Marstrand has always has a special importance for me. It is dominated by the fortress of Carlsten ... and here the masts of Adele at the Christening in 2005. Photo Rick Tomlinson.
Marstrand with its well protected harbour that can be approached from two directions, ideal for old time sailing vessels. Here I have spent many summers as a child and my family is now returning again most years.
This is "Soceitetshuset", where we celebrated the Christening of Adele. Most houses on the Swedish West Coast are built of wood, sometimes like here elaborately decorated
We have often returned to this famous summer paradise. At "Johan's Krog" we had many of our best meals.
Marstrands greatest period was probably when King Oscar II visited Marstrand a century ago. That period is now re-enacted every summer.
The south coast of Marstrand after a storm.
Storm over Marstrand
Skallen's lighthouse in the background
Skallen's lighthouse, Marstrand, Sweden, 2009
View from Käringön towards Måseskär.
View towards Måseskär lighthouse, Käringön 2009
View towards Måseskär lighthouse, Käringön 2009. This picture, 7.5 metres wide, adorns the wall of the Swedish Hall at the Swedish Church in London.
Marstrand is covered by granite rocks polished by the icecap that covered all of Sweden during the last Ice Age. A paradise for children of any age to play in
Karingon 2009
Lilla Korno
Rain is sweeping in over Pater Noster Lighthouse far in the background
Eric fishing crabs in the rain. Marstrand Aug 2012
The northern entrance into the port of Marstrand
View from Hjärterön towards Skärhamn
Water lillies in one of the many ponds in the rocks on the island of Marstrand
Water lillies
Water lillies
Tempting rocks. Mikee and Eric loved exploring these areas as I had done as a young boy
Mikee and Eric walking on the island of Marstrand 2012
On top of the world
The trees at Marstrand are tiny due to the relentless winds bending everything into a creeping forest.
In one of the trees
Eric flying his kite on the hill beside the fortress of Carlsten, 2012
Skallen's lighthouse
The southern entrance to Marstrand Harbour in calm weather
Small skerries south of Hermanö
The navigation is tricky among the skerries
Seals towards Pater Noster
The former lighthouse now belonging to our friends, the Cederbergs/Clases, is at the northern entrance to Marstrand
Lyktan with the fortress of Carlsten behind. Our family was many times invited to stay at the charming guest house to the left in the picture
Lyktan and the fortress of Carlsten at night time. The exposure of 30 seconds gives the illusion of calmer seas than it actually was
Dinner at Lyktan with Jan Cederberg, Jennifer, Emil and Mia Clase and the late Lisa Cederberg. 2011
Mikee, Jen and Eric on the jetty of Lyktan
Käringön. The fishing huts tend to be painted red, whereas the houses for living are often white. The houses are still made of wood, whereas the boats tend to built of fibre glass
Another view of Käringön harbour. Adèle stayed at anchor outside the harbour in 2005
Boathouses at Käringön 2009
Boathouses at Käringön 2009
The boathouses at Lilla Kornö are reflected in the calm morning harbour
Lilla Kornö, 2009 an early morning in August
Resting on the rocks
Smögen from Lilla Kornö at sunset
This is my Marstrand, where the children play hide and seek on the rocks with the towering fortress of Carlsten in the background
On a canon at the Fortress of Carlsten
Guarding the entrance to Marstrand. Eric loved his new jacket and wore it also on hikes around the island. 2012
Eric with Papa enjoying a walk and the views. 2012. Photo Mikee
In the middle of the fish eye lens. The lens sees 180 degrees. Notice my shoe at the bottom of the picture.
Mikee admiring the waves. The sea broke over her whole body several times.
The sky was nice to look at
The northern entrance tro Marstrand from Lyktan. Aug 1915
Marstrand skerries in evening light. Aug 1915
Seals near Särö
Mikee admiring the view on the flat skerries
With the Rabbe family in the archipelago south of Gothenburg
Budkärr
My heart beats faster every time I return to the Swedish West Coast. The skerries, polished by the inland ice during thousands of year at our last Ice Age, the seas pounding on the rocks or lying like a mirror a glorious morning, the sailing boats spreading their wings towards the sky, the narrow alleyways between wooden houses. This is were I grew up and will always return to. I loved to jump across the rocks and play in the water pools as a young kid and I can saw my first children enjoying it 30 years ago and now I can see it repeated in Eric and Mikee.
My childhood summers were to a large extent spent on the Swedish West Coast. We rented accommodation from the local fishermen for a few weeks every summer. My father fished and we accompanied the locals going out fishing and sailing. Together with my first wife and our four children we had a house at Gullholmen, a small island north of Gothenburg, and later in life Jennifer and I got married outside Gothenburg and christened our yacht Adèle at Marstrand. Both Gullholmen and Marstrand are small places on islands without any cars. But whereas Gullholmen has preserved its character as a fishing village, Marstrand is a summer paradise for lots of people from both Stockholm and Gothenburg with many restaurants and an active social scene.
The granite skerries that constitute the islands on the west coast are very barren. Most of the few trees that once were growing there have been cut down and used for shipbuilding, boats and houses. It is a tough climate in winter, but in summer the landscape smiles at you. Photographically it is very appealing with lots of small islands, sailing yachts, attractive villages protected by the rocks in the background and a fast changing weather creating drama. My images are from most years between 2005 until now, and I expect I will add a few new ones every year!
