Sun 6/23/19
I ALWAYS TRY to fly Norwegian Airlines if I can because they are essentially a budget airline with a very modern fleet of Dreamliners. Plus I usually book far enough in advance to secure an exit row seat with plenty of legroom for the 10hour + journey. My rock bottom fare was less than $600 but I had so much excess baggage – a deflated dinghy, dinghy boards, assorted spares, tools, a boarding ladder and about ten pounds of coco coir for the new composting head – that I wound up with three extra bags plus a ‘windsurfer’ extra gear charge. The windsurfer was in fact my dinghy boards but there was no option for that on the Norwegian website! The coco coir was a bit of an adventure too. It had arrived in a ten pound block, but on the advice of Caroline Shearlock of the Boat Galley and a few other wise folks, I decided to cut it up ahead of time into 2.75lb chunks for individual use in the head. Which meant that I had these plastic bags full of what looked like compressed marijuana in my luggage. I made sure to put them right at the top and label them clearly, just in case.
My flight left Los Angeles on Saturday night and I arrived at Arlanda 1.35pm on Sunday. I had only a fitful sleep on the plane but I was raring to go (as usual) am because it was so exciting to set foot on Swedish soil again. It was a real chore heaving all my luggage on and off the car rental shuttle but as usual the Hertz experience itself was outstanding, with a top-of-the-line Volvo diesel waiting for me which shuttled me off to Stockholm in calm, unfussy luxury. Just a tip for anyone using Arlanda airport: sign up for Hertz Gold membership (no charge) and book the cheapest economy car you can find. They have to give you the cheaper option even though they don’t seem to have any economy car inventory, meaning you will always get upgraded.
I drove down to Stockholm to meet up with Kevin C, a regular sailor on my Marina del Rey crew, who is a quiet, diligent fellow. Pretty unflappable but very hard working. In short an almost perfect crew mate. We met near the Handelsbanken building on the waterfront and headed off to Grepen Marin in Öregrund, which is about 100 miles north of the Swedish capital.
When we arrived about 8.30pm it was cloudy but still bright daylight, but my good mood vanished when I saw my boat. She was in the water with her mainmast raised, but there was no mizzen, no windlass and no new bow pulpit, despite my clear instructions to the yard’s owner, Lennart, over the winter and spring. They had at least installed a new 14 gallon plastic water tank under the port berth. Their other job was also only half done. They had removed the existing head and sealed up the two thru-hulls, but they had not installed the new one, merely seated and fastened the brackets into which it fitted.
I was depressed. My timetable called for us to rig the boat for a Tuesday departure and I couldn’t see any way they could fashion the new bow pulpit and install a windlass within that timetable. Plus the boat was FULL of stuff which made her look like a squalid old liveaboard. Kevin stayed stoic but I was very upset. I’ve always found that good food and some wine is a good antidote to downcast spirits, so we made the five minute drive into town for dinner. We sat outside at a local pizzeria and had a decent meal while enjoying a spectacular sunset offset by spotty grey rain clouds over what is always a gorgeous harbor. We then headed back to the boat. The first order of business was to get everything out of the boat onto the dock and arrange a sleeping space for us both. With that done, I assembled the head, which was actually very simple. They had also installed a proper switch for the fan. I spent about an hour breaking up and moistening the coco coir for the head and then put it in the head’s main chamber, then went to bed a little after midnight. At least I felt I had accomplished something!
Mon. 6/24 – Work will lift your spirits
I think I got about four hours sleep, which was actually much better than my first night aboard in 2018, when I think I got 45 minutes! First order of business was to have some tea for breakfast then head to the Co-Op when it opened at 8am for provisioning. That done, we had some breakfast – muesli and yogurt – and go to work. First we reattached and tightened the lifelines. Then we put on the boom and bent on the mainsail, attached the vang, etc. By 9am the yard crew were drifting in to work and we had them raise the mizzen, attach the stays and tune the rig. On went the mizzen boom and mizzen sail.
The previous owner Andy had bequeathed me a huge pile of useful equipment – electrical wire, heat shrink, assorted hardware, washers, fasteners, etc. etc. which will be very useful should I ever begin extended cruising but which take up a lot of space in the port berth – part of which was now a water tank. It also meant that when I opened the storage areas I had no idea where to find what I needed. But prioritizing the things I really might need regularly I was able to rationalize and organize my space, which helped me slowly regain a sense of control. Lennart showed up and was quite sheepish about not getting all the work done – he said he couldn’t find a windlass, (hard to believe), couldn’t find the bow pulpit – (in my storage locker and in plain sight – or so I thought). It also looked as though he didn’t cover the boat during the winter. And yet I liked him. He seemed honest and amiable and at this stage I was still considering bringing the the boat back there at the end of the summer. He also seemed so apologetic I felt he might do his best to make it up to me next time. I didn’t expect a discount, but I expected him to be extra diligent to carry out the work order. I guess I like to see the best in people!
By Monday evening the boat was rigged and ready to go. We still had no windlass, and no bow pulpit – which mysteriously seemed to have developed legs and walked away over the winter, so perhaps Lennart wasn’t to blame for that, after all. However, all other systems were go. I made Kevin and myself chicken curry with jasmine rice for dinner and we were on course for our scheduled departure to Grisslehamn. The world seemed a lot brighter!