Sailing the Swedish Archipelago

Last summer I went sailing around the Swedish Archipelago with a few pals from my university sailing club. The holiday came in the midst of many other busy trips and so I never got to write about it properly. This seems incredibly wrong because it was one of the best holidays I have ever, ever been on.

We started at our friend Andreas’ house. He is Swedish and so he was captain of not just all things sailing but all things holiday. He absolutely made it what it was.

We got the train from Stockholm Arlanda airport to the island of Dalarö, where Andreas’ summer house is. Swedish trains, as you’d imagine, are lovely.

The island of Dalarö

Andreas’ home was a gorgeous yellow, wooden house with two whole sitting rooms, looking out onto the sea. Most sea-front houses in Sweden have one of those olden-day bathing houses where you get changed in a little hut and then climb down through the floor into the sea so as not to reveal your modesty. You certainly don’t want to bathe in that sea for too long though – it is the Baltic after all!

We had a gorgeous summer evening of a barbecue and Pimms with Andreas’ family and then we went for a walk around the island. Oh my gosh it was beautiful, I was so content that evening.

The next day we went out on his speedboat and saw how he lives – it’s so idyllic. He has friends on other islands so he rocks up in his boat to parties. Just imagine.

African Foot: a manual anchor?!

On day three we went to Bullandö Marina to pick up the boat. We ended up calling her ‘African Foot’, named after the Chardonnay we were drinking all week. We were lucky to get the boat to be honest; chartering a yacht in Sweden is different to the Med in that it’s not so much done through companies but private owners. Nobody wanted to loan their pride and joy to a group of British students! I do wonder whether it would have been possible had we not had Andreas and his father on our side.

This was my first sailing holiday without my parents. It was quite amusing getting on the boat: the anchor isn’t automatic? There’s no autopilot? Why aren’t there any speakers? I didn’t realise quite how luxurious the boats we take for family holidays are until this trip. This felt like real sailing.

Sailing in the Stockholm Archipelago

Sailing the Archipelago is also very different to the Med because you have to be constantly on the look out. You have a chart that has all the shallow water and rocks and you have to align yourself with the pointers in the sea. You literally cannot daydream for a second. Due to all the shallow areas and rocks, you don’t want to charter too large-a yacht because obviously, the deeper the boat goes, the more limited you are.

For the same reason, I would advise those going to sail in the Arch to make sure you’ve thought it through. I’m not saying you have to be fantastic sailors but you need to be comfortable handling a boat in difficult maneuvers and have people around you who can respond to orders. You don’t have to be a group of sailors like we were but have people who are going to use their heads.  I have never done moorings before like the ones we did – you go bow-to for a start!

Our first day sailing was in fact with Andreas’ father so that he  could ease us in – thank God! All went smoothly and we moored up to a bay on the island of Lådna for the night. It made me laugh because if you scrape the keel on the floor in the Med, it’s cause to be very upset; however, in the Archipelago it’s the only way of knowing that the water you are in is too shallow. We scraped the bottom on the first try and so had to move around a bit but we got there.

The second day of sailing saw Swedish weather at its most temperamental – from glorious sun to painful hale. We were sailing upwind all day (in fact, nearly all week) which was good fun. We got our tacks up to scratch and eventually moored up for another perfect evening of  swimming, supper, cards and generally hanging out.

Many of these islands are uninhabited or barely inhabited, so it’s best to bring a lot of food supplies on board. We had some pre-made chili concarne and some easy meals, usually involving pasta. Lunch was usually sandwiches or Swedish pea and ham soup (which tastes much better than it looks!), boiled eggs were a Godsend and cinnamon buns featured daily. You would want to do this anyway really on a sailing holiday because you never really know what you’re in for.

The Swedish weather does mean that you will need heavy duty waterproof gear: sailing salopettes and a proper offshore jacket. Offshore boots will also come in useful but if you don’t have space, most of us were in deck shoes and it wasn’t generally an issue. You need warm clothes.

