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Another 60 miles up the coast and we arrived at the charming town of Kalmar. We came in and took the first easy mooring along the dock, which just happened to be next to the McDonald’s. Well, we learned why this prime space was vacant; it happened that there was a night club upstairs which blasted rap music all night long.

This was a town about the same size as Karlskrona – but what a difference. This town was vibrant and alive. Lots of people on the streets, in the cafés and in the parks. We spent an enjoyable afternoon touring the very well preserved castle. In the castle was a splendid exhibition on the Polish/Swedish royalty links and warfare between the two kingdoms. Malcolm and Sally from the English boat we met in Bornholm were in the harbor with us but we didn’t get much of an opportunity to talk with them.

We now have about 50 hours on the engine, so it was time to do the first service. Since this was likely to be the largest town we might encounter before Stockholm, I decided to see if we could track down an authorized Volvo mechanic. We did and he agreed to do the service the next morning, even though it was a Swedish national holiday.

Brian was scheduled to leave from Stockholm on the first. It was iffy if we were going to be able to make it, and anyway he wanted to spend a couple of days in Stockholm sightseeing. So he decided to leave us there and head to Stockholm by train. We bid goodbye to our first guest and really appreciated all of the sailing tips he passed along.

We continued to have problems accessing the Internet so we could respond to our company’s needs on a timely basis. In Kalmar, the harbormaster opened up his office on a holiday, just to let us use his computer so we could check email. It’s these wonderful interactions with the local people that are most memorable.

It’s just the two of us again. Even though we enjoyed having Brian with us, there is something special, a special interaction between us, when we are alone that I cannot put into words. We had a great sailing day. Jan practiced keeping a heading with 10-20 knot winds. At one point we were going 8 knots.

Arriving late that afternoon in Oskarshamn, we met a German couple, Sigi and Anna on Tjede. He helped us dock – then the harbormaster had us move to a different slip, so he helped us a second time. He invited us over for schnapps and wine. They had an excellent red German wine which is made near Karlsruhr. Now normally, one does not associate particularly good red wine with Germany, but this was made by a small craft winery, and Sigi knew the vintner personally. Sigi’s comment, “Life is too short to drink cheap wine.” We wholeheartedly agree.

Sigi and Anna were to play a big role in our trip, although we didn’t know it at the time. We would un-expectedly cross paths, time and time again throughout the next couple of months. Sigi was in the process of retiring from Germanischer Lloyd. This is the German company similar to the American Bureau of Shipping or Lloyds Register in Great Britain. They are in charge of setting standards for vessels and inspecting vessels of all types. Our Sugilite carries an A1 certificate from Germanischer Lloyd certifying that it meets or exceeds the necessary standards to travel on any ocean in the world. It is quite a statement and not many small yachts have such a rating. Sigi was/is a senior surveyor for Germanischer Lloyd.

The US still has one tall ship flying the US flag under military command, and that is the USCG Eagle.[1] Several years ago the Coast Guard went to the American Bureau of Shipping and asked for a surveyor to review the Eagle for seaworthiness. The Bureau replied that there was no one on their staff capable of surveying the Eagle and instructed the Coast Guard to contact Germanischer Lloyd for assistance. And this is how Sigi became the Coast Guard’s surveyor for the Eagle. There are only a handful of people left in the world knowledgeable enough to perform this service and Sigi is one of them. He was due to travel to Boston in August in order to accomplish this annual survey and this year he planned to take Anna with him.

We were still having trouble connecting to the Internet. We had learned that limited access was free at the public libraries, but that your time was limited to 1 hour per day and there was no ability to upload or download files. Sometimes, we couldn’t even print out our emails, so communication was limited. We had missed going to China because of the SARS outbreak earlier in the spring. SARS was beginning to die down and we knew that one of us needed to go in order to review production. And that one was Jan. We spent a considerable amount of time in one agency trying to get a ticket booked, but finally gave up when the travel agent couldn’t seem to accomplish it, and he didn’t know why. So we bought some postcards and started walking back to the boat down this very small cobblestone road. All of a sudden, we were right in front of the house photographed on the postcard we had chosen. Not a big thing, but it was a nice surprise.

[1] From the USGS web site —“USGS EAGLE, the largest Tall Ship flying the Stars and Stripes and the only square-rigger in U.S. government service, is the seventh U.S. Coast Guard cutter to bear the name in a proud line dating back to 1792. The ship was built in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned as HORST WESSEL, one of three sail training ships operated by Nazi Germany to train cadets for the growing German Navy. Five identical ships were built in Germany and [they] are collectively known as the "five sisters", they include: Tovarisch (Russia), Sagres II (Portugal), Mircea (Romania), and Gorch Fock II (Germany). Early in World War II [the] EAGLE was converted to a cargo ship, transporting men and supplies throughout the Baltic Sea, but continued to perform a training mission as well. The ship is said to have downed three aircraft in combat during this period. Following World War II, it was taken as a war prize by the United States and a U.S. Coast Guard crew — aided by the German crew still on board — [they] sailed the tall ship in 1946 from Bremerhaven to its new homeport in New London, Connecticut.”