MV Dirona travel digest for West Coast Sweden 2019


Show West Coast Sweden 2019 travel log 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/LocationCurrent.html.


   

9/2/2019: Eriksberg
A view to the old Eriksberg gantry crane as we depart Gothenburg.
9/2/2019: Alvsborg Bridge
Passing under the Alvsborg Bridge on our way out of Gothenburg.
9/2/2019: Moscow Maersk
The Moscow Maersk is the 23rd member of the Maersk Triple E class, all produced at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering facilities in South Korea. When the first member of the Triple E class was delivered in 2013 it was the world largest container ship at 18,270 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units). These vessels are capable of 25 kts and are powered by twin MAN 8S80ME-C9.2 producing a combined 79,656 hp (29.7MW each) at a rated speed of only 74RPM. The first order for 10 ships was USD$1.9B and the 31st member of the class has now entered service.
9/2/2019: Alvsborg Fortress
Alvsborg Fortress at the mouth of the Gota Alv river.
9/2/2019: Freezer Won't Cool
This was a hard one to chase down. The freezer would cool down to just below freezing but wouldn't go lower. We've seen this before when it's overfilled and the airflow is impaired but, after adjusting the load several times, it still wouldn't cool below the mid-20s.

What we found was the evaporator was dirty, the fan was dirty, and the primary problem was the fan speed is now much slower than its design speed due to failing bearings. The fan needs to be replaced but we don't have a spare. However, just cleaning the cooling systems increases efficiency enough that a poorly operating fan is more than sufficient.

The freezer is now operating at -6.7F (-14C) and as reliable as ever. And, of course, we have a new fan on order but it's no rush. We think the system will run reliably like this for many months, if not years.

This has to be the 5th or 6th time the temperature alarm has warned us that we have a freezer problem. This allows us to make the correction without putting hundreds of dollars in frozen foods at risk. The freezer temp alarm set to a low value has saved us many times. We show yellow alerts on slight increases in freezer temps and at 20F (-6C) we will signal red alert and send email to both of us.
9/2/2019: Oil Tanker Tour
It's getting increasingly difficult for the general public to see the details behind large commercial ships and even harder to tour chemical and oil tankers. Partly the crews are busy at work and partly there are safety and security concerns, but the net result is limited ability to see the details behind how these advanced ships work and the design trade-offs they chose to make, and to learn more about how they actually work. So when we had a chance to tour two modern 491ft (150m) oil tankers and one 203ft (62m) commercial fishing trawler, we jumped at the opportunity.

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9/2/2019: Dirona
Dirona at anchor, viewed from the bridge of the oil tanker Fure Ven on a tour of the vessel. Visible in the distance are ships waiting for space at the Port of Gothenburg.
9/2/2019: Noretti Pizzeria
Dinner with a view to the harbor at Noretti Pizzeria on the island of Donso.
9/2/2019: Fure Ven
The oil tanker Fure Ven, that we toured earlier today, departing Donso deepwater harbour.
9/3/2019: Mud
The winds were blowing in the high 20kts when we raised anchor this morning. By the time we'd sprayed the thick, sticky mud off the chain the foredeck was covered in wind-blown mud. Unfortunately the wind dried it on and spraying wouldn't remove it—we had to wash it off.
9/3/2019: Fast Assault Boat
The Swedish forces CB90 is a Fast Assault boat powered by 2 Scania V8s each powering KaMeWa waterjets and can do up to 40 kts and, at least in our experience, they can't go any slower :-). When one of these boats pass you in an anchorage, it's far from stealthy. But, we don't mind. We actually enjoy watching them and they don't seem to operate at night.
9/3/2019: Fisher
This fisherman drops fish traps in the shallows near islands marked with a single buoy, gives them a day to soak, and then returns the next day to lift them and harvest the fish catch. The nets appear to be a sequence of compartments where fish can force their way in but larger fish can't get back out.
9/4/2019: Kanso
The island of Kanso was once a quarantine station and the lookout tower was built to watch for incoming ships. The island is now a military training station and the source of the Fast Assault boats that pass by several times a day.
9/5/2019: Marinus
The tanker Marinus at anchor with the lights of Port of Gothenburg visible in the distance.
9/5/2019: Ferries
The islands just northwest of Gothenburg must be filled with residents who commute into the city. We saw no less than seven ferries underway in the small area as we passed around 6:30 this morning.
9/5/2019: Cabin
Line cabin lit up in the morning sun.
9/5/2019: Outlines
A striking scene with sun and dark clouds outlining the hills in the distance.
9/5/2019: Albrektssundskanal
About to pass through the dramatic and narrow Albrektssundskanal to Marstrand. The canal was originally completed in 1844, then expanded in 1860 and again in 1909. The chart says there's room for Dirona, but it doesn't look like there will be that much to spare.
9/5/2019: Carlstens Fortress
17th-century Carlstens Fortress dominates the skyline as we enter the harbour at Marstrand.
9/5/2019: Toilet Not Flushing
Tecma heads are absolutely amazing. The only fault we have ever seen in 10 years of live-aboard use is easy to fix, but can be confusing if you haven't seen the problem before. The symptom is the head will stop reliably flushing. Sometimes you'll need to flush 3 times to evacuate and sometimes it'll work fine.

What's happening is that by design the toilets fully evacuate the bowl and pump/macerator assembly. Having this system fully evacuated ensures no smells and no spills in even very rough water. But, on the next use pump/macerator will be dry and, since this is not a self priming pump, it won't do anything until there is water in the pump housing. Since the heads bring the liquid to near the top of the bowl and then down to the pump/macerator, the pump assembly will remain dry until the bowl is full. This will make the toilet appear to be plugged in that the bowl will just keep filling until very near the top at which point, the water flows below and the toilet appears to unplug. In fact, it's not plugged at all and as soon as the pump/macerator has water it works fine.

