Nynashamn lies on the Swedish mainland at the southern end of the Stockholm Archipelago and is a gateway to the renowned cruising ground. The huge guest harbour there can accommodate over 300 boats and is packed in the summer, but in early April we shared the dock with only a few other boats.
Adjacent to the guest harbour is a major ferry terminal for Stockholm, with ships arriving regularly from Poland, Latvia and the island of Gotland. With clear, but cold weather, we spent an enjoyable two days in Nynashamn exploring the area on foot, topping off our water, gasoline, and food supplies, and watching the big ferries come and go.
Below are trip highlights from April 11th and 12th in Nynashamn, 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
4/11/2019
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Krokskar
Position: 58°47.39’N, 17°50.38’E
Passing the village of Krokskar en route from Stendorren Nature Reserve to the city of Nynashamn.
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Nynas Havsbad
Position: 58°53.23’N, 17°56.87’E
The Nynas Havsbad hotel, overlooking the sea just outside Nynashamn center.
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Approaching Nynashamn
Position: 58°53.32’N, 17°56.99’E
Running the channel towards Nynashamn, with the old water tower prominent on the hill to our left.
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Visby
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
The Destination Gotland ferry Visby was arriving into port as we were. We’re booked to take that boat in two day’s time.
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Nynashamn Guest Harbour
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
Moored at Nynashamn Guest Harbour with the ferry Visby visible in the distance. The marina does have 16- and 32-amp services, but taking two 10-amps made it easier for them to arrange a berth for us, so we went with that. The dual shore-power system is really working out well, particularly in Sweden.
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Waste Oil
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
Dumping our waste oil at the disposal facility in Nynashamn Guest Harbour. We’ve built up a couple of pails since dumping our oil in Cuxhaven last fall.
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Nova Star
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
Polferries’ Nova Star arriving into Nynashamn after an overnight 18-hour run from Gdansk, Poland. We love being near a ferry dock and watching the ships come and go. Nynashamn is a ferry terminal for Stockholm, and it’s a busy one, even in the off-season.
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Kroken
Position: 58°54.02’N, 17°57.11’E
A delicious lunch at Kroken overlooking the harbour, with locally-brewed craft beer from Nynashamns Angbryggeri.
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Train Station
Position: 58°54.07’N, 17°57.07’E
Trains at Nynashamn station. This is the southernmost tip of the Stockholm commuter rail system.
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Commuter Rail
Position: 58°54.08’N, 17°57.07’E
Station map of the Stockholm commuter rail system. We’re in Nynashamn at the bottom right, with Stockholm at the center.
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Church of Nynashamn
Position: 58°54.15’N, 17°57.03’E
The Church of Nynashamn’s elegant interior. The church was consecrated in 1930, built entirely from locally-raised funds. We had an enjoyable conversation with Andreas Sjogren, the church’s information officer and youth leader, who described the history of the church and their upcoming Easter festivities.
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Nynashamn Harbour
Position: 58°54.15’N, 17°57.05’E
The view to Nynashamn Harbour from the Church of Nynashamn grounds.
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Centralgatan
Position: 58°54.23’N, 17°56.79’E
Looking southeast down Centralgatan through downtown Nynashamn towards the Church of Nynashamn.
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Lovlund
Position: 58°54.41’N, 17°57.19’E
The cottage Lovlund dates from the beginning of 19th century.
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Ferries to Poland
Position: 58°54.42’N, 17°57.29’E
Poland is 300 miles from Nynashamn, but is well-served by ferries.
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Scania Trucks
Position: 58°54.42’N, 17°57.33’E
The Scania truck plant is nearby and here a group of new trucks is waiting shipment by ferry.
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Stena Line
Position: 58°54.28’N, 17°57.36’E
Map showing Stena Line routes in the Nynashamn ferry terminal. We’ve been to a lot of the places where Stena Line operates, and have seen many of their ships underway or at the dock.
