Thursday 16th July
We were aware of thunderstorms approaching later in the day but had to delay our departure as I needed to get to a "3" store to get my broad-band subscription re-activated. I amanaged this by 1000, bought some strawberries in Hogtorget market and rushed back to Badger. We'd been uncertain about leaving becase of the forecast but decided to go to Lake Malaren anyway as this seemed to be a weather window. We had to disconnect the electrical lead, stow the bow ladder, pack away cockpit tent and say good bye to Leif and all the Wasahamnen crew. We did manage to leave by 1115 and made for Danviks bridge through the usual intense ferry traffic. Approaching the bridge we had two fast ferries to starboard and a third picking up passenges in a position that obstructed access to the bridge. However the bridge was signalling it was about to open so we crept along the starboard side of the channel, propelled only by a light easterly breeze. The bridge opened slowly and I needed it well open it hinges upwards from the starboard side. A great rush of ferries and motorboats poured past the bridge followed by masted boats in a great scrum, while w had to move to port into their paths to avoid the bridge. We survived this, just and prceeded toward Hammarby lock. On the way are some superb blocks of flats in one of which lives Our friend Helena and her husband so we gave a wave and then turned to look at the moored boats we were passing.
There are tug, old ferries and even a small cargo ship turned into house boats and they look comfortable - at least in summer. There is also a big Viking ship, now turned into a Thai restaurant; an unlikely alliance I feel.
The Hammarby lock opened quite quickly and we were soon through and proceeding through odd outer suburbs. On one side was a fine hospital overlooking amenity gardens (allotments) with little huts. On the other was a rocky forest. More modern flats followed and a bridge or two and then a bathing house. Its surprising it still exists. Next comes a cement factory and more housing.
By now I was getting worried by our low motoring speed. We were going directly into a westerly breeze though. Kristin found the towing load of the dinghy was immense,but it was some time before the penny dropped. We had had a lot of rain in Stockholm so the dinghy had a lot of water. I stopped in a "clear" part of Malaren so of course various work boats appeared and headed for us. I managed to get the dink alongside and hook out the bung in the stern. We then resumed motoring and the speed increased as the dinghy drained itself. Speed was still lower than I would like and I have to experiment by towing on longer lines. Yes long lines make for nasty situations when one has to reverse unexpectedly.
We motored westwards through Lake Malaren with little incident except that the breeze slowly strengthened against us and and lightning flickered to the south.
The crisis came as we emerged from the last narrow passage into the big stretch of open water leading down to Sodertalje. By now lightning was visible from the tail of a cloud dead ahead and a large purply black cloud extended north and east of us with heavy rain underneath.
Suddenly a westerly squall hit slowing us down severely. It got quite dark and small cresting waves were everywhere. I considered turning back but Badger was plodding slowly on; about 2 kts. over the ground.
Morover we were not being rained on. We plodded on and Badger' speed gradually rose. In a little while we were able to turn a little to the south and speed increased more. After about half an hour in all the squall had ceased, the sun had come out again and the sea had become lumpy and uncomfortable. However were soon in some shelter from the hills to the west and our problems were over.
We motored south through natural channel and canal sections till we reached the lock, locked through and found a berth in the Sodertalje marina.
We have stayed here because heavy rain and moderately high winds against us make it no fun to go on.
Our present plan is to leave on Tuesday, making for Naynashamn and then on to Brunnsviken on Orno to meet with Martin and Maria Morris
Sunday 19 July 2015
8th to 15th July 2015 Stockholm
We stayed in Wasahamnen, Stockholm for more than a week, partly because of strongish winds but mainly because we like Stockholm, its museums, restaurants and so on. We revisited Waldermarsudde and enjoyed two of the artists having special exhibitions there and also visited Skansen open air museum, mainly to see the Nordic animals. Between us we saw an Eagle Owl ( yes they have one in Totnes I know), wolves, brown bears, a lynx, elk and wolverines. The zoo now has a good collection of young wolverines, very active and interesting, and obviously superb fur.
We made plans to leave early on 16th July but were foiled when my broad-band subscription ran out in the evening of the 15th and I could not work out how to enter the required code number to reactivate it. I also knew from previous experience that after 20 mins. trying I would get fairly permanently cut off.
