Sunday morning, we took up the anchor, set the sails and Fiona sailed away northwards at an easy and comfortable pace while we all enjoyed the sunny day. There was even time for Lars-Göran to go up to the front of the boat for a closer forward view.



We drifted by the seal breeding grounds near Biskopsön, but didn’t see any seals today. As the afternoon became early evening we thought about where to anchor for the evening. There are several fine mini-archipelago island groups around here, all with good spots to stay safe from the strong southerly winds that were forecast overnight. In the end, we thought we’d take advantage of the fact that sailing season has not officially begun, so we went to the historic island of Bullerö. During July, this place is jam packed with boats, but today we were alone and could choose any place we liked along the rocky cliffs in the bay near the small village.




Bullerö is a nature reserve owned by the Swedish state since 1967, devoted to protecting the cultural value of the island and to preserve it in an unexploited state. The island got its name from its rounded shape. Today this is harder to see because of the growth of trees, but several decades ago the rock formations were much more visible because of over-grazing by farm animals. The name Bullerö is derived from the English word “boulder”.

The island was inhabited from the early seventeenth century by a group of three crofter families who lived together in a small village group and tended animals in the summer months from the big estates on the mainland. They also grew potatoes, cabbage and turnips as a staple diet and supplemented this with berries that are plentiful and varied on the island as well as fish. They would trade some of the fish for flour and other necessities. The village is tucked away behind the rocks in the bay.



We spent the evening watching the terns divebomb for fish on the rocks near the boat. There are huge schools of minnows in the shallow waters and this means a feast for the coastal birds, many of whom are breeding on the small islet next to our boat. I spied quite a few young gulls out trotting around and was amazed by how agile and acrobatic the small terns were at catching fish.

In the morning, it was bright and sunny so we took the dinghy and motored around to the village pier and set off to explore the island. We started with the group of four houses that make up the village. People still live in them today and their job is to look after the island and to guide visiting groups around. There is even a small overnight cabin to rent for those who want to stay on the island. The timber houses are really charming, with the typical Swedish falun-red colour and white contrasting windowsills and eaves. You can see that it is a glorious early summer’s day and that everything is lush, green and blooming.



The first stop was up the hillside at Kikarberget (lookout hill). This is a great place to look over the bay and across the sea and the surrounding islands. It is no wonder that a wooden tower was situated here as an air defence warning station during World War II. Today the tower is used to carry 24 solar cell panels that supply the island with electric power. And you can see that we have been joined by another boat in the bay. Why do they have to tie up right next to us, when there is the whole island to choose from? This is one bit of Swedish behaviour that I’ll never get used to – the idea that we all have to tie up together in a bay.



We continued around the island to Rävängsviken (fox meadow creek) where there is a large hunting lodge. This was built by the famous Swedish artist Bruno Liljefors (1860 – 1939) who purchased the island in 1908. He used the island for summer holidays with his family, for hunting with his friends and for finding artistic inspiration. Most of his paintings are of the wildlife around the islands. Fellow artists like Anders Zorn and Albert Engström were frequent visitors. It is a fabulous location, overlooking a protected bay and surrounded by fragrant meadow. Today it houses a small museum of archipelago nature and culture and some reproductions of some of Liljefors’ work.



The plant life on the island is rich and varied and it is unusual to see so many different plant varieties concentrated in one place. In the boggy areas of the island you can find heather, osier, bilberries, lingon, honeysuckle, crowberries, cloudberries and many varieties of moss. But my favourite one was the tuvdun or hare-tail cotton grass with it’s long, soft sprigs of fluffy flowers.



Just past the hunting lodge, there was a meadow and a small cabin used by Liljefors as a studio. It overlooks the sea and the outer skerries and must have provided great inspiration to the artist. The field was full of mature trees – mountain ash, alder, aspen and meadow-sweet flowers along with dog roses, elder, mint, juniper, buttercups, clover etc. The scent was intoxicating and it was lovely to wander through the fields and enjoy the summer scene.



We decided to climb up to the cliff to the side of the lodge and enjoy fika with a view of the sea and outer skerries. On the way there, we found this huggorm or viper sunning itself on the lower rocks by the water’s edge. I generally do not like snakes and despite Lars-Göran’s assurance that it was not deadly or aggressive I have to say that it gave me the creeps and I was very careful about where I walked, especially after I nearly stepped on another one closer to the village later in the afternoon.



When we reached the top of what is called the sunrise hill, we were rewarded with a stunning backdrop for our afternoon coffee and cinnamon buns. In front of us were the smooth granite and gneiss rocks of the bay and in the distance, a panoramic view of the outer archipelago along with some of the lighthouses that mark the main shipping lane into Stockholm.



While we were sitting on the rocks having our snack and enjoying the view, a large, old fashioned wooden sailing boat, Sofia Linnea, came into view. We watched her gliding along with her sails billowing in the breeze, then she turned, lowered the sails and dropped anchor just outside of the bay where we were sitting.



A short while later, a smaller wooden sailing boat also came along and actually made her way into the bay where the hunting lodge stood. We thought the area would be too shallow, but there is a passage through the stones and on a calm day like this, one can weave around and make your way in, tying up at one of the mooring rings on the cliff and being rewarded by absolute privacy and a beautiful view.



That is something that we will try another time we come by the island. I’ve really enjoyed learning something of the history of these lovely islands and to know that they are being preserved for future generations to enjoy.