top than on the chart …..

To be fair, there was a helpful red stick in the water, but in the evening light, I was sure it was green, and we all agreed to leave it to starboard. Bad decision!

But it was just a little scuff, and no harm done. What we have learnt is to check the sea level forecast for the area, as the charts are based on mean sea level, and even though there are no tides, this changes by up to 30 cm with changes in barometric pressure, evaporation, and wind. Since many of the routes through the rocks to harbours and anchorages have depths of 3m or less, this can make the difference between a passage through and a dead end.