Stockholm lies100 km north of Nyköping. The company requires me to work some days from the office. Usually, I would commute by train, one hour from station to station. This time, I want to try out commuting by boat.

Friday after work we do the first leg of the trip – from Brandholmen to a small harbor on the skerry called Broken. It belongs to Nyköpings Sailing Club. There is always a club crew there and they help with the mooring.

The route on Friday, July 8th 2022

We need to make a decision how to sail on to Stockolm – the outer route through the Nynäshamn area or the inner one through Södertälje strait. We decided for the second solution, as there will be less miles to sail.

Another decision to make is where to spend the night saturday to sunday – should we go to Trosa, which we already know, but which is quite expensive and more to the side, or should we sail on the unknown waters of Södertälje and look for the harbour somewhere there.

We arrived in Trosa vicinity quite early, so we decided to sail on into Södertälje, so as to have less to sail on Sunday. The strait is a dissapointment. The wind is against us – this was expected. But it also changes direction and force, due to the rich coastline, and this makes tacking difficult. The engin is on the whole time, to push us through narrow passages. Couple of hours of pulling and easing sheets take toll on my patience and I welcome the sight of the Skansholmen harbour.

Complicated sailing on Södertälje.

This is a well equipped and well protected marina that offers many places at acceptable prices. The protection of the harbour is of use in the night when a storm passes over us.

We sail on on Sunday, through the city of Södertälje, it locks and bastule bridges. Using the engine all the time until we leave the strait and reach more open waters of lake Mälaren. There, we turn left and I hope to sail fore the wind in Stockholm’s straits. Instead, the wind dies there completely.

There is quite much traffic in the straits. Passenger ships observe their timetables much more strictly than collision regulations. There is always swell from ships and motorboats passinfg close. The fairway is well marked and scenic, but a rain comes towards the end, so we cannot really enjoy the view of Södermalm and of the Old Town, while we approach the harbour Västerbro.

We were planning to stay in this marine the whole week. I brought back my Mother back to Nyköping (by train) on Monday morning, as it was not comfortable for her to stay longer on the boat.

Wednesday evening we did a small party for my work colleagues.

The idea of living on the boat in Stockholm and commuting to the office daily worked very well. A week in a row is enogh, and my Mother is missing us, so we return to Nyköping. The return trip is without adventures on the known route. The first short leg is, on Friday after work, through Stockholm straits, to marina Rastaholm at the entrance to Mälaren. Thanks to this, we had the wole of Saturday to combat the strait of Södertälje and then to sail on. On Saturday evening, we arrived at island Ringsön. Our pilot book describes a natural hrbour there, where we could just moor to the skerry. The last time we moored directly at a shore was during our charter times in Mazurian lakes many years ago The description was not very detailed, and the shore is quite stony. When we enter the desired bay, swedish crews of boats already moored there show a s an appropriate spot. I drop the anchor from the stern, we come with the bow toards the shore, Agniesza takes the ropes, jumps on shore and ties us to stones and trees.