Koster Swimrun

Click for larger image

We’d received many, many recommendations to visit Kosterhavet National Park, just south of the Swedish border with Norway. We finally arrived on a sunny September Saturday in time for the annual Koster Swimrun. The event, held annually in September, is a roughly 19-mile (30 km) race around the Koster Islands 3 miles (5 km) of which involves swimming between islands.

After anchoring in the beautiful Tjalleskar archipelago, we ran the tender out to watch the participants run and swim, and then to the Ekenas to see the race finish.

Below are trip highlights from September 21,2019. 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.

Click for larger image
Grebbestad
Early morning view to Grebbestad, that we visited by bike yesterday.
Click for larger image
Ramskar Light
Light on the island of Ramskar in the southern end of Kosterhavet National Park, Sweden’s first marine national park.
Click for larger image
Cormorants
Cormorants on the Segelskaran islands in Kosterhavet National Park.
Click for larger image
Harbour Seal
Harbour seal sunning in the Segelskaran islands. They breed here in the summer, and during that period approach within 100m of shore is prohibited.
Click for larger image
Ursholmen Lighthouse
The distinctive twin towers of Ursholmen Lighthouse at the western edge of Kosterhavet National Park.
Click for larger image
Sculpture
Unusual sculpture on an islet in the Stora Sockna archipelago.
Click for larger image
Stora Sockna Archipelago
Looking across a few of the multitude of islands and islets in the Stora Sockna archipelago within Kosterhavet National Park.
Click for larger image
Shim Take 2
We’d added a shim to the cell phone mount to move the volume button above the attachment points. But the two-sided tape we’d used wasn’t secure enough, so we re-attached it with small screws. Adding these two screws involved fully dissambling the phone holder, which we’d been trying to avoid.
Click for larger image
Dirona
Dirona at anchor off the Tjalleskar archipelago in beautiful Kosterhavet National Park. We’d received many, many recommendations to visit Kosterhavet and so far are quite impressed. The scenery is spectacular.
Click for larger image
Koster Swimrun
We ran the tender out to watch the Koster Swimrun. The event, held annually in September, is a roughly 19-mile (30 km) race around the Koster Islands 3 miles (5 km) of which involves swimming between islands (see course map). Here the leaders are swimming from the island of Arholma to the South Koster.
Click for larger image
From Run to Swim
Competitors entering the water at Jutholmen to swim to Arholma. They swim with paddles about the size of ping-pong bats attached to their hands.
Click for larger image
Coast Guard
Besides the many spectator boats, several official boats were out on the course, including this Coast Guard ship.
Click for larger image
Tethered
Competitors exiting the water on South Koster. Some of the teams were tethered together for the race—we’re not sure the purpose. The yellow and pink ovals attached to their hips are flotation. When swimming they just use their arms for propulsion, with the flotation wedged between their legs.
Click for larger image
Tender
Our tender moored at Ekenas to watch the race finish.
Click for larger image
Finish Line
The Koster Swimrun finish line at Ekenas.
Click for larger image
Third Place
A happy pair after finishing third overall and first in the mixed teams. A great summary of the race (in Swedish) from Team Adventure, who placed third in the mixed teams, is at Race report Koster Swimrun 2019.
Click for larger image
Warming
Competitors in the Koster Swimrun warming up by the fire.
Click for larger image
Hotel Ekenas
Enjoying a beer on the patio at Hotel Ekenas, overlooking the Koster Islands. It felt and looked just like the Gulf Islands in British Columbia on a warm September day.
Click for larger image
150 Hours
We’ve wound up over 150 hours on our “new” tender.
Click for larger image
Rafted
The marina on North Koster is unbelievable packed for this late in the season. Almost every boat is from Norway—we’re very close to the Norwegian border here.
Click for larger image
Kosterbris
The ferry Kosterbris arriving from Stromstad on the Swedish mainland.
Click for larger image
Cable Ferry
An unusual automated cable ferry between North and South Koster. We could see no sign of an operator or cameras monitoring the vessel. It appears that when a passenger is ready to go, the ferry automatically crosses. Ferry traffic and recreational boats just need to avoid it, because we can’t see anyway for it to avoid them.
Click for larger image
Kostervag
The ferry Kotervag arrived shortly after the Kosterbris. We were surprised to see two ferries arriving so close together, as we believe they both cross from Stromstad. Perhaps they sold more than one boat load.
Click for larger image
Rock Wall Mooring
A pleasure craft moored against the rocks along North Koster.
Click for larger image
Sunset
A beautiful sunset in the Koster Islands.
Show locations on map 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.

   


If your comment doesn't show up right away, send us email and we'll dredge it out of the spam filter.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.