Route: Górki Zachodnie – Visby – Fårösund – Sandhamn – Vaxholm – Stockholm– Rastaholm – Mariefried – Skansholmen – Broken – Stegeborg – Fyrudden – Idö – Byxelkrok – Górki Zachodnie
Date: 3-25.07.2021
Miles/hours: 1000 Mm/307 hours
3-07-2021
After many preparations we leave Gdańsk at 1.30pm.
We decide to sail straight to Visby. Wind is 5-10kn so not too strong but from fairly good direction. We admire the sunrises and sunsets.
5-7.07.2021 Visby
Upon entering of the marina we’re required to wait for a pontoon with a port crew which will direct us to out berth. We are allowed to choose one of many that they point out. We decided to moor longside in a berth which we picked earlier on the map. Turned out that the pier is covered in big black tires but we managed to moor safely. Phone number for the marina is +46 498215190 it’s worth calling them up before arrival, especially if the yacht is big, but it’s not compulsory. Port crew catches the mooring lines and ties them up to the agreed bitts. Payment of the marina fee is required after 30 min from mooring and is done via dockspot.com (you need to register an account and give the dimensions of the boat). Lack of payment may incur a fee of 3000SEK. You need to attach the reservation number to the boat in an easily visible place. In the marina there are plenty of stickers for it. The code for the toilets and bathrooms is on the website.
The marina office is open 8am to 8pm.
The code allows access to a disabled toilet and one bathroom with two showers one toilet and two sinks. The rest of the facilities requires a card, which you can buy for 50SEK and keep forever. They sell one card per boat. The card gives access to a washer room, greater number of showers and the bins. If you don’t have the card you need to borrow a card from the marina office to access the bins.
In this port they recycle plastic and metals separately.
You can pick up a tourist map of Visby from the marina office which shows local attractions and a fairly interesting walking tour.
We’re sightseeing Visby using the walking tour from the map. We’re finding ruins of medival buildings and we’re admiring picturesque streets full of flowers and small houses. There’s a small botanical garden and an esplanade which finishes with a tiny city beach and a pier.
7-9.07.2021 Färösund
We leave Visby in the morning and sail on a broad reach. We set the foresails on the opposite sides – it is almost spinnaker.
In the afternoon we reach Farosund between Faro Island and Gotland. There are ferries to Faro Island every 15 min (there are 3 ferries in peak season). The ferry is free – an extension of a road of sorts.
Firstly we try to enter Farosund marina, behind the ferry port, small reservoir where the yachts moor longside around, there is electricity and water. But all berths are takes so we reverse and enter Farosund Fishing Harbour instead – it’s bigger, we moor longside to a quay where you can empty the sewage. All the quays are covered in tires (smaller than in Visby but still black).
You pay the marina fee through dockspot but you can also do it with the marina crew (same price).
Showers, toilets and bins have card access – the card costs 50 SEK per day and you need to return it at the end of the stay.
In the morning the harbour master comes to collect the fee but when he finds out that we’ve already paid he writes it down in a notebook. He lends us a map of Faro and the card for the bins which also works for the toilets and showers.
We take out our yacht bikes and go to the Faro ferry.
There is a bike rental place right next to the ferry on the island. Bike rental for a day costs 150 SEK. The island is pretty, lots of nature reserves, beautiful views and 24 museum “stations” both historical (e.g. old fishing village, old port) and natural – including “rauks” (column-like landforms in the water with interesting shapes, most famous one looks like a dog), beautiful viewpoint. We return in the evening and swim in the port – the water is clear and warm.
The next morning we leave for Sandhamn.
10.07.2021 Sandhamn
We reach Sandhamn at 10am. The marina is fairly big but there aren’t many free berths. We moor longside at windward quay and the waves come straight from the sea (but it was the only place for our yacht).
Here we can pay via dockspot or in the marina office. We choose the latter. We get a reservation number to attach to the boat, a code for the bathrooms and wifi password.
In the afternoon the marina empties a little so we ask if we can re-moor but we’re told not to because all the berths are reserved. In the evening the waves are so string against the yacht that after 10pm we re-moor anyway to the inside of the marina into a berth that hasn’t been taken yet.
This is a club marina but despite its size and poshness we didn’t have a good experience there. Already in the morning they run out of hot water in the showers, there were parties on other yachts till 5am. Generally speaking, the port is expensive, port crew completely unhelpful and useless, I definitely don’t recommend it.
11.07.2021 Vaxholm
Nice port on the way to Stockholm, a popular weekend trip destination from the capital. There is a castle to visit on the neighbouring island (connected by a ferry) but unfortunately we arrive too late and the castle is closed. But there is plenty of free space in the marina – it’s Sunday night already.
We realised that in ports and marinas quays for guests are marked by a blue circular sign with yellow anchor and “Gasthamn” written on them. It’s important particularly for club marinas where all other places are reserved for the residents.
12-13.07.2021 Stockholm
We arrive in Stockholm in around noon. We’re mooring in Vasa marina right next to the Vasa museum on the Djurgarden island. We reserved the berth in advance via dockspot.
In the afternoon we’re sightseeing Skansen (on the same island). It’s the world’s oldest an open-air museum which inspired all the other ones, in this one we can see not only old cottages with the whole interior but an entire town with richer and poorer houses, shops, craftsmen workshops and glassworks – all fully functioning with employees dressed in period clothes who talk about how these places used to work and how life used to look like there.
