Stockholm is the most populated city in all of the Nordic countries, with almost two million people. Spread over fourteen islands, and a myriad of connecting bridges, Stockholm is often referred to the ‘Venice of the North’, but this is also applicable to many other watery Northern European cities we’ve visited such as Amsterdam, Dordrecht, Stralsund and Lübeck. Whatever the label, Stockholm is certainly stylish.
Vaxholm fortress
Heading into Stockholm after a few weeks living on anchor, was a treat. From our anchorage at Vaxholm, we sailed by the Vaxholm Fortress as we admired impressive homes built on granite high above the water. We would select the homes we would live in, should we ever to move to Sweden! The channels are wide allowing fast ferries, cruise ships, power boats and schooners with full sails to share our view.
Wayne chatting to another yachtie
I’d prebooked our berth at the Wasahamnen marina, so after midday we proceeded directly to the berth where we squeezed between two similar sized yachts. The cost to berth for a 12m vessel was SEK400 (38€) per day, but for boats larger than 12m the price jumped up to a whopping SEK700 (68€) per day – good job our boat is 12m ;). Included was electricity, WiFi, water, and free use of washing machine (I did about five loads after a month on anchor so that was good value). Still, the ability to live in the heart of Stockholm at the island of Djurgården for around 38€ per day is pretty cool. No chance of similar accommodation for that price. One of the perks that come with living on a boat I guess.
Wasahamnen is located on the west coast of Djurgården – once the Royal hunting grounds, but now a lovely outdoor area with cycle tracks, impressive old homes, a Royal abode, the Skansen living history park, and the Nordic Museum. It’s also home to a number of tourist places such as the Gröna Lund amusement park, the Vikingaliv centre with an interactive session on vikings for the kids, the famous Vasa Museum displaying the 400 year old man-o-war, and of course, the ABBA Museum.
But the surprising thing about Stockholm was the heat. With a heatwave cooking most of Europe, Sweden was no exception. Humid days over 30degC had us feeling like we were back in Thailand! At the marina, with onlookers walking by, the air was still and sticky and the evenings showed no relief with warm nights over 20degC. From the nearby Gröna Lund screams could be heard clearly as customers spun, dipped and dropped over thrilling rides and fast moving roller coasters. It was perfect conditions to be back out in the skärgård!
With the bikes reassembled, each day we would head out and see the sights, and make sure to stay out of the heat in the afternoons. Cycling along Strandvägen passing the impressive Dramatic Theatre then across into the Kungsträdgården, water fountains had a queue of people filling their water bottles, while ice cream vendors were kept busy all day. In the cooler evenings I’d take a stroll along the foreshore to watch the sinking sun and return before dark.
A cycle to the old town – Gamla Stan – takes around 20 minutes from the marina, plus there are busses and a direct ferry for those without bikes. Gamla Stan is impressive but not intended for bike traffic. Parking the bikes outside a pub, we then walked the maze of alleys and roads stopping to enjoy an ice cream. One of the ‘must-do’ touristy things is to view the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace. The sun beat down on the hoards of tourists and then the band rolled in ahead of the Royal guards. The whole affair lasted around half an hour. Wayne felt for the poor guys standing in the heat all day as it reminded him of parades in the RAAF in the heat of an Australian summer. We’ve noticed that not many people wear hats here so there were many sunburned faces and necks.
The Vasa Museum is the number one tourist attraction and is next door to the Wasahamnen. The man-o-war ‘Vasa’ sank on her maiden voyage in 1628 as it was poorly designed and top heavy. After 333 years under the sea and after numerous attempts, she was eventually raised in 1961. Unlike the Mary Rose at Portsmouth, the Vasa is 98% original and remarkably intact (although a team of archeologists and maritime historians had a hell of a time piecing it back together). Vasa is adorned with hundreds of splendid sculptures – the carpenters who spent hours chiseling and carving these impressive nymphs and pirates must have been slightly irritated to see months of fine work disappear into the depths. Nonetheless, the Vasa timbers are preserved with polyethylene glycol so this fine example from 17th century Sweden should last a couple of hundred more years.
And of course I had to go to the ABBA museum and relive my youth! The museum showcases the history of the band, displays their gold records, costumes, and lives after the band broke up. There’s also the opportunity to sing along with the band on stage or record your voice on a track. I was happy just to look around and hum to myself as Wayne didn’t join me (another closet ABBA fan!).
As far as provisioning goes, there’s a good ICA Supermarket in the pretty suburb of Österhalm, around 2kms north of the marina. I’m not sure of nearby chandleries, but for a certain part I needed I rode about 12kms west to Hjertmans Bromma. This store has a good selection of boat stuff.
So after five nights at Stockholm, which wasn’t nearly enough, I have to say that Stockholm is one of the most stylish cities I’ve visited. I know dear old Melbourne keeps winning the ‘Most Liveable City’ award, but we’ve been to many cities where that label could easily be applied. Stockholm is one of those cities.
Back out in the southern islands of the Stockholm Skärgård, we considered sailing south around the bottom of Sweden around to Norway, rather than pass east to west through Sweden along the Göta Canal. But with a few days of strong southerlies on their way, the decision was made to head west.
From the small town of Mem is the entrance to the 58 locks of the Göta Canal. This 210nm trip passes through the heart of Sweden and will take around two weeks to pass along the Göta Canal, across Lake Vättern then along the Trollhätten Canal to Göteborg.