The normal operation of this head has a small hose running between the bowl level and pump/macerator. As soon as fluid is in the head, the pump is primed and works great. This small plastic hose pictured above is what makes the system work and every 5 years or so, it'll plug and the head will seem unreliable. Clean and/or replace the hose and the system is back to flushing like new with the usual never-plug reliability of Tecma. It's not that easy to work back there on our installation, so it's a bit of a hassle to get the major hose pictured out but, once that is done, replacing the plastic drain hose is quick and easy.
9/5/2019: Marstrand Gasthamn
Our tender tied off at Marstrand Gasthamn for a visit to the fortress.
9/5/2019: South Wall
The south wall of Carlsten Fortress looks difficult to conquer. Construction of fortress began in 1658 to protect the town of Marstrand, an important Swedish shipping port.
9/5/2019: View From Fort
A great view across Carlsten Fortress to Marstrand harbor with Dirona visible at anchor in the distance on the left (click image for a larger view).
9/5/2019: Restaurang Storm
A refreshing drink at the bar in Restaurang Storm after touring Carlsten Fortress.
9/5/2019: Trail
Marstrand has some wonderful trails around the island, some right along the outer coast.
9/6/2019: 10m Bridge
One meter to spare doesn't look like much as we pass under a 10-meter bridge.
9/6/2019: Narrow
We're really enjoying cruising the intricate west coast of Sweden, but you really need to pay attention at the helm. Some of the sections are quite narrow.
9/6/2019: Tender
Our tender tied off at Tjallevikens Brygga to visit the Pilane Sculpture Park.
9/6/2019: Dancing Clog Girls
One of three figures in Dancing Clog Girls by Laura Ford, the first of 18 sculptures that we'll see in the Pilane Sculpture Park. Set in a farmer's field in the middle of Tjorn island, the sculpture park was voted among the top ten in Europe by the British newspaper The Guardian.
9/6/2019: Rose
Rose by Klara Kristalova.
9/6/2019: What Holds Me Back Carries Me Further
By Klara Kristalova.
9/6/2019: Bird Girl
By Klara Kristalova.
9/6/2019: Illusion
By Helaine Blumenfeld.
9/6/2019: Taking Risks
Taking Risks by Helaine Blumenfeld with Anna by Jaume Plensa atop the hill in the background.
9/6/2019: Optic Labyrinth
By Conrad Shawcross.
9/6/2019: Optic Monolith
By Conrad Shawcross.
9/6/2019: The Price of Freedom
One of several bird sculptures by Johan Creten.
9/6/2019: The Bat
The Bat by Johan Creten has stairs built into the back so you can climb atop it.
9/6/2019: The Vulture
The Vulture, by Johan Creten, mounted at the Utsikten viewpoint on Tjorn island.
9/6/2019: Dirona
Dirona at anchor in Krossefjorden, viewed from the Utsikten viewpoint on Tjorn island.
9/6/2019: Pool
By Tony Cragg.
9/6/2019: Silent Howlers
One of three figures in the Silent Howlers sculpture by Laura Ford.
9/6/2019: Anna
Anna by Jaume Plensa is the clear star at Pilane and now is on permanent display there. The huge head of a woman is visible from sea—we could see it from our anchorage.
9/6/2019: Earth
By Ida Koitila.
9/6/2019: Ascent
We quite like the work by Helaine Blumenfeld. Ascent is one of several sculptured by the artist.
9/6/2019: Waldegrave Poodles
By Laura Ford.
9/6/2019: Hyena in a Neck Brace
By Laura Ford.
9/7/2019: Town
The town of Kyrkesund is strung along the water on both sides of the channel, with a ferry running between.
9/7/2019: Mooring Lines
A large pleasure craft tied off to a web of moorings extending from the sea and from the rock race.
9/7/2019: Mollosund
Looking into the harbour at Mollosund, the oldest fishing village on the Bohuslan Coast (the Swedish west coast north of Gothenburg).
9/7/2019: Karingons Gasthamn
Blog reader Torbjorn Curtsson sent us this webcam shot of Dirona moored at Karingons Gasthamn.
9/7/2019: Karingon SRS
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.
9/7/2019: Karingon
One of the many small harbors on Karingon.
9/7/2019: SRS Jetskis
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.
9/7/2019: Boat Maneuvering
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.
9/7/2019: Dinner
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.
9/7/2019: SRS Vessels
Two more Sea Rescue Society vessels moored at Karingon station.
9/7/2019: Evening Sun
The Karingon shoreline aglow in a golden evening sun.
9/7/2019: Spitfire
Spitfire out enjoying a warm and sunny evening in the cockpit with us.
9/8/2019: Tao 5
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.
9/8/2019: Cove
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.
9/8/2019: Houses
Walkways wind through the quaint wooden houses on Karingon.
9/8/2019: Pilot Lookout
Old pilot lookout on Karingon.
9/8/2019: Church
Karingon's church dates from 1796.
9/8/2019: Lot Hotel
Enjoying a drink on the patio at the Lot Hotel on the island of Karingon.
9/8/2019: Anders and Patrick
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 Patrick 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 Patrick and they came back to Dirona to continue the conversation and look around the boat.
9/8/2019: 40kts
Here's the boat that brought Anders and Patrick 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.
9/8/2019: At Speed
Anders and Patrick 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.
9/9/2019: Stromstierna
The ferry Stromstierna en route to Karingon from Tuvesvik. We saw the vessel arrive and depart many times during out stay on Karingon.
9/9/2019: Tug
Waiting for a tug and to to pass through a narrow section before we proceed.
9/9/2019: Hallberg-Rassy
Hallberg-Rassy sailboats are built at their headquarters in Ellos, Sweden. The company recently held their 27th annual open-yard event, pictured, hailed as the largest sailboat show in Scandinavia. We've seen many Hallberg-Rassy boats during our travels around the world and they always look capable and well-constructed.
9/9/2019: Lavo Sund
Navigating between the pilings in Lavo Sund. The waterway is beautiful, but narrow and shallow, requiring attention at the helm.
9/9/2019: Hallsholmen
Heron taking off, looking down a narrow channel south of the island of Hallsholmen along Lavo Sund.
9/9/2019: Skafto Bridge
The Fantasi Marina visible behind us as we pass under the bridge to Skafto.
9/9/2019: Ferry Service
The distinctive colors of the local ferry service are easy to see from a long way away. Here a medium sized ferry is pulled up the ways at Lysekil for out-of-water service and several others are moored nearby.
9/9/2019: Lysekil
The iconic Lysekils Kryka (church) standing on the hilltop above the city of Lysekil. With a population of about 7,600, it's the largest center in the area.
9/9/2019: Furuno DRS25
A few months back our 25KW main RADAR started to occasionally produce auto-tuning errors. This got more and more frequent over a few weeks. We consulted with Furuno and they said that magnetron lifetime is usually in the range of 8,000 transmitting hours. Some go a bit longer and some a bit less, but that generally the lifetime and auto-tuning errors are the symptom when they start failing.

The recommended parts to bring the RADAR back to full spec would cost about half the price of a new RADAR, so we elected to just go with a new one. We ordered it through Emerald Harbor Marine who have been helping us for 25 years now and took back the 58lb package as part of our luggage when we flew back into Stockholm from some time at work in Seattle.

We've been running our backup RADAR, a 6KW Furuno DRS6, and it's been working great. The only difference we notice is the 6KW view through the stack to the rear isn't very good, whereas the 25KW just punches through the fiberglass like it wasn't there. Perhaps a bit less range, but the 6KW is an excellent backup and we've hardly noticed the 25KW gone. Here James has just started the work to install RADAR and has just finished taking the antenna off the old one.
9/9/2019: Radar Open
After the antenna is carefully lifted off the RADAR, the next step is to undo the four bolts that hold the upper half of the housing containing the gearbox to the lower half containing the electronics. Once the two housing halves are undone, the housing can be split and opens on a hinge to allow access to the electronics for service or to disconnect the electrical cabling prior to removing the entire unit.
9/9/2019: Radar Wiring
Here we are removing the wiring from the RADAR unit prior to unbolting it and removing it from the boat. Looking down from the top you can see two cables coming in. One brings in an Ethernet cable for signalling and the other brings in power and ground. The Ethernet cable modular connection is released and pulled out. Then the power connection is pushed down to release the power and ground wires.

