We left home today. The early morning was sunny and crisp with temperatures just below freezing. No boats to be seen on the water in the early morning but, we said hello to some seals.

Now most things are ticked off and we are on our way. It may turn out to be a shakedown cruise but, we hope it is the start on this summer’s sailing.

It has been an unusually cold and miserable spring this year. When we returned from sunny Spain, we found March cold and rainy. Luckily, Sally was dressed for the winter, and we could do work inside. Except for some fine tuning of our water-based heating system, this winter have been all about repairs and replacements.

All the sailing we have done in recent years has taken its toll. We had to renovate and repair matrasses and cushions, service the life raft, replace the dingy, repair the windlass and replace the sprayhood and cockpit owning. And of cause, the long list of regular tender love and care.

We manage to find a gap between the rain showers over Easter to take off and fold the covers whilst reasonably dry. We had booked the crane to put Sally in the water week after Easter but it would have been very unpleasant:

Ther following Monday (8^th April) proved to be a better option. An impressive crane lifted Sally very smoothly in the water.

A late evening’s work with the help of a friend fixed what was left in the rigging and many heavy things were lifted onboard. We motored to the marina the following morning and then the wind and rain came back with very few chances to work on the boat.

This week has been the firs reasonable spring week with only a few rain showers. The Monday was calm and allowed us to put up the sails. Numerous trips with the car between shops, storage and Sally has gradually filled her with all we need for a long summer.

The (revised) plan was to sail yesterday but it was to late (and to cold) when we were finally ready. So, we slept onboard and set the alarm for 6:30 and got under way shortly thereafter, motoring on a calm sea.

Snow fell on deck and stayed for a while before the sun came out in full force. We motored out through the fjords with a light following tide. There is very little tide in Sweden but some in our area. We left just before high tide and as we turned the corner and headed out north of the big island Orust we had up to one knot in the narrower passages.

The wind picked up as we reached the coast, and we could sail in bright sunshine and following winds for a couple of hours before the wind died down and the engine was started again to take us to Smogen (Smögen) where we need to stay until Monday to have our new sprayhood and cockpit owning adjusted.