We made plans to leave early on 16th July but were foiled when my broad-band subscription ran out in the evening of the 15th and I could not work out how to enter the required code number to reactivate it. I also knew from previous experience that after 20 mins. trying I would get fairly permanently cut off.
Sunday 12 July 2015
6-8th July 2015 Paradiset to Ingmarso and Stockholm
The forecast on 6th was for high winds and rain so we made for Ingmarso, which was crowded and took one of the outer berths. This was not very desirable but the alternative was approached down a narrowing wedge of water and the departure would have been difficult and possibly embarrassing. We duly got rain and wind, right on the stern. We then had the difficult job of keeping Badger's bow just off the pontoon so allowing us to get ashore while attached by a tape to a buoy. The tape inevitably stretched during the gusts and we found our newly acquired bow fender useful in avoiding damage to Badger's very fine bow. We did manage to get showers, have meals at the good restaurant with Paul and Marylin of Starship Sirius and to walk a little on the beautiful tracks on the island.
Late on the 7th we reckoned we had found a small weather window the following morning so planned for a very early departure.
8th July
Up at 0400 and away at 0430. We had offered to say good bye to Paul and Marylin when we left but they merely shuddered. The weather was calm but drizzly, basically half right. We motored off into simply lovely waters and the rain stopped. We made good progress west to the north of Gallno and from there were on familiar territory with virtually no other boats moving. In the very open stretches NE of Vaxholm the light was good if gray and the scenes were very beautiful indeed.
However at Vaxholm itself the rain began again, visbility dropped abruptly and we began to seevery large ferries on the approach to Stockholm. The latter part of the trip was a matter of keeping going, trying to keep dry and watching fore and aft for big ships, two of which passed close by us on their way in to Stockholm. We arrived at 0949 after a trip of 27 miles and found a berth at Wasahamnen.
We plugged into shore power before all the sockets were taken, put up our plastic cover so the cockpit and our clothing could dry out and relaxed.
During the morning and afternoon, more and more boats arrived at a very full harbour, moved up and down the channels between the moored boats and pushed off again. Yet again we had gained by getting up early.
Late on the 7th we reckoned we had found a small weather window the following morning so planned for a very early departure.
8th July
Up at 0400 and away at 0430. We had offered to say good bye to Paul and Marylin when we left but they merely shuddered. The weather was calm but drizzly, basically half right. We motored off into simply lovely waters and the rain stopped. We made good progress west to the north of Gallno and from there were on familiar territory with virtually no other boats moving. In the very open stretches NE of Vaxholm the light was good if gray and the scenes were very beautiful indeed.
However at Vaxholm itself the rain began again, visbility dropped abruptly and we began to seevery large ferries on the approach to Stockholm. The latter part of the trip was a matter of keeping going, trying to keep dry and watching fore and aft for big ships, two of which passed close by us on their way in to Stockholm. We arrived at 0949 after a trip of 27 miles and found a berth at Wasahamnen.
We plugged into shore power before all the sockets were taken, put up our plastic cover so the cockpit and our clothing could dry out and relaxed.
During the morning and afternoon, more and more boats arrived at a very full harbour, moved up and down the channels between the moored boats and pushed off again. Yet again we had gained by getting up early.
Saturday 11 July 2015
Hogmarso, Blido Paradiset
Leaving Norrtalje early we had a following breeze but a large veer was expected after a few hours. We failed to sail in almost no wind so motored to Graddo by which time the wind had turned and we could comfortably sail on the jib. We were going well as we approached the ferry terminal at Kapellskar but slightly concerned that the Viking Line ferry at the dock was making smoke, and at just the wrong moment it started to move. While concentrating on this ferry a second one, a DFDS one called Liverpool somthing, appeared coming into the dock. After contemplating making a run for it I lost my bottle, started the engine and turned away. We eventually got past Kapellskar and started down the main shipping track towards Furusund. We were again saling pleasantly when we were passed by Mariella, another Viking ferry moving very quickly with a great deal of water spouting forward above her bulbous bow. The wake she made was prodigous and rolled us very badly. She was clearly moving at more than the speed limit of twelve knots. Rather wounded by this we limped into Furusund for the night while Kristin managed to buy some veg at the poor supermarket there.
Next morning we moved to Hogmarso for the night and enjoyed dinner at the restaurant.
