Yellow foot chanterelles in November! 14 November

Sunday 14 November, sunny cold morning, 4°C, ideal weather to get to the forest and check what mushrooms could still be found there... As for the place, we chose the island of Selaön, in the lake Mälaren, around 100 km from Stockholm. For picking the spot, we relied on a Swedish friend telling us to go on the southern shore of the Lake Mälaren for picking mushrooms. The reason is that Lake Mälaren is what remains from the glacier lake located on the south of the ice cape on the North pole during prehistoric times, 12,000 years ago. The good soil that had accumulated over the years rose over the sea/lake level in relation with the rising of Sweden after the melting of the ice cap. On that basis, we checked on Google Earth which area could be good. Criteria were: 1) presence for a forested area, 2) on a flat ground, 3) far from villages and habitations. These proved to be very good criteria as you can see in the picture below, gathered in 2 hours.

4 kg of yellowfoot chanterelles!

What to do on All Saints Day in Sweden, on 6 November 2021?

All Saints Day in Sweden is always the first Saturday of November, therefore not related to the 1st of November, the religious date. By then, the days are very short, the temperature around 5°, the mushroom season finished, and the snow not arrived yet! However, on All Saints Day in Sweden, you can be sure that every church and chapel will be opened for the day. And only in the Stockholm area, you can find dozen of churches dating from the Middle-Ages, and decorated with fantastic frescoes. Therefore, we rushed to visit three of them...

Jonas and the whale, Danmark church

We visited Almunge, Tensta, Danmark and Odensala church...

Glada Hudik, Hälsingland, 30 October-1 December

Why to visit Glada Hudiksvall (happy Hudik) during the all Saints weekend? Apparently, there is not much to do around there. But upon advice from a friend, we decided to go and explore the area, and in particular visit the Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland, a Unesco World Heritage Site. But we did not realise hat they would be closed in Winter...

Habour warehouses along Magasingatan, the iconic view of Hudiksvall

A weekend through the solar system, 30 October-1 November

What to do in a dull cloudy cold first weekend of November? We decided to go to Hudiksval, the main city in Hälsingland province, 300 km from home a place that we visited twice with Belisama, but never ventured in the countryside. While searching for spots to visit, we realised that several planets of the Sweden Solar System (SSS) are located along the way. 

Pluto and Charon, Delsbo, 12 cm diameter, 300 km from Globen

The Sweden Solar System is the largest representation of the solar system planets in the world, centered around Globen in Stockholm, representing the Sun and its corona...

Back to autumn in Sweden, October 2021

Since the last post, a lot of miles have been travelled, from Iceland through Croatia, back to Sweden at the beginning of October. And as you should know by now, Sweden in October is the place to collect mushrooms! So we did, and it has proved to be an exceptional year, just like in France it seems!

The yellow foot chanterelle, alias Craterellus tubaeformis

Vinga, finally, 8 August 2020

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.

On the rocks to Vinga

Start of the mushroom season in Mariefred, 2 August

Leaving Göteborg and Belisama for a week in Stockholm, I went to Croatia to buy a house and just came back for the weekend for mushroom picking in Mariefred.

Mariefred  Castle.

Knipplan-Vinga-Göteborg, 24-25 July

The plan for today was to go to Vinga, another of the coups de coeur of François and Valérie on Cybèle 17. However, "significant" North-East winds, the anchoring place is not so safe. Therefore, we decided to stop a bit before in the Knipplan marina on Källö, very well protected from all winds.

Källö

Belisama on Knipplan

Källö is a very small island, which we discovered on bike. From the top of the island, there is a very nice view in all direction, but very exposed to winds. The restaurant in the harbour is fantastiskt! In addition, there is a small footsore, a pizzeria and a Thaï food to go place.

But what made the magic of the place was the night...

Kyrkesund to Marstrand, 23 July 2020

The plan for the day was to stop at the Pater Noster lighthouse on the island of Hamneskär as there is a small pier that we could see on the areal picture of the island. However, as we went by, we realised that the swell would make it uncomfortable, if not dangerous to moor there. So we just passed by... 

A name as "Pater Noster" cannot have been made-up! It came from the prayers that seamen were making when passing these most dangerous waters...

Forgotten fata morgana, Djurö, 1st July

Witnessing a fata morgana is always a special event. I realised that I forgot to process the pictures I took of a fata morgana on first of July on our way from Sjötorp to Djurö...

