Wednesday, June 15th: The day dawned bright and clear for our jaunt down to Orno, and after casting off and motoring out into the main channel we had hoped to raise the sails. But with the wind on the nose and a long journey ahead we elected to motor until lunch time, when we took a slight detour to the tiny hideaway of Napoleonsviking, located about 5nm from the harbor at Saltsjobaden.
This little bay was recommended to us both by Rodger back in Stockholm and Bengt, the endlessly helpful harbor master at Saltsjobaden, and though we didn’t plan to spend the night, I was eager to practice my mooring skills, which in this part of the world involve dropping a stern anchor and motoring slowly towards the granite rocks, which rise so steeply off the sea floor you can bring the bow close enough to step right off without worrying about scraping your gel coat. As a novice both with this technique AND the boat I had a few nervous moments with Richard at the bow yelling back directions, but at the third attempt we got it, Richard stepped off without incident and we secured the boat via a couple of bow ropes around two nearby fir trees. I tightened up the anchor line, which led aft off a nifty webbing reel, and we were snugly secured and able to explore the island, a delightful little place, although we were careful to keep a weather eye out for ticks, which can carry TBE, (tick borne encephalopathy), a nasty little germ which can lead to permanent brain damage. Noted, doctor.
After the taking the requisite pictures and uploading them in a braggy Facebook post we cast off, motored out of this gorgeous little bay, not without regret, and hoisted sails for an easy beam reach almost to the northern tip of Orno about 6.5nm SSW. As the wind backed (or was that veered?) round to our quarter and died away we raised the mizzen and slopped along at perhaps 2.5 knots until impatience got the best of us and we doused the sails, fired up the iron genny and motored the last hour down the east side of Orno through a couple of very tight passes for about another 6nm, before turning up a creek to the dinky and totally sheltered Kyrkviken guest harbor, which consisted of just two other boats, an outhouse and a ferry dock. The place gets its name from the large church just up the hill which dominates the landscape, and apparently it also boasts a highly-regarded restaurant, but we only discovered that after our departure.
The only fly in the ointment upon arriving was that I had not read the instructions in the pilot guide quite thoroughly enough, (i.e. not at all) and had failed to get my stern anchor ready before heading in. Rather than turn around in tight quarters, we secured the bow with two lines at the dock and I then launched the dinghy to row out the kedge, drop it overboard and secure it from the cockpit winch.
Another idyllic spot (getting boring, I know), but a great place to hunker down, totally sheltered,where we spent a quiet evening drinking Dark and Stormies (Havana Club rum with ginger ale and a squeeze of lime) with Richard again excelling in the confined galley, putting together a tasty grilled chorizo appetizer followed by marinated grilled chicken with green onion and jasmine rice. Really a great end to a lovely sailing day.
