11 September

Northeast 9-18 knots predicted. Perfect for the jump to Harstena (where I also spent a night on my way north, definetely one of my favorite islands...) To take a shortcut I steered out to the open sea instead of following the inshore route. The only problem being that the forecasted winds was nowhere to be seen. I was awake early and hauled the anchor before 9am. The wind, after I had made good the first few miles on the leward side of the islands, turned ut to be a mere 4-9 knots. Dead running the boat speed was just 2,5-3,5 knots. Not too bad, but definetely not what I had expected. Course 180 degrees a couple of hours to the Gustav Dahl�n lighthouse that marks the entrance to Oxel�sund and it's huge steelmill. Once at G.Dahl�n, a 20 degrees starboard turn towards Sands�nkans Lighthouse, from which there is 4 miles left to Harstena.
Another thing to really make this day was a tiny bit of mist and a drizzling rain. Then with three hours still to go, the wind died out completely and there wasn�t much else to do than to fire up the engine again. Arrived to Flisfj�rden at Harstena at 7pm as darkness was just beginning to fall. Not a sailing day for the history books...

12 September

It was not more than 15 degrees C in R�de Orm's cabin when I woke up this morning. A clear night and the chilliest I have experienced since I left home port. I was just fine under my warm duvet though and since I could see that it was sunny outside, it was not too hard to get up anyway. After breakfast I took the crewdog and rowed to shore. A few plastic bags in my rugsack, since I wanted to search for mushrooms and perhaps some lingonberries. Thus I spent a couple of morning hours in the forest. No mushrooms found though, and hardly the right type of terrain for lingonberries either. I did find quite a few black berries though. I cannot remember what they are called in english, but it's the ones that look like black raspberries and have thorns. Bj�rnb�r (=bearberries) in swedish. Must admit that they found there way right down to my stomach and not to the bags I brought to carry them in.
Anyway, both the crew dog and myself enjoyed the walk and the beautiful surroundings. On our way back from the village to the boat, we met a charming elderly woman leading a bycicle. She had been picking blueberries despite the fact they should be finished by now. I learned from talking to her that she was married to one of the men, born on this island, and that they had lived 6 months out of every year here since 1963 and the other 6 months of each year at the island on the west coast of Sweden where she was born. Some people get it all, don't they? A lovely personality anyway and it was nice to get some input on life here.
Upon return to the mother ship, a much needed hygienic effort then took place in form of a short swim. Yes short, the water temp did not admit the planned dive to inspect the through-hulls and propeller for barnacles. Apparently this summer is colder than usual, the temp in the sea is 4-5 degrees lower than a normal summer.
At 2 pm the anchor was hauled in and I set sail. By God, the forecast came out to be spot on today. SW 18-26 knots, from the afternoon veering to W and then NW and decreasing during the night. Hence I enjoyed a perfect inshore sail. Fore-reaching but I didn�t have to tack even once. The boat did 6-7 knots most of the time on a flat sea due to the wind blowing from land. It was gusty as always with a land-to-sea breeze and I enjoyed every minute of it. At 7 pm I could drop anchor at L�ng�/Tr�ss� in perfect solitude at this otherwise so popular anchorage. I've got 25-30 miles left to the town of V�stervik, where I plan to pick up Sanna(who is arriving there by train to join me for the weekend) and get some much wanted laundry done.
Almost forgot; I saw an eagle again today, it's the forth or fifth time.