A 38 nautical mile ride through the Trosa archipelago, completely deserted at this time of the year.
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| Aspöfladen, a natural harbour in the Stendörren natural park |
Trosa archipelago is much smaller than the Stockholm archipelago, but it has among the best natural harbours in Sweden...
Öja
We started from
Öja, one of the most beautiful places we know in the Stockholm archipelago. It is accessible from Stockholm all year long through public transport. It is the southern entry/exit point of the Stockholm archipelago. Because of the Covid outbreak, we are not encouraged to travel to the islands, unless in case of "force majeure". The ferry continues its operations, but with only 20 people on board, half of its capacity. When embarking, as on the picture below, passengers are invited to keep a 1.5 metre distance at all points in time.
A very small ferry boat, running several times a day all year long, because Öja is still an important pilot station for cargo ships arriving from the south of Sweden. The ferry can break the ice when running during the winter.
While watching the departing ferry, my attention is attracted to the marks on the rock across the pier, indicating the Baltic sea water levels in 1800 and 1900. Eighty centimetres down for each century, due to
the post glacial rebound.
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| Watermarks in Landsort Österhamn, June 2020 |
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| Landsort mareograph(yellow building) established after Celsius study of Baltic sea level. Picture by Stéphane Lucchini. |
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| Belisama feeling lonely in Öja Norrhamn |
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| Landsort Österhamn |
Aspöfladen
From Öja, we sail west to Aspöfladen, a natural harbour warmly recommended by Gunn and Sabine from La Gagua.
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| A very nice ride under code 0, to Aspöfladen. Picture by Stéphane Lucchini. |
Aspöfladen is a natural harbour located in the Stendörren natural park. The place is protected from all winds, just aside the fairway around Sweden. The entrance is narrow, and the place is quite shallow, but most beautiful. Again, we are the only boat around (picture on top of the page).
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| Belisama, feeling lonely in Aspöfladen... Picture by Stéphane Lucchini. |
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| Fairway, seen from Aspöfladen |
Below is a pilot chart from 1678 indicating the fairway to cruise along the Swedish coast. It was derived from the first pilot book written at the time of the journey of King Valdemar II couple of centuries before.
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| Map of Ringsön from 1678 |
Compared to the map below, representing nowadays the same area, you can clearly see the impact on the landscape of a drop of three to four metres of the water between these two maps.
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| Same map today... |
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| Kid kits to collect shrimps, stendörren natural park |
Hävringe
From Aspöfladen, we decided to head for
Hävringe, one of the island hosting the lighthouses that were once set all over Sweden to guide boats. Hävringe lighthouse has long been abandoned, but the island keeps a real charm.
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| On the way to Hävringe, picture by Stéphane Lucchini |
When approaching the Hävringe harbour, we realise that there is already one boat in the tiny harbour, making it therefore impossible for Belisama to find its way in! So, regretfully, we turned back and headed towards Oxelösund instead... But what a nice place!
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| Hävringe harbour, picture by Stéphane Lucchini |
Oxelösund is a relatively small city, with 11,000 inhabitants. But it is a very important industrial site with multiple factories. It once included
the Femöre fort, a set of big canons and batteries supposed to protect Sweden from invaders from the sea.
Below is a pika place in Gamla Oxelösund. Not overcrowded!
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