The red and blue wires are held in with a push-to-release connection. Once the wires are free, the four screws at the bottom, holding the plate over the grommet around the wires, are removed. This plate comes up and the grommet can be raised out of the socket and then removed from the wires. At this point the wiring is free and can be gently pushed down through the bottom hole.
9/9/2019: RADAR Replacement
The old Furuno DRS25 has now been disconnected and lifted down. Here the new unit is beside the old one for final preparation before lifting the new unit up onto its mounting location.
9/9/2019: New RADAR
The new RADAR is now held in place with the mounting bolts, and James is attaching the power and communications lines. Once it's electrically connected, the wire seal will be screwed down on the bottom to prevent water entering the RADAR at the power and communicators lines. Then the rubber gasket that fits between the upper and lower halves of the RADAR housing will be lubricated with silicon and then the RADAR upper housing will be folded down into it's proper location on the lower housing. This gets bolted up to form a good-quality, long-lasting, water-tight seal.
9/9/2019: Antenna Installed
The 6ft RADAR antenna has now been re-installed on the new RADAR and James is retorquing the all mounting fasteners. At this point, the new RADAR is ready to be started.
9/9/2019: RADAR Testing
It's nice to see the new RADAR fire right up and show a nice clear RADAR image with the sharp, well defined image we're used to. Hopefully it'll be good for another 10 years and 10,000 hours of operation.
9/9/2019: Gaso
Looking across to the island of Gaso in the Gullmarsfjorden Nature Reserve where we are anchored. Gullmarsfjorden is Sweden's first nature reserve, designated in 1983.
9/9/2019: Flaring Gas
A local oil refinery in the distance flaring off natural gas. Years ago when flying into Dubai the desert was on fire with flared off natural gas. These days it's less common where many jurisdictions require that their gas be used rather than flared off and, even where it's not required, most operators prefer to monetize the gas products.
9/9/2019: Greasing Bow Roller
Every 6 months we lubricate the bow rollers with trailer wheel bearing grease. This grease is heavy, lasts well, and is water resistant.
9/9/2019: Greasing Rudder Bearing
When our Nordhavn 52 came new from the yard, it used a Delrin (white plastic) upper rudder bearing. This bearing material has the advantage of needing no lubrication and never rusting. But the disadvantage of Delrin is we needed to change the bearing every 1,500 hours. It just isn't that durable. I eventually decided to have a replacement bearing fabricated in Oilite (oil impregnated bronze).

This approach yields a very durable bearing that will last 8,000 to 12,000 hours and still won't rust. Strictly speaking this material sufficiently self lubricating that no further lubrication is needed for low speed use in a rudder bearing application. But, I decided to play it safe and install a grease fitting and to machine in grease channels. It's been working quite well and I apply grease to this every 6 months.
9/10/2019: FLIR Imaging
Every 6 months we do a full scan of the breaker cabinet, the DC cabinet, and all high amperage connections using a FLIR One infrared camera . It's important to do this test under maximum load, and what we are looking for is excess heat indicating a poor connection that is getting hot due to excess resistance or excess load for the size of the connector. We typically find nothing out of the norm. We strongly recommend that all electrical connections be torqued once a boat is a year old. We found a great many were lose. But it seems like once a boat has been in use for a while, they stay stable and don't loosen off again. But, we all know someone or have read about someone with an older boat that was lost to fire. In our opinion, it's worth checking.

