The archipelago and back to Stockholm

Vaxholm:

Vaxholm hotel - famed in the 1930s as a luxury retreat

Vaxholm castle

Apparently a famous German general was reported to have laughed only

twice. Once when his mother in law died and once when he saw this castle!

 

For the next week we cruised the islands of the Stockholm archipelago, staying within a days sail of Stockholm in case we had an urgent call regarding Pete's mum. Below are some pictures of the natural harbours we visited and things we saw:

 

 Stensvik Bay

 

 Don't know what these little birds are, (they look like swifts)

but they spent the day chatting on our guard rails and pooping on

the decks

 

 A very crowded Paradiset

 

 Ladnafladden. Hard to believe from the photo but it blew 30kn

while we were here. We had to stay for two days waiting on weather

Now we've seen it all. A floating sauna!

 



 Herself, making sure we navigate past the nubbly bits

 

A walk in the woods

On July 25th we headed back to the Wasahamnen Marina in Stockholm where Keren and Jomora will stay while Pete flies back to see his Mum.

Back to Sweden - Vaxholm

We had a really good time in Mariehamn, which was fortunate because, apart from meeting Jill and John Bray we had a day waiting on weather.

One of the highlights of Mariehamn was a visit to the four masted sailing ship “Pommern”. She was part of Gustav Erikson’s flying P fleet of sailing ships that sailed around the world picking up wool from South Australia right up until the start of world war two. His fleet included the Passat (which we saw in Travemunde), the ill-fated Pamir, and the Moshulu about which Eric Newby wrote in “the Last Grain Race”.

The Pommern is exactly as she was when she was trading in sail with the sails, rigging, equipment and accommodation. Each part of the ship has explanations of what was done together with photographs.

 

On July 11^th, together with John and Jill Bray who arrived via the ferry from Stockholm, we departed Mariehamn on a sunny morning and had a gentle sail in a NW breeze to another idyllic anchorage at Notvikkens on the Aaland island of Eckero. When we arrived a white bearded Finn called out to us from the shore and pointed out the best place to anchor, so by way of a thank you we invited him aboard for a glass of wine. Pieter is an inter-island ferry pilot who owns a summer cottage that we could see from the anchorage. He was busy building a sauna overlooking the bay and next to the boat house that he had built.

Pieter's Sauna

The next day July 12^th we sailed further West and North to Karingsundet which is a little holiday resort bay on the far West of the Aalands and convenient for the passage back to the Swedish archiplego. A nice little harbour with children paddling in the shallows, a caravan park and a little café.

Anchorage at Karingsundet

 

A nice café - Karingsundet

Keren, Pete and Jomora - Karingsundet

 

 

Jill and Keren enjoying sunny Karingsundet

Time to get back to the mainland. So by 0900 on Saturday 13^th July we sailed, or rather motored back to Sweden. There was no wind at all, and the sea was glassy smooth with just a gentle swell.

We anchored at another harbour, Stora Asken that was not in the pilot which involved negotiating a narrow channel between rocks. For the first time on this cruise we had to re-anchor due to poor holding. We have found that generally the holding is excellent in thick dark clay. I think we dropped the hook this time on weedy rocks.

Approaching Stora Asken

During the afternoon John and Jill chose an anchorage for tomorrow and planned the passage. They found a good one, and on the 14^th we sailed another 20NM towards Vaxholm to “Bray Harbour”, and had a very peaceful afternoon and night. We took the dinghy ashore and explored yet another island.

Time for the Brays to leave, so on July 15^th we motored, (dead head to wind) West to the town of Vaxholm which is a pretty town on the main ferry route to Stockholm and only an hour away by small ferry. We plan to stay two days in Vaxholm to refill the larder and complete the eternal chore – clothes washing.

To Finland – Aland Islands

A good time was had in Stockholm. We saw what we wanted to see – the Wasa museum (where the 16^th century ship that sank in Stockholm harbour is preserved), the old dry docks at Beckholmen and the old town of Stockholm known as Gamla Stan. Anne and Alan Ramsden however spent three full days tramping around and saw much more.

Gamla Stan main square

A quiet pathway in Gamla Stan

Spot the Troll!

Enough of the city life. The Ramsdens left us, and on 1st July, Wandering Star and Jomora went to search out natural harbours. We sailed to Vaxholm but bypassed the town and marina and anchored between the islands of Kullo and Edholma.

On the next day we searched out another nice spot on the NW side of the island of Yxlan which may or may not be called Sillviken.

Doing boy's stuff at Silvikken

Both these places are not marked on the chart or the Swedish pilot as natural harbours, but there are so many little inlets in the Stockholm archipelago that it is always possible to search out  a sheltered spot of your own.

On July 3^rd it was decided that WIFI was needed so that Wandering Star could contact their insurance company to get clearance to sail to Finland so we sailed a few miles to a marina at Graddo. A mistake – a poor marina, with no WIFI anywhere in the village that we could find. Added to that the prices were the same as the marina in the centre of Stockholm!

We were glad to leave that place and moved all of 4NM to another natural harbour on the island of Ido which was prettier and cost nothing.  Ido is a nature reserve so we walked around part of the island and saw hosts of wild orchids for which the island is famous. We stopped and talked to a middle aged lady who lived in a wooden 18^th century cottage from May to October. Her summer house has no electricity or running water and she has to use her dinghy to go shopping 4 miles away .

On July 5^th we woke up to a misty morning but undaunted we sailed (or rather motor sailed in very light winds) to the Aland Island’s capital, Mariehamn. The Aland Islands are a bit like the Channel Islands in that although they are nominally part of Finland they are semi-autonomous and have separate government and flag. They do not like to be reminded that they are part of Finland. So for this trip we had to get an Aland courtesy ensign as well as a Finnish one.  For what it is worth, we can now claim to have visited eight countries on this cruise.

The passage was interesting because the fog came and went as did the monster ferries that ply the route from Stockholm to Mariehamn and on to Turku in Finland. Once again thank goodness for radar and AIS.

Up to the marina with the Pommern and another tall ship

 

On the way to the marina, the barque Pommern

Mariehamn pedestrian precinct

There's an awful lot of ferries go to Mariehamn!