... try and find us

Chinook from Niklas' deck Our first stop after leaving Stockholm was Niklas' dock in Åkersberga and a great reunion with him and a few friends we had met in Cherbourg. It was a fun couple of days catching up.  He gave us some recommendations for anchorages as we headed north, which we followed.  Always happy to follow the advice of locals! Gord and Jenny swapped notes with Niklas on backcountry skiing Dinner at Niklas'! Full view of Chinook while Niklas BBQ-ed our dinner.  What a treat! As well as a chance to catch up with Niklas, our time in Åkersberga was a great chance to provision, do some boat maintenance, fill up the water tanks, hose the salt off the decks and prepare for the next part of the journey. Our route north (or more precisely, north-east). Thanks Niklas for the local tips! Woo hoo! Sailing in shorts - or more correctly, motoring.  There was very little wind. The weather was glorious and we had our first day sailing ...

Moored, Scandinavian style After more than a week at anchor or tied to rocks, we sailed around the suburb of Boo and motored into Stockholm.  We tied Chinook up at the marina close to the city center so we could explore. The marina is well located - it is in the district of Östermalm and is surrounded by the National City Garden. The many trails around the island had us off Chinook and seeing what Stockholm had to offer. Walking/cycling trails lured us into the park Kate gets some aerobic fitness in while sightseeing Being a national capital, the park is beautiful.  So much public art to look at, we couldn't help but snap a few pictures. This sculpture was called Unknown and played on the Swede's strong beliefs of ties between the natural and supernatural worlds. Barnacle geese enjoying a walk along the trail Opera singer Jenny Lind, know as the Swedish Nightingale In Sweden, it is illegal to leave your dog for more than six hours without human int...

Hopping north from Kalmar And so north we continued finding fabulous anchorages between the rocks and skerries.  The coast is littered with snug places to pull in.  It is the very beginning of the season so we were alone in most anchorages.  The flag poles on the docks and summer houses scattered along the shores were empty of their festive vimpels indicating no one was in residence.  Another rocky dot of an island We had the island of Blå Frugjung to ourselves. Blå Jungfrun is dot of a rock in the Kalmar Strait.  It is national park and does not have a harbour.  Due to the rather dodgy anchorage, we sent the birders ashore while we kept the boat safe through the vicious squalls that kept blowing through.  Then the sun came out and we enjoyed one of the champagne sunsets ... just like in the brochure. This anchorage was memorable because we saw otters!  A fairly rare sight as these little critters are quite shy and are nocturnal, h...

Kalmar was our next port of call but rather than going into the guesthamn in the main harbour, we pulled up next to Kalmar Castle just before sunset!  Yay for our lifting centreboard! Our track in - past the castle, into the shallow bits, through the marsh. The winding channel was very narrow and rather shallow, Chinook may have dragged her rudders through the mud, but we made it to the dock.  Wow, what a location!  Mooring in a castle moat! The freshly manicured lawns and bursting flowerbeds of the City Gardens ... and a bird watchers paradise!  From the comfort of the cockpit, Gord and Jenny started racking up their sightings.  Merlin , the birdwatchers' identification and tallying app, was running hot.  Black-headed gulls, greylag geese, mute swans, arctic terns, mallard and tufted ducks were all merrily identified and tallied - just to name a few. And the noise ... being spring, avian hordes were very chatty! The crew posing...