The next morning we try to visit Vasa museum but there is a massive queue – due to covid restrictions they limit the number of visitors. We decide to explore the city instead. We start with Norrmalm with its promenades, townhouses, Royal Opera House, renovated marketplace Ostermalms saluhall, Kungstradgarden park. Afterwards we pass through the Sergels Square with the famous column, the parliament house and the Royal Palace – it’s a charming walk around Gamlastan and along the coast back to the marina.
We meet a lot of Polish yachts including a fair few friends.
14.07.2021 Rastaholm
We leave Stockholm through a canal – we need to cross 3 suspension bridges and one set of locks.
Firstly, it’s the Danviskborn bridge opened 29 min past every hour or when a bigger ship needs to cross, next one is Hammarybyslussen bridge and locks, the locks are big enough to fit all the yachts that were waiting.
The last suspension bridge is Liljeholmsborn. It’s rarely open but the hight is 14.7m so there is no way we can fit. In the afternoon we reach pretty Rastaholm marina and we moor in a vip berth (as per harbour master’s instructions). We go to the beach for a swim (it turns out to be a pebble beach) and afterwards on a “trip” around the island which takes no more than an hour. The building with the restaurant and club rooms has a very original interior with interesting marine-themed paintings on the ceiling. In the marina there is a lot of well-kept antique wooden yachts, in the evening one more arrives which turns out to be a Polish-Swedish crew – a married couple starting their holidays.
15.07.2021 Mariefred
We leave for Mariefred taking a detour to see the Drottingholm royal summer palace from the water. We can’t moor there but the palace looks amazing from the water.
In the afternoon we reach Mariefred and we manage to visit beautiful Gripsholm castle – former royal residence turned into a museum.
It has well-maintained interiors with a lot of equipment. There are lots of Polish memorabilia. It’s the birthplace of Polish king Zygmunt III Waza.
The main tourist attraction in Mariefred is antique narrow-gauge railway which leaves from an historical train station and is managed by enthusiasts in period clothes.
16.07.2021 Skansholmen
We return to the entrance to Sosertelije canals. We have to cross suspension bridge in the Sosertelje canal. It’s meant to be open on Fridays and weekends every hour but it was not opened at 1pm. Later the bridge operator opened it for a big vessel coming from the other direction and closed it straight away without letting any yachts through. We only managed to cross at 2pm.
Afterwards it’s Sodertalje locks – big but to catch the ropes hanging on the sides of the canal you need a grapnel.
We reach Skansholmen in the afternoon, nice little port with wide Y-booms where we can fit.
You pay for the marina stay in an ice cream shop where you need to give the number of the berth where you’re moored.
17.07.2021 Broken
After a day among picturesque little islands, desert and occupied – with characteristic yellow or red houses, rocks inhabited by cormorants and sea gulls we reach Broken.
Prześliczny port klubowy, przy wejściu trzeba trzymać się prawej strony toru podejściowego (mijając prawą burtą zielone boje). Wprowadza nas obsługa portu. Za postój płaci się wrzucając do skrzynki pieniądze z nazwą jachtu. Wysepka niewielka ale malownicza. Na drugiej stronie wyspy jest sauna z widokiem na morze i na zachód słońca, niestety z powodu covid jest nieczynna.
Very pretty club port, you need to keep to the right of the approach track at the entrance (pass the green buoys with the starboard). The port crew helped up get in. You pay for the stay by putting money and the nape of the boat into a box. The island is small but picturesque. On the ither side of the island there is a sauna with a sea view and the sunset but unfortunately due to covid it’s closed.
After the island tour we swim in the sea – water temperature is 25oC. There are fairly big fish in the water.
18.07.2021 Stegeborg
It’s worth visiting the castle ruins in Stegeborg (open until 9pm), nicely lit up in the evening and with the view of the entrance to the Gota Canal.
We didn’t have time to visit the cathedral.
19.07.2021 Fyrudden
We moor in the Y-boms in the marina– this time they aren’t too narrow, you pay for the marina in a machine.
The port is packed but nice. We meet Polish-Swedish couple who recommends us which posrts to visit and show us really good seats for the yacht.
20.07.2021 Idö
Beautiful little port in the skerries, it’s worth sightseeing the island – it’s not big, there are a few farms and summer houses. Tourists come to visit a sand beach by boats but the island gets quiet in the evening. You pay for the marina in the port café, you can also buy there bread, ice cream and souvenirs.
21.07.2021 Byxelkrok
We’re leaving the skerries to sail to Byxelkrok on Oland.
It is a port on the north side of Oland – similar to Polish Międzyzdroje – lots of stalls with souvenirs, restaurants and of course tourist. Famous for stunning sunsets and sand beaches.
From Byxelkrok we sail back to Poland. The wind is good 4-5B so we sail with the average speed of 6.8kn. The weather is good. We reach Gdańsk – Górki Zachodnie on the 23.07.2021 in the evening.
24.07.2021 Górki Zachodnie – a day for yacht works and training of the water manoeuvres.
25.07.2021 End of the cruise
We agreed that the first serious cruise was very successful.
“Pluskata” performed excellently while the good weather and cute sightseeing locations meant that we’ll remember Sweden as a great country, very picturesque and friendly for sailors, although among the skerries you couldn’t always travel without the engine on.
We would like to thank our friends from Sweden – Beata and Marek – for their involvement and massive help with the language barrier and different organisational matters. It wouldn’t be as comfortable without you.