The lighthouse station on Ursholmen, in Sweden’s Kosterhavet National Park, was opened in 1891. Twin towers were used to distinguish this station from others. The second light was disabled in the 1930s, when technology had advanced to produce characteristic flashing patterns with a single light, but the tower still remains. Ursholmen also is known for…
Koster Swimrun
We’d received many, many recommendations to visit Kosterhavet National Park, just south of the Swedish border with Norway. We finally arrived on a sunny September Saturday in time for the annual Koster Swimrun. The event, held annually in September, is a roughly 19-mile (30 km) race around the Koster Islands 3 miles (5 km) of…
Glacier Bay
After a four day wait in Hoonah, the winds have finally calmed down and it looks like a great day for crossing Icy Strait. Our wait in Hoonah paid off and we have flat seas for the entire crossing. Other than a solo sea otter doing the backstroke, we are all alone. The magnificent Mt. […]
Fjallbacka
The picturesque town of Fjallbacka is a popular and crowded summer destination. It is famous as being the summer home for Swedish film star Ingrid Bergman and also the setting for Swedish crime writer Camilla Lackberg’s “Fjallbackamorden” series of murder-mysteries. Strung along the water below steep cliffs, Fjallbacka is also known for its natural beauty,…
Vaderoarna
Vaderoarna (the Weather Islands) were classified as a nature reserve in 2012 and have one of Sweden’s warmest, but windiest, climates. A lighthouse was first installed there 1867, and a pilots’ station in 1754. Today the beautiful islands are a popular tourist destination, particularly the current pilots’ lookout, built in the 1930s. We initially planned…
Nordens Ark
Nordens Ark, on the Swedish west coast, is a private, non-profit foundation focusing on conservation, rearing, and research of endangered animals. Their zoo houses roughly 80 animal species from around the world, ranging from insects, frogs and birds to reindeer, wolves and cats large and small. From Smogen, we travelled to the head of Abyfjorden…
Evolution of the FPB Super Cruiser
I spent my first six decades on earth despising powerboats and those who operated them. In my early days of …Read More
Road Trip Lighthouses
“He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.” – Chinese proverb
New Brunswick is one of Canada’s Maritime provinces, we had hoped to visit the other two, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, on our trip this fall, but circumstances kept us in New Brunswick. The three Maritime provinces are full of lighthouses…almost 300 and most look very similar. We enjoy finding lighthouses on our travels, we seldom go too far out of our way to find them, but we do visit and take pictures when we we find them. This trip we found 18 and I’m sure we would have seen many more if we could have gotten to Nova Scotia. Click the following links to see our lighthouse map and lighthouse photos.
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Smogen Storm
Smogen is right on the edge of the Skagerrak and exposed to the North Sea. So when a big westerly storm rolls in, exciting seas can develop and the storm surge can raise the water level in the harbour several feet. We spent two more nights at Smogen, touring the area by tender and on…
Smogen, the Island of Light
Smogen, the “Island of Light”, ends its summer season with an art light festival that last year drew 30,000 attendees. While most coastal Swedish towns have rolled up the carpet for the year by mid-August, Smogen is going strong until the mid-September festival. All the restaurants are still open and the docks and streets are…
