Tuesday, 9 July
This morning the promised swap of our gooseneck took place. This involved a 6.30 am start, La Bamba driven to the service dock, and a crane carefully placed (not knocking off the radar) to hold her boom up while they removed the old gooseneck and put the correct one on. I really did not like it when there was a big gap!
As usual with anything to do with boats the hour it would take meant that it was 12.30 when we said goodbye to our new friends at the Henån shipyard and set sail for the very first leg of our journey home. Today we are aiming for Marstrand, about 35 nm South – it is apparently the sailing Mecca of the West coast!
The winds were kind and we had our first dry day with NO RAIN, we even had to wear sun cream. We practised our tacking up the fjord and honed our skills. After a couple of hours we reached the narrows where we dropped our sails in order to be able to both navigate the channel and avoid the chain ferry.
We continued motoring for a while due to a Southerly, meaning the light wind was on the nose, and because there are an awful lot of rocks to miss. We went past the beautiful island town of Gulholmen which looked like a summer sailor’s heaven with all the pretty houses nestled into the rocks and the sparkling, lapping sea setting everything off so enchantingly.
As the passage opened up, we hoisted the sails and Alex took the helm. He took to it like a duck to water. Sailing is a serious business.
And a fun one.
The sea was calm, flat and ethereal. We saw the clear landmark of Marstrand castle from quite a distance.
We were soon motoring again as the wind died and even La Bamba, who had been managing 4-5 knots in a mere 7-8 knots of wind, could make little headway on next to nothing.
At 7.30 La Bamba slid gracefully into town. Marstrand is a very fine, well-heeled looking place. Maybe the Courchevel of sailing?! Elegant, smart, imposing villas lined the channel on both sides with the castle, now looking deceptively smaller, presiding over the town.
David parked perfectly with only 2 attempts and we were very glad to have invested in a fender step as the mooring finger was too short to reach the side gates. The fender step is called Stef the Step; we were also glad of Bob the roving ball fender and Fatty the fat one who we used to fend off from our new neighbour, Beneteau ‘C’est la Vie’ (they are Danish, as are practically every other yacht owner we have met to date).
After tidying the decks we had congratulatory beer and crisps before heading for the nearest restaurant for well earned nourishment. Later we enjoyed the intensely blood red sunset – the forecast for tomorrow is more rain and strong winds (we have 2 nights planned here).
I met 2 delightful Dachshunds, this one is called Tiny.
The other was called Wilbur who spends his summers here and winters in London, I think he might be onto something!