Carra Tidings

The Lookout tower at Ido

After a convenient passage anchorage, we set off at 6am to secure 1 of the 3 places where we could moor in the next harbour. After doing circles outside the tiny harbour till a motor boat left, we managed to tie up alongside in Ido. Sadly the restaurant which has a great reputation was closed on mondays, so we treated ourselves to lunch in the café which was delicious. The Island previously had been a coastguard, pilot station with a tall lookout tower – whose office at the top was still as it had been when it was last operational. Not the place to be on a windy night! But wonderful views over the surrounding islands.

Klintemåla at dawn

We had a civilised start the next morning,  then picked our way through the rocks and a bonus we sailed most of the way, I had forgotten how beautiful the archipelago can be – the warm red granite lights up in the sun, and clinging on, where logic would  indicate that no tree should thrive, were small stunted knurled pines.  At this point, I decided to take a short cut from the recommended route. But when the depth gauge bore no resemblance to the chart and I seemed to be surrounded by low lying menacing rocks, that just broke the surface, I decided it wasn’t my best idea. So very slowly I did a 360, retraced my steps and breathed a sigh of relief, when we got back to recommended route. Slightly off the beaten track,  Klintemåla had a  friendly feel to it and was at the head of a beautiful fjord.

Going under the Kalmar Bridge

After another early start, we threaded our way out of the archipelago for the last time and into open water. By setting off at 5 am, we caught the last of a westerly wind which meant we had a cracking sail until about 11am. 8 knots with all 3 sails up – just what we needed as we had a 60nm sail ahead of us.  By 4pm it was against us and gusting 28 knots – so we reefed and made very slow progress. We could see the Kalmar bridge in the distance, it spans the stretch of water to the Island of Oland but it never seemed to get any closer. After sailing for about 12 hours, we finally made it under the bridge. It felt like going through the gateway to the north – so it was sad because it felt like a door closing but exciting at the same time as it was the beginning of new adventures. We finally arrived at Kalmar at about 6pm and got one of the last few berths – it had been a long day.

Kalmar Harbour

With windy weather for the next few days, we stayed put and explored the attractive town, caught up on admin and boat jobs. The harbour is a real melting pot of nationalities and there is a real buzz about the harbour – great for people and boat watching. Less ideal if you want to do yoga on the coach roof unnoticed. We fancied a night out at the cinema – I know it will be a great surprise but we chose Oppenheimer over Barbie!

Fika Time

Kalmar Castle

We cycled through a park full of Linden trees with their powerful pleasant scent,  to Kalmar Castle, home of the signing of the Treaty of Kalmar Union. Its strategic importance on the old Swedish Danish border was well told in one of the exhibitions. So anything south of Kalmar used to be Danish.

The Castle was in remarkably good condition. The old town nearby had many historic wooden houses and a wonderful garden with a café. It was definitely Fika time – a southern Swedish word  which describes cake, chat and chilling in one.

Sand Sculptures

The next day we cycled south to a lovely little harbour past some amazing sand sculptures which had been part of a competition. Nearby we got the most amazing cinnamon and pistachio buns….for some more Fika back at the boat. But after 4 days in Kalmar it was time to move on.

As we headed south, so did the wind and with the exception of the last couple of miles, we motor sailed to Brunnesviken – our planned rendezvous with  friends Julie, Yvonne and Foss in Moonstar. As we rounded the headland,  we could see Moonstar snuggly tucked up – there was due to be some windy weather and Brunnesviken was the ideal sheltered spot.

It was the best kind of windy weather, with no rain which meant we could get the bikes out and cycle over to the other side of the island to the bakery.  Foss was quite happy to sit in the front  basket on Yvonne’s bike – with her ears flapping in the wind – Foss’s that is!

We climbed a rocky outcrop to a beacon, with spectacular views over the archipelago – it was a biggest test of Mags’ new knee so far, which she was pleased to complete pain free. We had walks through the bilberry filled woods, made use of the barrel sauna, went sea swimming, joined in my Pilates classes in the UK via zoom and had a BBQ for Julie’s Birthday. It was the first time we had chilled in months and it felt great.

With the chaos that preceded our departure from the UK, neither of us had managed to squeeze in a haircut and by now had a distinctly shaggy look – or windswept and interesting, as we preferred to call it.

So it was time for the pontoon saloon to open. Not helped by the fact Mags knocked the scissors into the water and I had to retrieve them before starting. Perhaps she was trying to tell me something. I dusted off my lockdown skills and 30 mins later a more aerodynamic Mags appeared. Did I allow Mags to reciprocate…….NO – once in lockdown was enough. I decided I could wait until we could find a hairdresser!

Windy weather over, we set off for Nynäshamn, which had 3 highlights: its fabulous fish shop, home to the shop that makes all the chocolates for the Nobel Prize Dinner and they do rather good icecream too – which we sampled and I managed to get a haircut.

An early start, a cloudless day and sailling, meant it was a good opportunity to have a Carra/Moonstar photo shoot.

The short cut through the headland of Landsort – which had seemed so intricate and scary, when we first came through here 8 years ago, now seemed positively wide compared to other shortcuts we have encountered since then.

Our destination was Fifång, where we anchored in the north of the island – it was the club island of a local yacht club. Yvonne and I walked to the south of the island to find a well loved little harbour. For our last night with Moonstar, I brought  my guitar over to theirs and we had Julie on the tin whistle and Yvonne on the Ukulele  and we sang Sea Shanties – poor Foss she didn’t think much of our singing.

It was great week with Moonstar but we needed to start heading south and with an ideal westerly wind we said goodbye to Julie and Yvonne – who had kindly got up at early o’clock to wave us off – Foss had more sense and stayed in bed. Once out of the lee of the island, the noisy engine was switched off and Carra sped off. It was great to be finally sailing. It seems such a long time since we have sailed in a straight line so far. It seems like you are making slow progress til you realise that the lighthouse you had been sailing towards was now a distance blip on the horizon behind you. We entered the beautiful anchorage at Bokö with plenty of time to go and explore the heritage island, which aimed to preserve island life as it was.