OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 117out here is deep blue, and I pause as the boat drifts, silently
bobbing on the surface. It’s just us and the sea. In a month or
two, the weather won’t allow such a far-flung trip.
On Huvudskär, heather, cotton grass, and crowberry grow
in rock crevices. A lighthouse rises over small red cottages—all
closed up tight against the elements. There have been fishermen
and hunters here for more than 700 years, but there are no longer
any permanent residents on this remote rock slab.
I watch gulls soar overhead and let my eyes rest on the unbro-
ken horizon. It’ll soon be time to return to Utö and, eventually,
Stockholm. Until then, the rocky archipelago surrounds me—
a shelter but not a fence, where I can roam far and free.Archipelagoes stretch
the length of Sweden’s
coastline, perfect for
kayakers both novice
and experienced.