Monday 6th July
We decided to move to Blido guest harbour as the island had long interested me. We motored round and stopped at 59N38.2, 18E55.3. The harbour uses stern buys, has neither electriciyt nor water on the pontoon and the toilet block is some distance away. We had a rather poor lunch at the Vardhus, which has a surprisingly good wine list, perhaps a remnant of better times. There was no information available about the island and the road looked unappealing. Blido has many summer homes for the rich so maybe the poor facilities are deliberate.
We departed south to Finhamn Paradiset in bright sun with a following breeze and had a simply lovely sail. We used the jib only getting 4 - 6 kts. and enjoyed the scattered islands and the good marking of the wriggly channel. The chart indicates that information of the regions either side of the channel are not particularly well surveyed but he islands there look enticing. We arrived to find the Paradiset anchorage crowded but anchored happily at 59N28.73, 18E48.58 in about 5 metres of water.
Paradiset is always quiet even when crowded and the surrounding shores are lovely. The Skaergard Stiftelsen have provided many dry toilets and these are well maintained. We made one journey ashore to walk to the shop enjoying as always the woods and pastures along the way. We saw no deer this time. We stayed two nights largely in sunshine and relaxed.
Next morning we moved to Hogmarso for the night and enjoyed dinner at the restaurant.
Monday 6th July
We decided to move to Blido guest harbour as the island had long interested me. We motored round and stopped at 59N38.2, 18E55.3. The harbour uses stern buys, has neither electriciyt nor water on the pontoon and the toilet block is some distance away. We had a rather poor lunch at the Vardhus, which has a surprisingly good wine list, perhaps a remnant of better times. There was no information available about the island and the road looked unappealing. Blido has many summer homes for the rich so maybe the poor facilities are deliberate.
We departed south to Finhamn Paradiset in bright sun with a following breeze and had a simply lovely sail. We used the jib only getting 4 - 6 kts. and enjoyed the scattered islands and the good marking of the wriggly channel. The chart indicates that information of the regions either side of the channel are not particularly well surveyed but he islands there look enticing. We arrived to find the Paradiset anchorage crowded but anchored happily at 59N28.73, 18E48.58 in about 5 metres of water.
Paradiset is always quiet even when crowded and the surrounding shores are lovely. The Skaergard Stiftelsen have provided many dry toilets and these are well maintained. We made one journey ashore to walk to the shop enjoying as always the woods and pastures along the way. We saw no deer this time. We stayed two nights largely in sunshine and relaxed.
4th July 2015 Hogmarso to Norrtalje.
We needed to visit Norrtalje for medical reasons so set off early motor sailing with light SW breeze to Revnas but an opposing breeze in the Norrtalje funnel. I made for the Vard Centrale which had treated me for Erysepalos ( sic) three years ago as one of the antibiotics used had not only cured the disease it was treating but also seems to have more or less cured the skin problem on my legs that has troubled me for at least forty years.After the customary waits and struggles with the bureaucracy I was allowed to see a very competent nurse who gave the details of the drug used. This will be of considerable help to my skin specialist. It also confirms the view of my GP that many cases of skin problems in infants can be cured by antibiotics.The weather at this point was extremely hot so walking a couple of miles to the surgery was tiring. Kristin had a considerable problem getting routine blood tests here. The system has changed since last year and nobody at the Vard Cantrale she attended had any idea what to do. After shuttling between hospital A & E, blood test centre and Vard Centrale Kristin eventually got the required tests.but only after seeing a doctor. In all the process took more tan two hours of which five minutes were spent taking the blood. We found Norrtalje itself as pleasant as ever. The marina is no better protected from Easterly storms than before and there are insufficient toilets. It is run by ProMarina - of course.
We left after two days for Hogmarso.
We left after two days for Hogmarso.
1st July 2015 Furusund to Hogmarso
We made the short transfer from Furusund (59N39.6, 18E55.2) to Hogmarso (59N38.8, 18E52.7) for amusements, food buying and to see how the restaurant was performing. We were pleased to find the Dragon headed Chinese restaurant still there but a little disappointed to find the whole shipyard rather tidier with fewer interesting oddities. We did manage to find an operating toilet though, a great triumph. We found the ICA supermarket rather low on stock, but then it has been a bad season weatherwise so presumably there are fewer people holidaying on the island. The restaurant is back on form and there is less emphasis on music and more on the food. We did need blankets when dining outside as the temperature in the evening was a little low for our comfort. As always, most of the pontoons are fendered and mooring is free.Some of the pontoon floats are decrepit, the concrete outer skin having dropped off leaving only the reinforcing rods to contain the polystyrene filling.
