Now we're heading back south towards Gothenburg. And the sun has arrived too: after a week of storms and rain in the middle of July, the Svensk sommar has been kind to our crew from the Swiss Cruising Club. Better late than never!
Gluppö: Ring of rocks with bathing beach
Actually, we should have been Departure from the Väderöarna We could have travelled further south, but Fjällbacka is a must - at the special request of Isabelle, who is a fan of Camilla Läckberg's crime novels. This is because the stories, from "The Mermaid" to "The Lighthouse Keeper"
As it is still early and the "Rolling Swiss 2" is already heading for the archipelago, we make a stopover: the natural harbour in the lee of the island of Gluppö. A perfect horseshoe of bare rock, sufficiently shallow for anchoring, but even equipped with murings. A very beautiful place, especially on fine days. A touch of the Aegean in Sweden. The wind blows warmly across the bay. We put out 35 metres of chain in ten metres of water, then we lie calmly. About a dozen yachts keep us company. Finally time for the long-promised Toast Skagen and an excursion with the dinghy. Our destination is a small sandy crescent at the foot of the rocks to the north, perfect for a swim.
Fjällbacka: Royal gorge and thrillers from Sweden
We drop anchor again and wind our way through the archipelago, Dyngön, Hjärterön and Valön - that someone had found names for all these islands - until suddenly Fjällbacke comes into view behind another bend in the fairway, the church tower with the white houses, the imposing cliff of Vetteberget and the dense masts of the marina in front of it. Skipper Marc hasn't reserved a berth this time, but we find a place on the long outer jetty between a Beneteau from Hobro and a steel ketch from the Ijsselmeer. Later we also get a neighbour in the packet, a Bavaria with another nice Norwegian family. Many tourists are out and about after the fantastic weekend. You can hear Norwegian, Italian and of course German. The boat crews clearly stand out in their outfits: offshore jackets and boots speak for themselves.
We head up the Vetteberg through the Kungsklyftan. First a few steps lead up to the rocks, then the gorge begins - and it is really impressive, barely two metres wide, with scree on the ground, vertical walls to the right and left, certainly ten metres high, a real crack in the mountain. Further back, large boulders that have fallen from above have even wedged themselves in, forming something like a natural portal. A few more wooden steps and then I'm at the top, 84 metres up after all. The plateau is of a certain size and is accessed by a circular path. Hjällristningar can be found here, stone images that are widespread in the south of Sweden, including a grave from the Bronze Age. From the viewpoint at the highest point, I walk to the edge of the ravine, with Fjällbacka below me.
Stenholmen: Grave of a German poet
We also make a stopover the next morning: off the uninhabited island of Stenholmen, we drop anchor in the shallow bay on the north side and once again get the dinghy ready; when Isabelle searched the internet for information about Camilla Läckberg in Fjällbacka, she learnt in passing that Gorch Fock is buried on this small island. We would have steamed right past, although even Google Maps has the place marked. We use the dinghy again, but the bottom of the bay is so overgrown that we have to paddle to the shallow beach. We look in vain for any traces of other recent visitors, only the numerous wild geese have left any remains.
The skerry is only a few hundred metres in diameter, but there is a faintly recognisable path that winds its way up through rocks and heather until the land drops away again on the other side. And there lies the small German military cemetery, bordered by a neat rectangle of quarry stone. There are a good dozen gravestones here.
Most of the casualties occurred during the Battle of the Skagerrak in May 1916, including Gorch Fock, when his ship, the small cruiser SMS "Wiesbaden", was caught between the battle lines of the two fleets and sank in a hail of steel. Only one man out of almost six hundred survived. The dead poet from Finkenwerder - or Finkenwärder, as it says on the stone - drifted more than 150 nautical miles through the North Sea until he was found on the Väderöarna and buried here in Sweden. A plaque, erected by the crew of the Lübeck steamer "Dora" on 1 July 1920, sends a "homecoming salute" to the fallen. A lonely, beautiful place.
Smögen: a golden evening at the end
Just under half an hour later, our chain rattles back into the box and we are back on a southerly course, on the same route we travelled on the way there. We pass Hamburgsund again, then Sotekanalen and finally the high Smögenbron.
As we enter the elongated Gästhamn of Smögen, the promenade is full of people and the shops, bars and restaurants of the popular holiday resort are open. The wooden Smögenbryggan stretches for almost a kilometre along the cliff, flanked by white wooden houses. In front of it is a long row of murings. The recognisable gaps are of course reserved. We make another round and take a second look at the even narrower northern end of the harbour, where we are already in the packet. We discover another possibility, a single motor yacht with a fender on the side - perhaps the last space in the harbour.
Two shore lines fore and aft, and we are moored well on a Sessa, again from Norway. It's actually the perfect spot, far away from the hustle and bustle further ahead and very close to the colourful fishermen's huts at the end of the basin. Before we head back to Gothenburg with long legs over the next two days, we are determined to make up for the bad weather and the time we lost at the start of the trip on this golden evening. It's easy for us. That's the way it is, the Swedish summer!
