Back on the dock

Seasons end...

On Friday she came out the water for the winter and now is snugly parked up waiting on another trip to set up the covers. A bit sad really, seeing her back on land, out of her element - but there's a season for everything.

On the bright side, the hull still looks really good - some streaking from run-off from the scuppers but very little sign of the usual summer matting and fading. In fact it looks so good I'm keen to give her a wash and polish before the winter.. We'll see how the weather is when we come to do that job!

The Ultimate Sailing Trip....

Which is to say, our last outing of the season... but for all that a nice trip too. A weekend outing out beyond Utö - which somehow always feels like the spot where the Outer Skärgård begins.

Friday night was Kolnäsviken, and after a somewhat slow day in light winds we made it out to Notholmen in good time for sunset. We'd not been here before but we'll definitely have it on the list of possibles in the future - a fine small island with a sheltered bay on the southern side. The north shore is steep and not too easy to come in to - and the eastern side is a bit shallow close in. We managed though to find a spot on this side with shelter from the easterlies predicted to come up in the night.

And indeed they did - though not to any worrying degree - but plenty enough for a quick trip home running or reaching all the way - and with that curious coastal phenomenon - cloud all round but somehow rarely overhead. Just the way it should be ....

But please... remind to get the outboard seen to - losing the cooling in reverse is starting to be more than a small inconvenience....

Details of the trip this time courtesy of Pål and Easytrail - let's see if this works....

Segling Notholmen

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Swabbing the deck

.. Back in port, and just the tidying up to do. Two nights under a tree and the decks and cockpit are sorely in need if a wash over. On the other hand the hull is looking great. None of the usual matting off as the season progresses. It's lovely to see her look so good!

But oh how I hate putting the sail away in the rain...

Flying low

Even before we set out they were forecasting strong winds, so it was no surprise to waken on Sunday to leaden skies and the sound of the wind surging through the treetops. In the bay all is still calm, but walk over the headland and the wind is not to be ignored. The water has that brushed look as gusts flatten the surface & white horses ice the wavetops.
Slowly the bay empties, most going out with the boom covers on, clearly intending to motor. The forecast though is for lighter winds towards evening so we opt to wait.
It's not the finest of days... grey and damp, but it has it's compensations. The stiller airs in the bay are just right to bring swallows and house martins swooping to feed. Lots of them...
The darting black shapes are all around, flying just over the water and then flicking away after some tasty morsel. Nature's air display on our doorstep :-)

Midafternoon and a light rain sets in.. but the wind has eased a little so we can pack up and head for home - on mainsail and a wedge of jib. Less wind would be more comfortable, as would less of that fine mizzle, but it's quite Ok - just keep a weather eye open for the gusts.

And that was that for the first trip of the season.. A little lazy there and back...

Lazy days

"I'm busy going nowhere, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do..."

If it works for the Wizard of Oz it works for me. It's finally the first trip of the season and we've come over the sound to Kolnäsviken as a Friday night jumping off point. But now it's saturday lunch and we're quiet happy where we are thank you. Lazy I know but that's the point of getting away from it all.

The bay here is a well sheltered natural harbour, with a steady turn over of boats coming and going... Some like us still here from last night, some just dropping anchor for lunch, and some starting to arrive for tonight.
The strange thing here is that no matter how busy it is in the bay you can walk the hundred metres across the headland and find solitude on the other shore - strange because it's here you get to see the sun sinking over the horizon in a magic swathe of colour.

Still, I don't mind if we get it to ourselves...

...Enough of that.. I have things not to do. :-)

Sitting on the dock of the bay..

Well... summer's here, the boat is in the water and the archipelago promises sunshine, and quiet anchorages, swimming, and grilling on the shore. Whatever happened to long runs under a ballooning spinnaker, and splashy beats up a wind whipped Mysingen?

Sadly, after all that work on boat maintainance the skipper's now in dry dock for some maintenance of his own. Right now I can do a good impersonation of Nelson's "I see no ships!"*

Hopefully I'll pass muster before the season is completely done for...


* ..or was it "I really do not see the signal"?