Tuesday 7 July 2015
30th June 2015 Mariehamn to Furusund
Tuesday 30th June
We decided to cross back to Sweden as we seemed to have a good weather window but delayed somewhat in order to get more fuel. However I dipped the tank and realised we had ample for the next few days so left the marina rather late at 0820 in a northerwesterly breeze that was expected to veer. We hoisted the main with one reef and headed south out to sea. Near the Nyhom light we unfurled the jib and made course for the main entry into the Swedish archipelago at Tjaarvern Light. We could only just lay the course initially, partly because of a distinctly lumpy sea with intersecting swells from different directions. However the wind veered and increased, making life easier because of the wind freeing and more difficult as the boat became harder to control with the Autohelm being unable to keep the boat on track. We proceeded with reluctance on my part, gradually to reduce jib size by one reef and eventually by three, each time Badger steered more esily and the speed remained high usually at six knots. This is a lesson I am very reluctant to learn, feeling that the boat should be steered on her ear.
The wind was coolish but the sun was comfortingly warm. The lumpy seas made it difficult to move about with the result that I was unwilling to risk reefing the mainsail with the necessary out of cockpit activities.
We reached archipelago entrance with great relief and relaxed as the swell disappeared. We continued sailing on much the same course as far as Furusund where we stopped for the night.
The Furusund Marina is now owned by Promarina who have improved the pontoons but not the showers and toilets which are inadequate for the numbers visiting. Under the previous management the marina had an excellent little cafe serving good lunches; now one can get ice-creams and possibly a hot dog. In addition the local supermarket is poor and the only restaurant is expensive and cooks badly. Nonetheless we enjoyed on-board cooking and a warm evening.
We decided to cross back to Sweden as we seemed to have a good weather window but delayed somewhat in order to get more fuel. However I dipped the tank and realised we had ample for the next few days so left the marina rather late at 0820 in a northerwesterly breeze that was expected to veer. We hoisted the main with one reef and headed south out to sea. Near the Nyhom light we unfurled the jib and made course for the main entry into the Swedish archipelago at Tjaarvern Light. We could only just lay the course initially, partly because of a distinctly lumpy sea with intersecting swells from different directions. However the wind veered and increased, making life easier because of the wind freeing and more difficult as the boat became harder to control with the Autohelm being unable to keep the boat on track. We proceeded with reluctance on my part, gradually to reduce jib size by one reef and eventually by three, each time Badger steered more esily and the speed remained high usually at six knots. This is a lesson I am very reluctant to learn, feeling that the boat should be steered on her ear.
The wind was coolish but the sun was comfortingly warm. The lumpy seas made it difficult to move about with the result that I was unwilling to risk reefing the mainsail with the necessary out of cockpit activities.
We reached archipelago entrance with great relief and relaxed as the swell disappeared. We continued sailing on much the same course as far as Furusund where we stopped for the night.
The Furusund Marina is now owned by Promarina who have improved the pontoons but not the showers and toilets which are inadequate for the numbers visiting. Under the previous management the marina had an excellent little cafe serving good lunches; now one can get ice-creams and possibly a hot dog. In addition the local supermarket is poor and the only restaurant is expensive and cooks badly. Nonetheless we enjoyed on-board cooking and a warm evening.
Monday 6 July 2015
27th to 29th June 2015 at Mariehamn
Saturday 27th June
Saturday morning was time for shopping. First to ALKO to buy more wine, then to City Hallen for food. This stored has improved recently and is better than City Livs. We also went looking for a car hire place and Sonera for a data sim for our Myfi. Both attempts failed dismally. We then went off to The Maritime museum particularly for lunch. The weather was warming up but the museum's restaurant was shut with only an outdoor substitute with a boring menu so we went down the hill to the West side marina to the rather odd looking wooden restaurant with dragon carvings. Here we had a very good lunch and Kristin made the wisest choice with a grilled beef sandwich with a mustard sauce really excellent.
