It is a fine and sunny morning, though it stubbornly continues to be really cold. We need to keep the cockpit tent up at night and in the mornings to catch some sunshine and protect us from the polar winds. By July it ought to be a little warmer than this! We are grateful though for the glimpses of sun as the forecast had painted a far more miserable outlook. Wrong again, SMHI! The other effect of the cooler conditions is that the air remains damp and a little misty. We lack the clear sunny days that make a Swedish summer so memorable.

We had thought to stay here (despite the snake threat) for another day, but there was a wind shift to the east, which would give us ideal conditions to cross over Bråviken, so instead we packed up and headed northwards towards Oxelösund. If you look at the map, we were moored just south of Gransö (spruce island) and it was roughly 20 nautical miles across to where we wanted to be. In these winds it ought to be a breeze.




The wind held steady and we crossed over Bråviken easily. It was fast, comfortable sailing, though there was an unbelievable stream of boats sailing southwards, so we had to keep good watch to avoid collisions. As usual, we were going against the traffic. We sometimes joke that our surname ought to be Motström (against the stream) instead of Nordström.

As well as leisure boats, one has to watch out for cargo ships that come in from the Baltic and head up Bråviken to the port town of Norrköping. They travel at quite a speed, so one must keep watch all of the time and make adjustments to one's course so that they have free passage. Not everyone is so careful, though and we were absolutely dumbfounded to see these two boats invite disaster by trying to outrun a fully laden cargo ship rather than alter their course to go behind the ship.




I couldn't help but think of last month's train crash in Kerang (rural Victoria) which claimed 11 lives. The truck driver whose rig crashed with and then derailed the train was trying to beat it to a level crossing. It's so sad that people continue to court disaster with their "I'm in a hurry and I won't stop for anyone" attitude. Fortunately this time the boats got by, but it was a close shave. Idiots!

While crossing, we rang our good friend Björn to see if he was on duty this week. We visited him at the pilot station last September and thought it would be fun to have him over for dinner while we were passing. As luck would have it, he was coming down the next day, so we invited him over and anchored for the n ight at Stora Trassö, a short hop away from the pilot station, with a peaceful outlook across the water.




We had a narrow spit of land to protect us from any waves and peace and quiet as the main route along the coast was behind us. This would be full of passing motorboat traffic, which is both noisy and painful as they generate a lot of swell and backwash. We prefer the company of a few nesting oystercatchers (strandskator) and the gentle lap of the water to accompany our evening g&t. We even had a whole colony of herons on a nearby - AGAIN! I swear that I've seen more herons this season than I had in the previous six summers. I wonder why?




There were a few stray boats heading along the channel to Nyköping and one or two taking the less popular route into Oxelösund, but for the most part we were all on our own. Heaven! One boat that we saw in the distance is a new type of ferry built in an older style.

This boat is run by Royal Stockholm Cruise Line and travels from Stockholm to Västervik along the various archipelagoes in a sort of Swedish version of the famed Norwegian coastal express, Hurtigruten. If you are not fortunate enough to have your own boat, it can be a marvellous way to see Sweden and the unique islands which make up the east coast. A great idea.




In the morning we made our way to moor at the pilot station, catch up with Björn and had a quick trip into town to pick up some extra wine and some loaves of crusty french bread to have with dinner. Björn invited us to accompany him out on the pilot boat to meet a ship, but we declined as the weather was cold, wet and rather wavy. Not nearly as nice as when we did it last year.

Dinner went until the early hours of the morning, with much food and wine consumed and a lot of good conversation and laughter. It was both relaxing and enjoyable to catch up with Björn and we plan to do it each time we pass if his timetable allows.

We left in the morning, under rather windy conditions with a reefed main and storm sail up. We made a fast crossing past Nyköping and found ourselves in the tight and busy route along Södermanland and up near the Västra Stendörren area, which seemed a lagom distance to stop for the day. Most of the bays in this area are very popular and in July are jammed packed with boats. The forecast for the coming days is for wet and windy weather, so people will be inclined to stay where they are and wait for better conditions. With that in mind we skipped over the more obvious mooring spots close to the route and headed to the outer archipelago and a tiny group of islets called Örnklubbarna, which translates as Eagle Rocks. Could it be more perfect?




