Practical_Boat_Owner_-_November_2015_

and stocked up whenever we

were able to do so. Meals were

cooked from fresh ingredients

where possible, choosing

vegetables which lasted well

without refrigeration. We were

lucky enough to catch some fi sh

too, which added extra variety to

our diet.

In season, some islands have

small shops, and we found one or

two with supermarkets easily

accessible from the boat. We were

surprised, however, to fi nd many

places closed after the second

week in August, when their season

quickly winds down. The Baltic

islands have a short season:

you will fi nd shops in the

archipelago open from

May until early

August.

We have no

fridge aboard

Aurora as we

deemed this too

power-hungry:

we do have a

really good

coolbox, though,

which we stocked

periodically when we had

access to shops. We tended to

modify our diet so that we ate less

food which required refrigeration.

Our small boat does not have a

large water tank, and availability of

fresh water was a consideration.

We washed both ourselves and

the dishes in seawater (much less

T

he Stockholm

archipelago is part of

the largest archipelago

in the world and we restricted

ourselves to exploring a small

section of the central area. The

islands are formed in small

clusters and each island

group (skärgård) has its own

character: the following is a

fl avour of what we found.

Ångskär

Ångskär is higher than

many other islands in the

Stockholm archipelago, and

its undulating shape has allowed

more soil to accumulate and

lush vegetation to grow, including

deciduous woods. It’s well

worth climbing to the highest

point to look out over this

lovely scenery.

Islands visited

Kallskärs

The natural harbour at

Kallskärs is one of the most

beautiful we saw. It has the air

of a secret place: the approach

towards this smallish island is

through a channel between

rocky outliers. The anchorage

itself is reached by making

a sharp turn into a steep-sided

channel less than 3m deep.

It is an incredibly well-sheltered

place and is popular

with families.

salty than home waters) and

reserved the fresh water for

drinking and cooking only. Many

of the islands have public wells,

which we used to keep our

supplies topped up. Having

removable water containers

made collecting water easier in

these situations.

Most of our meals were cooked

using a thermal cooker (a type of

modern hay box). This comprises

two nesting saucepans and a

well-insulated case. Food is

partially cooked, and then the pan

is safely clipped into the case and

left to fi nish cooking over the next

few hours. This reduced cooking

fuel consumption and also meant

that main meal preparation

was at lunchtime rather

than in the evening,

when there can

be rather less

enthusiasm

for cooking!

I am a fan of fresh

bread and I wanted

to be able to bake

aboard. This too was

cooked in the thermal

cooker: I took pre-weighed

bags of dry ingredients with

me, and the bread was quickly

prepared without kneading. The

sealed bread tin was boiled and

then left overnight. It felt like a real

luxury to wake up to warm fresh

bread in the morning.

Moored bows-to at the marina

in Furusund

The secluded anchorage at Kallskärs

Furusund

A marina with adjacent slipway.

Fuel and water available and a

shop within walking distance.

Högmarsö

The island of Högmarsö is dotted

with many holiday homes

(sommarstugor). There is a guest

harbour with (during the summer

season) a waterside bar, fl oating

restaurant and a supermarket. This

place is very sheltered and has a

great party atmosphere, especially

at weekends.

Stockholm

O

OFurusund

OKallskärs

ONorrpada

Ångskär O

ORödlöga O

Rödlöga

Skärgård

O

Svartlöga

O

Högmarsö

Svenska

Högarna O

0 10 20

NM

Cruising

Under sail at Lönnskär.
INSET The children
enjoyed swimming, fi shing
and exploring islands

The view from the
lighthouse on Storön