A Glimpse of the Frozen Sea

All the lakes and rivers here are frozen in winter time, and all I can see are vast terrains in white. This made me wonder how it looked like in the sea. Was it also frozen? So I asked my hubby to take me to the nearest seashore or port and find out. I imagined that the shoreline was frozen while farther out in the sea would still be blue. When we got there (the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland, which is the extension of the Baltic Sea), I scanned the horizon for some hue of blue, which I spotted in the distance. But I learned that it was an island, not water. Between that and the port is a wide open sea.

Anchored along the shore were two sea vessels, one is a small hover craft, which is being used to transport goods when the ship can't move through the frozen water. It's my first time to see this kind of vessel that hovers some meter over the sea while on its journey.

The other is a ferry that goes to the islands.

This red building constitutes the "waiting shed" for passengers and the office.

 

While I was looking around, my hubby spotted two deers coming our way but when they heard his voice calling my attention, they suddenly sprinted away. (Sorry, my picture is blurry because my camera is not  powerful enough to take this long-distant shot, especially of moving objects.)

On our way back to the car, my ever-roving eyes were caught by this house partly concealed behind the lofty trees, which delighted my fancy.

Our short journey was not over yet. Our next destination was a bigger port accommodating bigger ships that travel across the sea to Finland. 

 

That time, several huge trucks were being loaded to the ship.

 

 Obviously, the ferry station was deserted. People find it more practical and easier to travel by car now by following the Swedish eastern coastline to the north, then turning right to Finland.

 

 I took pictures of these turbines and the lighthouse last spring. Now, the view is quite different when all around is white

.Well, as the title says, this is just a glimpse, just a few minutes of riding around these parts of the Swedish coastline in winter. I may be disappointed not to see a blending of frozen shore and the blue sea, but the things I saw there are good enough to call this trip educational and pleasurable.

 And so we went home, savoring my satisfaction over this new experience.