As we keep saying, one of the absolutely best things about sailing is the people you meet. When we woke up after our night sail and started moving about, we met our boat neighbors, a couple from Norway. They gave us the phone number of a fisherman they knew who was out fishing, and we were able to arrange for fresh crayfish for dinner – directly off the boat. We went swimming together, talked boats, and they even recommended a little town just across the border where we could eat a lovely dinner. So after a night in Resö and some small boat jobs (and laundry in our washer!), we sailed up to Skjærhalden, Norway.
There we were met by another friendly boat neighbor, who recommended the same restaurant (Første Reis) as the couple at Resö; and suggested their fish soup. So we headed over to Første Reis and had a wonderful dinner with rich and creamy fish soup and homemade full-grain bread. It was a lovely little town and a great restaurant, we just didn’t find any service facilities there. If I am going to pay for a harbor, it’s nice to be able to shower or at least use a restroom on land.
Having accomplished our mission to sail to Norway, we turned back to Sweden and stopped in on one of our favorite places, Nordkoster. There we returned to the restaurant Strandkanten, where a unique and curious collection of knick knacks and ornaments decorates all the available wall space both inside and out. The food is excellent, their shrimp sandwiches are huge and fresh, and service is wonderful. After a refreshing wake-up swim the next morning, we set sail for Väderöarna / the Weather Islands; another favorite place.
Since we arrived fairly early in the day, we were able to secure a fantastic spot along the dock in the natural harbor (Strömsund). We went swimming in the amazingly clear and warm water, then took the dinghy over to the harbor where we sat and had a beer on the deck beside hot-tubbing guests at the hotel Väderöarnas Värdshus. After our dinner on the boat, we climbed up the rocks to watch the sun setting over the ocean. An amazing evening.
Finally, on Saturday, we saw that a gale was in the forecast for the evening, so we decided to return home to Dragsmark. We set sail at 7am and made breakfast under way, arriving in Dragsmark after just 6 hours which was pretty impressive. We sailed in winds up to 11 m/s or 22 knots; mostly at a close reach. Toward the end we had the wind in from behind / downwind; which was really nice. Lulu sailed so well that we even kept up for a bit with a boat that had a crew of 5 manning her black carbon sails; despite towing our dinghy.