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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, 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…

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”, 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…

The 19th-century seaside resort Lysekil sits at the mouth of Gullmarsfjorden, a 15-mile-long (25 km) fjord that in 1983 was designated as Sweden’s first marine conservation area. The aquarium at Lysekil features sea life from Gullmarsfjorden that bears a remarkable resemblance to those we’ve seen when diving in the Pacific Northwest, with the Wolf Eels…

Karingon, a small and beautiful island along the Swedish West Coast, has one of the most active Sea Rescue Society station in Sweden. The Karingon Sea Rescue Society, founded in 1920, has 36 volunteers and performs 400-500 missions each year. Averaging more than one mission a day, the busiest days in the summer must be…

Pilane Sculpture Park, set in a farmer’s field in the middle of the Swedish island of Tjorn, was voted among the top ten in Europe by the British newspaper The Guardian. The clear star at Pilane is Anna by Jaume Plensa. The huge head of a woman is visible from sea—we could see it from…

Construction of Carlsten Fortress began in 1658 to protect the town of Marstrand, an important ice-free Swedish shipping port. Denmark besieged and overpowered the fortress twice, in 1677 and 1719, but both times it was returned to Sweden following negotiations and treaties. The fort was also used as a prison and eventually was decommissioned in…

Donso, a small Swedish island about 13 miles west of Gothenburg, has a long history in the shipping industry, particularly the tanker business. Sten A. Olsson, the founder of the Stena business group, was born there and a dozen shipping companies currently are located at or owned by people living on Donso. The biennial Donso…

Gothenburg’s Maritiman is the largest floating ship museum in the world, comprising 20 historical craft ranging from small tubgoats to the 144 ft (44m) Danish diesel electric submarine Nordkaparen and the 398ft (121m) HMS Smaland, a Swedish Halland-class destroyer. On our sixth and final day in the city, we completed a few boat chores in…