RR5: GOTHENBURG TO OSLO FJORD (11 - 28 May 2012

We are now halfway up the Oslo Fjord anchored in the beautiful, 100%-protected anchorage of Hallangspollen near Drøbak. We reached here after sailing through the Bohuslän islands from Gothenburg, from where we sent our last Post (RR4).

Progress to date

We were “trapped” by a gale, for a couple of days, at the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Gothenburg.  Not a big deal, however, since it was a pleasant location, had a very active club (they raced each evening in the gale) and the harbour dues, all inclusive, were only £10 per night.  

The delay also gave us the opportunity to try out (again) the delicious Bohuslän prawns to which Lasse and Mona had introduced us.  By now we had also acquired a taste for pickled herring, smoked mackerel, local fresh fish and “caviar” (potted fish roe). They were all reasonably priced, different to what we are used to, and really delicious to eat (often with potatoes). The range of breads available everywhere was mind-boggling.

Bohuslän prawn open sandwich – Räksmörgås

 

The Bohuslän coast, the next leg of our cruise, from Gothenburg to the Norwegian border, was ruggedly picturesque.  The major features of this coastline are the numerous islands, islets, coves, isolated rocks and the narrow sounds and fjords between the islands.  It is mostly bare granite and scrub – although further inland there are abundant pine and birch forests.  The granite becomes an unusual pink streaked with black the further north one goes.  

Holiday houses are dotted along the coast and islands. There is also a number of small villages, harbours and anchorages, the latter sometimes with SXK (Swedish Cruising Club) mooring buoys. Ferries or bridges link many of the inhabited islands. Today most of the traditional fishermen’s cottages and boatsheds in the villages have been turned into colourful, attractive holiday homes.

Colourful fairway through Swedish fishing village

We initially enjoyed a fast day-sail north from Gothenburg to Marstrand. This was our first experience of sailing inside the skärgård – the numerous smaller islands and rocks that lie off and provide shelter to the west coast of Sweden.

Typical view – part of the skärgård

We approached Marstrand through the very narrow Albrechtsund channel. This was the first transit of a narrow “sund” for us. The town evolved as a consequence of the fact that, unlike most harbours in Sweden, the surrounding sea did not freeze over in winter due to the strong currents that run through the sounds. Until icebreakers were fully developed and Gothenburg took over as the major port on the west coast, Marstrand was a major Swedish commercial port. 

We very quickly realised that we were “out of season”.  There were only half a dozen other boats in transit, no tourists – even though it was the weekend.   We are told that, in season, like most towns on the Bohuslän coast, it is crammed solid with yachts and tourists. Furthermore, we discovered that the season doesn’t start until early July and stops by the end of August.  We concluded that “out of season” is heaven;  “in season” could be hell.

Since, at this time of the year, there was no competition for “parking” spaces, we berthed on the harbour wall with commercial traffic because it appeared, and subsequently proved to be, particularly well sheltered. 

Marstrand town quay

 

Dieter and Jan from Norway, who were also sheltering from the gale, joined us for a drink that evening and very generously lent us old copies of their Norwegian Commercial Pilot books which are written in both Norwegian and English – unlike the modern yachting pilots we purchased which are in Norwegian only.  Up until Norway we used the German NV Verlag chart folios and pilot books, which covered the area from the Kiel Canal to the Norwegian border. Translating the text of the associated pilot books sharpened up Helen’s rusty German.  Incidentally (for the sailors amongst you), we found the UK’s glossy RCC Baltic Cruising Guide on the area somewhat superficial and of only limited use.

From Marstrand we sailed outside the two very large islands of Tjörn and Orust, but inside the relatively sheltered waters of the skärgård. Orust is the base of Sweden’s highly successful and prolific yacht-building yards.  

On our way we spent a full day moored on one of the Swedish Cruising Association’s blue buoys in the very quiet and picturesque bay at Bäckevik on the island of Lyr.  Clearly taking one of these buoys in season would not be reasonable or even possible, but out of season… As it happened, we were the only boat in the cove.

Swedish Cruising Club buoy

 

The stop allowed us to test out our new mooring line for buoys (with chain spliced into its middle – see above photo) and our dinghy and outboard.   It was also a good opportunity to go ashore and climb to the top of the rugged granite hills that surround and protect the bay.  We actually saw a pair of cuckoos flying around – often heard but never before seen!  We then started to hear and see cuckoos everywhere.  After a while they became less interesting and indeed, when cuckoos cuckooed in the 2 a.m.  twilight, we became positively anti-cuckoo!