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Summer Kiosks
Position: 58°54.06’N, 17°57.13’E
Walking past summer kiosks at the Nynashamn harbour, still closed up for the winter.
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Snow
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
The temperature is right around freezing and a light snow has been falling for the past hour. We love it.
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Defrosting
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
The reverse cycle heating often stops working in water temperatures in the mid- to high-40F range but, once they get started, they usually keep running. We can just use the diesel furnace but a trick James sometimes uses to start an HVAC unit inoperative due to low water temperature is to warm the air around the thermostat. This will turn on the air conditioning and thaw the compressor and then it’ll cycle back to heat. Essentially this few seconds of warm air is just enough to force a quick run of air conditioning. About 60 seconds later it’ll return to heat. When the water temperature is in the mid to upper 40F range, this works surprisingly well. When the water temps get down closer to 40F the reverse cycle system is ineffective and we just use the diesel furnace.
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Lantz Transport
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
We’re Scania truck fans and so stopped to talk to the driver of this very nicely equipped transport truck hauling lumber in 20ft containers. This truck carries 3 containers and can self load and unload using a simple but fairly innovative approach. When the trailer is disconnected, the tractor can unload the container it’s carrying by tilting up the container and slowly lowering it to the ground. Once that container is down and disconnected, the tractor can back up to it’s trailer, hook the cable to the next container, and pull that container over to the tractor. Then it can be put down on the ground using the same process used to unload the first container. The third container is handled the same way and loading is the same process in reverse.
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Rail Network
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
Station map of the entire Stockholm rail system, with the commuter rail system shown in pink and lime. The others are the Metro (underground), trams, and light rail. We are in Nynashamn at the bottom right and Stockholm is at center.
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Asian House
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
A delicious dinner at Asian House just up from the marina.
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Ferry Traffic
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
Cars boarding the ferry to Visby the island of Gotland. The run is popular, with 1-2 sailings a day in the winter and up to 6 a day in July.
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Evening Lights
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
The ferry dock, with two ships in port, lit up wonderfully in the dusk sky.
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Flare-Off
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
Flare-off at the Nynashamn Oil Refinery north of the main harbour.
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Beacon
Position: 58°54.01’N, 17°57.32’E
The Church of Nynashamn was built on a hill overlooking the water, replacing a beacon, with the idea that the church itself would become a beacon. It worked.
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4/12/2019
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Freshwater
Position: 58°54.04’N, 17°57.23’E
Freshwater won’t be available on the marina pontoons until May, so we moved up to the foot of the dock to fill our freshwater tanks. The hose connection is somewhat permanently installed to the faucet and the other end was fitted with an commercial coupling that we don’t have (pictured). So we removed the coupling from the hose and temporarily installed a Gardena fitting to connect to our on-board hoses. When our tanks were full, we re-installed the commercial coupling.
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Gasoline
Position: 58°54.06’N, 17°57.25’E
After filling out water tanks, we moved over to the fuel dock to fill our two portable 29-gallon (110L) gasoline deck tanks. The gas tanks were last filled in Haugesund, Norway in September of last year.
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Groceries
Position: 58°54.22’N, 17°56.78’E
Picking up some fresh produce and a few other items at the local Co-Op grocery store. We haven’t shopped since leaving Amsterdam and didn’t have a big need for anything, but took the opportunity to top up our supplies.
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Ferries
Position: 58°54.02’N, 17°57.32’E
A Destination Gotland ferry coming onto the dock, with a Polferries and a Stena Line ship already there. Nynashamn is amazingly busy considering it’s the off-season. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like in the height of the season.
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Old Water Tower
Position: 58°53.54’N, 17°56.94’E
We took a walk to the nearby island of Trehorningen, connected by bridge to the mainland, to take in the view from the olde water tower.
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View
Position: 58°53.54’N, 17°56.95’E
View looking south from the base of the water tower. We were hoping to climb to the top for a better view, but the tower is closed for the winter. We do miss a few opportunities like this when boating in the off-season, but the lack of crowds more than compensate.
