Mous'le's Travels
 Mous'le's Swedish Summer We left Tonsberg in mid-August, two weeks after arriving. Those two weeks were not spent in Tonsberg, since we took our courage in our hands and left Mous’le to look after herself while we flew to Glasgow in order to meet up with some of Penny’s family for a long planned ’Whiskey Tour’ to include Arran, Islay, Fort William and Grantown on Spey. Several bottles of Whiskey were added to Hugh’s collection (tastings to be arranged on return to the IOW!). Flights to and from Norway were not affected by the alleged terrorist threats and we returned to Tonsberg to find Mous’le apparently unaffected by our absence.Within twelve hours of returning we motored most way across Oslofjord to the Swedish coast. There we found the same topography as in Norway with off lying skerries - many inhabited - and many sheltered leads and fjords to explore. We anchored each night and visited a number of very pretty villages during the days including Hamburgersund where there is a free cable ferry and nobody to collect mooring fees; and Smogen, a fishing village now catering mainly for holiday makers, from both land and sea. It is built of wood on solid rock and relies on a boardwalk around the creek to enable people to access its harbour. The boardwalk is full of shops, restaurants and people. A very pretty place, and the variety of colours in the buildings was a welcome change to the red and white of further north. We left after spending an hour or so exploring the shops and harbour and followed a channel through the skerries to the southwest. Our next cruising area was to be the fjords around the islands of Orust and Tjorn, famous for their beauty. They are like the Solent in many ways, separating the island from the mainland. There are two large ports taking ocean going vessels as well as an oil refinery and power station. Yacht building is is a major industry with Malo Yachts and Najad Yachts both located on the North side of Orust. At Henaan, the home of Najad Yachts, we had a warm welcome from a Swedish boatyard worker who came to serve us with diesel. His English was accent less! He also showed a great sense of humour, as when he heard how long we had been away from home, two on a boat “….. and you are still talking?” Motoring has been the order of the day here as the weather has been windless now for over a month. Our Ankoralina and kedge at the stern has proved invaluable allowing us to stop in places where there was no swinging room. On our way southwards we passed through Marstrandsund dividing Marstrand (the Swedish 'Cowes' complete with ferry across the river!) from the Island of Koon, but, but seeing nothing of interest except for several marinas to make us want to stop there, we carried on. One more idyllic anchorage saw us heading into civilisation and Goteburg. We stopped there for two or three days to see some of the sights of the city. At long last we had exhausted the list of jobs to be completed and we hoped that we would be able to spend more time sight seeing. The Lilla Boman Marina is right in the middle of the city and is only a five minute walk from the major shopping areas and museums. We visited the Picasso exhibition in the Konstmuseet while there and enjoyed the many sites of interest such as the Fiskekirke (the fish market), the Maritime Museum and the waterfront. From Gothenburg we tried to out run a thunderstorm but failed and ended up taking shelter in the fishing harbour of the Island of Styrsoe. We later discovered that although we were not struck, the lightning had knocked out our fluxgate compass! We did not discover this for a day or two and later had to re-educate our autopilot from scratch on our way to Denmark! Styrsoe is a car free island with tiny lanes, only a single shop and no pub. It offered a peaceful haven until the weather front passed through allowing us to continue on to Jutland. Our folding bikes were once again put to good use here - we cycled over most of the island between downpours!. It was here we discovered that we had run up an internet access bill of over £800 in two weeks, as we had been put on the wrong tariff by our provider. It has provoked a great deal of thought about managing internet access in the future! It was now the end of August, and it seemed amazing that we were now more than half the way through our trip and that we had travelled as far as 6° 31' W, 59° 59.5'N and 11° 30' E to date.
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Diary Photos
| 27th Aug 2006 Smogen |
| Very pretty fishing village. |
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