We returned to the museum and revisited it with enjoyment. They have made a number of improvements since our last visit and I particularly enjoyed the displays of bits of old engines, particularly one piston out of a 70000 HP engine.
On returning to the boat I managed to phone and arrange car-hire for Sunday.
Sunday 28th June
Off in the car to Bomarsund where our first stop was to make sure that the cafe there did serve lunch.
We did a pretty thorough visit to all the main accessible sites including Brannklint, Notvik and Prasto forts together with the cemeteries and a later c.1900 Russian Telegraph station.
We also had a wild goose chase following a sign saying Minneslund. This took us along a dirt track to a small carpark after a surprisingly long time and then onto a boardwalk through a forest. At this point we lost the will to live and retreated. We later found that this was a facility, built with EU money, where mourners could scatter the ashes of their relatives on a special part of the forest; not into the sea as this would be polluting.
Monday 29th June
We finally made contact with Graham and arranged a meeting at the museum for the afternoon. In the meantime I managed to buy a sim card at Sonera and to enviegle Kristin into a Marimekko outlet with satisfying results.
Our meeting with Graham was simply wonderful. He, it would appear from his door label, is quite possibly the director of the museum and spent something like twelve years invstigating and surveying the Bomarsund area. We were lucky to meet him and we only just met him as that evening he was off to Tallinn to discuss the development plans.
We gained a great deal of information about Bomarsund in the three hours we spent with him. He expressed himself as pleased to meet enthusiasts for this unjustly neglected field. He gave us some printed and published information which we have yet to assimilate.
As just one factoid; during his survey of one of the British batteries, he discovered a large deposit of sand on the top of a stony hill - not the sort of place you would expect it. This was the sand used to fill sandbags used to build the battery and dumped when the bags were recovered for future use.
Saturday morning was time for shopping. First to ALKO to buy more wine, then to City Hallen for food. This stored has improved recently and is better than City Livs. We also went looking for a car hire place and Sonera for a data sim for our Myfi. Both attempts failed dismally. We then went off to The Maritime museum particularly for lunch. The weather was warming up but the museum's restaurant was shut with only an outdoor substitute with a boring menu so we went down the hill to the West side marina to the rather odd looking wooden restaurant with dragon carvings. Here we had a very good lunch and Kristin made the wisest choice with a grilled beef sandwich with a mustard sauce really excellent.
We returned to the museum and revisited it with enjoyment. They have made a number of improvements since our last visit and I particularly enjoyed the displays of bits of old engines, particularly one piston out of a 70000 HP engine.
On returning to the boat I managed to phone and arrange car-hire for Sunday.
Sunday 28th June
Off in the car to Bomarsund where our first stop was to make sure that the cafe there did serve lunch.
We did a pretty thorough visit to all the main accessible sites including Brannklint, Notvik and Prasto forts together with the cemeteries and a later c.1900 Russian Telegraph station.
We also had a wild goose chase following a sign saying Minneslund. This took us along a dirt track to a small carpark after a surprisingly long time and then onto a boardwalk through a forest. At this point we lost the will to live and retreated. We later found that this was a facility, built with EU money, where mourners could scatter the ashes of their relatives on a special part of the forest; not into the sea as this would be polluting.
Monday 29th June
We finally made contact with Graham and arranged a meeting at the museum for the afternoon. In the meantime I managed to buy a sim card at Sonera and to enviegle Kristin into a Marimekko outlet with satisfying results.
Our meeting with Graham was simply wonderful. He, it would appear from his door label, is quite possibly the director of the museum and spent something like twelve years invstigating and surveying the Bomarsund area. We were lucky to meet him and we only just met him as that evening he was off to Tallinn to discuss the development plans.
We gained a great deal of information about Bomarsund in the three hours we spent with him. He expressed himself as pleased to meet enthusiasts for this unjustly neglected field. He gave us some printed and published information which we have yet to assimilate.
As just one factoid; during his survey of one of the British batteries, he discovered a large deposit of sand on the top of a stony hill - not the sort of place you would expect it. This was the sand used to fill sandbags used to build the battery and dumped when the bags were recovered for future use.
23rd - 26th June Ingmarso to Arholma and Mariehamn.
We spent three nights at Ingmarso, mainly because of uncertain weather - according to the forecasts. From the harbour mistress Lena I got useful advice about TBE websites. In addition we spent time with Paul and Marilyn of Starship Sirius, very pleasant people with a very comfortable boat.
