Skatesurfing on ice in Sweden (in the 1880s)

Windsurfing is today an extremely popular sport in many parts of the world, also in Sweden. However, due to the country's northern location, the season for ordinary surfing is rather short. But there has been a winter alternative - skatesurfing or sailing) on ice - for at least 130 or so years in Sweden.

I am not familiar with the history of Swedish skatesailing, but based on what His Excellency, William Widgery Thomas Jr. - who served as the American Ambassador in Stockholm in the 1880's - writes in his book about his time in Sweden, it was a popular sport already then.

Widgery Thomas describes a day, right after Christmas, when he saw "hundreds of Stockholm youth, girls as well as boys" skating on the frozen sea ice, and among them "about twenty to thirty white sails slowly flying over the ice". "The sails were indeed there, but where was the boat - and where was the mast? None of these could be found, or rather a boy replaced them both".

The enthusiastic ambassador then goes on telling that he knows of no other activity, which in the same way gives you a feeling of "flying forwards".

The ambassador chose the picture below to illustrate what skatesurfing on ice in Stockholm looked like:

Skatesurfing on ice in Stockholm in the 1880s

Flower power in Helsingør

Flowers are a good way to catch the attention of ladies. These flowers were on sale in Helsingør last Wednesday.

An old photo of Norwegian Lapps

These Norwegian Lapps, photographed in the 1890s, could not have had any idea of the fact that their country was to become one of the world's most affluent nations, a hundred years later.

The German Navy's seaborne refueling technology (a hundred years ago)

Most people are familiar with the concept in-fligh refueling, the process of transferring fuel from a tanker aircraft to another - often aircraft. But what is probably less known, is that the German Navy applied the same concept already over 100 years ago for refueling their steam powered fighting ships.

On the picture below you can see a small coal transport ship refueling the large German cruiser "Prinz Heinrich". A transport line connects the ships, allowing sacks of coal to be transferred to the "Prinz Heinrich", while both ships are moving. In 1906, when the photograph was taken, the German Navy was still practicing seaborne coal refueling, but it had high hopes of applying the new technology for its existing and future steam powered vessels. Whether these hopes were fulfilled, is more than I know. Later however, coal fired naval engines were largely replaced by oil fired engines, thus making the coal refueling technology outdated.

The German Navy cruiser "Prinz Heinrich" being refueled while steaming ahead.  The small  dots on the transport line are coal sacks. 

"Miragulous" circumstances in Øresund

At one point this afternoon the sky over Øresund looked menacing:

However, we did not get the expected rain - or snow - as some friendlier skies began popping up:

The mirage effect was clearly visible, when the small Dutch tanker Bro Grace passed Helsingør on its way to Kalundborg:

The small fishing boats on the left of the Bro Grace appear to be floating in the air.

On the right side you can see the passenger ferry Pernille "floating".

The beginning of the winter season

This is how winter begins: -2° last night. 

The lawn and the neighboring roofs had a rather frosty look early this morning, for the first time this autumn. Fortunately it was not as bad as in Germany, where up to 20 cm thick snow covered the ground in many areas - something that has not happened this early in Germany in several decades.

Four early 20th century "mega yachts"

Today, billionaires like Roman Abramovich, Sultan Qaboos of Oman and Larry Ellison are the proud owners of huge mega yachts, capable of cruising the seven seas in great comfort. However, there were a number of great yachts - powered by steam engines - already a hundred years ago. And I am probaly not the only one, who thinks that these yachts of a bygone time were a lot more elegant than their contemporary counterparts ...

Four of these early 20th century "mega yachts" were seen in Sweden in 1906:

The first of the four, arriving on June 1914, was the British Admiralty yacht "HMS Enchantress". On board were the Duke and the Duchess of Connaught, who came to Stockholm in order to attend the christening of their grandchild, the future Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf.  

The "HMS Enchantress" in Stockholm on June 14, 1906.

