To Trosa

We had a little more wind but from the south today starting off in dull conditions. While the eastern, early part of the archipelago is forest, the more western part is covered in houses, perched improbably on cliffs, huddled into crevasses or spread out on rare patches of flat land. Originally they were small summer huts but many have been developed into small palaces – often with very strange architectural extravaganzas. The end of this passage is again in wild cliffed country but then there’s a 170 degree turn at the end of a cottage garden in a very narrow channel where the buoyage changes in mid turn. After this comes a bridge that opens on the hour. We arrived at the half hour and tied up to a buoy. We only had time to make a cup of tea and half drink it before the guardian arrived and opened the bridge. We went through and were again in open water going SSW into the breeze down a fjord. Once in clear water we raised the jib and headed off north west at a good speed in a rather rolly swell by now in sunshine and having a lovely time. At the end of the first leg we had to cross a shipping lane leading to Sodertalje, but luckily did not have to avoid anything large and aggressive.

The idyll continued with a lovely sail right to the turn into Trosa where we rolled the jib and sedately motored up to the guest harbour mooring beside a Hallberg Rassy whose owner said he was aground. We weren't – just.
I went off to have a scout around and to find some black line to fasten our gunwhale rope on a little more securely. Most of the restaurants had boring menus unfortunately and I had no luck with the black line either. We then went off together for food shopping and bought a smoked sik but eventually decided to dine at the Stadtshotel where the menu was better.