We left on 25th June for Arholma 59N50.532, 18E07.326 as this looked like a good jumping off point for the Aaland islands with the wind direction expected the following day. The track from Ingmarso goes through superb waters, past lovely small islands,between reefs and shallows. It is quite open with actually a low percentage of land but never far away from it. We had sunshine and a gentle southerly breeze behind us so enjoyed ourselves hugely.
However the wind failed us on the long passage between Blido and Yxlan and we found the rather suburban feel to the area unpleasing so motored on till we had more wind in the open main channels NE of Blido. Here the water was horribly cut up by fast ferries and even faster motorboats; by this time the sun had gone so it was cold as well. We were glad to pass Kapellskar and its ferry terminal to go north again in quieter waters and ever smaller passages till we arrived at Arholma itself. Arholma's beauty has been severely marred by the installation of a new floating 'poo tank with a toilet on top of it and a recycling can as well. It is positioned very close to the quay and also obstructs a fair amount of the water. We had supper on board.
Friday26th June
Up at 0457 and under way at 0555 for Mariehamn with the plan to find out more about the Bomarsund battle as we could. The wind allowed us to sail but with motor assist as we had a nasty cross swell and unpleasant motion, we saw few other boats on the crossing until much later on in the day. We found the newish bank of wind turbines clustered round Nyhamn light at the southern tip of the main island very useful as waymarks; much bigger and more visible than the lighthouse itself.. Turning north soon after the light house we had a tedious motor trip for about 10 miles straight into wind to get to the Eastern Marina. Here we had box moorings, tall wooden posts at regular intervals about 10 metres from the pontoon. These require a particular approach for a successful mooring which we managed. It has been a long time since we last used the method.
I went round to the museum to try to find my contact Graham Robins, who is the expert on Bomarsund but found the museum a mere shell with an immense redevelopment effort going on. I was directed eventually to an inconspicuous door where I found that Graham had departed to Sweden for the weekend. He was obtaining a sail boat there and had no real idea when we would arrive as we were unable to be precise about our schedule.
We then had a surprisingly good lunch at the marina restaurant and relaxed for the rest of the day.
We left on 25th June for Arholma 59N50.532, 18E07.326 as this looked like a good jumping off point for the Aaland islands with the wind direction expected the following day. The track from Ingmarso goes through superb waters, past lovely small islands,between reefs and shallows. It is quite open with actually a low percentage of land but never far away from it. We had sunshine and a gentle southerly breeze behind us so enjoyed ourselves hugely.
However the wind failed us on the long passage between Blido and Yxlan and we found the rather suburban feel to the area unpleasing so motored on till we had more wind in the open main channels NE of Blido. Here the water was horribly cut up by fast ferries and even faster motorboats; by this time the sun had gone so it was cold as well. We were glad to pass Kapellskar and its ferry terminal to go north again in quieter waters and ever smaller passages till we arrived at Arholma itself. Arholma's beauty has been severely marred by the installation of a new floating 'poo tank with a toilet on top of it and a recycling can as well. It is positioned very close to the quay and also obstructs a fair amount of the water. We had supper on board.
Friday26th June
Up at 0457 and under way at 0555 for Mariehamn with the plan to find out more about the Bomarsund battle as we could. The wind allowed us to sail but with motor assist as we had a nasty cross swell and unpleasant motion, we saw few other boats on the crossing until much later on in the day. We found the newish bank of wind turbines clustered round Nyhamn light at the southern tip of the main island very useful as waymarks; much bigger and more visible than the lighthouse itself.. Turning north soon after the light house we had a tedious motor trip for about 10 miles straight into wind to get to the Eastern Marina. Here we had box moorings, tall wooden posts at regular intervals about 10 metres from the pontoon. These require a particular approach for a successful mooring which we managed. It has been a long time since we last used the method.
I went round to the museum to try to find my contact Graham Robins, who is the expert on Bomarsund but found the museum a mere shell with an immense redevelopment effort going on. I was directed eventually to an inconspicuous door where I found that Graham had departed to Sweden for the weekend. He was obtaining a sail boat there and had no real idea when we would arrive as we were unable to be precise about our schedule.
We then had a surprisingly good lunch at the marina restaurant and relaxed for the rest of the day.
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