Biskopson and Namdo, in the south-central Stockholm Archipelago, are nature reserves managed by the Archipelago Foundation and are popular boating destinations. The lookout tower on Namdo is a particular draw, with its sweeping views of the area.
From Fjardlang we made two short hops first to Biskopson and then to Namdo, spending one night at each and exploring both by tender. And of course, we walked up to the lookout tower on Namdo to take in the wonderful view.
Below are trip highlights from April 21st and 22nd on Biskopson and Namdo in Sweden. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps
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Sunrise
Position: 59°3.62’N, 18°31.83’E
We’ve seen a lot of beautiful sunrises here in Sweden, but are far from reaching our fill.
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ERROR: 234
Position: 59°4.04’N, 18°34.02’E
Over the last two days, our satellite system has started to produce ERROR 234 and ERROR 235 messages. We noticed that a new firmware load was downloaded three days ago so hopefully the problem is there and can be fixed without hardware changes. We’ll work with KVH support to get the issue resolved.
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Low Salinity
Position: 59°5.02’N, 18°37.61’E
We’re making water and the total dissolved solids of the product water is only 36 ppm. Normally water makers will produce in the 200 to 350 ppm range but the Baltic Sea salinity is so low that the product water is almost 10x lower total dissolved solids than water made from normal sea water.
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Skerries
Position: 59°6.02’N, 18°42.84’E
A few of the roughly 24,000 islands and islets that make up the Stockholm Archipelago.
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Light Remote Control
Position: 59°5.81’N, 18°43.50’E
On the left is the IR remote control for the LED Wholesalers Strip Lights we have installed in the salon. In the middle is the Harmony Hub Android Application and to the right is the Harmony Hub Smart Remote.
Here James is configuring the Harmony Hub remote control we use in the salon to be able to control the LED Strip Lights. Normally adding a new device is a quick process but it’s slightly more complicated because the LED Strip Lights and the Pioneer Receiver both use some of the same IR codes. Volume down causes the strip lights to flash :-). We worked around the problem by using to IR transmitters and only sending the IR codes to the transmitter visible to the device under control. Generally, Harmony is a simple system that is easy to configure, but it’s also remarkably flexible, reliable, and inexpensive. |
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Navigating
Position: 59°6.23’N, 18°42.73’E
The Swedish Archipelago is amazingly complex, with hundreds of rocks lurking just below the surface—we’ve hit bottom in the tender more this week than the entire summer in Norway. We’re normally pretty good at spotting shallows in the tender, and so avoid them even though we don’t reference charts.
But that really doesn’t work around here—rocks are everywhere and sixty feet becomes one the length of the boat. Fortunately the charts are quite accurate, so we are starting to navigate using the Navionics app when out in the tender, and are looking at ways we can mount the phone conveniently behind the windscreen. |
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Impression 384
Position: 59°6.34’N, 18°43.49’E
A Slovenian-produced Elan Impression 384 bow-tied into a cove on the northwest shore of Biskopson. The Impression 384 is a nice-looking boat, with a bright and modern interior.
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Line Bag
Position: 59°6.34’N, 18°43.49’E
The boat bow-tied to shore had two lines out, with convenient carry bags for each to stow and feed out the line.
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Shoreline
Position: 59°6.45’N, 18°43.87’E
Scenic shoreline along the north side of Biskopson.
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Camouflaged Boat
Position: 59°12.03’N, 18°45.69’E
This military-looking boat, painted with camouflage colors, was moored against the dock at Idoborg. We couldn’t see any signs indicating the land was military, so we wondered why it would be there.
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Supplies
Position: 59°12.21’N, 18°45.48’E
Firewood and other supplies delivered to the dock at Idoborg.
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Namdo
Position: 59°12.61’N, 18°44.20’E
Dock on the northeast end of Namdo, with an observation tower visible on the left. Our plan is to climb it once we are moored.
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Powerwash
Position: 59°12.41’N, 18°42.72’E
The boat has gotten a little dirty over the past few weeks, so James gave it a quick power wash.
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Deer
Position: 59°12.44’N, 18°44.41’E
Deer in a field on Namdo.
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Incline Elevator
Position: 59°12.42’N, 18°44.65’E
We walked on a track to where we expected the lookout tower to be, but ended up below a group of houses with an incline elevator to hoist goods up the hill. We probably could have passed through their yards to reach the tower, but decided to find another way.
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Trail
Position: 59°12.52’N, 18°44.43’E
We found a marked trail to the tower right where we landed the tender.
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Lookout Tower
Position: 59°12.49’N, 18°44.57’E
Lookout tower standing on a 42m hill on Namdo. Lookout towers and signalling devices to warn of danger have been situated here for centuries.
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View from Tower
Position: 59°12.50’N, 18°44.57’E
The spectacular view from the top of the lookout tower on Namdo (click to view larger image).
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House
Position: 59°11.95’N, 18°44.65’E
Beautiful house along the east shore of Namdo.
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Solvik
Position: 59°11.07’N, 18°42.04’E
Solvik is the main town on Namdo, where the ferry lands.
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Anchorage
Position: 59°12.25’N, 18°42.77’E
Our anchorage on Namdo. We initially were planning to anchor closer to the head of the bay, but two boats already were there, so we anchored to the north. After touring the area, this actually seemed like a better spot, with the higher shoreline as a backdrop.
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Dusk
Position: 59°12.40’N, 18°42.71’E
Dusk looking northwest from the anchorage on Namdo.
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Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.
On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps. |
Beautiful cruising grounds. Great photos and descriptions.
Interested to read about areas controlled by Swedish Navy and off-limits for photography plus Navy vessels sighted here and there. I’m in the middle of reading so-so thriller with some action taking place in Visby. The book suggests Visby and surrounding isles are key strategic naval choke points sites controlling the Baltic. The books posits that there is considerable unease in the region due to continuing Soviet interest in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Still amazed at your tolerance for cold weather! Love the blog.
There is a remarkable amount of Naval activity in the area. yesterday, we passed 5 NATO Naval ships (we could see Turkish and US flags) and helicopter operations. Lots of activity and, as you point out, this is true going back 100s of years. It has always been strategic area.