The "HMS Enchantress" was later to become a favorite of Winston Churchill's, during his time as First Lord of the Admiralty:


"The HMS Enchantress that took Churchill to sea was one of a lost
breed of ocean-going splendours, a steam yacht. They were glorious
craft with slim and elegantly raked funnels, a bowsprit and sumptuous
polished wood and brass, epitomising late Victorian and Edwardian
style and grace. In 1911, the navy had two - the twin-funnelled Royal
Yacht Victoria and Albert III and the single funnelled Enchantress with a
complement of 196 officers and ratings which was the the disposal of the
Commissioners of the Admiralty, and especially of the First Lord. And
no First Lord took greater advantage of her than Churchill. He had
been in post for only a few weeks before he was on board; and between
his appointment as First Lord in late 1911 and the outbreak of war, he
was on Enchantress for a total of eight months; indeed during some
months, such as November 1911, he was seldom away from her. Much 
of this time he was visiting ships, dockyards and other naval installa-
tions, although the First Lord was a generous host and Clementine and
other family members and friends were often invited to share the pleas-
ures of life afloat.

In 1914, Enchantress served as a field hospital for officers but was
then laid up until recommissioned in January 1919. She was ultimately
broken up early in 1935 when Churchill was asked if he would like to
have the pane of glass from the ship that had been engraved with his
coat of arms. He declined, saying he had nowhere to hang it."

(quote from "Churchill and Chartwell" by Stefan Buczacki (2008))

In July 1906 another large British steam yacht, the "S.Y. Mekong" visited Stockholm. According to newspaper reports from the time, King Oscar II of Sweden paid a visit to the yacht, the owner of which was a "Mr. Singer". 

The S.Y. Mekong was brand new when it visited Stockholm in the summer of 1906. The owner, Mr. Adam Singer of Southampton, had commissioned the ship from the shipbuilders Ramage & Ferguson of Leith. Later Singer sold the yacht to the French Duke de Montpensier. In 1915 it was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and was used as a patrol vessel. 

The "S.Y. Mekong" in Stockholm. 

The rest of the "Mekong" story is rather sad:

"On Sunday 12 March 1916 inthe early hours, HMS MEKONG was battling south against an ESE gale and torrential rain. At 4.50am she struck rocks off Gristhorpe and fired agun to summon assistance. The Filey Rocket Brigade set out to locate the
wreck, but in the meantime one member of the crew had tried to swim
ashore with a line tied round his waist. His gallant effort failed, and
his body was found on the rocks later. One other died similarly, but the
remaining crew members were rescued by the Life Saving Rocket Brigade
who lauled them up the cliffs in a breeches buoy. A third life was lost
when one man fell from this buoy and disappeared at once. The wreck of
the MEKONG lay forgotten until 1960 when it was reported that many live
shells were spilling from it. Naval divers were called in the the wreck
was blown up."

Also in July, another large steam yacht, Grand Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg's "Lensahn"  visited Helsingborg in southern Sweden. The Grand Duke was an avid seafarer, who was known for promoting shipping and shipbuilding in his duchy. He was also the only German Duke, whom the Emperor had granted the privilege to wear an admiral's uniform. 

The "Lensahn III" (launched in 1903) was designed by Johann Schütte, a prominent naval engineer, who served as an adviser to the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke usually he skippered his yacht himself, taking it to a great number of destinations in the Baltic and the Mediterranean.

Grand Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg's yacht "Lensahn " photographed in Helsingborg  in  July 1906. 

The proud owner of the "Lensahn" posing  for a photographer in Helsingborg.

The end of this beautiful steam yacht was sad. Like so many other German ships, also the "Lensahn" was after WW I sold to the United States. In the end of the 1920's the yacht was hit and destroyed by a hurricane in Miami. 

Helsingborg, a city with proud maritime traditions, was almost able to match Grand Duke Friedrich August's yacht in 1906. On August 31, the local entrepreneur and politician, consul Nils Pehrson's ( often written Persson) brand new yacht, the "Oriental" arrived in Helsingborg on its maiden voyage from Glasgow, where it was built. At the time it was the largest steam powered private yacht in Scandinavia, with a length of 180 feet (about 55m). 

The brand new steam yacht "Oriental" in Helsingborg on August 31, 1906.