Trosa to Sodertalje 59N11.4,17E36.9

Saturday 31st May
With a reasonable forecast the night before and no rain we left early at 0849. We had gone aground in the river but the fall in air pressure led to us coming afloat in the night. We were positioned with two boats rafted alongside close ahead and a big motor boat behind so we pushed off at the stern with the boat hook and reversed outbackwards to port which Badger preferred. We missed the motor boat and got away cleanly as the river current was slight. We went off sout through a Broads type exit with reeds and housing on one bank.
We thern turned east and gradually north between widely scattered islands under a grey sky  The colouring was Paynes grey and it was cold - just like early season Solent sailing. We got the jib up and it helped push us along raising our speed to 6 kts. and moreAs we turned more and more north we came harder on the wind and boat speed increased. However the wind was becoming more northerly and we had eventually to roll up the jib beside the light Stenskar at 58N54.4, 17E42.8.
Just before this point we'd had to be careful judging leeway to avoid going onto a nasty reef.
At this point we entered the main shipping channel to Sodertalje and so had to look behind as well as in front. A commercial ship in these waters has no choice in course and very little in speed if it is to meet a schedule at lock or dock. It can certainly not turn round.
As we motored north we saw two ships coming south without problems. The scene now was of sailing up a very long fairly straight valley with low cliffs to starboard and low meadows to port.
One initial novelty was the island of Oaxen made, most unusually, of limestone and largely quarried away. It is in its dereliction, rather ugly but indicative of past industry.
The next point of interest is Skansholmen. This lump intruding into the fjord is at the same time an old fortress, a campsite, a marina and a ferry point. The ferry is always of concern as it is bound to set across just as one is passing. Luckily this time it stayed put till we had passed and then crossed just ahead of a big ship!.
Just before Skansholmen is a small islet covered with dead entirely white trees, very ghostly. The trees serve as roosts for cormorants, whose droppings kill the trees.
The dominant birds roost on the highest branches with the pecking order going down the tree. The lower birds suffer from the droppings from on high and have shorter lives and poorer health than the dominant ones. It thus resembles the typical management system.
Very soon the valley does a jink to the east so ships big and little have to make large course changes.
The corner is blind, so for big ships  a serious cause for anxiety before the days of AIS. After this jink the valley narrows and becomes industrial. There is a high voltage power line to pass. This always makes for anxiety as the mast seems certain to touch the cables even though the sign on the bank reads 35 metres. After  a dock or two and a power station burning wood waste comes the first canal. This has a rather dim white isophase light to show we may pass. The canal is a deep cutting through the rock with the E4 motorway bridge and a rail bridge to pass. After this we turned into the marina below the lock, refuelled and then moored. The marina is insecure and recently a CA boat was robbed while the crew slept. Nothing happend to us but we did not leave the boat unguarded and locked up as best we could for the night.