Flying pajamas: midnight moorings

The next day’s sailing was much the same but in worse weather. That evening, on the island of Grinda, we had our first and only ‘flying pajamas’. This is when you have to re-moor in the middle of the night. It was far from ideal and really quite stressful watching poor Mike jumping around, attempting to tie a sturdy knot around a tree without falling into the sea. That mooring was hard enough to navigate in the daylight seeing as both Issy and I managed to fall in (I sadly took my phone  with me too).

Storms and the possibility of ‘flying pajamas’ is a reason to be careful with alcohol; if there’s supposed to be a storm that night it is best to stay relatively sober. I’ve watched my dad maneuver a 50-something foot yacht after a heavy night of wine and Uzo and it was very, very stressful.

Sandhamn: chasing the sunset

The following day was a lovely down-wind sail to Sandahmn, the first proper port we went to. After a fair few days of tranquil, uninhabited moorings it was nice to see a bit of life. Sandhamn is right on the outskirts of the Archipelago before it hits the open sea but it is worth going to to see this little Swedish fishing town. Being peak season and having arrived kind of late, there was no space in the main port so we went to the port opposite and did a flawless mooring. We got a ferry over to Sandhamn and went for a walk, had some (very expensive) drinks and did some shops. We had chili con carne on the boat for dinner and then took our box of African Foot and followed the sunset around the island. With a safe mooring, everybody felt relaxed enough to get really quite drunk.

Buying booze was an interesting one because it is monitored by the government in Sweden so it’s no cheaper to buy it from a supermarket than a bar. We had a few crates of cider, a few of lager and a few boxes of wine. This just about lasted seven thirsty students for the week. Even though it’s not much cheaper to do this, it kind of takes away the guilt. One big spend at the  beginning feels better than constantly shelling out all holiday.

Day seven was a tough sail up wind to Fjärdlång where we moored in another  gorgeous natural bay. We had insane winds, insane rain and some much needed sun. The crazy weather is ok though because it makes you feel like you’ve earned the chill-out in the evening.

Planning the route

At this point I’ll mention the route we took: you have to be willing to adapt. You may have places that you really  want to get to but at the end of the day, in certain weather, certain points of sail can be really unpleasant. Furthermore, some islands are simply not covered and are not safe to moor on during a storm. The nice thing about an archipelago is that there are always plenty of options so as long as you plan ahead, keep an eye on the weather and are not afraid to change your plan. This way, you shouldn’t find yourself stuck.

Utö: cycling and ABBA

Day eight saw a cheeky skinny dip before we left for Utö: beautiful sun, decent wind and a good spot at the marina made it an idyllic day. I cannot recommend Utö enough. We rented bikes and cycled up to a cute little windmill. Utö looks like it’s come straight out of a Wes Anderson film.

After the bike ride, us girls went to the communal showers. Naked communal showers. It was actually quite liberating – it’s a shame Brits are so prudish. Mind you, all the Swedish yummy-mummys had cracking bodies so they can justify strutting around totally nakey.

We started predrinking for our night out, which involved inviting our weird neighbour over. He knew the lay of the land as he lived on his boat full-time. We then went out for dinner, which was a lot of fun and led to us all being really quite tipsy. We went back to the boat for a few drinking games and then headed to a club. Swedish Archipelago nightlife is a lot more live than you’d imagine!.. although it’s also not short of middle aged women looking to catch that evening’s dashing young sailor.

Hangovers and vertigo: handing back the boat

The next day had a slow start with bacon and coffee (and actually locating some of the crew) before a rainy sail back to the marina. I got a mild case of vertigo from falling asleep on a boat drunk, which was a new experience for me. It didn’t fully leave me for weeks!

In the marina, we cleaned the boat as best we could and the next day we did the handover – we got the full deposit back which was a victory. Andreas’ dad came to pick us up and we headed back to Dalarö where we had a chilled evening of pizza and films.

We spent the day in Stockholm before catching our flights home. God knows what we must have looked like after a week on the sea walking around this sophisticated city.

So that was Team African Foot’s adventure in the Swedish Archipelago. It was an utterly incredible holiday and looking over my diary I wrote the words “I don’t know if I will ever have such an amazing holiday again”.

For anyone looking to do some sailing outside of the Med, I cannot recommend the Swedish Arch enough!