Karingon, a small and beautiful island along the Swedish West Coast, has one of the most active Sea Rescue Society station in Sweden. The Karingon Sea Rescue Society, founded in 1920, has 36 volunteers and performs 400-500 missions each year. Averaging more than one mission a day, the busiest days in the summer must be very hectic. The island also is home to one of the best restaurants in the Sweden, Petersons Krog, recently rated “Best Overall Experience” in the White Guide to Swedish restaurants.

Over two nights at Karingon, we explored the charming island on foot, checked out the Karingon Sea Rescue Society boats and had an exceptional meal at Petersons Krog. We also had a fun surprise visit from Gothenburg residents Anders Segerberg and Patrik Ferreira who zipped over from Gothenburg at 40kts and tracked us down, where else, in the local pub.

Below are trip highlights from September 7th and 8th in Karingon, Sweden. 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.

9/7/2019

Town Position: 58°0.86’N, 11°30.82’E Passing the town of Kyrkesund en route from the island of Tjorn to Karingon. Kyrkesund is strung along the water on both sides of the channel, with a ferry running between.

Mooring Lines Position: 58°1.84’N, 11°30.51’E A large pleasure craft tied off to a web of moorings extending from the sea and from the rock race.

Mollosund Position: 58°4.33’N, 11°28.20’E Looking into the harbour at Mollosund, the oldest fishing village on the Bohuslan Coast (the Swedish west coast north of Gothenburg).

Karingons Gasthamn Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.90’E Blog reader Torbjorn Curtsson sent us this webcam shot of Dirona moored at Karingons Gasthamn.

Karingon SRS Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.90’E Boat from the Karingon Sea Rescue Society station out practicing. The station at Karingon was founded in 1920 and is one of the most active in Sweden, having 36 volunteers and performing 400-500 missions each year.

Karingon Position: 58°6.76’N, 11°22.00’E One of the many small harbors on Karingon.

SRS Jetskis Position: 58°6.77’N, 11°22.06’E The Karingon Sea Rescue Society station is well-equipped with a variety of boats, including these three jet-skis. These appear to be injection-molded plastic rather than the usual FRP.

Boat Maneuvering Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.89’E The Karingon Sea Rescue Society station shown training precision boat handling with one of their most capable boats. Here they approach the outside of the dock fairly quickly and, as the dock disappears from their view beneath their bow, they stop just prior to touching the dock. Then, while maintaining a 90 degree angle to the dock and without changing the distance between the bow and the dock they move the boat sideways down to the end and then back away. Partly it’s a very well equipped boat with joystick drive but mostly it’s just excellent boat handling.

Dinner Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°22.08’E Jennifer enjoying fresh oysters as part of an exceptional meal at renowned Petersons Krog. The restaurant recently was rated “Best Overall Experience” in the White Guide to Swedish restaurants.

SRS Vessels Position: 58°6.80’N, 11°22.00’E Two more Sea Rescue Society vessels moored at Karingon station.

Evening Sun Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.94’E The Karingon shoreline aglow in a golden evening sun.

Spitfire Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.90’E Spitfire out enjoying a warm and sunny evening in the cockpit with us.

9/8/2019

Tao 5 Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.90’E Tao 5, a brand new Halberg-Rassy 57, departing Karingon. This was the boat’s first stop after the owners took delivery at the Halberg-Rassy yard a few miles away.

Cove Position: 58°6.72’N, 11°21.87’E Sheltered cove on Karingon. The island’s population swells in the summer with seasonal residents and guests, so much so that bicycles are prohibited on the island in the busy season.

Houses Position: 58°6.73’N, 11°21.75’E Walkways wind through the quaint wooden houses on Karingon.

Pilot Lookout Position: 58°6.49’N, 11°21.53’E Old pilot lookout on Karingon.

Church Position: 58°6.64’N, 11°21.80’E Karingon’s church dates from 1796.

Lot Hotel Position: 58°6.76’N, 11°22.03’E Enjoying a drink on the patio at the Lot Hotel on the island of Karingon.

Anders and Patrik Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.90’E We were enjoying a warm afternoon drink at Lot Hotel, chatting with the owners and watching the boats come and go in the harbor, when two people came up and introduced themselves. We gave our names and one of them said “I know, we were looking for you”. This sounded interesting—it turns out Anders Segerberg (left) and Patrik Ferreira saw Dirona passing by the Stena terminal in Gothenburg where they work some days back. One has been watching our blog and they are both interested in boats. Why not go visit? They decided it would be a fun trip and headed up to see us at Karingon. We were surprised they could find us, but they pointed it out it’s really not that big an island. We really enjoyed our chat with both Anders and Patrik and they came back to Dirona to continue the conversation and look around the boat.

40kts Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.89’E Here’s the boat that brought Anders and Patrik up from Gothenburg at 40kts. It’s a light and efficient hull form, so the 150 HP Evinrude delivers an excellent speed at less fuel consumption that heavier boats.

At Speed Position: 58°6.78’N, 11°21.89’E Anders and Patrik waving good bye as they pop up on plane for the blast (literally) back to Gothenburg. It’s a good thing we don’t have more boat deck space or we would have one. It’s a beautiful boat.

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.