Intrepid Travels

After an early start in a thunderstorm and fickle winds, the rain stopped and we headed across the Oresund towards the south coast of Sweden. Eventually we had good winds and made progress without motor assistance, sweeping gradually eastwards along the shoreline to our destination in the small fishing town of Ystad, made ‘famous’ by the Wallender crime series. We dropped anchor outside the small harbour, with views over the grain silos on one side and the pretty town on the other. A party soon started in the campervan park on shore but the raucous 50s music eventually ceased and we had a peaceful night.
Our brief trip ashore was well worth it. The sun shone and the town looked its best, with typical Swedish architecture both old and new set off by lots of street flowers and greenery. As the Sunday morning progressed, we found ourselves in the path of a large procession of naval cadets, on what seems to be an annual Nordic parade with Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway all represented, together with a tuneful brass band, leading the procession to the beautiful church for a joint service. We left Ystad soon afterwards, in company with a Swedish naval submarine, out for a test run.
We made good progress from Ystad, around the South east corner of Sweden and on to Simrishamn, arriving just in time for a walk around town before settling in for the night.