Strömstad remains astern, the Södra Hamnen with its shimmering forest of masts and the four white towers of the Skagerrak cultural centre. Finally in the sunshine. The first week of our trip with the Cruising Club of Switzerland along the Swedish west coast up from Gothenburg suddenly seems like a faint memory, the storm, the almost permanently grey sky and the endless rain showers. It was a different kind of summer holiday, to put it kindly.
Course for the Boster Islands
But everything is forgotten: A weekend with fantastic weather lies ahead of us - and at the same time a highlight of our trip. We head back south via the offshore archipelagos, first to Nordkoster, then to the Väderöarna. Like a regatta with only the starting signal missing, countless yachts set off on this bright morning.
Koster is a nature reserve, and the surrounding marine area is even a National Park is marked. And even though the direct distance from the approach to Strömstad to the entrance to the sound between the two large main islands of Nordkoster and Sydkoster is only three nautical miles, the archipelago lies outside the coastal archipelago belt.
Our destination is Nordkoster's Västra Bryggan, a small settlement at the narrowest point of the sound, which is around a mile long. A small yellow passenger ferry commutes here and this is also where the long guest jetties are located. Even now, in the late morning, the first packs are already forming. However, no more than three boats are allowed next to each other - so that shipping traffic can still pass through the sound without any problems.
Nordkoster: Holidays in a natural paradise
As soon as the last cleat is occupied, the holiday begins for guest crews. And the mood doesn't allow for anything else. You can either make yourself comfortable on board with your face to the sun, chat with your jetty neighbour or try to get a table on the terrace at the edge of the beach, surrounded by colourful birds, pointed beaks, bees and frogs, forged and welded from sheet metal. Art that you can buy.
A girl rattles past on a quad bike with her blonde hair flying, "Work less!" is the message on her T-shirt."
A blackboard invites you to events, forest bathing, nature yoga, tango, and a boy sells fantastic strawberries from a folding table.
In the afternoon, I finally shoulder my photo rucksack and head out into nature: several hiking trails and nature trails open up Koster, one even underwater for snorkellers. I at least have enough time today for a short walk through the holiday settlement to Basteviken, a shallow bay in the west, and then through wild meadows and dense forest to Högen, the highest point in Koster, accompanied by butterflies.
Two lighthouses rise up on the ridge, around sixty metres above the sea - to be on the safe side. They were built in 1848, as a plaque reveals. The panoramic view is well worth the climb. You can see the entire sound. Back to the harbour. People are still swimming in the sound at midnight.
Ursholmen: Island of the lighthouse keepers
The next morning we leave Nordkoster, but not yet the archipelago. Before we continue, we head for Ursholmen, one of the archipelagos south of the main islands, which offers a sheltered natural harbour. On the short way there, light-coloured rocks against a blue sky pass us by again, and there seems to be a boat in every corner, alone or in pairs, even in a packet. A group of sea kayaks crosses our course.
You can still see pale torsos, but also already tanned ones - the barbecue season is less than a week away. midsommar already in full swing ..."
We soon reach Ursholmen, which lies three nautical miles to the south on the edge of the archipelago. Here, too, there are actually two islands. They enclose the harbour, which can only be approached by deeper-going yachts in the north between flat rocks. Two lighthouses were also built here a long time ago, but only the southern one of the pair is still in operation. Nothing could be done about it anyway, as the northern one lost its lantern house at some point.
The history of this place is told in the Fyrmuseum, a shed between the towers that is always accessible, with maps full of mould stains and faded photographs of proud civil servants from an almost forgotten era. From up here I can also easily recognise our "Rolling Swiss 2", which has found a place alongside the steep cliffs of Inre Ursholmen, the eastern island.
But no problem: even with a rowed dinghy, it is only a few minutes to the jetty on Ytre Ursholmen, the outer island, which, in addition to the lighthouses, also has the old residential and farm buildings of the keepers' families. A youth group is on holiday in one of the houses. At home on the lighthouse island - but only for ten days, not ten years.
