archipelago blues...

Harstena and berries hunters

At last, we take some time to walk with Steffan to the village. The little trail winds among the rocks crowned with velvety moss. As we stroll, we pick up berries. It is peaceful; time has stopped as we reach the picturesque tiny village with its houses neatly kept in a very Nordic manner. Now days, it is home for summer vacationers and retired people. I suddenly see myself spending one winter cozily in one of those little red houses writing and meditating. I guess I suffer a bit from the fast pace we have imposed on ourselves. Although we pass through too fast, we are here at a right moment, when the summer crowd has already deserted the islands. The Stockholm Archipelago is more frequented than the Finnish one which is more isolated and seems almost untouched by human hands. We go to a pound where red lilies grow at the end of the village. Standing on the rocks we can see more islands, further we can guess the Baltic Sea clearly agitated by a strong Northeast wind. And that brings us back to reality. Time presses as the favorable wind is strong. We have to get south as much as we can. We leave Steffan after lunch for another little heaven Magnus had discovered during his previous sailing trips. A family of wild swans crosses the narrow channel in front of us. We keep going deeper in the bay, too far though as we softly touch the muddy bottom. Even with full throttle back, we cannot move. There are no tides here, but Magnus remembers that during a high pressure, water recedes and we clearly see the waterline on the rocks…It is getting dark, we set a stern anchor and decide to wait until tomorrow.