Archipelago Kayaking
Björkvik, Sweden. This is from one of my solo kayaking "day trips" from Stockholm. It takes about 2 hours on public transportation to get to the kayak rental place (including a 20 minute walk from the bus stop to the rental place). The walk is on a little country road - I saw a family picking blueberries along the roadside, something you see a lot of in the Swedish countryside. I saw several unusual waterfowl on this particular kayak trip, including a Skäggdopping (Great Crested Grebe).
Wikipedia says:
Björkvik is a locality situated in the Katrineholm Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden and had 511 inhabitants in 2005. It's a farming community interspersed by forests and lakes, with some larger estates dating back to the 17th century.
This is an enhanced version of this. It's a memory of a wonderful summer in Sweden! Kayaking in the archipelago is great: a blend of nature, boats, people, and geology. It's no wonder why Elin Nordegrin, Tiger Woods' ex-wife, decided to buy a home in the archipelago.
This is where the kayak trip started. Beautiful, yes? About 100 yards from here, I saw an unusual waterfowl but couldn't get close enough for a good picture. This bay is sheltered from the wind but as you kayak around the island in the background (actually, it's not quite an island since there's a narrow strip of land that connects it to the mainland) the wind can be quite strong. I kayaked in wind waves about 2 feet high. Normally, though, the Baltic is quite placid, like a lake.
This is what Wikipedia says about the Stockholm Archipelago:
The archipelago extends from Stockholm roughly 60 kilometers to the east. In a north-south direction, it mainly follows the coastline of the provinces Södermanland and Uppland, reaching roughly from Öja island, south of Nynäshamn to Väddö north of Norrtälje. It is separated from Åland by a stretch of water named South Kvarken. A separate group of islands lies further north, near the town of Öregrund. There are approximately 30,000 islands and islets.[1] Some of its more well known islands are Dalarö, Finnhamn, Grinda, Husarö, Ingarö, Isö, Ljusterö, Möja, Nämdö, Rödlöga, Tynningö, Utö, Svartsö and Värmdö.
The biggest towns of the archipelago, apart from Stockholm, are Gustavsberg (famous for ceramics and porcelains) and Vaxholm. The village of Ytterby, famous among chemists for naming no fewer than four chemical elements (erbium, terbium, ytterbium and yttrium), is situated on Resarö in the Stockholm Archipelago.
The shipping routes from the Baltic to Stockholm pass through the archipelago. There are three main entrances suitable for deep-draught craft, namely, those near Landsort, Sandhamn, and Söderarm.
Cruising between the small islands through the Stockholm Archipelago to either Åland or Helsinki in Finland is an experience. Weather allowing, the experience can be enhanced by enjoying a spectacular sunset from the deck that during summer months lasts until 10:30 - 11:00 o’clock at night.
When I lived in Stockholm I created a blog. Please visit it for more insights. It's called D &J's Marvelous Sweden Adventure.
Good information on the archipelago is here.
A sampler of my archipelago photos are here.
Archipelago Kayaking
Björkvik, Sweden. This is from one of my solo kayaking "day trips" from Stockholm. It takes about 2 hours on public transportation to get to the kayak rental place (including a 20 minute walk from the bus stop to the rental place). The walk is on a little country road - I saw a family picking blueberries along the roadside, something you see a lot of in the Swedish countryside. I saw several unusual waterfowl on this particular kayak trip, including a Skäggdopping (Great Crested Grebe).
Wikipedia says:
Björkvik is a locality situated in the Katrineholm Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden and had 511 inhabitants in 2005. It's a farming community interspersed by forests and lakes, with some larger estates dating back to the 17th century.
This is an enhanced version of this. It's a memory of a wonderful summer in Sweden! Kayaking in the archipelago is great: a blend of nature, boats, people, and geology. It's no wonder why Elin Nordegrin, Tiger Woods' ex-wife, decided to buy a home in the archipelago.
This is where the kayak trip started. Beautiful, yes? About 100 yards from here, I saw an unusual waterfowl but couldn't get close enough for a good picture. This bay is sheltered from the wind but as you kayak around the island in the background (actually, it's not quite an island since there's a narrow strip of land that connects it to the mainland) the wind can be quite strong. I kayaked in wind waves about 2 feet high. Normally, though, the Baltic is quite placid, like a lake.
This is what Wikipedia says about the Stockholm Archipelago:
The archipelago extends from Stockholm roughly 60 kilometers to the east. In a north-south direction, it mainly follows the coastline of the provinces Södermanland and Uppland, reaching roughly from Öja island, south of Nynäshamn to Väddö north of Norrtälje. It is separated from Åland by a stretch of water named South Kvarken. A separate group of islands lies further north, near the town of Öregrund. There are approximately 30,000 islands and islets.[1] Some of its more well known islands are Dalarö, Finnhamn, Grinda, Husarö, Ingarö, Isö, Ljusterö, Möja, Nämdö, Rödlöga, Tynningö, Utö, Svartsö and Värmdö.
The biggest towns of the archipelago, apart from Stockholm, are Gustavsberg (famous for ceramics and porcelains) and Vaxholm. The village of Ytterby, famous among chemists for naming no fewer than four chemical elements (erbium, terbium, ytterbium and yttrium), is situated on Resarö in the Stockholm Archipelago.
The shipping routes from the Baltic to Stockholm pass through the archipelago. There are three main entrances suitable for deep-draught craft, namely, those near Landsort, Sandhamn, and Söderarm.
Cruising between the small islands through the Stockholm Archipelago to either Åland or Helsinki in Finland is an experience. Weather allowing, the experience can be enhanced by enjoying a spectacular sunset from the deck that during summer months lasts until 10:30 - 11:00 o’clock at night.
When I lived in Stockholm I created a blog. Please visit it for more insights. It's called D &J's Marvelous Sweden Adventure.
Good information on the archipelago is here.
A sampler of my archipelago photos are here.