Again 3 weeks have passed and now we 'live' already 10 weeks in Sweden. The end is in sight. According to Carl the boat will go into the water next week and we will be able to live on it again at the end of the week 😃. But whether everything will be finished so we can sail back is still to be seen. There are still a lot of open ends. Also the weather has to cooperate, something that will certainly not be the case next week. Well, we'll see, staying here a bit longer doesn't really matter. Also on the boat we can 'work at home'.
There's a lot going on these 3 weeks. The progress on the boat in the past week also requires our commitment, in combination with the sale of our house. No, our life is far from boring at the moment and sometimes it costs us some sleep ☺️. But what a privilege in this particular corona time 😊😊.
A review of the last three weeks. In the first week Toine is in Tilburg for some commitments. He passes the BMW garage again with his new car because the navigation screen breaks down every now and then, and again there appears to be a recall from BMW because of the batteries. They do need some time to solve this. This allows Toine to arrange that he can rent a car in Sweden at BMW's expense. Actually it is that easy; this week flying back instead of driving all the way and we don't have to return the car another time. In that week there are two interested couples for the sale of our house. With the first couple Toine is partially there and has a good feeling about it.
I have a great time in Sweden with mainly working, some hiking and occasionally cycling to the yard to see the progress. In the evenings I spend a lot of time reorganizing our photos on the iMac. Late Thursday evening Toine is back with a rental car. This is the 5th car in front of the house (1 rental car 1, 2 old X5, 3 temporary BMW 5, 4 new X5 and 5 rental car 2). 😎.
In the weekend we stay at home on Saturdays because it rains all day and in the evening we have dinner in the restaurant in the marina of Fiskebäckskil. On Sunday it is sunny and we drive to the beginning of the island of Tjörn for a nice walk in a wooded area with lots of rocks. More than 2 hours of hiking with lots of ups and downs; a great workout!
In the second week, Rössy comes by to measure the new bimini (sun tent) with sun-shades and Petterson to measure the floor covering and upholstery benches. Kjell has to work at Rassy again, but is almost finished and can finish his work in the weekends. With Carl we agree to go into the water in the last week of October. A good milestone to work towards! The couple from the first viewing of our house last week will come for the second time, this time with a buying agent at 😃.
On the right hand side picture above you see our hero Kjell. In the weekend we go to Tjörn again on Saturday. This time from Kyrkesund with the pedestrian ferry to the island of Härön for a walk of more than two hours. In a rugged landscape with again different characteristics than the other walks. Lovely, such an afternoon in the wild with few others around us. In the evening we have dinner in a cozy bistro in Skärhamn. We feel very privileged because in the Netherlands the hospitality is closed since Wednesday 😥. On Sunday, for a change, we drive north for some short walks along a place with a row of stones from the Stonehenge era, in Hamburgsund and over the rocks with stairs in Fjällbacka. Also a beautiful piece of Sweden! We still recognize Hamburgsund with the narrow passage and a ferry with a cable from 2007 when we were here with the Brandaan.
Last week we spent some hours on the boat ourselves. With the help of Paul (Nova) and HR parts we can order the original Rassy floor covering; which the company (Petterson) that Carl deploys does not succeed in doing. On Friday we pick up the roll at HR parts with Carl's van and bring it to Petterson, just below Gothenburg, so they can make it to measure. This company also makes the upholstery for the benches. On Thursday morning Toine assembles the two new heating radiators near our bed and in the niche of Marinthe's bed. So that the heating can be on as soon as we are in the water. Only he misses two more fittings to finish it off. These are now being sent from the Netherlands.
As of Thursday we are in a bidding process for our house. I'm sure that will come to a conclusion early next week ☺️.
Saturday the weather is lovely and we take another brisk walk. By now we have the experience that by searching in google we arrive at 'naturreservat' at beautiful areas with marked footpaths. Again in the Ramsvik nature reserve just north of Kungshamn. A beautiful combination of forest in autumn colors and rocks with sea view 😃. In the evening we have dinner for the last time in our favourite restaurant in the marina of Fiskebäckskil. Today (Sunday) we stay at home for a day because the stormy wind with rain is pouring around the house all day. We haven't had it that bad so far.
Also in Sweden last night the winter season started. The days are currently only half an hour shorter than in Tilburg (the sun sets 40 minutes earlier in the evening but also rises 10 minutes earlier in the morning, and the twilight lasts longer).. On the shortest day of the year, the sun rises 20 minutes later and sets 65 minutes earlier. That makes a big difference. We also had the first night frost and since 2 weeks there are poles everywhere along the roads to recognize the road in case of snowfall. It is time to sail back!
As far as the season is concerned, yes, but not as far as corona is concerned now that the infections in the Netherlands are rising considerably and the measures have been tightened up. Then you'd better be here. You hardly notice any corona in this sparsely populated area. There are few infections, nowhere do we see mouth caps and the restaurants are just open. But we also miss our daughters. We keep in good contact with video bells, but that's different than seeing each other regularly. Yes, it is time to sail back ... we will see what the next 3 weeks will bring 😌.
Below you can see how the view from our temporary house went from summer to autumn.
