Spellbinder and her crew have been blessed with fine weather over the last few days, and it seems set to stay with us. Having put Sue on a train in Karlskrona, old sailing friend Julian arrived and together we set off to head around the bottom of the Swedish mainland and up the east coast, towards the famous archipelagos which are found off the coast of Stockholm.

We motored out of the slightly uninspiring Karlskrona, then had a brief sail before we dropped anchor in a nature reserve just south east of the city. It was the first time anchoring for a while – it has been marinas, ports and little docks so far, but this is now changing as we explore the slightly wilder areas of this magnificent Scandinavian coast.

It was a very peaceful night, and the next morning, as we rounded the south east tip of Sweden, we started to get a steadily building following wind. It was too good not to make use of, and original plans to visit the old city of Kalmar were set aside in the interest of 25 extra, easy miles. We goose winged Spellbinder, putting a reef in each sail, and sped by with 20-25 knots right behind us.

Our destination was Borgholm on the island of Öland, where we arrived quite late, but still in bright sunshine. A stroll around the town took us past an American car enthusiasts’ party, where Chevrolets and Pontiacs roamed around, with unfeasibly lowered suspension, booming out loud music. We also had a drink in the one lively bar in town, bringing down the average age by a substantial margin.

The next morning we sailed up the Öland coast to the impossibly-named Byxelkrok, where we had a pleasant lunch before taking advantage of a building NE breeze to sail across to the southern archipelago to get a first taste of the islands. We were blown away once in them – some intricate pilotage is required, but the buoyage and charts are excellent. We passed through a narrow passage between islands to find a lagoon, completely protected on all sides, where we anchored for the night.

We had another quiet evening, enjoying the bird song, and eating and sleeping well.

Motoring out in the calm of the next morning, we enjoyed more narrow channels and intricate pilotage, and ended up at a similar anchorage off the island of Ringsö. By now the islands were merging into one beautiful and seamless experience, more than whetting our appetites for this stunning region.

The next day saw a brief visit to refuel, re-water, dispose of rubbish (the Swedes are heavily into recycling) and a nice lunch at Nynäshamn, a slightly ugly town and ferry port which served its purpose, but in which we didn’t linger. Our destination was Ornö, the largest island in the southern part of the Stockholm archipelago, and a little dock at the end of a small fjord. It was pretty deserted, but we tied up and explored a bit. We may have been in Montana. Just a chap with a boiler suit and a workshop, everything open, and nobody to pay.

It was a delightful little place which we rather enjoyed.

Our final destination was the RV for the RYS 2023 Summer Rally – Saltsjöbaden near Stockholm, home of the Swedish yacht club KSSS, which is hosting us. Julian and I accomplished our first stern buoy mooring without too much difficulty, and settled into a more social atmosphere with some fellow Members. I am delighted to get here as planned after a month of cruising, and really look forward to exploring the Stockholm archipelago in the next 10 days.

Thank you Julian, for being such fine crew and helping me on this last leg.