H lowering the outboard with pulley from mizzen boom

Moving on we passed the charming, well-protected harbour of Mollösund and decided on impulse to stop there after an arduous motor-sail of three miles!  In its heyday in the nineteenth century the town’s fishing fleet sailed to  Arctic waters to fish for several months at a time.  Today some fishing is still done locally, supplemented by daily deliveries of deep-sea fish from Gothenburg’s fish market. Local flat fish and crayfish are however currently in season and looked very good. The deep-sea cod we purchased and cooked for supper was delicious.  Certainly a lot cheaper than the harbour dues we were stung for that evening, when we were one of only two visiting boats at the quay!

Mollösund harbour

Further north we called into Käringön which had been described to us as “a must”.  Everything was closed because it was Corpus Christi. After looking round we decided that an overnight stop just for the sake of it wasn’t worth another £30 a night (an in-season price they also wished to charge out of season!) – so this time we left, to look for an anchorage instead. The harbour master was somewhat miffed. 

We found a very attractive and protected anchorage in a bay just south of Gullholmen on the island of Härmanö.   There we sat out another gale for a day with a reefed mizzen which kept the boat very stable into wind.  We were encouraged to note that, while Helen used the computer and printer through the inverter for several hours on admin matters, the wind generator (with its new “silent” blades) kept the boat’s batteries fully charged.

Mizzen up to keep boat pointed into wind

By the next morning the gale had passed and it was sunny again. Indeed, it remained fine and warm for the rest of our time in Sweden thanks to a high pressure zone centred over Scandinavia.  We therefore dinghied ashore and walked the three miles into Gullholmen along a track through meadows carpeted with cowslips, and past a sprinkling of holiday homes all flying the national flag on their flagpoles.  These days the town is a holiday village.  There are no cars on the island. The only form of mechanical transport is motorcycles with a luggage platform at the front.

Only transport allowed on many of the smaller islands

The following morning we glided, in a warm breeze, slowly north under sail through the narrow and rocky Härmanö sound.  We then continued sailing inside the skärgård to Fiskebäckskil.   The town is described in The Rough Guide to Sweden as “the most attractive village along the entire length of the Bohuslän coast”.

After our experience at Mollösund and Käringön, we had decided to adopt a new strategy: that of simply pulling in, looking round the town, paying for a short stay (if necessary), then leaving to spend the night in a nearby (free) anchorage.  While this decision was partly financially motivated, we actually prefer the beauty and solitude of such anchorages. 
 

A peaceful anchorage

However, on this occasion (!) the sparkling sunshine, our initial favourable impressions of the town and the fact that the harbour dues were reasonable (being a third of the high season price), encouraged us to stay in the marina for the night. We even got carried away and went out for lunch – a splendid smorgasbord and a saffron shellfish chowder in a café on the quay – before exploring the town.

The highlight of the town is the parish church overlooking the harbour. Its gold-plated weathercock, sheet-metal spire, wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling covered with eighteenth-century paintings of cherubs, chandeliers and two fully-rigged model square-riggers suspended from the ceiling make it one of the most interesting of the many churches in the towns along the Bohuslän coast.  

Parish church, Fiskebäckskil – note model of galleon

We left early next morning to continue sailing to Smögen, which is famous across Sweden for its very long wooden quay on stilts (alongside which one can raft) and its picturesque, colourful wooden houses, shops and restaurants which line the quay. Open-fronted fishmongers’ stalls sell mounds of locally caught shrimp and crabs and all manner of seafood from the adjacent fish docks and the very large local fish-processing plant.

Smögen's famously long wooden quay

Having explored the town, we returned to a nearby anchorage south of Kungshamn that we had recce’d en route. We moored against the pink granite rocks of one of the islets surrounding the anchorage. Creeping our way through the extremely narrow entrance to the anchorage we struck a submerged rock that brought us to a grinding halt.  We could only have been a metre off our transit line.  After reversing off we made it through the gap on our second attempt.  No serious damage was done – as far as we can ascertain.

Our first rock mooring

Next day we continued northwards, initially motoring through the very narrow Sotenkanal.   It took 22 years and 58k men to build the canal, which was opened in 1935 allowing local craft to avoid the long exposed west coast of the island of Sote.  Today it is a convenient shortcut used by 50k  vessels a year.  

Sotenkanal swing bridge opening for us

Further north, we reached the town of Hamburgsund in its narrow, well-protected sound.  It has long been a nautical centre for commerce and fishing.  Today tourism is the main industry.

Fjällbacka, our next port of call, is only a short distance further north. An attractive town and port, it appears to be known principally for the fact that Ingrid Bergman, whose statue has pride of place in the main square, used to holiday here.

