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Sailing in and out of the Käggfjärden Fjord, where we bought Alba, required a careful and constant lookout.
Sailing in and out of our home harbour and the adjacent Käggfjärden Fjord requires precise navigation. Although paper charts help plan passages or offer a broad overview while sailing, a chart plotter is crucial to obtain the boat’s current position via GPS. We learned that the hard way. On the second day of sailing Alba, we hit a rock. Initially, the plan was to find some cliffs along the coastline and moor the boat in the Swedish style for the first time: bow facing the cliffs, the anchor on the stern. We were motoring parallel to the coastline, approx. ten meters away from the cliffs while looking for a suitable spot. Suddenly, we bumped into a submerged rock straight on. The long keel slid over the rock, lifting the bow until we were stuck: no back and forth, even on full throttle with the engine. The only way out was to jump up and down at the stern to ‚rock‘ the boat free.
The two crosses mark the rocks. We bumped into one south of the symbols. In the north of Storbosundet is a lovely little bay for Anchoring
Besides paper charts, a chart plotter that displays the boat's current position is crucial for manoeuvring.
Eventually, with the engine in reverse, the bow slid back down from the rock; our jumping had been successful. Fortunately, Alba took only some cosmetic damage. It was probably not her first rock encounter in 49 years. However, the incident left us puzzled about our navigational mistake. We must have underestimated the distance between our position on the chart plotter and the rock symbols on the digital map. Ultimately, we found a calm bay (without rocks), set the anchor, and finally enjoyed dinner. The track on the chart plotter indicated that the anchor worked as it should: a small win for the day. To estimate the depth in the bay, we used a weight at the end of a line. This old-fashioned method, however, is not practical, so we repaired Alba’s 49-year-old depth sounder to at least have some more advanced technology for the next anchorage.
We used a line with a weight to estimate the depth in the bay. The line had a knot after every meter.
The anchor is brought back on board over the railing. As with most boats in Sweden, the anchor is at the stern.
The wind calmed down in the evening. Our first time anchoring with Alba was a smooth experience.
The track on the chart plotter showed that the boat was swinging around the anchor and not dragging it.
The view from Alba’s cockpit across the bay.
The tip of Storbosundet.
The wind calmed down in the evening. Our first time anchoring with Alba was a smooth experience.
From the anchorage, we could observe nature and some wildlife during dawn.
The anchor is brought back on board over the railing. As with most boats in Sweden, the anchor is at the stern.
The weather tested our sailing skills on the first days of sailing as we experienced different winds, from strong gusts to dead calm. The wind in the Fjords can change super fast. When we passed a small straight between two islands, the wind suddenly changed 180 degrees and bloated our genoa in the wrong direction. The boat turned around in seconds and almost forced us to correct the course with the engine. Manoeuvring the narrow passage was difficult. However, we had successful days of sailing since the capricious wind was a good teacher. Slowly we became more confident in sailing and manoeuvring Alba. The scenery along the Fjord was scenic, filled with little sauna huts and thick forests along the coastline. For the coming days, we planned a more extended trip beyond the Fjord to the most southern part of the Stockholm Archipelago.
The scenery around the Fjord is filled with little sauna huts directly at the coastline.
Käggfjärden, followed by Mjörkäfjärden and a long straight of 20 plus nautical miles, which leads to the end of the Stockholm Archipelago.
The home harbour, where we bought Alba, is at the end of the Fjord.
The sunset still illuminated the other side of the bay.