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Blog 18 Nynashamn for the want of a better name - How odd I seem to have missed blog 17 - it is there but not a lot happened and only one pic which was the dog in blog 16!
It tells you something of sparsely populated Sweden that when you get to a "big" town like Nynashamn, you could walk its width and bredth in the time it takes to eat an ice cream cornet. It has one brown monolithic church, architecturally fashioned after Lego, which is mounted on top of a massive granite bulge crying out for a Stanah Stairlift to be installed, even for the fit. There is an end of the line railway station where all the trains decide that enough is enough and turn around - but it does have a first rate fish smokery where the locals spend a fortune without batting an eyelid. You would not be slow in discerning that I was less than inspired.
The remainder of this blog is about Nature Harbours, three in fact - well actually, there is another marina but it was so bad that I will get that out of the way at once. Dalaro was to be a watering hole and provisioning stop but it is odd because the village is at the end of a fjord which nearly cuts through to the sea again, so they blasted a short canal to make one side of the fjord into an island and at the same time put a marina at both ends of the canal to save going 7 miles around. Unfortunately because of two low bridges and a shallow canal it is only fit for motor boats which race through and make such wash that staying at the marinas is impossible, or so we found. We chose the wrong one to go to and had to use the Avon and outboard to take the canal to the village shop, in the process getting a wet bum from the wash of power boats also in the canal. Oh how we did laugh - then we left.
Difficult to tell you about Nature Harbours without you yawning before long and me repeating myself about peace and tranquility and going on about nature. They are all different, for example here we are as I write in Erikstorpviken - probably named after a Viking who lived here once like Evans the Fuse in Wales - anyway, there are only three of us here in a glassy calm beauty spot which could take twenty times that number, while yesterday in Kolnasviken there were fourty boats and easily space for a hundred. It was there I wrote: It is early morning, we have been moored in a nature harbour over night, the sun rises very early over the trees and down into an almost circular pool where we lay with fourty other yachts. Total silence and calm, not a ripple on the water and the anchor rode disappearing astern seemingly at an odd angle where it passes beneath the surface. At the bow we are one step onto the domed glaciated shore glittering pink granite rising to the pine forest. Sunlight patches filter through onto pine needle paths soft underfoot and fir cones crunch with each footfall. The sent of pine resin is already in the air. It is an enclosed protected heaven. So you see they do have an effect on you.
Jane fell in up to her middle while descending the bow ladder - a little shaken but was very brave.
Now, only a few miles from Stockholm , we are at last in Saltsjöbaden where we are to leave the boat for the Winter - just paying a visit to say hullo and find out how things are done here. It all sounds incredibly efficient, in effect, hand the boat over when you want, give them the keys and go home, they do everything. Tomorrow we sail to Stockholm for a few days to do the sights.
I knew you would ask - the three Nature Harbours were Ranöhamn, Kolnasviken and Erikstorpviken
- comments
Jo O'Reilly Those nature harbours sound so beautiful and peaceful,so good to get away from it all! Just listening to the news, so depressing I think I will banish R4...Off to the farm this morning for our final art morning(I think) unless anyone has somewhere in mind for next week. Not sure how many will turn up.....hope we don't get in the way of the combining!! weather here is getting hotter and hotter but mustn't complain, lovely being out in the garden and just enjoying outdoors! Jo x