Carra Tidings

With some windy weather expected, plus it had been along time since we had seen a washing machine, we set off in the search of a marina and settled on Nynäshamn. With little wind, we motored past the commercial port – clearly a cheap parking spot for a redundant Mediterranean Cruise ship – though ship seems to be a rather generous term for something that looked like a towering apartment block that defying the laws of physics in terms of stability. We were on a deadline – our Pilates class started at 10:30 and it was 10:25 when we tied up. Speedily we closed the boat electronics down/abandoned the rest of the boat, yoga mats on the deck, moving the multiple lines that run across the deck to find a bump free but not level place. We joined the class, much to the surprise of our Pilates teacher in the UK – though the class was international as there people joined from Portugal and Spain. I am not sure our neighbours knew what to make us as we adopted strange positions – negotiating ropes that were inconveniently placed and the ferry wash adding to the challenge of balancing moves.

Following our class we then went to check in. Realised there was a much nicer berth closer to the facilities – important for the early morning dash to the loo, close to the wifi – oh and yes not forgetting the nautical stuff – more sheltered. So much to the amusement of neighbours we upped and left.

We had previously been here at the start of a CA rally – but have never bothered to explore the town. The positive vibe that surrounds the harbour with little shops and cafés, and fabulous fish smokery ended there and the town was a non event – a homage to boring brick buildings and devoid of character. Apart from the Harbour,  its other redeeming feature was the network of cycle paths to explore the coastline.

Lockdowns in the UK had seen a friend and I jamm virtually every week. Me on guitar and Casey on the piano. Part therapy, a lot of fun and developing our musically ability, it has been the highlight of some of our lockdown weeks – like the curates egg we can sound good sometimes , bad others and always have the luxury of blaming any timing challenges on the technology. So we were determined to carry on the boat– though my mini guitar sans amplifier was no match for the piano – but still great fun.

Having been away from Marina life for 2 years,  we had forgotten what fun it is to people and boat watch when someone comes into moor  – the onlookers turn into Meerkats. Thankfully that what ever mess we are all watching unfold from our ring side seats, that we aren’t the providers of the entertainment. Or if the move goes smoothly – everyone averts their gaze quickly as if we weren’t really that interested. However there was one boat that caught everyone’s attention – a steel hull German vessel called Virus came into view. I am quite sure it seemed a cool name 2 years ago but I think it was crying out for a renaming!