The island of Hasselo is home to the exclusive pub “The Thirsty Winterswan“. It’s only open in the fall, winter and spring, and only for 3 hours a week: on Saturdays from 4pm to 7pm. The concept appealed to us greatly and we tried not to get our hopes up too much in case it wasn’t open.

After an enjoyable Saturday afternoon taking in the sights on Hasselo, we were thrilled to see a crowd outside the pub enjoying the “warm weather” as we approached. We had an absolutely fabulous time enjoying the setting and talking with the other patrons. What a unique experience.

Below are trip highlights from April 6th, 2019 at Hasselo, SE. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps

Sidelight Position: 57°32.76’N, 16°44.28’E We use bright 75-watt LED floodlights on the boat deck and off the sides of the boat. The purpose of the boat deck lights is to allow safe loading and unloading or other work on the boat deck or at the back of the boat at night. Over the years, two of these four lights have failed. 150-watt lights of similar design are now available, so rather than replacing our spares with the same, we’ve picked up a couple of new 150-watt lights that we’re using for the sidelights. The 75-watt lights are more than bright enough for the boat deck—in fact we really only need one of them. But moving to 150 watts on the sidelight allows them to punch further through darkness. Here’s the new sidelights in action, lighting up the shore a fair distance away as we depart our anchorage before sunrise.

Reroute Position: 57°33.73’N, 16°50.50’E We’d planned to run to Gotland this morning for a couple of nights, but the forecast had deteriorated for our planned return on Monday, so we opted to continue north.

Light Position: 57°40.00’N, 16°47.57’E Light at the southern end of the Vastervik Archipelago.

Sparo Position: 57°42.32’N, 16°44.41’E Beacon and lighthouse on the island of Sparo.

Sparosund Position: 57°42.68’N, 16°43.47’E Nearing narrow and beautiful Sparosund.

Navy Buildings Position: 57°42.84’N, 16°43.37’E The buildings on the west side of Sparosund once were owned by the Swedish Navy. Blog reader Robert Lindberg spent several summers there in the 1980s and recommended we take the passage. It really was beautiful, particularly in the morning light.

Tallskarshalet Ned Position: 57°43.36’N, 16°43.56’E Tallskarshalet Ned beacon just north of the channel Sparosund.

Hasselo Sand Position: 57°49.82’N, 16°43.96’E Moored at Hasselo Sand off the island of Hasselo.

Guest Jetty Position: 57°49.82’N, 16°43.96’E Our tender tied off at the guest jetty at Hasselo Sand beach.

Cargo Bike Position: 57°50.03’N, 16°43.90’E Many islanders use modified scooters where the front section is replaced with a cargo platform. We suspect this probably was the common form of transit on the island years ago, but four-wheel ATVs have largely replaced them.

Trail to Vikarklinten Position: 57°50.60’N, 16°42.77’E Walking the trail to the hill Vikarklinten on the island of Hasselo. We bundled up, but with sunshine, no wind and 49°F (9.4°C) temperatures, the day was warm enough that we started shedding layers.

Vikarklinten View Position: 57°50.67’N, 16°42.44’E At 28m, the hill Vikarklinten is the highest point in the island and has nice views from the summit.

Dirona Position: 57°50.65’N, 16°42.45’E We could just see Dirona at anchor from the top Vikarklinten.

Farmhouses Position: 57°50.74’N, 16°43.05’E The island of Hasselo has a fairly substantial residential population scattered over the island in homesteads like this one. Nearly every building we saw was painted red with white trim.

Garden Djupsvederna Position: 57°50.88’N, 16°43.49’E An interpretive sign, only in Swedish, indicated this homestead on Hasselo and perhaps this exact house, had been inhabited since the early 1800s.

Below Grade Position: 57°50.33’N, 16°43.77’E One of several buildings, presumably for food storage, built almost entirely below grade.

Birdhouse Position: 57°50.33’N, 16°43.77’E Even the birdhouses on Hasselo are painted red with white trim.

Bay Position: 57°50.14’N, 16°44.79’E Evening sun lighting a small bay on the east side of Hasselo.

Sensor Position: 57°50.00’N, 16°45.12’E Throughout the island of Hasselo are gravel sections that appear to be covering a hole with a metal stake standing over it. The metal stake has three electrical connections. We’re guessing these are permanently-installed sensors where a meter can be plugged in, but haven’t figured out what the sensors are detecting.

Logs Position: 57°49.84’N, 16°45.38’E At many places all over the island, very selective and neat logging is underway.

Woods Position: 57°49.48’N, 16°45.23’E Passing through the woods on the southern end of Hasselo.

The Thirsty Winterswan Position: 57°49.01’N, 16°45.13’E Our final destination for our walking tour of Hasselo was the exclusive pub “The Thirsty Winterswan”. It’s only open in the fall, winter and spring, and only for 3 hours a week: on Saturdays from 4pm to 7pm. We were trying not to get our hopes up too much in case it wasn’t open, but the concept appealed to us greatly and we were really looking forward to it.

Locals Position: 57°49.01’N, 16°45.12’E In the winter, locals arrives at The Thirsty Winterswan on snowmobiles and pack inside the small pub, but in today’s balmy 49°F (9.4°C) weather, everyone was outside. We had an absolutely fabulous time enjoying the view and talking with the other patrons. What a unique experience.

Hot Tub Position: 57°49.01’N, 16°45.13’E In the summer, the pub owners run a popular restaurant, Sjokanten, bringing people over by boat from the nearby city of Vastervik. It sounds a bit like Peats Bite near Sidney Australia. At Sjokanten, you can soak in the hot tub before dinner.

View Position: 57°49.01’N, 16°45.13’E Looking southeast from the waterfront at The Thirsty Winterswan.

Sauna Position: 57°49.02’N, 16°45.13’E Saunas are extremely popular in Sweden. This one on the property of The Thirsty Winterswan follows a common barrel design.

Sunset Position: 57°49.16’N, 16°44.95’E Golden scene at sunset as we walk back to the tender.

Evening Calm Position: 57°49.82’N, 16°43.93’E What little wind was blowing this morning had fallen off completely and the sunset reflected wonderfully in the still waters off our anchorage at Hasselo Sand.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.