This picture is of the 240V electrical panel while the generator is running. Looking at the 240V breakers in the center of the picture you can see that the oven and water maker are idle, the two chargers are running at full load, and the inverter and washer/dryer are running, but at fairly low load. The master breaker is warm but not hot. At the top of the picture, the 4 gauges above there are nice-looking but, as you can see here, they are wasting quite a bit of power. Along the bottom of the picture you can see 4 large manual transfer switches. If you look carefully you can see slight heat in the charger selector switch on the left and the rest are fairly cold. From this you can see that these manual transfer switches are reliable low resistance switches producing little heat. Even the switch on the left that is carry 43A is hardly even warm.
9/10/2019: Moon
Moon over the anchorage at the island of Gaso.
9/11/2019: Wind
We've been seeing a lot of wind recently. Conditions settled down the past couple of days while we were at Gaso, but are back now. Today we've seen gusts to 40 knots.
9/12/2019: Garbage
Getting rid of a load of garbage in our folding cart.
9/12/2019: Lysekil Map
Jennifer pointing out our previous anchorage at the island of Gaso from a map of Lysekil and area.
9/12/2019: Systembolaget
After picking up some groceries, we headed over to the bottle shop. We arrived shortly before they opened at 10am and were among almost a dozen people waiting for it to open.
9/12/2019: Wrasse
Havets Hus, the aquarium at Lysekil, features over 100 different sealife species from the nearby Gullmarsfjorden. This is a colorful Cuckoo Wrasse.
9/12/2019: Wolf Eel
A wolf eel at the Lysekil aquarium. These creatures also are found in the Pacific Northwest—much of the local sealife was similar to what we've seen diving around the Seattle area.
9/12/2019: Tunnel
Watching the creatures in a tunnel through the Lysekil aquarium's largest tank, containing 37,000 gallons (140,000L) of seawater.
9/12/2019: Slaggo
View back to Lysekil from the island of Slaggo. Dirona, moored at Lysekil Gasthamn, is at the far right of the picture (click image for a larger view).
9/12/2019: Lysekil Church
The spectacular interior of Lysekil Church, completed in 1901.
9/12/2019: The Lookout Tower
The Lookout Tower, built to resemble nearby Lysekil Church.
9/12/2019: View from Lookout Tower
The view northwest from the Lookout Tower (click image for a larger view).
9/12/2019: Flottans Man
A former pilot lookout, now the clubhouse for Lysekil's Navy Association, Flottans Man.
9/12/2019: Waves
Waves sweeping over the islets north of Lysekil, viewed from Flottans Man.
9/12/2019: Flottans Man View
The view north from Flottans Man, with Norra Hamnens Gasthamn visible in the distance.
9/12/2019: Ferry
Lysekil has frequent ferry service to the surrounding islands. It seemed a ferry was always coming or going while we were there.
9/12/2019: Old House Inn
We had a good dinner in the great atmosphere of the Old House Inn gastropub.
9/13/2019: Fisketangen
Traditional red boathouses at the town of Fisketangen.
9/13/2019: Dirona
Dirona moored at Smogen Hamn.
9/13/2019: Paths
Like many fishing towns, the houses in Smogen were built pretty much where people wanted to put them, without rigid city planning or consideration for roads. The result is narrow, winding paths between the buildings that are fun to explore.
9/13/2019: Boathouses
Colorful boathouses at the head of Smogen Hamn.
9/13/2019: Ray's
The day is windy, but warm and sunny. With the buildings providing wind shelter, the patios are full of patrons out enjoying the nice day. Jennifer, wearing pink, is seated slightly left of center at Ray's.
9/13/2019: Birds
Small birds stealing food from the plates next door. We were surprised not to see any seagulls in the area.
9/13/2019: Sea Lodge
Looking northeast past the Sea Lodge hotel and restaurant in one of the many small harbours on Smogen.
9/13/2019: Smogens Church
Smogens Church, built in a neo-Gothic style in 1905.
9/13/2019: Lookout
Unusual lookout with a covered staircase joining two small rooms. Perhaps this was a pilot lookout, or maybe someone just decided the were going to have a view house.
9/13/2019: Water Tower
Smogen's striking water tower, perched high on a hill, is a prominent landmark.
9/13/2019: Projector
Massive projector, one of three, aimed onto the Smogen water tower for tonights "Island of Light" light art festival.
9/13/2019: View
Enjoying the view from a bench near the Smogen water tower.
9/13/2019: Stairs
We'd walked up to the water tower by road, but found some stairs back down to sea level.
9/13/2019: Looking Back
Looking back to the Smogen water tower as we head out to the windswept western part of the island.
9/13/2019: Bridge
Smogen has some excellent trails with beautifully-built bridges, boardwalks, causeways and stairs.
9/13/2019: Seascape
Enjoying the seascape on a small islet off the northwest tip of Smogen. We're being buffeted a bit in 20-30-knot winds.
9/13/2019: Causeway
Wonderful causeway on one of Smogen's many trails.
9/13/2019: Boardwalk
We returned back to town following a boardwalk hung off a cliff, leading to a saltwater swimming pool in the distance.
9/13/2019: The Barn
An excellent dinner under the heaters on the terrace at The Barn in Smogen.
9/13/2019: Light Dance
After dinner, we spent the rest walking around town to check out the displays in the "Island of Light" festival. People were pouring into town from all directions—last year's festival drew 30,000 attendees. This is a Light Dance performed by local students.
9/13/2019: Asalto
Daniel Canogar's Asalto, projected onto the Smogen water tower, depicts locals "climbing" up the tower sides. Canogar has exhibited similar work before, but this is the first time in 360°.
9/13/2019: Global Rainbow
This is the 10th anniversary of Yvette Mattern's Global Rainbow that has been featured at light shows around the world.
9/13/2019: Flashlines
Flashlines by Pascal Kulcsar.
9/13/2019: Glorie-Bankar
Glorie-Bankar by Mikael Richter.
9/13/2019: Perception of Time and Space
One of the three parts of Lena Mattson's Perception of Time and Space.
9/13/2019: Harbour
Looking east to the head of Smogen Hamn, colorfully lit for the festival.
9/13/2019: Ljushus
Ljushus by Mikael Richter.
9/13/2019: Excerpts from the Volumes
Cooper and Gorfer's Excerpts from the Volumes projected on one of the steep cliffs above Smogen Hamn.
9/13/2019: Lit Path
Walking a lit path through a crevice at the southern end of Smogen to the next display.
9/13/2019: Flashlines
Flashlines, by Pascal Kulcsar, projected onto the rocks.
9/13/2019: Frequensis
We particularly enjoyed Kari Kola's massive Frequensis display of light and sound. This is a portion of it, projected onto the rocks. If you look carefully, you can see how crowded it is in the area. Thousands of people were out enjoying the show. It felt a bit like Hallowe'en with so many people out wandering the streets at night in random directions.
9/13/2019: Underworld
Underworld by Aleksandra Stratimonovic.
9/13/2019: Temple
Cecilia Omalm's Temple.
9/14/2019: Smogen Hamn
We had a wonderful time at the light festival and really enjoyed the carnival atmosphere along the water. But we wanted a little quieter spot for the next couple of nights, so we departed for a nearby anchorage.
9/14/2019: Sunrise
Sunrise as we depart Smogen Hamn.
9/14/2019: Storm Coming
Big winds, with gusts to 51-knots, are expected on Sunday. But we're in a great anchorage along the east shore of Smogen, with plenty of swing room, good holding, and reasonable wind protection, so we expect we'll be fine.
9/14/2019:
Blog reader Torbjorn Curtsson was talking on the phone with his parents this morning and they mentioned in passing that a boat from Seattle was moored outside their house. Guess who? Thanks for the photo by Curt Larsson.
9/14/2019: Targa 27
These Copenhagen residents sail the West Indies regularly where they've seen several Nordhavns and have become quite interested in the boats, so they stopped by to say hello. They just took delivery today of their Targa 27 and will be heading south back to Copenhagen over the next few weeks.
9/14/2019: Shim
The new cell phone mount is working out well. But the attachment holds the volume button down, causing battery drain. Today James added a shim to lift the volume button above the attachment.
9/14/2019: Hamnen 4
A delicious lunch at Hamnen 4 overlooking the Smogen Hamn. We're sitting directly above where Dirona was moored yesterday.
9/14/2019: Baked Goods
Picking up a selection of baked goods from a local Smogen shop.
9/14/2019: Jumping In
As we passed in the tender, Four volunteers with the local Sea Rescue Society jumped into the water wearing survival suits and swam to the opposite shore.
9/14/2019: Fuel Price
We worked out the local fuel price of 18.69 Swedish krona a liter to be US$7.36/gal. Yikes! That's more than the USD $6.89/gallon we paid in St. Helena in route from Cape Town to Barbados.
9/14/2019: Smogen Bridge
View to Dirona at anchor off Kungshamn with the Smogen Bridge in the background.
9/14/2019: Canal
Passing through a small canal at the north end of Smogen to reach the peninsula Sando.
9/14/2019: Projectors
Big projectors for the Island Of Light display Boreal on the peninsula Sando.
9/14/2019: Stairs
Stairs leading up from shore to the Smogen Bridge.
9/14/2019: Partway Up Stairs
We couldn't resists taking the stairs up to the top of the Smogen Bridge. Even partway up the views were fantastic.
9/14/2019: Smogen Bridge View
Looking across our anchorage to the town of Kungshamn from the Smogen Bridge.
9/14/2019: Cheating
15 Massive floodlights on this fishing charter boat completely lighting up the water all around the boat. I'll bet that attracts the fish!
9/14/2019: Hasselosunds Gasthamn
View from the Smogen Bridge to Hasselosunds Gasthamn, one of several marinas in the area. This is a very popular place in the summer.
9/14/2019: The Barn
Good food, good service and a cool environment at The Barn, where you can sit outside, but they have enough patio heaters that you don't have to suffer for it.
9/14/2019: Hidden Heart
After dinner, we moored the tender at Hasselosunds Gasthamn and walked to the peninsula Sando to view the light displays. This is Hidden Heart by Heather Keith.
9/14/2019: Boreal
Boreal by Konstnarskollektivet Svarmorstunga is a massive, constantly-changing projection onto a distant rock face set to music.
9/15/2019: Storm Surge
We ran the tender into Smogen to take in the storm and have dinner later in town. We barely made it under a bridge we'd pass through with more than five feet to spare space twice already and when we tied off the tender, we could just step out onto the dock, whereas yesterday we had to climb up about four feet to reach shore. The storm surge had raised the water level several feet.
9/15/2019: Frequensis
Part of the projection and light setup for the Frequensis light display that we enjoyed so much the other night.
9/15/2019: Storm
The nearby Hallo lighthouse recorded winds of 30 meters per second (about 58 knots) last night and the winds are still blowing in the high 40 knots today. Smogen is completely exposed to the North Sea via the Skagerrak, so we walked out to the southwest tip to check out the storm. The air was full of spray and foam from the huge, windswept waves that were pounding into the shore. It was pretty exciting see.
9/15/2019: Wind
The wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to stand up and walk against. But it was fun to be there.
9/15/2019: Waves
The waves were really cracking into the rocks with tremendous force.
9/15/2019: Seascape
The sea was churning with waves and covered in whitecaps as far out as we could see. This is looking south east along the Smogen's exposed southwest tip.
9/15/2019: Underwater
These berth numbers were well above the water when we moored at Smogen two nights ago and are now almost under due to the storm surge. We're told it sometimes reaches dock level.
9/15/2019: Bridge
Yesterday we passed under this bridge and tied the tender off inside. With today's storm surge, the pontoons wouldn't clear today, let along the console.
9/15/2019: Gostas
An exceptional fresh seafood meal at Gostas Fiskekrog (fish pub) in Smogen. The restaurant has been packed every time we went past, lunch or dinner, and we finally got a table tonight.
9/16/2019: Cable Ferry
