Åland bids us farewell with a dreamlike sunrise (see above). Now we are heading across the Åland Sea to Sweden! The wind direction is more favourable than predicted, so we can sail briskly to the island of Arholma in the north-west of Stockholm – on a perfect beam reach and with a second reef in the main sail. We had been woken up in Rödhamn by the annoying bow thruster of a departing large Najad, which we catch up with on the way and – despite the Najad’s unreefed sails – we overtake her easily. Two boats equal one regatta, always!
Arholma. Above: Pilot lookout; below: church, windmill, ancient farm houses.
Arholma’s fertile soils and its seal hunting grounds ensured a certain prosperity since the Middle Ages. In 1719, however, the island was conquered by the Russians, who burned down all the farms. In the age of large sailing ships, it became the island of pilots, who came to meet the clippers in rowing boats (see below). After the First World War, hotels were established that attracted wealthy Stockholmers, who also invariably paid for the building of the church (see above).