Our position is 57:23.953N 16:38.889E

Distance covered 43.1

We had decided we needed to push on a bit, particularly as bad weather is forecast for the end of the week,  so planned a longer passage for Sunday. We were up early and soon broad reaching up Kalmar Sund. Initially we had a F4 but the wind became very variable – one minute not much and the next F5. Eventually it died away altogether and we were forced first to motor sail and finally take the sails down as they were not contributing anything.

Leaving the marina at Kalmar

Approaching the bridge to Oland – it has 155 spans

This is now a luxury hotel, but originally was the Damman lighthouse. The aerial shot in the pilot shows that the rocks form a crescent and the hotel is almost surrounded by water inside the rocks in the picture.

It was replaced with this

A case of confused identity

Bla Jungren, a unique protected rock island, at one time thought to have been inhabited by trolls or to have been an ocean deity controlling the weather. In the 16^th century witches were believed to go there to consort with the devil and participate in orgies. We  didn’t see trolls or orgies though and the weather was almost too benign.

Our destination was our first anchorage of the trip, in a small natural harbour surrounded by rocks, both in the approaches and the anchorage itself. The only downside was that it was just South of a nuclear power station, which added nothing to the natural beauty of the area. But, as the pilot book said, there are remarkably few options along this stretch of coast.

The Simpevarp nuclear power station

Almost sooner than we expected, we found ourselves negotiating the narrow passages between the rocks to the buoyed channel that provides an inshore route up the coast and from there into the little inlet we had selected for the night. The Swedes like to moor to rocks on the shore and put out a stern anchor, but this natural harbour isn’t suitable for that so we were planning to anchor and hoped we might have the place to ourselves as a result. In any case I was hoping to postpone the rock mooring as long as possible as it is likely to involve jumping from the bow onto an uncertain surface.

The rocks were scarily close to us and the channel

Not quite on our own going into the anchorage

Because there was virtually no wind when we reached the anchorage it didn’t take as long as it sometimes does to find the right spot and we were soon enjoying a nice cup of tea in solitary splendour, with only a fleeting view of the power station. Apparently local people like to come and swim in the waters round the power station as they are appreciably warmer than everywhere else but we weren’t prepared to put this to the test, or to take the risk of ending up glowing!

The anchorage off the island of Iskar