Passing the Tullboden-Malmon cable ferry en route to Nordens Ark at the head of Abyfjorden.
9/16/2019: Cliffs
Abyfjorden cliffs aglow in the morning sun.
9/16/2019: Breakfast
Breakfast in the cockpit at our anchorage near the head of Abyfjorden.
9/16/2019: Tender
The tender tied off at the Nordens Ark dock.
9/16/2019: Amur Tiger
Endangered Amur Tiger (previously called Siberian Tiger) at the Nordens Ark Zoo. Nordens Ark is a private non-profit foundation focuses on conservation, rearing, and research of endangered animals.
9/16/2019: Close-Up
A close-up of the Amur Tiger. We were lucky it spent a fair deal of time by the viewing window when we were there.
9/16/2019: Full View
What a beautiful animal.
9/16/2019: Big Paws
The Amur Tiger is the largest cat in the world and has the paws to prove it.
9/16/2019: Paw Prints
When James walked into the viewing window the Amur tiger charged and slammed its paws high up into the glass. We were so startled we didn't get a picture, but you can see the paw prints it left on the glass. We're not sure what Siberian animal James resembles, but whatever it is must be tasty.
9/16/2019: Big Teeth
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9/16/2019: King of the Hill
The Amur Tiger is just over 10ft (3m) long and weighs about 650lbs (300 kg).
9/16/2019: Resting
We spent ages watching the beautiful Amur Tiger, but eventually had to tear ourselves away to see the rest of the zoo.
9/16/2019: Boardwalk
Elevated boardwalks throughout Nordens Ark provide great views to the animals.
9/16/2019: White-Backed Woodpecker
A critically endangered White-Backed Woodpecker. Nordens Ark has successfully bred these birds and annually releases young woodpeckers into the wild.
9/16/2019: Tadjik Markhor
Screw-shaped antlers of the near-threatened Tadjik Markhor.
9/16/2019: Eurasian Eagle Owl
A Eurasian Eagle Owl, the world's largest owl.
9/16/2019: Snow Leopard
An endangered snow leopard keeping an eye on us.
9/16/2019: Cleaning
Snow Leopard cleaning.
9/16/2019: Amur Leopard
A critically-endangered Amur Leopard is the world's most endangered cat, long hunted for its beautiful fur.
9/16/2019: Urial
Curved horns on a male Urial ram. The species is listed as vulnerable.
9/16/2019: Persian Leopard
An endangered Persian leopard.
9/16/2019: Persian Leopard Cub
An incredibly cute two-month-old Persian leopard cub born at Nordens Ark. Those big paws give an indication that it has a lot of growing yet to do.
9/16/2019: Mom Cleaning
The mother Persian leopard cleaning her cub.
9/16/2019: Mother Persian Leopard
Mom keeping a close eye on us as we watch her and the cub.
9/16/2019: Pallas Cat
The near-threatened Pallas Cat lives in the central Asia, where winter temperatures can drop to -58F (-50C).
9/16/2019: Raised Boardwalk
We loved the raised boardwalks throughout Nordens Ark. The zoo is beautifully built.
9/16/2019: Wolf
A lone wolf relaxing in the grass.
9/16/2019: Reindeer
A reindeer with a large set of antlers.
9/16/2019: Scottish Wildcat
The biggest threat to the Scottish wildcat is interbreeding with domestic cats. The offspring are fertile, spreading domestic cat genes into the wildcat population.
9/16/2019: Wolverine
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9/16/2019: Dirona
View to Dirona at anchor from Nordens Ark.
9/16/2019: River Otter
A near-threatened river otter.
9/16/2019: Wet Otter
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9/16/2019: Wetlands
Nordens Ark has an extensive wetlands area that is home to a variety of threatened bird species.
9/16/2019: Great Grey Owl
Sleeping Great Grey Owl.
9/16/2019: Przewalskis Wild Horse
An endangered Przewalskis Wild Horse, the only surviving wild horse breed that has never been domesticated by man.
9/16/2019: Dohle
The Dohle, or Asian wild dog is Asia's most endangered predator, more so than tigers and snow leopards.
9/16/2019: European Bison
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9/16/2019: Red Panda
An endangered Red Panda sleeping high up in the tree branches.
9/16/2019: Abyfjorden
Dirona anchored near the head of Abyfjorden. We'd come mainly to visit Nordens Ark, but it turned out to be a lovely anchorage as well. We enjoyed our stop there.
9/17/2019: Soten Canal
Approaching the southern end of the Soten Canal, built in 1930 to provide a shortcut around the exposed outer peninsula and also as to help unemployed stonemasons during the Depression.
9/17/2019: Narrow
Passing through a narrow section along the Soten Canal.
9/17/2019: Sotenas Bridge
Nearing the Sotenas Bridge, with a clearance of 5.7m. The bridge opens on demand when a boat nears.
9/17/2019: Green Light
A green light visible on the right shore indicating we can pass through.
9/17/2019: Bridge Closing
The Sotenas Bridge closed quickly behind us once we were safely through.
9/17/2019: Fishboat
Fishboat just west of Heestrand.
9/17/2019: Fingerpost
A fingerpost on a small islet showed the direction to some major and minor centers, such as Oslo, New York, Gothenburg and the nearby town of Hamburgsund.
9/17/2019: Sunk Boats
Sunken boats on the channel near Hamburgsund. They all appear to have been abandoned.
9/17/2019: Hamburgsund
The picturesque town of Hamburgsund, strung along either side of narrow channel of the same name.
9/17/2019: Cable Ferry
It's not often you see a ferry where the total distance covered is only a few boat lengths. The cable ferry route across Hamburgsund is only 130 meters.
9/17/2019: Fish Drying Rack
Fish drying rack and cabin on an islet north of the island of Hastvam.
9/17/2019: Pilot Lookout
The former pilot lookout at Vaderoarna is a symbol for the islands and a tourist draw.
9/17/2019: Vaderoarna
The community at Vaderoarna includes a year-round restaurant and hotel (yellow building) and a number of traditional red cottages.
9/17/2019: Gasthamn
We were hoping to anchor and go ashore at Vaderoarna, but swing room was restricted and a large swell was running through the anchorage. The island does have a guest harbour, but all the charts we had showed depths of less than a meter, and we weren't confident on entering with swell rolling through the entrance. So we departed to anchor at nearby Gluppo instead.
9/18/2019: Gluppo
The morning sun lighting up the cliffs to our east at Gluppo (click image for larger view). It's a lovely anchorage.
9/18/2019: Power Wash
We'd taken a bit of a saltwater bath on our run over to Vaderoarna yesterday, so we gave the boat a power wash this morning,
9/18/2019: Waterline
James using a suction cup to hold position in the tender to scrub off the brown stains around the water line.
9/18/2019: Fire Extinguisher Test
Performing the biennial test the automatic fire extinguisher system in the engine room and lazarette.
9/18/2019: Tender
We put on our big Mustang 2175 exposure suits and made a 5-mile run over to Vaderoarna from the anchorage at Gluppo. Here we are tied off at the guest harbour on the island of Storo. The least depth we saw heading in was 8ft, so Dirona could make it through with a 6.6ft draft. But the swell running through yesterday could have brought us awfully close to the bottom, so we have no regrets on deciding not to enter with Dirona.
9/18/2019: Welcome to Vaderoarna
Reading the information signs describing the Vaderoarna Nature Reserve and its history.
9/18/2019: Picnic
Enjoying a picnic lunch in the sun on Storo.
9/18/2019: Traps
Lots of traps with colorful floats set out near the head of the Storo guest harbour.
9/18/2019: Vaderoarna
Panoramic view of Vaderoarna (click image for larger view).
9/18/2019: Pilot Lookout
A pilot station has existed on Vaderoarna since 1890. The current lookout station was built in the 1930s with a cabin below and an enclosed staircase leading to the lookout above.
9/18/2019: Vastra Hamnen
Looking down into sheltered Vastra Hamnen on the west side of Storo.
9/18/2019: Vderarnas Guesthouse
We were surprised that Vderarnas Guesthouse was not only open this late in the season, but had a crowd for lunch. We couldn't resist a glass of wine on their sunny deck.
9/18/2019: Vaderobod
The tender tied off at Vaderobod to visit the lighthouse there. Even in relatively settled conditions, a signifanct swell enters the tiny harbour. We initially tied the tender off where the wooden slats are, but it kept getting caught beneath then in the swell, so we moved to the rocks where there was less risk of damage and a little more protection from the outer wall.
9/18/2019: Vaderobod Light
A lighthouse was first built on Vaderobod in 1867 and replaced by the current tower in 1965. It looks awesome painted bright red.
9/18/2019: South Harbour
We took the tender into a small harbour along the south coast of Vaderobod. Even in the light swell on this relatively still day, there is a lot of water motion in the entrance, so you need to be careful. Entering would have been pretty extremely difficult in yesterday's big swell.
9/18/2019: Stora Hejen
Pleasure boat tied off to the set of docks that run along the protected eastern shore of Stora Hejen. Our charts showed less than a meter here, but we sounded around 10ft, so we'd have no problem bringing Dirona there.
9/19/2019: Gluppo
Gluppo is a popular anchorage and we had it all to ourselves our first night there, but three other boats arrived. Two tied to the rocks and a third took a Swedish Cruising Association (SXK) buoy. The club has an extensive network of buoys on the Swedish coast—we've seen SXK buoys frequently on our travels here.
9/19/2019: Sunrise
7am sunrise over the island of Valon as we are underway for Fjallbacka. The days are getting shorter. It will soon be time to head south with winter coming.
9/19/2019: Fjallbacka Gasthamn
Moored for a couple at Fjallbacka Gasthamn.
9/19/2019: Grey Water Sensor
On our grey and black water tanks, we really like reliable knowledge on the fill levels. So we have both mechanical sensors and redundant electronic sensors with alarms. Here you can see a common failure mode of the mechanical sensor, a Dometic TankWatch 4. About every six months, one of the TankWatch 4 systems will have a float jam up. Nine time out of ten it's what you see above, where hair or other debris has jammed up the lower sensor.
9/19/2019: Fjallbacka
The picturesque town of Fjallbacka, strung along the water below steep cliffs, is a popular and crowded summer destination but is pretty chill this time of year.
9/19/2019: Kungsklyftan
A trail leads from the Fjallbacka waterfront up to a viewpoint on the hill Vetteberget. We couldn't see the trail from the water because it runs through this wild cleft in the rock, where several large rocks are wedged above.
9/19/2019: Vetteberget
The fabulous view to Fjallbacka and beyond from the top of Vetteberget. Dirona is visible moored at Fjallbacka Gasthamn right of center (click image for a larger view).
9/19/2019: Vaderobod
From the top of Vetteberget we could clearly see the Vaderobod Light
9/19/2019: Pilot Lookout
View to the Vaderoarna pilot lookout from Vetteberget.
9/19/2019: Vaderoarna
The ferry service to Vaderoarna leaves from Fjallbacka and their advertising has a great aerial shot of the islands.
9/19/2019: Ingrid Bergman
Statue of Swedish film star Ingrid Bergman, who spent most of her summers in Fjallbacka in the last 25 years of her life.
9/19/2019: Kroken
A great lunch on the terrace at Kroken restaurant with a view to the Fjallbacka Gasthamn. Dirona is at the center of the picture in the distance.
9/19/2019: Traps
Lobster season starts in the area in a few days and we're seeing traps ready to go everywhere.
9/19/2019: Veddo Nature Reserve
After lunch we made a 20-minute bike ride out to Veddo Nature Reserve to walk the trail around the peninsula.
9/19/2019: Boardwalk
Boardwalk at Veddo Nature Reserve.
9/19/2019: Tiggarhallan
Looking west from the Tiggarhallan view point at Veddo Nature Reserve. The scenery reminded us very much of the Scottish west coast.
9/19/2019: Lobster Season
A huge set of traps ready for the upcoming lobster season.
9/19/2019: Cliffs At Night
The cliffs of Fjallbacka lit up at night, viewed from our berth at Fjallbacka Gasthamn.
9/20/2019: Tanum Rock Carvings
The Bronze Age rock carvings at Tanum were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994 for their extensive, rich and varied depictions that are remarkably well-preserved. The 17-sq-mile (45 km sq) area contains over 600 different carving sites that are the highest density of such panels in all of Europe.

