18th at Soldertalje.

Doing 7 knots, showing off.

Steam Ship

Astra Zeneca Soldertalje

Swedish Graveyard

Cheap Bimini!

I went for a shower and had a good long one. I’d previously looked at the dobi facilities and they appeared to be paid for within the parking so I stripped the beds and gathered my laundry together and put it in the wash then had breakfast and faffed about for a bit before going up and putting the next load on and the first load into the dryer. As the second load was just smalls, I waited for this and hung it out on the rails whilst the first lot continued in the drier. Having read one of the cruising books it looks like, because almost everyone has boats out here, the equivalent of B and Q or hardware shops should be quite a good place to buy chandlery so once the dobi was hanging on the line I took my rucksack and went for a walk up into the town. This appeared to be an average Swedish town. There is quite a lot of work going on at the lock.  Looking for hardware shops yielded none so I found a couple of out of town shops a couple of miles away and walked towards them. Having crossed the bridge and climbed a small incline I was opposite the local graveyard. Very tidy but nothing like as beautiful as the Danish ones. I was walking along a busy road and soon noted a Lidl on the left for a look in on, on the way back, eventually I arrived at K Max or something but there was no nautical section but it was a busy out of town shopping area so I went to various other shops, the sports shop had a small section but without much more than a few lifejackets and paddles. I spotted, over the main road a Biltema which had been mentioned as a big sort of Decathlon crossed with Halfords and another good place for boaty things. It was interesting and had lots more marine stuff than elsewhere but not hooks of the type I was hoping to find. Anyway I bought an umbrella and some wire brushes. I stopped at Lidl on the way back and bought some bits and pieces, all surprisingly heavy. Prior to going into Lildl I went to the shop opposite, a government liquor shop to compare prices. I’m in Sweden, noted for high alcohol prices. It’s cheaper than Scotland. Since leaving Inverness, where I topped up with booze, I’ve found everywhere since to be cheaper. Thanks Nicola. Arriving back at the boat I thought it was starting to rain, drops appeared to be hitting my calves. The sky was clear and the drops increased. I felt the back of my rucksack which was wet…… bother. I had beer, coke and milk in the back. I was so close to the boat I just carried on and took everything out in the cockpit. I was lucky, it was a beer, not the milk.  I found the culprit, drank the dregs and wiped everything down and washed the rucksack out a bit and hung it out to dry. Another boat came in alongside me at this point and I helped them as appropriate. I faffed about a bit, wire brushing a couple of hatch holding down bolts that had become a little stiff, once the rain stopped I opened the hatches again, I’ve omitted to say that the day has been still and hot. Very hot.

A steam boat steamed past and tied up a couple of hundred yards away. She’s from the 19th century with a compound engine and takes passengers out still for day trips, maybe 50 at a time, smells like the Vic 32.

Once it was nearly 6 O’clock, (about 1710) I opened the first of a couple of  beers before going into town for a couple more and a kebab before returning to the marina club where a gentleman with long white hair was belting out 80s and 90s rock numbers which was going down well with every one, also mostly in their 70s or more.