It's a tough life, but someone has to live it. Just check out the view we woke up to this morning at Daftö-Valö. It's hard to believe that this is the North Sea, folks, not an inland pond.




Right now though there is a truly fabulous summer light, which glitters over the water. We are happy to do little more than simply sit on the fore of the boat and admire the picturesque island homes where no one seems to stir. On days such as this, you want to just BE - to enjoy the peace, to be gently calmed by the rocking of the boat through the barely rippling water. We take a walk up a small path between through a cleft in the rocks, through bushes and undergrowth and out to the other side, where lights from Strömstad are sparkling across the water. With this startling morning light, you feel an almost dreamlike taste of silence and isolation. It's pure magic.




We'll continue on our northwards journey today, having been revitalised by the day of rest, the fresh air, the sea and the gorgeous sunlight. We pass by Strömstad again as we make our way past rocky cliffs, fine sandy beaches packed with people and quiet islands with private beach houses - and at Holmen Grå (the Grey Bay) a touch of something just a little different.




It's not every day you see a private seaplane parked next to the summer house, is it? We have a choice of ways to head north. We could go out to the fjord again, but are not too keen to battle with the current. We think about taking Långörännan, a narrow sound between the mainland and the island of Nord-Långö but the lively motor boat and ferry traffic is a bit off putting, especially as we want to sail downwind and basically don't trust the plethora of Sunday drivers out there. Almost all of the boats are Norwegian and they seem just as clueless and reckless as the motor boats we are used to seeing in the Stockholm archipelago. We thought it might be more prudent to sail in the sound on the western side of the island instead, though we discovered it was not entirely knob-free!




This guy went up and down past us several times over the course of the day stirring up a huge wash behind him. Fiona is a heavy boat, so it doesn't worry us so much, but it caused havoc with several fishing dories in the sound and also a couple of rowboats full of children. I can't imagine how much he spent in petrol for all of that! Today, once we passed through the busy sound, it was gentle, warm downwind sailing that we enjoyed very much. There is very little boat traffic once we are north of Strömstad and any boats we saw were heading southwards. We are sailing now on the border between Sweden and Norway, with the impressive 100 metre cliffs of the Swedish mainland to out east and the sandy and popular Norwegian islands of Sandöy to our west. The speed is a steady 4 knots and we are happily sunning ourselves.

I am of course generously coated with SPF Factor 40 suncream. I am so happy that I found this here in Sweden. Swedes don't take sun protection seriously, so these full protection products are not always easy to find. I have very fair skin and have already had several nasty skin cancers cut out when I lived in Australia, so I take no chances. Today is the first day I am using the new type of spray on product and so far it has been great. Last year I had a thick cream sunscreen that was so greasy that I was scared to go in the water in case I left an oil slick that would either alert the coast guards or have Greenpeace trailing me in a protest ship!

In the late afternoon, we turn more north east and sail up Idefjorden, a 14 nautical mile long fjord that separates Sweden from Norway. There is quite a strong current pushing us along and a large number of Norwegians out enjoying the sunshine in their boats. And not a life jacket in sight!




I am rather surprised by this, especially as the waters around here can be deep and very cold. I saw no children wearing lifejackets, either which is so irresponsible, especially at the reckless speeds and darting here and there that some of these boats do. I have to say that in Sweden, people are very particular about kids wearing proper lifejackets at all times when they are close to water. I had expected our nearest neighbours to be of a like mind.




The Norwegian township you can see is called Sponvika, an old fishing village dating from the 17th Century. It looks an idyllic place with well tended gardens and small white houses that reflect beautifully in the waters of Idefjorden. It was really green and lush there and looked similar to other small towns on the Swedish side, though the style of housing was a little different and the houses seemed to be more tightly packed together. The waters today were moving quite fast with the strong wind being tunnelled up the narrow fjord and the huge amount of motorboat traffic adding to the hectic scene. Not much further north, we came to the place we were looking for - Svinesund Bridge.




There are two bridges, the old and new Svinesund Bridge spanning the sound. The newer bridge in the foreground, opened only a year ago is a very elegant, arched 704 metre long beauty. The Swedish side of this sound is extremely popular with Norwegians who flock across to buy goods cheaply in Sweden. Well, cheap for them anyway - nothing is really that cheap in Sweden! Just to cater for this, the smart Swedes have built an enormous shopping complex immediately after crossing the sound. Following the erection of the new bridge in 2005, road taxes must be paid to drive into Norway using either bridge, and to drive into Sweden using the new bridge. Just as well we have a boat!




A tiny way further and we arrived at the old bridge, constructed during the last world war. I am rather surprised that a bridge was not built here earlier, but apart from a provisional pontoon type of structure it was mostly small boat traffic that crossed the fjord. As you can imagine, a very healthy smuggling trade was carried on. The view across Sweden and Norway from the top of the bridge is spectacular.




The Swedish side of the fjord is mostly desolate, pine clad hills while the Norwegian side consists of more populated areas with towns built on the steep slopes and valleys. There are no good anchorages along the fjord, so we decide that this symbolic place will be our turning point and we head southwards to Saltbacken, a small settlement on the Swedish side inside a deep bay opposite Sponvika. We are totally alone, surrounded by high cliffs, a few birds and more of that warm, life giving sunshine.