We have sailed around the Swedish Archipelago and into Stockholm, through some beautiful Fjords, very narrow and winding, made us all breathe in.  The weather has been great, the tans are getting deeper by the day and we are getting more relaxed.

We headed into Stockholm to pick up Lisa, David’s daughter and boyfriend Mark as they are staying for 5 nights and also to celebrate Steve’s 60^th Birthday.  We also had Jim, Rona and Mathew from Rebel arrive and the Chris’s from Britespark who arrived to help in the celebrations, which was a wonderful surprise.

On July 4^th we dressed our boat with flags and a happy birthday signal, went out for a lunch on the river boat and then into the centre of Stockholm for a fusion meal.  5 courses with matching wines, all of which were wonderful and very memorable, then had late night drinks in the Radisson where the Rebels were staying.

On the 6^th July we headed out to Grinda, we had Lisa, Mark and Rebels on board.  We motored the 9 miles along the narrow fjords out of Stockholm to a little island called Grinda, as there was no wind. The marina was full so we anchored in the bay and had lunch at the lovely restaurant on the hill on the veranda.  After lunch we walked to the south of the Island to see where the ferries landed as the Rebels had to go back that evening.  David later ribbed them round to catch the 17.30 ferry back and we stayed the night at anchor and left early next morning to go to a town of Vaxholm.  

Unfortunately the rain set in for the day and we had to moor up against the harbour wall which was a bit sloppy, but did some shopping showed Lisa the “Bogalot” (which is not spelt like this but it was our nickname for the government run alcohol shop which is very like an Argos shop in the UK).  You place your order on a ticket, press for a number, then when your number comes up you go to the checkout and order then wait and pay for your goods.  After this excitement we finished the day by Lisa cooking dinner which was consumed with lots of wine and watching Matchstick Men on DVD.

The following morning we motored again (no wind) back through the narrow fjord to Saltjobaden and had lunch at the marina before walking Lisa and Mark to the train for Stockholm. So a great few days in the city – even though we ain’t really city folk.

Now heading for Sandholm sailing alone and over the next few days we will catch up with Kaikoura and head up to Helsinki and beyond.

Love to you all

Suzie Too’s