Wow, I thought, a message from Daddy Cool. We have to stay here. Lars-Göran just looked at me and said "Daddy Cool? Who is he?". HE? HE? Dear, oh, dear. You can just tell that he is never going to pass the new Australian Citizenship test if he thinks Daddy Cool is a person, is he? I took a deep breath and explained that while Sweden was busy foisting crap like Abba and Roxette on the world, the wonderful Aussie band Daddy Cool were belting out real rock songs. And one of those songs - perhaps the ost popular Aussie tune of all time- was the megahit Eagle Rock! And here we were....




He seemed quite unimpressed by this, so I let it slide though I did spend the afternoon humming the tune while enjoying looking around and soaking up the last sun we'd see for a while. There were no other boats here, which is not surprising as the entrance to these islets is very tight. We had a description in a navigation book, plus used the depth sounder and computer navigation to get us in to a constricted but very pretty spot surrounded by tiny islets.




There was room for only one boat here and even that was a tight squeeze if you were anchored as there was really not quite enough swinging room should the wind shift, especially if the wind decided to increase as these are fairly low, sparsely vegetated rocks. Just to be certain, Lars-Göran rowed across to one of the nearby isles and attached a rope to the tree there, to prevent the boat swinging into shoals. Just in case some shallow draught sailing or motor boat should try and pass through the rocks, he attached fenders so the the rope would float and be easily visible. We also decided to use an anchor light at night to light up the boat's position. After that, we could sit back and enjoy the peace.




We took out the dinghy for a tour around the more inaccessible bays. The whole area is a rather charming and beautiful labyrinth of skerries, rocks and islets which is so inviting. Around every corner we saw a glimpse of Fiona from various angles and at times she looked so surrounded by rocks that I'm sure a boat passing out on the main route would look and think "How the hell did they get such a big boat in there?"




We saw one or two sailing boats look, then try and come in as well - after all nothing attracts boats like the sight of another boat moored in a pretty place - but after going aground in these rock filled waters, they quickly decided to find another, easier spot to moor.

I'm lucky really that Lars-Göran dares to try these new places and that our boat's keel is designed to tolerate hitting ground. So many of the new fancy bulbed keels break straight away, or transfer the force upwards, destroying the boat's interior. We have hit hard and apart from spilling a bit of the bird's seed and water, there has been no other damage. In fact we did hit ground on the way in here as the channel was even narrower than we believed. The fact that I was steering didn't help, either, but I had seen the depth dropping, so I turned away and we only "kissed" the stone.

So we lay on the cliffs out of the cold wind, enjoying a thermos of coffee and some Anzac biscuits watching the parade of boats passing by and looking for a night harbour.




t felt warm on the lee side of the rocks, so I could kid myself that it really was summer, even though I was still wearing a windproof jacket. Lars-Göran dipped his toes in the water and let out a steady flow of expletives, so I'm guessing it was COLD. I looked at the flowers growing all over the islands and thought that the mild, wet weather was at least a good thing for them. Some flowers (they look rather like a michaelmas daisy) were even thriving right in the brackish water of the Baltic. It's truly amazing how adaptable they are. And such a pretty splash of colour and life among the grey rocks.




Looking in the other direction, away from the mainland and the skerries between here and there lies the great expanse of the Baltic Sea. Beyond these reeds and rocks, it is only water for hundreds of nautical miles until you reach the coast of Estonia to the east. Amazing!




Back on land, it was time to prepare dinner. And from our dinner table set out in the cockpit we could watch the others also feed. Ducks and swans were diving down into the water and munching on the algae, terns and gulls were busy fishing, while the tiny fish tried to hide in the shadow of the boat's hull, and on one rock, we saw a seagull and a crow share a meal of fish. It is the first time that I've ever seen this level of co-operation between different species of birds. And certainly with gulls, they rarely share a crumb with even their own kind. Who among us has not witnessed a fight between two hundred gulls to almost the death over a chip? But here were these two buddies sharing a whole dinner.




And while I was speculating about how these islands got their name (in view of the last post about Snake Islands), a stunning sea eagle (havsörn) swooped down from on high and casually plucked a fish out of the water. What a magnificent sight and only metres away from where we were eating our own fish meal. Though I had cheated and bought my herrings from the shop, rather than compete with the eagle.





Now, I ask you, is there anything better than doing the Eagle Rock? Take it away Daddy Cool!