Thurs 29th – Fri 30th
Aug – Laying Up
We
reluctantly left Ostholmen, and set off towards the boatyard in Saltsjöbaden,
near Stockholm, where we’re leaving Astraia over the winter …
We
anchored for lunch in a little bay off the island of Hölö – the house hidden in
the trees looks a rather lovely place to live …
This
family of swans was grateful for our lunch leftovers …
We had a
fair wind to make the journey to our winter quarters under sail …
Then dusk
fell quite suddenly, as it does at this time of year …
We made
our way through a fleet of racing boats …
… and it
was getting quite dark by the time we reached Saltsjöbaden …
… where
we tied up alongside a pontoon in the Sune Carlsson Boatyard.
We just
had time to take off and fold the mainsail before it was completely dark. It was a good idea to get that job done there
and then as it was such a calm and windless evening …
The sky
and reflections were amazing …
The next
day we backed Astraia into the crane dock, so they could put the slings
underneath her …
… lift
her out of the water …
… drive
her on to dry land and hose her off …
…
transfer her to a trailer, pulled by a tractor, and move her round to the
winter storage area …
… where
she was propped up safely.
We then
had a lot to do to remove everything that won’t withstand Swedish winter
temperatures. The engine has to be
‘winterised’ and all water in the boat’s plumbing system removed. Eventually, Astraia will be covered in
‘shrink-wrap’ to protect her from the cold and the weight of the snow.
Sat 31st Aug – Mon 2nd
Sept – Driving Back
Meanwhile,
we set off with the car and roofbox overloaded with stuff to drive the 1300
miles back to Bosham.
We had an
interesting overnight stay in Lund, a delightful Swedish university town, which
was surprisingly lively as it was holding a comedy festival. Lund was founded in about 990 AD, and was the
capital of Denmark for over 400 years.
This is
the central square, with its ‘bike park’ – much nicer than a car park …
Lund
University is one of Europe’s oldest universities – this is the main University
building …
This is Kungshuset
Castle, now part of the University …
… and this
is the Romanesque Cathedral.
The next
overnight stop was in Deventer in Holland, which is one of the ancient Hanseatic
ports.
Deventer
is well-preserved and unspoilt and many movies have been filmed there. In particular, scenes in ‘A Bridge Too Far’
which take place in Arnhem were
filmed in Deventer instead as Arnhem has lost its historic centre.
The hotel
we stayed in was a former monastery …
... this
is the stairwell …
This is a
typical street in Deventer …
… with
some cleverly disguised garages …
We never
discovered the purpose of the umbrellas, but they made a striking sight …
This is
the massive Cathedral …
… and
some of the old merchants’ houses …
Tues 3rd Sept - Home
Again!
We’ve had
a marvellous summer taking Astraia from Chichester to Stockholm. We’ve visited some truly beautiful places and
had pretty good weather on the whole, sometimes a bit too much wind, other
times totally calm – perhaps too little wind from the sailing point of
view. We’ve seen some fabulous sunsets
and had many clear starry nights with no light pollution.
The time
has absolutely flown past, and we always seem to have been quite busy. There’s a lot to do on a boat, whether
sailing, motoring, going through canals or in harbour. Plus there was a lot to see to make the most
of the various places we passed through.
Now we’re
back home – and back to work and reality – but already thinking about the next
stage of our Baltic trip and planning next year’s route.
The blog
will be back … !