Ingrid Bergman's bust – Fjällbacka

Again, we adopted the approach of spending time looking around the town itself, before moving on for the night to the nearby anchorage of Gluppö. Two Swedish and two Norwegian boats were already in the bay with their crews sunbathing on the smooth rocks.   We rowed the 20 metres or so ashore and walked to the top of Gluppö, from where there was an outstanding view of the surrounding Bohuslän archipelago and down into the anchorage.

Gluppö anchorage

The following day we moved north to a very quiet little anchorage in the Otterön nature reserve.  Previously we had spent the afternoon on a low-profile sailing club pontoon in Grebbestad while we checked out the town and recce’d transport possibilities for our proposed trip to Tanum.

Next morning we left the anchorage early and returned to Grebbestad just as the shrimp boats were arriving at the fish dock.  We understood that everything caught was being immediately dispatched to Gothenburg’s fish market.

Crayfish being landed at Grebbestad fish dock

From Grebbestad we took a bus to Tanumshede in order to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site at Vitlycke, where Bronze Age (1500BC) rock carvings are located.  When we reached the last stop we asked the lady bus driver where the carvings were.  She told us to sit down again and then drove us the extra 3kms there even though it was completely off her route!

The engravings, in granite (hence their durability), have been painted red by the museum to make them more visible. They featured, among other things, sailing ships, representations of the sun, warriors and some very well-endowed males. They are generally accepted to have a religious significance but no one really knows!

Rock carvings at Tanum

As soon as we got back to the boat we slipped our lines and left for a short trip through the Havstenssund.  At the north of the sound there was a very well-protected anchorage.  It had been baking hot all day – an ideal opportunity, as we sat in the cockpit in the setting sun, to test out our alcoholic purchases from the Systembolaget  in Grebbestad. 

Calm anchorage with our own beach, Havstenssund

Although it is possible to buy light (3.5%) beer in local shops, the sale of stronger beverages is restricted to state-run alcohol stores.  This system was introduced by the Government in an attempt to cut down alcohol consumption which was seen as a problem in the country.  A very clever move on their part since they are now a monopoly and can charge a premium price – for the customer’s benefit! We’re surprised that Gordon Brown didn’t follow suit while Chancellor!

We motored carefully to the very small harbour of Brevik in the Koster Islands, arriving there at midday.  The islands are a nature reserve although throughout there is a generous sprinkling of colourful holiday homes. The islands’ principal claims to fame, however, are that they are Sweden’s most westerly inhabited islands, enjoy more hours of sunlight than anywhere else in the country, and have Sweden’s only coral reef. 

The approach to Brevik from the east was unmarked and we therefore had to make our way tentatively through the islets and rocks, with careful reference to the contours on the chart, our depth sounder and chart plotter. Once inside the tiny harbour we moored with our pulpit to the inside wall and a kedge anchor at the stern – the first time we’ve used our “new” anchor tape with its reel on the pushpit.  In the past we’ve always used rope and chain, which could often become entangled on the deck.

Brevik Harbour, South Koster – note kedge anchor

After lunch we enjoyed a 3-hour walk around the island’s beautiful sand and granite shoreline – good for the legs, which sailing certainly isn’t.

We took a different route out of Brevik in order to see the very picturesque Kostersund between North and South Koster.

Typical colourful houses and boatsheds – Kostersund

It was then just a few miles to Strömstad on the mainland.  This once-fashionable eighteenth-century spa resort has an air of faded grandeur.  We had, however, already decided to give history, art and architecture, including the enormous monstrosity of a town hall (financed by a nineteenth-century eccentric multi-millionaire) a miss. Instead we concentrated on finding the Systembolaget and purchasing the booze necessary for our forthcoming cruises in Norway – first with Alan and Lynn and later with Ian and Ginny who will be flying out to join us.

A few essentials for Norway – Strömstad (Sweden)

As we approached the north of Sweden and the Bohuslän archipelago we noted a significant increase in the number of cruising boats – all Norwegian.  In Strömstad, which is only five miles from the Norwegian border, there were more Norwegians shopping than Swedes – because, as we now know, Norwegians see Sweden as being significantly cheaper for everything (other than oil) than their own country.  Something we’d been told about – but seeing is believing.  

We'll proceed from here to Oslo where we’ll leave the boat to catch our flight back to London for Will and Lesley’s wedding on 2nd June.

Meanwhile, we are taking advantage of the excellent weather to have a major sort-out on board.

A month's washing! Hallangspollen, Oslo Fjord