Chapter 4 - Monsteras to Rano

Monsteras to Tvaggesholmen

Leaving Monsteras

After a night of the mossies which left us bitten & scratchy (& bad tempered!), we did a quick shop for some veggies & then off to the natural harbour of Tvaggesholmen. Anders & Nancy had left early & we followed our German neighbours out into the bay. Chute up with the main this time & with the wind directly astern we had a preventer on the main to stop any unintended gybe. Kept the chute up ok until we approached our anchorage. 
Our sole neighbours in a small motor boat left & we had the place to ourselves. Lovely sunset, peaceful & had a Barbie in the cockpit. These islands are very spectacular with the huge smooth boulders coming down to the water & trees everywhere. The boats get in really close to get the calm water in the lee of the land. The area is also hugely dry with twigs & crunchy dry moss it is amazing they don’t have more forest fires.

Lilla Vistingsö near Marsö Island 

Tvaggesholmen to Marso

Not much wind so motored to start with & then managed to get the kite going (Baltic rig) & made our way to Marso. We are really in the wilds now very remote & quiet. We found our bay & dropped the hook before launching the dinghy to explore. It was blowing hard by now and the chop soon had us getting wet in the dinghy. We found a small gap near to a moored yacht which must have reversed into the narrow space. Looked as if it was his regular mooring so no doubt possible, when you know how. Found a little spot to park the dinghy & wandered over the smooth rocks. We thought there must be civilisation but it was hard to find. The forest was quite thick in parts & we had to pick our way through, I was just about ready to give up when we found the overhead electric cable. Deciding there must be a purpose for such a long wire we followed it through the woods & eventually found a little hamlet. It was a small fishing village of just a few houses randomly scattered about. At the waters edge were some small boats, a few sheds & fishing gear. It seemed completely dead until an old lady appeared from nowhere and started to talk to us. They don’t get many strangers & I think she wondered what we were doing there. Her English was better than our Swedish so we explained and she seemed satisfied as she went back to her cottage. At least I jettisoned the rubbish into one of their bins before she arrived so that was a good job! Followed the cable back to our dinghy & then made another wild & wet ride back to the boat. Supper & turned in.

Marso to Loftahammar

Rain & thunder greeted the morning, first in ages, but it cleared by pm. 

Unmarked hidden dangers lie near the surface!

Loftahammar marina

No wind so motored the short distance to Loftahammar.  

Moored using the magic stick to a stern buoy & bow to the pontoon. Paid our dues & walked in the now glorious sunshine, up to another sleepy town. Pleasant enough but the centre consisted of a garage, café/tourist info (the latter closed) & small supermarket. In other words not much life on a hot afternoon.  

Tvattstugga?
Would you want your Tvatts tugged in a marina!
(Found out latter it's the laundry)

Did some shopping & bought a bargain fly bat – more of that later. F managed to purloin a plastic beer crate for use as a step to get on & off the boat when moored end on. It is blue & very posh!! Back to the boat for dinner & another day wondering how we managed to be so busy all day.
Loftahammar to Kattilo Island

Set off but seemed to be plagued by flies that kept arriving from nowhere. The premonition in making the fly bat purchase was fulfilled as it was put to good effect keeping the population down, F called it kamikaze fly day as they just seemed to settle & wait to be bashed. The cockpit was soon a battle ground of dead bodies. We then set Baltic rig but it wasn’t working properly. On bringing it down found that the snuffer block had disintegrated. No chance of repair & no spare on board so we had to find a chandler. Therefore opted to go to Fyrudden which was a little port with chandler, shop etc. Arrived but the little port was full. It was quite pretty & similar to the sort of place you find in Cornwall. Stone wall on each side with moorings all around & a narrow opening. We shunted around but could only find space by the fuel pump so opted for a short stay. Didn’t need fuel just a block from the chandler & maybe the odd bit of shopping. As usual the chandler had no selection but he did have a free sh*t sucker & Camping Gas as our cylinder had run out. We went & got huge ice creams while we waited for another boat to move, had a good go on the sucker & then left for our next destination feeling pleased we had at least had a good go at unblocking the tank. (I still have to check if it was successful but it certainly seemed to be doing the job). Having left Fyrudden we moved to an anchorage on Kattilo which we had to ourselves. Apart from the cows who joined us next morning. It was a very beautiful setting & again we are totally spoiled by the scenery & weather.

Kattilo to Arkosund

Not much wind so mostly motor sailing. It turned hazy & muggy but still very warm. As we arrived into Arkosund we pass the usual rocky skerries on the way in. There we saw a huge bird circling & diving & being harassed by other birds. It turned out there was a pair of white tailed sea eagles & once in Arkosund we were able to learn all about them & their habitat. Although our book said there was a chandler nothing was to be found so we walked in the sun took some pictures & bought the inevitable ice cream. Arkosund looked a reasonable size on the chart but it turned out to be mainly a camp site with basic amenities. The marina was ok & had good facilities & showers etc but was an odd shape. It was in a series of small bays & had a raised wooden walkway which wound its’ way over the rocks & pools joining it all together. That night one of the restaurants had some live music so F went to investigate. N read book as the singing didn’t inspire. (F soon back it didn’t inspire her either!!).

