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White Nights in the Baltic |
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From: douglas addison Hi Ralph,
From: douglas addison Year 2008 Year 2007
Hi Ralph,I seem to have been too busy sailing to keep TMSC up to date with my
cruise. Please find attached a brief synopsis of my passage since my note
in May. I am also attaching a photo of Galatea in front of Grisholm Castle
on lake Malaren. It all seems a little tame compared to the update I
received from Ian and Denise on their passage to the Azores. |
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TMSC news of Galatea Since my last bulletin on the 25 May I sailed up the Swedish West coast in strong winds up to Gothenburg where the guest marina is right in the centre by the Opera House with a clipper, a former rival to the Cutty Sark, afloat on the outside. The plan was to follow the route via locks and lakes built around 1830 for ships to avoid the straits and thus the tolls levied by Denmark for hundreds of years on all shipping entering the Baltic. We headed up the river stopping for the occasional bridge to open. The Trallhatten locks which take you up to lake Vattern are built for large ships so there is a lot of turbulence and 43.8 metres to rise to Lake Vanern. There were some hair raising moments but eventually we arrived at Vanersborg with just two bridges separating us from the lake. It was blowing a good force 7 with very strong gusts so it was too dangerous to enter the marina and I anchored off and bounced around for a few hours. The following day dawned with blue skies and a light breeze and we set off across the lake to Lacko Castle, a powerful medieval fortress dramatically situated on an island. Sailing further across the lake and around some islands in shallow water we reached Mariested. An attractive town where we could moor alongside the Quay. The crew who helped me through the Trollhaten locks left and two more friends joined me for the Gota canal which eventually leads to the Baltic. Thomas Telford after his Caledonian canal experience was a consultant on the Gota Canal. The season hadn’t yet started so we had to join a convoy system with operatives accompanying us and opening up locks and arranging times for us to coincide with bridge openings. The first 21 locks took us up another 47 metres to Lake Vettern. Then we sailed for almost two weeks across three more lakes, through 37 more locks and numerous bridges to drop 88.5 metres to the Baltic Sea. The scenery varied between forests, farmland, narrow gorges and delightful little towns. Twice we moored by castles and once by a tiny chapel on a rocky island. Out in the Baltic it was normal sea sailing up the Swedish coast. We stopped at Arkosund where my present crew stopped with me last year but then, we were heading in the opposite direction. We sailed outside the archipelago up to the Fallboden Lighthouse, passing it just one hour later than previously as shown by my position marking on the chart. We turned in amongst the islands and dropped anchor a mile up a quiet sheltered inlet. The wind went round and blew up the inlet with very strong gusts, The water had been like a mirror the night before. We continued up to Trosa, in very short choppy seas. This must be the most attractive little town in Sweden with its painted wooden houses lining the tiny river which runs through the centre. Lake Malaren is the largest and supposedly the most beautiful lake in Sweden and we went through another lock at Sodertalje into it. We sailed to Mariefred and moored opposite Gripsholm castle, a former fortress and palace. My crew left and now I am exploring Lake Malaren solo.
Douglas Addison, Galatea of London Strangnas, Sweden 9.7.09
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