Yesterday we left Grännesviken heading north again. As we pulled out, I looked back into the next small bay (Vadviken) and saw this house.



While you can see that it is being renovated and expanded, it is quite an old house built on the seafront. What makes it interesting is that this is where the Swedish artist Jenny Nyström lived during the 1890’s. She is best remembered as the person who painted the lovely Swedish Christmas elves (jultomte) that adorn most Swedish Christmas cards.

Again this hot spell continues and it is bright and sunny with light, constantly changing winds. Another short hop northwards will take us to Arholma, which is the northern gateway to the Stockholm Archipelago. This is a well known island to seafarers and the Arholma beacon, sitting high on a hill is as well loved a symbol as our very own Landsort lighthouse, which graces the southern gateway.

Again, it was very hot out in the light winds, so we sailed with umbrellas up to shade the cockpit (and the very delicate dog), causing several passing boat owners to stare at us as though we were Martians. I don’t know how they can bear being out in the sun for hours without dying of heatstroke. While it is not hot by Australian standards, the direct sun beating down on you gives you a mammoth headache after a short time. So I always wear a brimmed hat, sunnies, a shirt and sit in the shade. What I’d really love to have for both of us is one of those great wide brimmed Aussie cricket hats, sadly unavailable in Sweden, land of crazy sun worshippers).

After several hours of crawling along, we arrived at Arholma’s Österhamn (eastern harbour), which was busy with tiny kids out sailing their small boats. These jolle schools are popular in the summer months and I was amazed that these kids (aged only about 6 or 7) could handle the boats with such skill.



We looked at the harbour area and decided that it was too hectic, with small motor boats arriving constantly, water skiers, the jolle school and sailing boats anchored everywhere. So we nipped around the corner to our own private little cul-de-sac cove, set up the bimini and sat out under our sun shelter, enjoying the passing parade from a short distance away. We had a view of the main route out to Ålands Hav (the sea of Åland) as well and saw that many boats were travelling in both directions.

This morning Lars-Göran took his morning skinny dip but today he had accidentally left on his glasses, so he looked a bit odd swimming around with his head held high like a doppingar (grebe). The more sensible people had a shower onboard instead.



After brekkie, we loaded up the dinghy with two bikes, backpack, dog and us and headed to a small pier so that we could take the chance to ride around on this beautiful island on a beautiful summer’s day. It is incredible that all of this fits into our small inflatable boat, but Lars-Göran is a master packer.

Arholma is 5km long and about 2 kms wide and has a network of good roads to get around on. It is a very old settlement and even appears in the early sailing charts drawn up by the Danish king Valdemar who was here in 1240. As it is the gateway to Stockholm from the north, it was an obvious place for a pilot station and the seamen here became sought after to guide ships safely through the hidden shoals that characterise the waterways around here. So, shipping has been a very big part of the way of life on Arholma, along with hunting, fishing and farming. The farms are still being worked today and we saw people out harvesting on several farms we passed.



Many old timber houses survive and have been restored and looked after by the owners and look great. Pity about the satellite dish, though.



The roads were well levelled and very easy to ride on and the view around us was fabulous with open fields stretching out on one side and leafy glades and beautiful old timber homes on the other side. The shade was particularly welcome.



About a kilometer from the harbour we came across an old windmill set up high on a hill (Kvarnberget). This is more of a Swedish style windmill rather than the Dutch style one we saw at Utö. There used to be literally thousands of these dotted along the length of the country, but most of them fell into disrepair and were dismantled with very few examples now remaining. This one is not in working order, but is still a reminder of former times as well as providing a meeting place for the local seagull population.



Just near the windmill was the charming little church, built on the same high hill. The church is a timber structure, painted stark white and really stands out against the brilliant blue sky.



According to the sign outside, it dates from the 1920´s. The actual building is much older, though. It was originally a chapel in Kungsholmen in Stockholm and was dismantled, transported here and rebuilt. Inside the church, it was cool with a welcome sea breeze wafting in through the open windows. It was decorated with sea themes, as befitting a coastal community and the altar and paintings on the walls are the work of Harald Lindberg (1901-1976), who was a well-known local artist.



Another kilometer or so down the road was the pathway up to Arholma beacon. We left our bikes at the foot of the hill and climbed up the steep track to the top. The surroundings here are a real contrast to where we had just been. It was like being in a leafy rainforest, with a canopy of established trees shading a glade filled with bright green, cool ferns.



At the top, standing out on the bare rocks is Arholma Båken, which was built between 1764 and 1768. It stands 16m high, is 8m wide and is made of solid stone, said to come from the ruins of nearby Lidö Castle which was burned down by the Russians in 1719 (a familiar theme in these parts).



The light can be seen 15NM out to sea and is the first glimpse of the Swedish coast for those travelling to Stockholm from the Åland islands. The view north eastwards shows the open sea



and southwards, the inner and more protected route between the islands towards the Stockholm Archipelago.



Down at the base, you can still see the remains of the old fishing huts that used to line the shores. This one is now overgrown and looks abandoned.



We then rode on to the western harbour and saw their amazing midsummer pole. I have no idea why it is so ornately constructed or the significance of the design, but it is truly unique.



The western harbour is charming, with a ferry pier, a small guest pier, shop and café. People here are very friendly and relaxed which is reflected in the casual pace of island life, even in the “busy” part of the island.



Riding back along the roads towards the east harbour we saw many old style barns and earth cellars out in the fields.



And in the harbour, there were a lot of old, unpainted boat houses that used to be at water level, containing rowing boats when they were built a few centuries ago, but because of rising land levels (50cm or so a century), they are now left high and dry.



This is the northern limit of our paper charts and we are wondering whether to head south again towards the Söderarm Archipelago or to solely use our electronic charts combined with a small scale paper overview to continue a little way northwards. I guess tomorrow’s forecast will answer that for us.