Sunshine for the Swedes' National Day

Saturday marked the Swedish National Holiday, and this might have been the reason why the sailors have been witness of really crazy Swedes friday night. Hard to describe if someone has not seen or heard that. Shops in Marstrand were open no matter if holiday or not and so after breakfast the sailors went to buy sailing pullovers with special windbreak material as "crew outfit" in the local store and afterwards went for a walk in this 1600-inhabitant city with a beautiful fort overlooking the sea.

The preparations for the Volvo Ocean Race - one of the most prestigious round the world yacht races - are full under way as between June 10 and 15 the town hosts another stage of this race. The fact that a Swedish boat - the Ericsson - is currently up on the leaderboard makes this event very special for the locals. As for Markus and Co. the sailing on Saturday was less exciting as the breeze was very slow and even the Spinnaker did not help to get the boat going - 4 knots wind was simply not enough. With temperatures much more comfortable than the day before and the sun shining so they enjoyed most of the time on deck chilling.

No breeze but lots of sun invited for a nap

The dinner on boat consisted of local seafood bought fresh in the morning for a steal - 2 bags full of salmon, large and small shrimps, mackerels, herrings and other delicious stuff for less than 100 EUR would be unheard of in Vienna - not really surprising as the sea is not so close in Austria. The dinner was followed by a proper 90ies music party on the boat whereas competition from a nearby wedding party was literally smashed - thanks to Dr. Alban, Snap and Right Said Fred!

Kerstin & Markus