The typical aspect of a fata morgana in our cold countries, is a reflection of the horizon on a cold layer of air which superimpose to the horizon line its inverted picture. On the picture above, you can see a line between the sea and the horizon, and the islands and vegetation on the horizon being replicated in an inverted way above the sea.

A day in Kyrkesund, 22 July

On 22 July, we decided to get a day of rest and visit the Pilane sculpture park situated a few kilometres from the guest pier. A quiet refreshing day indeed...

The guest pier at Kyrkesund

Fjällbacka-Väderöarna-Gluppö-Kyrkesund, 20/21 July 2020

From Fjällbacka, we went to Väderöarna, a place highly recommended by François and Valérie from Cybèle 17. On Väderöarna, there are two possibilities. Either to moor alongside in the sound on the North-East of the island, or in the harbour on the South-West. An attempt to enter the sound from the North-East failed as there were so many boats that we could not even get in between them. As for the harbour on the South-West, it looked as a forest of masts where no one could add-up. Therefore we anchored just outside the harbour, but had to leave a few hours later when the swell started to form and the wind reached 12 m/s. We went then to Gluppö, a few miles east, where we could anchor, well protected from winds from the North-West sector.

Reaching Gluppö by 22:00 after failing to stay anchored in Väderöarna.

Koster-Fjällbacka, 18 July 2020

Where preparedness would have made a difference... From Koster to Fjällbacka, we had a 23 nautical miles to go, with head winds. We therefore decided to head to the open sea towards the West to avoid having to tack in the narrow rocky passages along the coast. But we forgot to consider the current in this area of the Skagerrak.



As we were tacking our way, we soon realised that the 3.5 knots SOG (speed over ground) was very low compared to the 10 m/s wind we were experiencing. We realised too late that we should have had a look at the 1.5 knot current that we had right in the head. At there end of the day we had cruised 37 nm!

Hållö - Koster, 16 July

We are now in Skagerrak, meaning "the strait", the sea area between the South East coast of Norway, the Skagen Peninsula in Denmark and the west coast of Bohuslän in Sweden. Skagerrak is one of the busiest strait in the world for sea traffic nowadays. Its control has been of much strategic importance during the two World wars in Europe. 

Belisama riding north to Koster under spinnaker

Lysekil to Hållö, 15 July 2020

After picking a friend couple in Lysekil, our first stop is for Hållö, a nature reserve close by and highly recommended by our friends.  

Mid-July is the peak season and the natural harbour is packed with motor boats. All along the coast, in the marinas and natural harbours, we will be told that there are only very few boats compared to past years because of the closure of the border with Norway. More than half of the boats in any spot along the coast is Norwegian otherwise! 

First miles along the Swedish West Coast-12-14 July

Coming from the Baltic sea, sailing North along the West Coast of Sweden looks like sailing in a different country. The large deep green forests have given place to villages holding on bare rocks. Very few Falun red houses here, mainly white wooden houses with orange roof tiles. Super nice looking from the sea! 

Göteborg, 10-12 July

After 64 locks and probably the same number of opening bridges, we make it to Göteborg, a month after having entered the Göta Kanal in Mer on 15 June. It was an incredible experience!

Belisama at Lilla Bommens marina

Göteborg is the largest harbour in Scandinavia. With a long history of activity, Göteborg has a lot to offer...

Läckö-Vänersborg-Lilla Edet, 4-8 July

The forecasted gale is catching us up on the way from Läckö to Vänersborg. It will last three days where we remain stuck in our boat, waiting for better weather. When it cools down, we quit lake Vänern through huge descending locks that have nothing to compare with the small locks we passed through in the Göta Kanal.

The first lock on the Trollhättan kanal

Magnificent Läckö, 3-4 July

From Djurö, we continue south-west to Läckö, another magnificent baroque castle on the shore of Lake Vänern. It is located on an island very close to the shore, nowadays connected by a bridge. 

Belisama on the guest pier of Läckö castle

Alone in Djurö, 1st and 2nd July

Djurö is one of the "coups de coeur" indicated by François and Valérie (Cybèle 17), which we did not want to miss, despite forecast of SW winds in the 25 knots. But the Malbergshamn is protected from Southern winds. Djurö means the "Island of animals". It was first inhabited in the XVIIth century, under the reign of Gustav Wasa. In the late XIXth century, three families were living on the island, selling their fish catch to Mariestad or Linköping, 15 to 20 nautical miles aways that they had to row in order to sell their catch to the local markets!

Belisama alone in the Malbergshamn on Djurö

We moor on the little pontoon, by 1.4 metres of water, in the middle of water plants. I should not forget to clean the the water inlet strainer on the way out...