The site is about 9 miles (14.5 km) from Fjallbacka and took us about an hour to reach by bike. Pictured are one of the panels at Aspeberget, the largest collection of carvings in Tanum and possibly in the world.
9/20/2019: Satellite Dishes
From Aspeberget, we could see two very large satellite dishes that piqued our interest.
9/20/2019: Picnic
After viewing the Aspeberget carvings, we had a picnic lunch outside the Vitlycke Museum before going inside to learn more about the Tanum rock carvings. They do have a cafe, but it is already closed for the season.
9/20/2019: Vitlycke Panel
The Vitlycke Panel near the museum is another notable set of carvings at Tanum, including images of ships, humans, animals, the Weather God and a bride and groom.
9/20/2019: Tanum Teleport
After visiting the Rock Carvings at Tanum, we rode our bikes over to check out the satellite dishes we could see from Aspeberget. It was a longer ride than we expected—these dishes are really big. That's a large fuel truck in the picture. The defunct facility, Tanum Teleport, was a ground station for satellite communications that opened between 1971 and 2002.
9/20/2019: Tanum's Parish
Looking across the graveyard to the parish church in Tanum, dating from 1876.
9/20/2019: Riding
Riding along side roads from the Rock Carving at Tanum back to Fjallbacka via Grebbestad. We were following a bicycle trail that was a mix of paved paths, but the majority was dirt roads like this one. It was a fun ride.
9/20/2019: Grebbestad
View north across the town of Grebbestad from the Stoberget lookout.
9/20/2019: Q Skar
We joined several other patrons for a drink on the sunny deck of Restaurang Q skar in Grebbestad before continuing our bike ride.
9/20/2019: Kroken
Dinner overlooking the harbour in Fjallbacka at Kroken. It was still warm enough, even without heaters on, to eat outside.
9/20/2019: Fjallbacka
View across the harbour to Fjallbacka aglow in the evening sun.
9/20/2019: Sunset
Spectacular pink sunset at Fjallbacka.
9/21/2019: Grebbestad
Early morning view to Grebbestad, that we visited by bike yesterday.
9/21/2019: Ramskar Light
Light on the island of Ramskar in the southern end of Kosterhavet National Park, Sweden's first marine national park.
9/21/2019: Cormorants
Cormorants on the Segelskaran islands in Kosterhavet National Park.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: Ursholmen Lighthouse
The distinctive twin towers of Ursholmen Lighthouse at the western edge of Kosterhavet National Park.
9/21/2019: Sculpture
Unusual sculpture on an islet in the Stora Sockna archipelago.
9/21/2019: Stora Sockna Archipelago
Looking across a few of the multitude of islands and islets in the Stora Sockna archipelago within Kosterhavet National Park.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: Coast Guard
Besides the many spectator boats, several official boats were out on the course, including this Coast Guard ship.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: Tender
Our tender moored at Ekenas to watch the race finish.
9/21/2019: Finish Line
The Koster Swimrun finish line at Ekenas.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: Warming
Competitors in the Koster Swimrun warming up by the fire.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: 150 Hours
We've wound up over 150 hours on our "new" tender.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: Kosterbris
The ferry Kosterbris arriving from Stromstad on the Swedish mainland.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: 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.
9/21/2019: Rock Wall Mooring
A pleasure craft moored against the rocks along North Koster.
9/21/2019: Sunset
A beautiful sunset in the Koster Islands.
9/23/2019: Sunrise
Sunrise from our anchorage in the Koster Islands.
9/23/2019: Dirona
Another warm, calm and sunny day in the Koster Islands.
9/23/2019: Tender
Our tender, in the distance, tied to a ring along the shoreline of the Ursholmen to visit the lighthouse there.
9/23/2019: Ursholmen Lighthouse
The lighthouse station on Ursholmen was opened in 1891. Twin towers were used to distinguish this station from others. The second light was disabled in the 1930s, when technology had advanced to produce characteristic flashing patterns with a single light. The light was automated in 1965.
9/23/2019: Diabase
Far in its geological past, the bedrock on Ursholmen contracted and cracked and molten rock filled the cracks. When cooled, the molten rock formed these "roads" of black diabase.
9/23/2019: Rock Pool
This tranquil rock pool on the west side of Ursholmen is a popular place for a saltwater dip. Two people had arrived for a soak as we were leaving.
9/23/2019: Snack
Enjoying a snack on Ursholmen overlooking the rock pool.
9/23/2019: Bench
Looking west over the small village on Ursholmen from a bench ashore.
9/23/2019: Lighthouse from Tender
View to the Ursholmen light on pass around the island in the tender.
9/23/2019: Ferries
The number of ferries berthed in the Koster Islands gives an idea of how busy it gets here in the summer.
9/23/2019: Empty
When we passed this marina two days ago on a Saturday, the place was packed, with boats rafted three deep. Today, on Monday, the crowds are gone and the marina is near-empty.
9/24/2019: Oil Drip
Here's an interesting example of why oil leaks can be challenging to chase down. In this picture, a little oil is visible underneath the oil filter. Likely the oil filter gasket has a small leak.
9/24/2019: Likely Source
Seeing the oil drip in the previous picture, we suspect the oil filter. Here we can look up and see the gasket and filter bottom are both wet, confirming the oil filter likely is leaking.
9/24/2019: Oil Filter Leak?
Here we check the top of the filter and can see that nothing is leaking down onto it, which means we are almost certainly looking at a leaking oil filter. But, if you are observant, you'll see a tiny bit of oil residue on the outside end of the filter. It's just luck that this little dab of oil is there and in many, if not most, situations it wouldn't be. The remainder of the filter top is clean and dry, and this could easily fool you.

