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Some Rock in the Stockholm Archipelago - 59° 25' 16" N 18° 58' 27" E

By Kate and Sean -
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To Scandinavian seafarers, these are what the rock anchors look like. They are properly known as 'archipelago anchors'. Like many of us, we spent a ridiculous amount of time watching YouTube sailing videos through COVID.  One of our favourites was RAN Sailing Episode #225  where they moored up against a sizable granite island in Sweden and spent a day or two stepping ashore, exploring the island, having picnics, enjoying sunsets ... all without deploying or even needing a dinghy.  This looked so cool, it inspired us to go to Sweden and try it for ourselves. Roll forward to this summer.  We are floating around the Stockholm Archipelago where tying up to rocks is considered quite normal.  We had the gear required, the shore lines, the stern anchor, the rock anchors and hammer, but the idea of driving  Chinook  towards a rock was very daunting and quite contrary to good seamanship! We were in Åkersberga and Niklas asked if we would help him sail ...
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Berg on Möja - 59° 24' 19" N 18° 53' 02" E

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The Stockholm Archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago is just stunning.  Made up of over 24,000 islands and skerries, it is a boaters' paradise with limitless anchorages, bays, island settlements and rocks.  Its proximity to Stockholm does mean having to contend with the chaos of ferries, motor boats, yachts, kayaks and every other watercraft you can imagine.  But, as with the busiest areas of the Rocky Mountains, it is also possible to find those more secluded and less frequented places - particularly when you hang out with a local! Crayfish Party!  A Swedish summer tradition complete with crayfish paper hats and decorations. Thanks Niklas, Carl and Myra After popping out of the Göta Canal and into The Baltic Sea, we travelled north to Åkersberga to meet Niklas and to greet the first visitors in a merry parade of relatives and friends. Being able to pull onto Niklas' dock and enjoy perks such as borrowing his car and washing machine, greatly simplified our preparation...
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Off-road across Sweden (Part 3) - The Göta Canal - 58° 31' 56" N 15° 01' 48" E

By Kate and Sean -
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... and if this doesn't work, try standing up (it's not very deep!). The Gota Canal  (pronounced yo-ta) route We left Lake Vänern and entered the Göta Canal at Sjötorp (pronounced qu-air-tor).  And once again, our expedition yacht becomes a canal boat! The Göta Canal is 85nm (nautical miles or 190 kilometres) long with 58 locks lifting to a high point of 91.8m and down to the Baltic Sea.  It is a magnificent feat of engineering.  With construction starting in 1810, the canal took 22 years to build using 58,000 labourers to hand-dig the 87km of canals. The remaining 103km is through lakes and natural waterways. Up and over.... We also learned that the Göta Canal's nickname is The Divorce Ditch - hmmm, just how tricky are these 58 locks and 45 opening bridges??  The canal is planted with 16,000 ash trees along its length, their roots help stabilise the banks.  This makes for a glorious avenue to wiggle along and provides shade. The...
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