Before the stolen purse incident we had booked for an 11-hour cruise of the Archipelago — 35,000 rocky, tree-covered islands between Stockholm and the open Baltic. So on Sunday morning we took a cab to the Nybroplan berth of the 100-year-old Waxholm III.
When everyone was aboard, it was announced that that the route had to be changed, with the most picturesque stretch eliminated, because the high-pressure system of the past few days that has caused unusually high temperatures has also lowered the water level by 21 cm (about 7 in). Passengers were advised that they could debark and reschedule for another day, but that conditions were not likely to improve.
As the boat headed out, we noted the Stockholm skyline, the variety of apartment blocks along the shore, and the Carl Milles "God on a Rainbow" sculpture.
As we got among the islands we saw that many, in fact every one large enough to support trees and water, had summer houses. Most were modest, but some were fancy.
The strongest impression was of the vast number and variety of pleasure boats that streamed past. It seemed every boat owner in Stockholm was out this Sunday.
We passed a narrow channel spanned by a nice bridge.
Soon after, the weather began to change.
There was a bit of lightning and thunder, and some rain. We learned later that the same storm back in Stockholm was causing sudden floods, and made wind gusts that broke many tree branches. We would see evidence of this next day.
At our first stop, the island of Namdö, those who got off, got wet.
We stayed put on the boat. It was now damp and felt chilly for the first time in days. The boat crew distributed blankies!
A couple of hours later at our next stop, the nature preserve of Bullerö, the rain had cleared and we trooped ashore with the rest.
In this stony environment with long harsh winters we noted a prostrate juniper and some pretty heather.
The final stop was the island of Sandhamn, which is a very popular resort village. Its harbor featured pilot boats (and we can well imagine a need for pilots to bring big ships through these channels) and a police boat. We took a picture of our ship.
That was about it; the boat sailed on back to Stockholm past many islands, all of which started to look pretty much alike. As we approached Stockholm around 20:00 hours, David saw this jet-ski rider approaching and almost got the perfect shot.
Missed a prize-winner by milliseconds...
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