4/5th of June
From Öregrund to Gållsgrund, an anchorage 48 miles further North, we had another perfect day’s sailing, beam reaching all the way with SW-W winds. Winds were mainly Force 6 (gusting 7 at times), but Easy Rider and its crew feel very happy in that wind.
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| Nesting birds at Gållsgrund |
Leaving Gållsgrund anchorage next day was exactly as anticipated once the wind direction has changes to anything with N in it – it requires some uncomfortable motoring against the wind and waves if you don’t want or can’t wait for the right S wind to move up the coast. We were fortunate and were able to start with some fine reaching and gentle motor sailing towards our destination in brilliant sunshine. One thing was however bothering me (us): our extremely reliable engine threw tantrums and often refused to start unless begged for several times and stalled when the speed was reduced…very uncharacteristic and not a good omen. However the sail continued in a great way but then there was the mooring in Hudicksvall… without any reliable help ashore. As predicted the engine stalled on the final approach to the pontoon. Yes, but it was only half a disaster because we planned well for this possibility and everything was OK in the end.
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| Sjöräddning - life boat |
Madeleine then spotted a vessel of the SSRS, the equivalent of the RNLI, and immediately attracted the attention of two young volunteers who agreed to have a look at our engine.
Petter and
Christopher came over and after two cups of coffee investigated the problem.
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| Magnus at work |
Apart from ‘kicking the engine’ they did all the right things and than they had the brilliant idea to ring Magnus, an agricultural mechanic who also volunteers for the SSRS. On a Sunday evening he arrived. With a name like
Magnus, his appearance was appropriate: 2m tall with a big smile. After my medical description of the problem he thought it must be intermittent air entry into the system, probably at the fuel pump – and it was! A hairline crack had probably been exaggerated during winter service and caused this increasing problem. All three of them, after another coffee and biscuits now called
Rodney, another mechanic, to collect the pump and to check whether he has one in stock or whether it has to be ordered. It should then be with us on Wednesday. He will be the person fitting it. We will let you know about the outcome asap! We have never experienced this kind of helpfulness for a very long time indeed.
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| Petter and Magnus, part of the helpful team |