Wednesday 18 – Tuesday 24 July
At the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, the section of the Baltic Sea that separates Sweden from Finland and stretches right up North towards the Arctic Circle, lies a cluster of islands, of which the largest, Åland, gives this archipelago its name. The Islands have their own distinctive flag, and are autonomous in such matters as the postal service, vehicle registration, health and education. They belong nominally to Finland, but Swedish is the dominant language (as it is in much of Western Finland).
The ‘border’ between the Finnish Archipelago and the Ålands is the Kihti, or Skiftet, a channel that meanders somewhat in a roughly North-South direction. However, it is noticeable how suddenly the scenery changes: the Finnish islands are relatively bleak, with smaller pine trees, larger expanses of bare granite, and sparse population, while in the Ålands, trees grow taller and include birch and other deciduous species, often under-carpeted by coarse grass and low-growing scrubby bilberry bushes. Because it has been very hot and dry all summer, much ‘greenery’ is struggling to survive, resulting in early displays of stunning Autumn colours. It is somehow a softer land (sea) scape.
It is also extremely popular, as the Summer holidays are now in full swing, and the main routes are very busy with every size and type of yacht, and the ubiquitous motor boats, which tear around in all and unpredictable directions, tossing the rest of us around mercilessly in their wake. A particular sport seems to be to charge through narrow gaps between a pair of yachts – two for the price of one, I guess – double the fun.
Our first stop was Jurmo, a little West of Kustavi, where we managed to pick up a stern buoy and tie up bows to the high quay without too much drama and with help from those already in. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of local specialities on a comfortably shaded terrace, and walked it off gently on a short stroll into the hinterland.
The following day our departure was less straightforward: our friends on Olles Wonder came into the harbour looking for a berth, and although my crew hadn’t made our usual preparations, we dropped everything and slid out to let them have our slot. We probably would have got away with it, except that the gennaker furler had been loosened to allow them to step off the bow without tripping over it, so it started to unfurl around Mate’s ears as she was trying to collect and stow lines and fenders. This is a huge, lightweight sail that has a mind of its own at the best of times, and obviously thought it was time to come out and play. Olles Wonder later told us they were very impressed that we’d “sailed out of our berth”… but I think they were just being kind, judging by the twinkle in her Skipper’s eye.
It was one of those days, as it then took us five attempts to settle the anchor firmly for the night, off Lökholm.
On Friday we pottered a mere 12M, motorsailing with just the genoa in a pleasant Northerly breeze. A little after lunch we came alongside the shiny new high pine quay in Lappo, to find Olles Wonder just the other side. We enjoyed their company once again over afternoon tea, before departing, fee free, to a cosy anchorage just around the corner in Halsviken.
Saturday brought another pleasant Nor’westerly, which we enjoyed under a genoa reach, alternating with goosewinging both foresails and reaching speeds of 6+ knots. That night proved to be one of our favourite anchorages, Söderön, and even though we had to share it with half a dozen other yachts, one was a potential recruit to the Alu Club – only the third such yacht we’ve seen here.
It was such a pretty place, we stayed put for a lazy Sunday. On Monday it was time to seek civilisation once again, and we gambled our centreboard depth along a channel marked as extremely channel – following any number of yachts with much greater draft than ours. In the end, we were never in less than 2.8 metres of water, and enjoyed spectacular scenery. We were able to sail across a wide open rocky ‘lake’, before taking a second channel, with the genoa providing varying levels of help, into Lumpern Lake. Here we flew across the stretch of open water under full sails, enjoying a warm, sunny afternoon.
At teatime we doused the sails and started the engine, as we approached the channel into Lemstrom’s Canal. We hovered briefly to await the 1800 opening of the bridge across the canal, then ticking off the marks until we reached Mariehamn East Harbour. We did an excellent impression of Bumbling Brits as it took us two attempts to pick up the stern buoy, low in the water as a Finnish yacht was already secured on its top-ring, and in a not inconsiderable crosswind, and we eventually came to rest bows-to the pontoon – a long step down from our dolphin.
Tuesday was spent taking on water, filling up the fridge and dealing with four loads of laundry, before we escaped gratefully – enough of civilisation, already – to anchor in Kapellinken Bay on Söderby, within sight of and just two miles South of Mariehamn. All on our own again…once the four motorboats had all beat a speedy retreat homewards.