Last weekend we had planned a trip round Tjörn island via a night in Skärhamn. But all the planning ended in a weekend that rained away and we chose to stay at home and only made a day trip.
Come this weekend, we decided it was time! What wasn't that great was the weather forecast which had warned about a lot of wind. But at least no rain was forecasted so here we go. Friday Anders was off work and I took some time off in the afternoon and we drove out to Tjörn. The sun was shining but it was very windy. And the winds are still not very warm. When we arrived to RS I started a project which has dragged on for too long: the curtains for the windows in the cabin. I have tried to make them at home, with the old ones as a template, but this didn't turn out that well, so now I had brought the sowing maching with me and I measured carefully and it turned out well this time. It did however take until after dinner until I was finished.
Anders did some odd jobs in the meantime. He changed the seal in the stern stowage and changed the screws for the hinges while also sealing them with Sika. He also built rope holders for the mooring ropes and thus saved us almost 1800 SEK by making them from scrap wood. Finally, he made sure that there was no water in the bilge.
When we were done, we drove up to Almö Livs for some food and snacks for the evening. Grilled chicken and potato gratin from the deli became our supper. As usual, we finished off the evening with YouTube on the tablet, lying in a bunk each while the wind was rocking RS.
Saturday
We woke up early, which is normal since we go to bed early too. The sun was shining but clouds had started to appear in the sky and the wind was awfully gusty. We had breakfast and started getting ready to leave. The motor started up without problem, as per usual, and we dressed in out sailing clothes and felt ready for what we were about to do. We came out of the harbour and in the water between the harbour and the Tjörn bridge there were quite a few waves but not much white so we chugged on towards the Tjörn bridge. Anders have been taught by his dad that when you are competing in Tjörn runt, you had best keep the course neareast to Tjörn. So that's what we did. The wind was still gusty but we set a reefed genoa and turned off the engine to sail towards Skärhamn. We had about half of the genoa out to not get too much leaning of the boat. I am not that used to the leaning yet and too much is still a bit scary. The gusts were now pretty violent and the wind turned a few times. Around Höviksnäs the first few drops of rain came and shortly after Låka it turned into hail! Inside, I felt that I didn't want to sail all the way to Skärhamn in this weather. It was too windy and unpleasant with rain and hail. I had hardly thought this when Anders decided to turn around. It wasn't possible to go to Skärhamn in this weather, not with that crew (me) and with a captain, who although competent, still is learning and getting to know the boat. We turned the boat around, rolled in the genoa and turned on the engine to chug back towards Almösund. We saw bad weather over land and felt that we had made the right decision.
Inside the Tjörn bridge Anders asked if I wanted to sail in the "tub", which is between the Tjörn bridge and Almösund. I was ok with that. It felt safe to sail there because it was close to home and also to land. So we rolled out the genoa again and started to sail. And boy, did sail! Despite once again only having about half of the genoa out we reached 6.2 knots and a pretty good lean. I am working on getting used to the leaning and it went pretty well actually. After a while the captain felt that the wind blew too hard even for him so we roled in the genoa, started the engine and shugged towards home. I put out our fenders and proceeded to the stern with my trusty boat hook to help out with the mooring. The wind pushed on from the west and that meant that we had the wind in our backs. I had to push away hard, jump ashore and hold the boat away from the jetty while Anders tied the boat up. Good teamwork actually.
It was a bit of an ignomious end to our attempt at getting around Tjörn. But the Saturday was spent in Almösund, with amongst other things having a fika with father-in-law and a walk to an acquaintance of Anders', to his boat in Myggenäs Marina. A walk around Almön and back to RS for some dinner. Meatballs and pasta and then an evening on the berths in front of the tablet and a new acquaintance on YouTube: Onboard Living. Early to bed and the wind blew around RS. But Anders had done a good job to moor her so she lay nearly still and we were rocked to sleep by her light movements.
Sunday
We had forgotten to turn off the radio so right before five o'clock I woke up by a traffic report. Thank goodness I could go back to sleep and we woke up just before eight. After breakfast we cleaned up in RS and Anders scrubbed the deck with soft soap. I made sure that all was turned off and in order. I'm greatful that RS is a small boat! We drove father-in-law to his partner in Gothenburg and came home to a very vocal and cuddly cat. A good weekend, despite everything!
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