After nearly three weeks out, we really needed to fill up our water tanks, so we looked through some information booklets for Arholma and saw that there was fresh water at the western harbour near the shop where were visited yesterday. I wanted Lars-Göran to ring them before we went there and ask if it was connected to a hose. This was because we discovered at Nämdö just before Midsummer that their water had to be carried to the boat by bucket. Our tanks hold 260 litres of water so that would take a long time and a lot of effort – something that neither of us are keen to do in this heat. But being a man and therefore infallible, Lars-Göran decided that “Of course the petrol station has water in hoses!” and we set off for the two and a half hour trip around the island.

I guess I don’t have to tell you that there were no hoses. Actually the petrol station had no petrol, no diesel, no propane. Kind of makes you wonder what they DO have to sell. Lars-Göran was angry with himself for making the unnecessary trip for no result, so I suggested tying up to the spare SXK buoy for fika and a chance to stop and look at our options. Given the prevailing winds today, it made sense to head northwards to the nearest harbour of Grisslehamn. There is a large marina there where we can fill up the boat with water and the town itself is a lovely little harbour town which is worth checking out. So we headed northwards, past the 60 degrees north latitude for the first time in Fiona. This puts us at the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska.

The first part of the trip just outside of Arholma showed some of the summer houses built on bare rocks with great views of the sea that we have come to love.



It was very hot and we sailed with umbrellas up again. As it turned out, it was a really smart idea, as a single, large dark cloud appeared ahead of us and we sailed through a 10-15 minute downpour, so the “sun umbrellas” ended up serving a dual purpose. As it had been so hot, Lars-Göran was doing his usual nude sailing at the time the rain hit. You can imagine the look on the face of the boat owner who motored past us in the rain, staring at Lars-Göran who was sailing nude (except for a scarf and hat) and standing under an umbrella!

We have no large scale paper charts for this area, so we were reliant on computer navigation, which proved good but limited in that it lacked the extra information contained on the Swedish charts. We approached Grisslehamn and saw that the eastern harbour was fully exposed to the sea and would not provide any direct shelter from wind or waves from the east. It is also a busy ferry terminal between Sweden and Ekerö in Åland, so there would be swell from passing boats as well. It seemed a better idea to go around the island to the north (Fogdö) and slip into the more sheltered western harbour by the marina.

Simple? Well, it should be in theory. What the electronic chart failed to tell us was the bridge details between Grisslehamn and the island of Fogdö just to the north. Looking through the binoculars we saw that it was a low, fixed stone bridge. Okay, then we would go to the next opening between Fogdö and the next island of Singö a few kilometres to the north. That also had a low bridge and a call via VHF to Stockholm Radio told us that it was a fixed bridge as well, with a free height of only 8.5m. Nothing for a sailing boat at all. In the end, we had to follow the main commercial shipping route to the north of Singö and weave our way back southwards – a detour of nearly 20NM. It really was not our day.

In the early evening we passed a charming island community near the lighthouse of Svartklubben. It looked so pretty in the late sunlight, but imagine how exposed they are in stormy weather. There were quite a large number of houses clustered on the island and a working pilot station nearby, so it is a living community rather than just a summer town which is nice to see.



We have never sailed in this area before so I saw it as a chance to look at the landscape of Uppland. The word that springs to mind is peace. It is so quiet here as you glide along the pine and fir clad islands, past tiny communities, abandoned boat houses and you are keenly aware that you are the only boat around for miles and miles. Quite a contrast to the Stockholm archipelago.



We sailed late into the evening, soaking up the solitude and eventually dropping anchor in a small, secluded bay on the western side of Singö with only five local cows for company.



Unfortunately we were so entranced with the cows that we forgot to tie up the dinghy on a shorter rope before reversing to dig in the anchor. The result was that the rope got caught around the propellor axle. Several unprintable words were muttered as we quickly shut off the motor and decided to wait until morning before investigating it further.

Luckily the morning was bright and sunny, so Lars-Göran donned his snorkel, diving mask, grabbed a large knife and looking rather like Lloyd Bridges in the old TV series Sea Hunt, he dived under the boat in the not-so-very-warm water and freed the rope, noting that there was no damage to either the propellor or the axle.



There was a collective sigh of relief and after a warm, lazy morning in the hot sun, the wind changed direction and picked up to a brisk breeze so we could sail the remaining 15 nautical miles to Grisslehamn, dropping anchor in a wide bay just outside of the western harbour and enjoying a heavenly sunset.



Tomorrow we will go into town, check out the sights, do a spot of shopping and fill up our water tanks at last!