We made it to Vinga on the third attempt. Not to the harbour, that was full as expected on a Saturday in August, but to the Vinga Gattulvenvik, on the North side of the island. On the last two attempts, the swell was such that it was not possible to stay overnight, as indicated in the pilot book. But this time, the weather is fine, and the swell (almost) inexistant.
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| On the rocks to Vinga |
Unfortunately, due to the Covid 19 epidemic, the museum and the lighthouse are closed to public. Tyvär! The lighthouse as it stands today was built in 1890. The first wooden beacon on Vinga was built in 1606, but the current one dates back from 1857.
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| The pilot house, the lighthouse and the beacon on Vinga |
Niklas and Eyvind have joined us at 15:45 from Stockholm. After the two hour sail, and the two hour exploration of the island, we had champagne offered by the manager of the Lilla Bommens restaurant and a good Belisama home made sauerkraut on the sunset. Pure magic.
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| Gattulvenvik on Vinga, at sunset |
Vinga is well known because it is the place where the young Evert Taube grew up as his father was the lighthouse officer. Evert Taube is the most iconic Swedish traditional singer. He was born on 12 March 1890 and grew up on Vinga in a family of thirteen brothers and sisters.
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| Evert Taube in Australia, 1908 , Archive of the Göteborg library. |
This step from Göteborg to Vinga was a very significant step, as tomorrow we head west to Denmark on the way to France, probably not to get back to sailing in Sweden in the foreseeable future. Yet, fifteen years of sailing in Sweden will remain such a good memory!
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