Carra Tidings

21^st June

The procession of boats that had left on Friday were clearly all returning back to their marinas and we seemed to be the only ones going against the flow. Hopefully this would mean that our next stop would be fairly empty. We motored into a gentle breeze and about 2 hours after leaving Sandon we arrived at Trasko Stora. It had several places to moor against the rock and if we chickened out we could always anchor in the middle.

First we needed to decide where to go, there was one spot which looked perfect which had recently been vacated by a motor boat. Our first attempt was less successful and we had to pull away just about 2m from the rock as I hadn’t quite judged that the wind would blow our bow off – so we reversed, up came the anchor and we started the process again – at least it kept the locals entertained. The second time around we were successful and Mags stepped onto the steep rocky shore with a line which she tied to a tree and she then  hammered  a stone hook into a crevice to secure the second line. We feel like we have now passed the Swedish initiation test – mooring onto a rock.

It was a tranquil spot and the sun came out and was actually hot enough for shorts. After lunch we tried to explore the Island but without crampons we weren’t going to get very far. So we retreated to the boat, just as a single hander sailed into the anchorage and moored on the rock next to us effortlessly… it was very impressive. It will be a while before we are that proficient – if ever!

Mags had her usual afternoon zizz and I cleaned the boat. I went ashore to take some photos and ended up talking to the single hander – who shared his top recommendations for places to visit in the Archipelago.

Dinner in the cockpit – without the cockpit tent ( a first this year) rounded off by a beautiful evening sky.