The weather gods must be in an exceptionally good mood as the glorious warm stable and sunny conditions are still with us and are forecast to linger for at least the rest of the week. Of course there is very little wind and it is consistently coming from the north east just to annoy us, so we are forced to tack to get anywhere, but somehow that doesn’t seem to matter so much as long as the skies are blue and the sun is shining.

Mid-morning we pack away everything and set off under full sail northwards with no particular destination in mind, just a desire to enjoy being out on the water.

There is something very special about being on a sailing boat. Time seems to stand still and take on a different character as you have no schedules to keep. Life becomes less stressed and we feel more free. It is obvious that we enjoy being out together and we complement each other really well when it comes to sharing the everyday tasks while aboard, so being out on a longer sailing trip is actually very relaxing for us all.

We decided to by-pass Lilla Nassa as we had been there once before and went instead towards Stora Nassa, thinking that we’d sail through the group of islands for a look and keep on northwards as this is only 5NM away from Björkskär, so that will only take a couple of hours of sailing in these winds.

There are many boats out today, so that means that summer holidays have already started for many people. It is great to see the horizon full of billowing white sails and despite the indifferent winds, people are actually sailing rather than simply motoring around. The southern entrance to Stora Nassa is tight and not easy to find, but eventually we spot the marker we need and follow another boat in through the narrow channel.



What greets us is another paradise and we instantly fall in love and decide that we can’t just sail past but rather we want to stay and explore this fantastic place. After all, it is not distance travelled in a day that is important, but the experience of discovery of new places which makes a holiday memorable. So we peruse our charts and choose another private little bay to anchor in. We can be quite close to land as the water is around 3m deep right up to land.



It is crystal clear as well, so we get a good view right down to the sandy bottom, the sea grass and small plants and the hundreds and hundreds of tiny fish.

This is one of the most beautiful island groups that I’ve visited in Sweden – a real family holiday destination. It has everything – smooth rocks for sunbathing, small shallow sandy beaches for paddling, private little bays, small channels and lagoons, high granite boulders and lots of places where boats can tie up to land. Really, it is a complete destination with something to please everybody. And as you would expect in Sweden, it is completely unspoiled and free from mindless exploitation, which is something that I love about living here. There is a strong sense of preserving the natural environment so that future generations will also get the same opportunity to enjoy it.



Stora Nassa has 365 islands and skerries – one for every day of the year. The biggest island (Stora Bonden) was settled in the Middle Ages and there is still a small settlement there today that was established in the 1770’s and had around 30 people who lived here permanently until around 1915. These days it has a few summer guests only and is the one island in the whole group with any kind of building on it. The entire group is a nature reserve and the eastern half is a bird sanctuary (which we could tell simply from the twittering emanating from the area) and is out of bounds from February to August.



We rowed our dinghy to shore and drifted around the islands, marvelling at the beauty around us and surprised that the birds are so unafraid of humans.



We were just a couple of feet away from rocks with terns and gulls who simply sat there wand looked at us.



Each little bay seemed to contain a boat tied up to a cliff, but even so the place was quiet and unspoiled and did not feel crowded at all. I’m sure that if you came here with the kids, they would have a ball exploring the rockpools and playing in the water.



A lot of the landscape is smooth, bare and low-lying. Only the biggest island has any sort of height (25m) so we tied up the dinghy to the rocks there and climbed up to a high spot to see the group from here and it is a lovely sight.



The island is covered by birch forest and leafy growth with deep ravines and a couple of small meadows near the houses. A ranger lives here during the bird breeding season and we saw him out patrolling the whole archipelago a few times a day in his small boat.



This has been a real find for us and I’m sure that this is a place that we will return to again and again. We have only managed to explore the north west section, so that still leaves a lot to discover in future trips.



The landscape is stunning and I am constantly amazed at each new place. Just when you think that you’ve seen an island that is paradise and cannot be bettered, you round the corner and say “wow!” at a new paradise. I told Lars-Göran that when I used to think of Sweden I only thought of cold, ice, snow and not much else. I had no idea that places like these could be found here and in fact I’d never even heard of the Stockholm Archipelago and had no idea that one could sail in Sweden and enjoy such wonderful nature. It is easy to see why I fell in love with the country and am so happy to call it home.



While here, we were visited by the “Bullbåt”. This is a fast rib boat, based at Karlslunds Marina in Dalarö, which travels around to the remote island groups during the summer months as a mobile kiosk. You can buy newspapers, fresh bread, buns and Danish pastries, fresh milk, strawberries, cream, icecream, lollies and soft drinks. I believe that you can also ring and order groceries from them to be delivered to you wherever you are in a wide area. We bought some fresh rolls and some milk, but as the temperature is nudging close to 30C today, I imagine that they did a roaring trade in ice blocks and ice creams among the families moored around here. I think it is a great idea as there are no shops at all in any of these outer locations. The prices are high (I paid double the price I’d pay at my local supermarket) but the convenience of having it delivered straight to your boat makes it worthwhile. We actually didn’t need either the milk (I have plenty of UHT milk aboard) but I did want to do my bit to support the service and the rolls were beautiful with our evening meal and to make up salad rolls for the picnic fika we take ashore.

Sunshine at 10pm, warm breeze in the trees, gentle lapping water on the shore, the twittering of forest birds and the plaintive calls of the sea birds – what a backdrop to our evening G&T. Here’s to the good life. Cheers!