5/7/03 – Around Ellös.

We flew the direct flight from Seattle to Copenhagen then on to Göteburg to pick up a car. We were allowed to carry with us 5 checked bags of no more than 70 lbs each. (The reason we were allow an extra bag is than Jan has preferential treatment with the airlines because she flies so much). So with our 5 big bags weighing 345 lbs (5 lbs less than the maximum allowed), plus what we had as carryon, we were forced to upgrade to the next bigger size of station wagon. We decided to grab a little cash from the ATM and we were off to the village of Ellös, where Hallberg Rassy has its factory.

Ellös is a village on the west coast of the Island of Tjorn, which is on the west coast of Sweden, about 80 miles north of Gothenburg, a major Swedish seaport. As we were crossing Tjorn Island, just a little ways from Ellös, we were stopped by the Swedish traffic police – doing 90 km/hr in a 70 km/hr zone – but the zone had just turned from 90 to 70. No matter. They wanted cash on the spot, and not just a little cash, but basically all of the cash we had just gotten at the airport. And just to dot the “i” so to speak, a breath test to see if Steve had been drinking. Oh well, just a little addition to the Swedish economy.

We finally arrived at Hallberg Rassy after 20 hours of traveling. It was cold and rainy, just like Seattle, but that was not going to keep us from going down to the docks to see if our boat was ready. It was a good thing we did because someone had left the hatch open and it was raining into the cabin. Steve jumped on board, did a quick check of Sugilite, and then buttoned her up.

We then went back to the “hotel/conference center” and checked into our room. We decided to have dinner in the hotel and went down to the restaurant. The waitress informed us that there was no menu today and that they are “having meat.” That sounded reasonable, so we ordered “meat” for dinner and sat down. There was a group of people attending some sort of conference and a couple of other couples next to us talking about boats. We introduced ourselves to the other couples. One was scheduled to pick up their boat in a month, so they had driven over from England with a carload of stuff. They planned to have HR store it for them, waiting until the boat would be ready. The other couple was considering purchasing a boat and were visiting the yard.

We were scheduled for a 10 am pickup time the next day and that’s exactly when we could “get” the boat. HR is famous for their exact pickup times. When HR gives you a delivery time, they are quite precise about it. If you time is 10:00 am. on a given day, you can’t get on at 9:30, you can’t get on at 9:45, you can get on at 10:00 am. Apparently, in the last 20 years, they have only missed one delivery time and that was because an equipment supplier to them had failed to deliver the necessary component.

5/8/03 – Delivery Day, Ellös.

The morning minutes ticked slowly with eager anticipation before our meeting with Stefan at 10:00 am to “go over” the boat. Stefan was the factory representative assigned to us for the delivery. He took us on a tour of each nook and cranny. Jan wrote down the details of what the different things were, while Steve reviewed and peppered Stefan with questions. Stefan reviewed all of the ship’s systems, electronics, engine, plumbing and then, we bent on the sails[1].

A little after lunch, we were handed the keys and Stefan promised that he would go with us the next day for our shake down sail and answer any additional questions. Oh, and-by-the-way, nothing we shipped over two months ago seemed to have arrived yet!

In the afternoon, we decided to go into town, have lunch and introduce ourselves to Vickie at HR Parts. Vickie is an American from Seattle who married one of the senior executives at HR, moved to Ellös and started a supply service for HR owners called HR Parts & Accessories. Today we began to develop an appreciation of just how important Vickie would become to us over the next few weeks. She can order us anything we have forgotten to get, is a wealth of information, and gives us free internet access on the computer in her store.

Our shipment of household goods had not arrived. The guy at the shipping company has no idea where our shipment was and didn’t seem at all concerned that it was missing, which was a bit unsettling. In fact, he was a bit rude and told us that maybe we should find another broker, rather than he taking the time to figure out where our shipment is.

We needed at least bedding and some silverware before we could move the boat. Vicki told us where to go to get “stuff”. We spent the afternoon driving to Udevalla, the closest city to get groceries, 2 cooking pans, bedding, sheets, towels, plastic dishes and silverware and other basic stuff.

Our first night on board was devoted to the long process of learning how all of the various things and systems on the boat work. It was a great night, made even better by the forced air heating system on Sugilite.