Until then…
From Åland to the northern islands of the Stockholm archipelago or skärgård is less than 30nm – a day sail. It also means winding the clock back one hour, so now sunset is around 9.30pm.
The geology and climate of this region reminds me of our 2015 trip through 
As you’ll have read in the news, a heatwave is over the entire region, including UK and Europe. Humid days over 30degC had us jumping in the cool water everyday in water that is usually around 23degC. The teak deck heats up in the hot sun and when we lay down the water steams off our skins.
First Wayne slowly poked the boat’s nose in, me on the bow making sure it was deep enough. It’s a little unnerving anchoring this way as we’ve spent the past ten years trying to avoid rocks, and here we are literally driving up to a rock wall! Once we’d established the depth was deep enough, Wayne reversed the boat, from the stern I threw the Max anchor and 5m of heavy chain over the transom and let the rode flow through the fairlead. I gave the lazy end to Wayne to brake the boat as needed, then I went to the bow and prepared my lines. Closer, closer, then… jump! Standing on the granite I grabbed the pulpit and stopped the boat from going any further while Wayne tightened the stern line. I then tied the bow lines up to nearby trees. Sorted!
Such a hot afternoon, we jumped and dived from the rock like a couple of teenagers! What a great spot! Plus our plan of arriving before lunch seemed to work as most people are on the move by then. A few power boats came into the anchorage for the afternoon. As luck would have it, a 35’ Targa power boat promptly dropped his anchor on our stern anchor immediately snagging our rode. He then began pulling it up! Ugh, there’s always one!
From the exquisite city of Helsinki, we navigated west following the southern islands of Finland’s 
At the Kökar gasthamn, a smooth massive slab of granite is easily mistaken for a boat ramp. Laying reptile-like on the warm slab were a few bikini clad young women with fake tans and a few pale guys catching some vitamin D as the temperature inched up to 18degC. Campers, motorhomes and yachts fill up the surrounding area, keeping the small grocery shop busy supplying smoked fish, recently baked bread, ice creams and freshly baked cinnamon buns, plus various other supplies.
Mariehamn, the main town of 
With hot weather and calm seas, a yellow algae forms in the Baltic. We’ve noticed patches of algae since leaving Germany and the warmer weather has increased its spread. Apparently the toxic one to look out for is the greenish cyanobacteria, which is essentially caused by pollution. At the moment it’s just small bits of yellow algae, and doesn’t look very inviting to swim. But with the outside temperature hitting 30degC as a heatwave builds over the Baltic, we still jumped in to stay cool.
Sailing from Estonia to Finland the south west wind settled between 18-22kn. The first 10nm sail from Tallinn was brisk, at which point we steered on a heading towards Helsinki, a further 33nm north. The Gulf of Finland, somewhat colder up here at below 8degC, was choppy from the recent blow but after crossing the busy shipping lane the seas eased. By this time Blue Heeler’s sails were winged out as the wind was a little further up its bum than expected.
Arriving at the entrance of one of many narrow channel entrances heading into the Port of Helsinki, we made sure to stay well out of the way of the frequent and fast-moving ferries departing for or arriving from from Tallinn, Riga, Stockholm, St Petersburg and Travemunde in Germany.
The bike ride into Helsinki is 15 minutes from Lauttasaari over the Lauttasaaren bridge through the Ruoholahti district and into the town centre. Passing through Esplanade Park, towards the prominent Uspensky Cathedral you’ll reach the touristy area known as Market Square. Vendors under canopies of bright orange tents offer locally made souvenirs, deep fried white-bait, freshly cooked salmon, strawberries, blueberries, and reindeer skins. At the side sits an old busker playing a lively waltz on his well-used accordion, one ear expects to hear the chink of spare change in his metal cup. Many tourists from many cruise ships stagger around the stalls like zombies, sampling the local food and stocking up on trinkets to give to loved ones back home.
From the market place, we took a 15 minute ferry across to the old fortress island of Suomenlinna. It’s not as if we needed to see ‘yet another fort’ but since it’s one of the top tourist things to see in Helsinki, and we had loads of time, it made sense to go visit and learn a little more about the history of Finland. Suomenlinna played an important and strategic role in the formation of Finland. I had expected to find rundown stone ramparts, bastions and canons (of which there was plenty), but I hadn’t expected to see buildings less than 200 years old currently occupied. Some are residential, some offices and artisan studios, plus there’s an old Russian Orthodox garrison church which was converted into a Lutheran place of worship in 1920, not long after Finland gained independence from Russia in 1918. In a nutshell… construction of the fortress commenced in 1748 when Finland was ruled by the Kingdom of Sweden. Forty years later during the Russo-Swedish War the fortress was used as a naval base. Twenty years later in 1808 Finland succumbed to the might of the Russian Empire and the fortress remained a Russian naval base until 1918. Canons still point to Sweden in the west. But after the Finnish Civil War in 1918 the fortress was annexed by Finland and named Suomenlinna. In 1973 the Finnish garrison left the island and the Ministry of Education and Culture took over the responsibility of the fortress. In 1991 Suomenlinna joined UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list of military architecture.
So with Trump and Putin on the cards to meet in Helsinki next week, it was time to head west to the Archipelago Sea, located south of the Gulf of Bothnia, north of the Gulf of Finland and east of the Sea of Åland. It is said to be the largest archipelago in the world, with thousands of granite islands.
One of the sailing experiences that I really wanted to tick off the list was to sail overnight during summer in the Baltic. We would have the opportunity over a two-night 200nm sail from Riga to Tallinn.