What is happening is the oil filter is hot, so the oil that drips on it is thinned and almost no oil residue is left, possibly leading to a misdiagnosis. Leaks of all types can be difficult, almost crafty, so we keep looking
9/24/2019: Leak Found
Looking above the oil filter in the picture here, you can see the fuel pump has a drip of engine oil on it (click image for a larger view). This is a fairly new fuel pump, so is not likely the leak source and yet there is clearly a drip hanging off the pump manual pump lever shaft. What's interesting about this case is, where the oil dripped onto the oil filter below, there was almost no evidence of the leak. The hot oil filter caused the oil to run around to the other side of the filter and leave almost no residue on the top and a clear leak on the bottom and at the gasket.

In this case, the fairly new fuel pump appears to have been delivered with hand-tightened fuel diaphragm screws. We tightened these up and the oil leak stopped. This not only fixed the small oil leak, but also solved a mystery problem that has been around for a while. If the generator hasn't been used for a couple of weeks, it needed an extra few seconds of cranking to start and rarely might stall and need to be restarted. If the generator has been run in the last few days, it runs perfectly. The slow-to-start after a period of disuse is probably caused by the fuel pump not operating with full capability and long shutdowns allowing some fuel drain back. Tightening the diaphragm screws fixed both issues.
9/24/2019: Koster Gatshamn
Our tender moored at the Koster Gatshamn for a walk ashore.
9/24/2019: North Koster Lights
A view to the North Koster lighthouses from the hill Lotsutkilken. Twin lighthouses were built on the island in 1849, but the beacons were so high that they often were obscured by fog or mistaken for stars, so a new station was built on Ursholmen, taking one of the lamps from North Koster.
9/24/2019: Trail
The Koster Islands are known for their extensive and beautiful trail network. We really enjoyed walking ashore.
9/24/2019: View South
The fabulous view south from the North Koster lighthouses. The ferries we saw yesterday are visible near the bottom left, and the twin towers of the Ursholmen lightstation can be seen just right of center in the distance (click image for a larger view).
9/24/2019: View North
Looking north from the North Koster lighthouses. The islands visible in the distance are in Norway—we're only 3.5 miles from the border.
9/24/2019: Ferry Dock
Checking out the maps and signs at the North Koster ferry dock.
9/24/2019: Strandkanten
The restaurant Strandkanten stands out a mile with it's eclectic decorations that cover the walls and line the walkway. We loved it.
9/24/2019: Patio
When we arrived at Strandkanten on North Koster, every table on the patio was taken. We sat inside until one freed up, then enjoyed the wonderful and quirky environment on the deck, packed with knick-knacks and flowering plants and with a view to the water. Our tender is just out of the picture on the left, moored at the Koster Gasthamn.
9/25/2019: Havstenssund
The town of Havstenssund twinkling in the dawn light.
9/25/2019: Narrow
Approaching the narrow section at the south end of the waterway Havstenssund. A nice boardwalk runs along the left shore to the light and beyond.
9/25/2019: Lobster Fishing
Lobster season is well underway and we're seeing lots of fishers out tending their traps.
9/25/2019: Lobster Traps
Lobster traps, typically with small orange or white floats, are everywhere and we often have to divert course to avoid them (click image for a larger view).
9/25/2019: Sunrise
Beautiful orange sunrise just south of the Tjurpannans Nature Preserve.
9/25/2019: Fish Boat
Early-morning fishers returning, likely to Havstenssund, with the Stangeskar light in the background.
9/25/2019: Ester-Marie
Ester-Marie, the fish boat with all the lights that we saw a week or so ago from the Smogen Bridge, passing our anchorage of the west side of Smogen.
9/25/2019: Generator J-box
Northern Lights generators have a grey wire that is ground to shutdown. On Dirona, this wire is grounded by the Sea-Fire system to shut the engine down. When I started to test the Sea-Fire system I noticed the generator grey wire was always grounded. Here I'm verifying that the wiring "north" of the generator is fine and the grey wire has a ground problem on the generator.