Arkosund to Nykoping

Left pretty Arkosund looking for the Eagles but they had gone fishing so no joy. The sail to Nykoping was quite tricky but towards our destination an interesting channel through the reeds very reminiscent of the Norfolk Broads. F saw a herd of cows drinking & remarked that one of them had its head in the water for a long time. N said he wasn’t surprised as it was a rock! We approached the town & there was a huge long jetty. It turned out to be an Olympic  rowing course. We moored alongside but it was very shallow & we sat in the mud for the night, very stable. Behind us was a Polish boat who took our lines before they went off to town on what was the last day of their Jolly. It turned very hot & sticky but we persevered & did our shopping at the local supermarket. On the way back F spotted a duck on the side of the river with all her chicks, very amusing to see them all trying to hide in her feathers, see pic. Exhausted back to the boat & didn’t want to explore any further. That night was very disturbed as we had the plipplops from little wavelets slapping on the transom, even the ear plugs didn’t do much good. Also our Polish neighbours had obviously been to the pub & were doing some midnight bathing (or something – we did not join in!).Next day there was much activity on the Polish boat with lots of bags on the jetty & sounds of cleaning from the boat. They all disappeared off to the airport & by early afternoon the next lot had arrived. We in the meantime went off to the chandlers to purchase our snuffer block. I found something which is not quite right but will see how we get on as no other choice. On our way back we visited the infamous castle where in 1290 King Magnus III held a banquet for his brothers, then imprisoned them, threw the key into the river & let them starve to death. Fortunately the remains have now been removed & we viewed the museum & castle ruins. Back to the boat & off down the channel past the now famous Cow rock.

Nykoping to Ostra Sackholmen

Quite breezy today just under engine & Genny. We went to a little bay called Idklubben but a German boat had grabbed the best spot & I didn’t fancy being stuck amongst the rocks which was the only spot to get out of the stiff breeze. Half hour later we were on our way again going to Ostra. It turned out to be a fantastic horse shoe bay open to the North but very sheltered from all other directions. There were plenty of boats already in but they had moored Swedish style up to the rocks so there was plenty of room for us to swing in the middle of the bay. Went ashore for a stroll finding a very huge ant’s nest made of pine needles. We didn’t investigate as N already had experience of ants & they bite. The pilot book said there were dustbin & toilet facilities but once in range we quickly decided not to bother & gave them a miss in favour of more wholesome arrangements on board. Headed back in the dinghy but F decided it was hot so swimming time. I was persuaded this time & had a very refreshing tour of the boat before returning for a well deserved beer. Fixed my snuffer block & hope it all works.

Ostra to Trosa (aka Tosser by F).

An overcast day and not much wind. Made our way through a very winding channel with chalets up close. Passed an attractive krog (restaurant) on a jetty but no time to stop as we want to go to Trosa. The approach was a bit like Nykopping a narrow channel with reeds on the banks, quite pretty until the rain started, which it did with a vengeance. Soon my shorts & jacket were completely soaked so got my oilies out for the first time since leaving the North Sea. We arrived in Trosa to find it completely packed with boats & a swarm of small boats going in to get out of the weather.  The river so shallow we couldn’t get beyond the mouth. After a bit of stooging about we gave up & headed back out about 2 miles until we found a little bay where we dropped the hook & chilled out waiting for the rain to stop. The rain did stop after a couple of hours & as usual the wind faded away at night so our anchorage turned out to be very peaceful & although we had missed seeing the little town we had a much cheaper & better alternative.

Trosa to Nynashamn

Next day was much improved, back to sunshine & steady breeze, loverely. Good sail under Main & Genny so made Nynashamn in excellent time arriving about 3pm. Using magic stick picked up stern buoy, assisted by man from power boat next door & we were soon settled in. New step system (smart beer crate) put into effect which made getting off by the bow much easier. There was a lot of boat & ferry activity which caused a bit of bouncing around but it subsided by evening so not a problem.  Off to do the shopping again & ice cream while we enjoyed the sunshine. The odd thing about this holiday is the complete lack of UK news. My radio won’t pick up Radio 4 or any UK station, we can’t understand Swedish so local stations are no good, the newspapers are unreadable (or even unguessable) & the pictures are unrecognisable as well, so we have absolutely no idea of what is going on outside of our own little world, apart from not winning the World Cup which is probably just as well. It took several days before we even found out who was in the final & that Spain had beaten Holland, never mind.

Nynashamn was another enigma of a stop. The marina was quite large but a bit ramshackle, ferries whizzed in & out & it was a stop off point for a cruise ship. The town had an oil refinery & a few shops but nothing that was exciting (to us anyway). I went for a shower only to be told off for wearing my sandals into the shower area by a local, who must be in the shower police. Duly changed into my shower flipflops & got on with my shower. He then had a go at another Swedish man who was putting on his shoes so I didn’t feel so bad as it was not the ignorant English but the grumpy local that was the problem.

Nynashamn to Alo &  Rano

Weather still fantastic so off to a natural harbour – now in the Stockholm Archipelago. Excellent sail, just the Genny up as distance not far & some tricky bits round the islands. Reached our destination but Alofladen Bay was on a lee shore, deep & the anchor wouldn’t hold in the soft sand. Moved round the corner and found more shelter behind a rock so once satisfied all was holding launched the dinghy to go ashore for lunch at a little Batshaket or island restaurant. Had Gravadlax & a smoked salmon steak with salad. In the sunshine, couple of beers & wines, walk after to help the digestion & another day in paradise. The wind was still strong when we got back so decided to move to other side of the island to get better shelter in Ranohamn. This proved to be a good choice & worth effort as we had a much more settled night in company with a few other yachts.


MAP of chapter 4