Calendar

This is the calendar of Belisama that allows you to look at her programme in the coming months.

Belisama position, and other ships in my fleet

On this page, you can see the position of Belisama and the ships in my fleet on Marine traffic!

Norra Hamn, Öja - 58°46.144'N 17°51.502'E

Norrhamn on Öja, is a small guest harbour well protected from winds, except from north-west. The pier on the right when entering Norrhamn is subject to swell, especially when the small ferry passes by. Öja is the southern most island of the Stockholm archipelago, and its western limit. Landsort, at the southern part of the island hosts the oldest pilot station in Sweden.

Öja, from Ankarhudden

Sjösättning

Sjösättning (pronounce as you feel) day has finally arrived. Beauties are lifted one by one by the crane which can take boats. The guy in blue is alone, playing with two joysticks to extract the neighbouring boat from her cradle and fit her on the truck. 

An afternoon in the boat field

May is the month in Sweden when all the boats are going back to water. The challenge for Swedish sailors is to get the boat ready by the time the boat club has rented the crane truck. For us, it will be Friday 8 May this year.

The boats are brought aground at the beginning of October, usually in open fields by the shore. In our club, the field is the parking lot for the public beach nearby. During winter months, boats are covered with plastic sheeting to avoid that snow accumulates, transforms in ice, and adds possibly a few hundred kilos to the boat, threatening her balance. As soon as snow is no longer a threat, by early April, we uncover them. In the month leading to the "sjösättning", one need to upgrade the antifouling, put a few layers of varnish here and there, reload batteries, test the engine, remove condensation in the gasoil, check for mould...
The antifouling requires a temperature above 10°C for as long as possible, without rain. This year, I was counting on the long week of the 1st to 3rd of May. It rained Friday and Saturday, but today, the weather was sunny, and the boat field was filled with Sunday painters.
The final touch for the antifouling consists in painting the areas of the hull under the pads holding the boat on the cradle. A potentially risky exercise...

A cockpit tent for Belisama

Here is the proposal I received today for the cockpit tent for Belisama. I will need now to check it in detail to ensure that it fits the needs of our latitudes: resistant enough for supporting a good layer of snow, dark enough when the internal shutters are in place for the midnight sun, tight enough to avoid that the 12 volt infrared heating heats only the drafts, smart enough to give room for the back moorings, high enough for our tallest Scandinavian friend.

For a good discussion with Cybele!

A shelter for next winter

Belisama has found a shelter for next winter in Pampas marina, in Stockholm. She will be brought there in October, after the journey from the Sables d'Olonne. The blue crane on the left of the picture will get her off the water with the mast. She will get heating for the winter, and a good shelter for the snow!

Pampas marina is located at walking distance of home and from work.