As I dug into the "problem" I learned what I could have just read off the wiring diagram. The grey wire that when grounded shuts down the fuel to stop the engine supports manual shut down and Sea-Fire mandated shutdown but I had forgotten that low oil pressure will also ground this wire and shut down the motor. Unfortunately, all my testing was done with the generator shut down with zero oil pressure so, naturally, the grey wire was grounded. The good news is I now know this circuit well, but the bad news is I just spent 2 hours investigating when, in fact, there was nothing wrong.
9/25/2019: Sea-Fire Override
The Sea-Fire system shuts down all engines, fans, and the LPG system if the engine room fire control system is triggered. Without this system, the discharge of the fire control system won't be effective since the fans and operating engines all turn, causing constant and rapid changes of the air in the engine room. Effectively, the fire control chemicals will rapidly be ejected from the engine room and replaced with fresh air which will sustain the fire. So the Sea-Fire system needs to shutdown the engines and fans when the fire bottle is released.

The system works wonderfully, but there is always a risk that a boat might be left without engines when there is nothing wrong. During a docking operation this could lead to considerable damage. There are two schools of thought on this one. The first is that the Sea-Fire system already has an override and it is highly unlikely that the engine will be incorrectly shutdown and the Sea-Fire override system will also fail. But, anytime you have an integrated system, there is a chance that it could fail in a way that breaks the override. The alternative is the second school of thought that recommends there be a separate relay switch that drives a relay that disables the entire Sea-Fire system.

I generally don't trust integrated systems, but I also know that adding more and more systems on the systems doesn't always make for a more reliable composite result. Where I ended up is adding a set of labels to the Sea-Fire system where I identify the pair of wires that make up each circuit and label then as closed or open when triggered. If closed when triggered, the emergency enable is to cut a wire. If open when triggered, the emergency enable is to jump the two wires.
9/25/2019: Smogen
Dirona at anchor off the west side of Smogen, with the pilot lookout visible in the background. The North Sea is directly to our west and after watching the waves crashing into the shore here during the big westerly winds a couple of weeks back, it felt a little crazy to be anchored here. But in today's easterly winds, the anchorage is sheltered and calm.
9/25/2019: Secret Channel
We found a "secret" channel into the town of Smogen.
9/25/2019: Hallo
The tender tied off at the island of Hallo to walk ashore. We didn't visit when we were in Smogen because the seas were too rough in the big westerly winds.
9/25/2019: Boardwalk
Walking a boardwalk towards the lighthouse on Hallo.
9/25/2019: Chapel
The chapel at Hallo is a popular wedding site.
9/25/2019: Hallo Lighthouse
The Hallo Lighthouse, built in 1842, is the oldest lighthouse still in use on the Swedish side of the Kattegat and Skagerrak.
9/25/2019: Dirona
Dirona at anchor off the west side of Smogen, looking north from the island of Hallo.
9/25/2019: Hare
A hare scampering across Hallo.
9/25/2019: Small Boat Channel
We ran the tender, just barely, through this small boat channel along the east side of Hallo.
9/25/2019: Lighthouse from Tender
The Hallo Lighthouse viewed from the tender off the southwest shore.
9/25/2019: Several Steps Up
The last time we were in Smogen, the storm surge had increased the water level several feet and we could just step out of the tender onto the dock. The water level is back to normal now, and so it's two steps up from the tender to reach the dock.
9/25/2019: High-Speed RIB
Smogen is really quiet now compared to the busyness of the light festival. Most of the restaurants are either closed for the season or are running limited off-season hours. But you can still book a ride in a high-speed RIB.
9/25/2019: Last Supper
A delicious ultra-fresh seafood platter at Gostas for our last supper in Sweden. Tomorrow we head to Denmark.