We’re back in the nest.

That’s the way we’ve come to think of Hallberg-Rassy harbor. It’s the boat’s birthplace. It’s the place where we’ve started and ended our cruising adventures for the past two years. And it’s the place where we now find ourselves after completing this year’s Baltic Sea cruise. You can see us on the Hallberg-Rassy webcam by clicking here. (Then click on the webcam link. We're the boat with the big red fender ball.)

We spent one night in the Lilla Bommens Hamn marina in central Gӧteborg, taking the pulse of Sweden’s “Second City.” We arrived late in the afternoon in time to stroll around a bit. The city streets teemed with people, giving a definite urban feel. We slept in the next day, touring the city some more before enjoying lunch at the Salluahallen, which was reminiscent of Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia, complete with food vendors of every stripe offering the freshest, most delectable gourmet foods imaginable. Though we’re trying to empty the larder, we couldn’t help loading up on some of the delicious breads, Danishes, meats, and vegetables we saw.

We left Gӧteborg around mid-afternoon and sailed the boat ten miles under clear skies to an anchorage near the town of Hӓlleviken on Gӧteborg’s outskirts. We were once again on Sweden’s West Coast, which boasts more than 8,000 islands, islets, skerries, and rocky outcrops.

We spent the next morning chipping away at the end-of-season “to do” list by creating a hold chart with a full inventory of items that will remain on board over the winter. We weighed anchor at Noon under cloudless skies for a close hauled sail 12 miles north to Marstrand, one of Sweden’s premiere sailing centers.

Situated on an island a few miles off the coast, Marstrand is home port for many of the 20,000 sailing vessels that ply West Coast waters. Marstrand hosts a Match Cup race each season and was the starting point for the last leg of the Volvo Ocean Cup race in 2009. The weather was perfect – warm and cloudless, with a 12-knot breeze – and it felt like it might be one of the last glorious sailing days of the season, a point not lost on the hundreds of other boats under full sail this Sunday afternoon outside Marstrand.

We stayed at the Marstrand guest dock for two nights, continuing work on our “to do” list and taking walks on the island’s extensive network of nature paths. There are very few roads and fewer cars in Marstrand, and we once again enjoyed the same “away from it all” feeling we had in the Finnish archipelago. Besides the sailboats, two elements contribute to the feel one gets in Marstrand. First, the natural setting. The footpaths take you through wooded dells and rocky crags, always with the ocean nearby. Second, the massive Carlsten fortress looms from its perch atop the island’s highest ground, noticeable from everywhere. The fortress was built in 1658 on orders from King Carl X after the treaty of Roskilde to protect the area from hostile attacks. Marstrand was chosen as the site for the fortress because of its ice free port.

Our final sail of the season couldn’t have been better. We left Marstrand at 8 a.m., once again under cloudless skies, with 15- to 20-knot easterlies propelling us north northeast toward Ellӧs. We made 18 miles in less than three hours before stopping briefly in Gullholmen to tour the picturesque village. Then, we tacked upwind the last mile into Hallberg-Rassy harbor and home.

We now continue to work through our end-of-season checklist – cleaning, inventorying, stowing, and repairing – before motoring Friday the last few miles to Svineviken where we will leave the boat with Johannes Martinsson for winter storage.