Sailing to the epic lighthouse Vinga

Two more trips to Erlandsson’s and the construction back on the transom was in place. Felt slightly trapped in Långedrag Marina after these long warm days and decided to take off for the island outside of Gothenburg holding the epic Vinga Lighthouse as it is an undisputed landmark and local trophy.

The little innocent evening leg to Vinga offered some unexpected drama. With the wind and a pretty stubborn current in my back, I entered the narrow marina with sails down and few possibilities to control the speed. So, I turned on my engine after I had inspected the narrow pier/marina and realized that there was no room for me at all.

I had to be pretty harsh with the reverse to slow down. The direct propulsion made the job and I stopped and just when I felt that I had everything under control it suddenly stopped. No power and the display showed that the battery was empty. What the f…? Now? Here? How?

There was no time to think about why. Damage control was more suitable, as the current and wind would swing me up on the rocks opposite the pier in a matter of seconds. But like a saint, a Danish gentleman/skipper popped up in his yacht and managed to grab my mooring line and tie me up against his beautiful 50-footer.

Safe and sound then? Nope. The man in charge of the remote marina came down and told me to move immediately. The pilot ships need to have room to pass by 24/7/365. With a dead engine, wind, and current in my back? No way. I called my engine tech people and they responded – ”Bjorn, it might be a consequence of the recent switch to the new engine and the fact that your present batteries and charger units might not be compliant with its new software.”

I am not very amused by these kinds of software issues, so I simply decided to brake the “holy seal” of the shore power charger plug (I hope you will forgive me one day Louise D) and went for some “forbidden” shore power, offered by the marina. Only to learn that the batteries didn’t want to charge. At all. Software problems.

Oh no. Seems like less trouble to drag the boat out of the marina with someone's help than to persuade the marina boss of the embarrassing fact that I need to stay.

But...some nice guys in a nice boat in the fully packed marina said that they thought they could squeeze me into the center of all the other boats. Yes, there was some room in there. I accepted the offer gratefully and yada-yada-yada, suddenly I had some 10-15 large size yachts around me. I felt completely safe.

I know you can't see it, but it is in there, in the middle, next to the one with the beige bimini, pointing the opposite way:-)

The marina boss gave me a crooked smile from a distance and told me later that I should consider myself lucky to be tied up there before he knew about this "complicated move". He would never have allowed me to do it if I had suggested it to him earlier haha...The man had a nice sense of humor. And of course, he was a genuinely nice man when getting to know him a little more. I am now a member of the distinguished "club" Winga Vänner (Friends of Vinga).