Tourists on Åland

As mentioned in the previous blogpost, we took a lay day yesterday. Our good friend Ralph took us to Eckerö, a place on the Åland west coast. As this is the place on Åland which is closest to mainland Sweden, it is where the post has been arriving for centuries. From here it was then taken with horses and ferries (or sleds in winter) to the eastern islands and then from there to Finland. As part of the Åland history is a Russian era, the Russians were in charge of the post then. In 1828 they built an extremely impressive post office in Eckerö, facing Sweden in order to show how important they were. The post office is still there, art exhibitions are held there from time to time and there is a café.





Rather 'over the top' for probably a few bags of mail per week, isn't it?

An important tradition of Åland (as in most Nordic countries) is erecting the midsummer pole. The Åland 'stang' is quite different from the Swedish one. It is not decorated with leaves and branches but with colourful streamers and ship with sails. It is kept standing all year and only around this time of the year it is taken down to be 'refreshed' before being raised again on Midsummer (this year on 23 June). The Eckerö 'stang' is the tallest in all of Åland and it had not been taken down yet:












As far as our plans are concerned, today the wind was blowing 6 Beaufort (20+ knots), so we stayed nicely tied up in the excellent harbour of the Åland Sailing Club (ÅSS). Tomorrow it is predicted to be raining heavily so we'll stay again. The forecast after that is quite uncertain so we'll see what gives. Enough to do and it's comfortable on board!

Location:Sjöpromenaden,Mariehamn,Åland Islands

Going North

The last two days we have moved North quite quickly. After Stockholm we first stopped at Finnhamn, a nice bay where we have stopped a few times before. It is also called 'Paradiset' for obvious reasons. As it is Ascension day weekend, it was relatively busy after a few very quiet places.







The next stop was Arholma (we are still there, it is now the morning of the 27th but the internet was not good enough last night to do a post).
This is the Northernmost island of the Stockholm skärgård. It was a farming and fishing community from the late 1700's and there is an old 'beacon' (like a lighthouse without a light) from those days. The fishermen and farmers traded their goods and their fleet anchored in a very protected bay where we are now tied up to a jetty.










Later this morning, we plan to do the almost 29 mile crossing of the Sea of Åland to Mariehamn.

We have some nice pictures, but the internet signal is too weak to post them.
Tonight and tomorrow we rely on the WiFi in the harbour in Mariehamn for Internet. On Monday we will buy an Åland SIM card. As Åland is not Swedish, our local card does not work there.

Late edit:

We now are at Mariehamn after a good crossing in a slightly bumpy sea.
I have inserted the pictures!

Location:Gotthemsvägen,Norrtälje,Sweden

Stockholm

Stockholm is one of our favourite European cities. The approach from the waterfront is stunning. And the Gamla Stan, the old town, is arguably the best preserved original town in all of Europe.






On the way, we encountered a nice sailing traditional two master.









We enjoyed a relatively short stay in Stockholm, the highlight was a visit from our niece Philippa who (with her husband) lives here now.






After a nice day trip through the skärgård, we are now in Finnhamn where we have been before.

Location:Österåker,Sweden

Colours

With nature coming to life at this time of the year, we are stricken by the many different colours, not only different greens but also reds and greys.
Last night, we were the only visitors in a small harbour near Tyresö. A friend of ours lives here part of the year, she came to visit us. Here are few colour impressions.

Location:Tyresö,Sweden

Iron and Lithium

Here, on Üto, iron was already mined in the 12th century. The last iron mine closed in 1876, which means that iron was extracted for over 700 years. That's a long time and the traces are still very clear. Not only are the old pits still visible:





, there are still many buildings reminding us of those times, old miners cottages as well as the mine manager's house :





Another interesting fact is that the mineral 'petalite' was discovered here in 1800. In 1817, it was found that petalite contained a new element, Lithium (from the Greek 'lithos', stone, an element found in stone). Lithium is quite important these days, we all carry it around in the batteries of our mobile phones!

These days Utö is a very popular tourist destination, although the tourist season has not really started yet. The whole 'move of seasons' here is quite different from further South, say Holland or England. It's 22 May and the daffodils are still in full flower:





The approach to the guest harbour can be seen quite nicely from the lawn of the former mine manager 's house (now a conference centre):





Finally, we are made to feel quite at home by the presence of this Dutch windmill:

Location:Bygatan,Haninge,Sweden

Öja - Landsort

We are now on an island called Öja probably better known for the village on it, which is called Landsort.
It is the southernmost island of the Stockholm archipelago (skärgård), and - like so many places here - has an interesting history.
Landsort was the oldest pilot station in Sweden, in 1535 king Gustav Vasa instituted pilots here to 'guide Crown Vessels'. A lighthouse was built in 1651, the present lighthouse dates from 1678, built with stone walls a metre thick.
The area around the lighthouse was a military area from the 1930's until after the Cold War in the 1990's. It is now open to the public and many of the fortifications are still there.
The lighthouse was automated in 1963 and the pilot station moved away in 1989. The traffic control, working from the pilot station tower were moved to the shore in 1999 and now the village only counts 20 permanent inhabitants and a lot of summer houses.
There are three harbours, the Osterhamn and the Vestrahamn are in the village and a ferry calls a few times per day in one of them, depending on the wind direction as both are very exposed to onshore winds. The Nordhamn, about 3.5 Km north of the village is the guest harbour and that is where we are now. We walked to the village and the lighthouse, it's a very nice and picturesque place.
When we arrived just before noon, there was actually a harbour master who collected 100 SEK. The normal price appears to be 250 SEK but as the facilities (showers and toilets) are still closed, we don't pay the full price. Until around 7:30, when we were having our supper, we were the only boat and then another one arrived. The harbour master has long gone....

Here are a few impressions.

Location:Landsort,Nynäshamn,Sweden

Navigation

I have had the Navionics chart application on my iPad for a few years. But apart from a free one week trial, we never bought and downloaded the charts for it.
A few weeks ago, based on positive reports from Cruising Association members, we bought the set of charts covering the area where we are now (unfortunately the Åland Islands are part of a different 'set').
We prop up the iPad in front of the helmsman and to be honest it is quite helpful. We also still use the trusted WinGPS on the laptop but the visibility of the iPad from the helmsman' position is a very useful addition.

Here you can see us approaching today's anchorage. The red arrow is obviously our current position and the red line our course. We are anchored in the bay you can see ahead of us. Approximately where the small circle is.





Another interesting navigation fact: when we listened to the Swedish Navigational Warnings on the VHF radio this morning, it was announced that the ice had now retracted virtually completely from the entire Baltic but that there still were damaged or missing buoys and that therefore caution was advised.... Good to know that we won't encounter any ice!
In the meantime it is actually quite 'summery'. Lyn even wore shorts for a while today!

Location:Tystberga,Sweden