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Nynas Havsbad
Position: 58°53.43’N, 17°56.75’E
The Nynas Havsbad hotel pool and spa complex, built on an islet jutting into the sea. The accommodations are in a separate building, not visible in the picture.
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Church of Nynashamn
Position: 58°53.69’N, 17°56.62’E
The view to Nynashamn with the church prominent above the town.
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Waterfront
Position: 58°53.67’N, 17°56.51’E
Huge waterfront homes are throughout the island of Trehorningen. With Stockholm only a short train ride away, this must be a popular place to live.
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Crow
Position: 58°53.89’N, 17°56.58’E
Handsome crow viewed while we walked back to Nynashamn.
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Barnacle Goose
Position: 58°53.98’N, 17°56.67’E
The park we walked through coming back into Nynashamn was full of Barnacle Geese, and Barnacle goose poop.
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Eight Friends Inn
Position: 58°54.10’N, 17°57.04’E
Enjoying a local micro brew at the cozy Eight Friends Inn in the former Nynashamn train station building.
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Visby
Position: 58°54.02’N, 17°57.32’E
The Destination Gotland ferry Visby returning to port in the evening on its second return trip of the day from Gotland. We’re loving having a view to the ferry traffic.
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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. |
When I have time, I always enjoy following and reading about everything that goes on (good and bad) on a long range cruiser like the Dirona.
Sitting here in Seattle (on Mother’s Day) it is especially fun to read that you have reached (and temporarily left) my home country of Sweden.
I hope on the way back, you do take time to venture all the way in to downtown Stockholm with Dirona. She would be given a prominent mooring – and can even get freshwater if you so prefer by going through the single lock at Hammarby.
I read somewhere that you plan to take Gota Kanal (the canal that is part of the waterway that goes from the East coast across the country and drops you out by Gothenburg) on your way back. Excellent choice. Can be busy, but I know you have done canals in the Britain and have all the skills necessary – and some. Also remember, it is “only” the Gota Kanal part that closes by end of September. Once through the actual “canal” segment (by “Sjotorp”), you still have to cross the Lake Vanern and go down the Gota Alv river (never closes). Saying that in case you feel you are running short of time, and feel you have to reach all the way to Gothenburg (often a misconception).
When in and around Gothenburg (which close to my home town) I might be able to connect you with some salty sailors (former classmates) if you need access to local resources.
Now I just wish I had more time to follow you on a daily basis, but your fantastic blog/web site is a veritable rabbit hole. Sometimes one wonder how you have time for all the very detailed updates, maintaining Dirona – AND enjoying the places you visit.
BTW, the “raven” above is not a a raven but a “Crow”. The Swedish ravens are much bigger and reminds much of the ravens we see here in the Pacific Northwest, whereas the Swedish crows are not at all as majestic as the crows we have here (I refer to our PNW crows as mini-ravens” – they really look very much the same, part from the not insignificant size difference).
Thanks for all the advice. When we return to Sweden, a good part of our next stay will be in downtown Stockholm. We’ll do lots of exploring around there and are looking forward to it. After Stockholm we’ll do a pass through the canals just before the Gota Canal closes. Then we’ll spend the rest of our time in Sweden exploring the area and especially the islands on the Gothenburg side.
Thanks for the update on the Crow. We made that update. If you happen to be in Sweden and near Dirona over the summer, let us know.
Thank you, you will likely hit Seattle (home, or rather for me, Kirkland) before I hit Gothenburg this summer.
So if in town (Seattle), drop me a line (although assume you two will be totally tied up).
Also; keep in mind if running short on time, you only have to hit Sjötorp by September 30th, not the entire distance to Gothenburg (www.gotakanal.se/en/pleasure-boat/practical-info/opening-hours-duration/)
I assume you know, but did not see anyone mentioning it in any comments, but Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden has this amazing “right” called “Allemansrätten” – often referred to as “the right to roam” (name refers to the Swedish
version, but the principles are pretty much the same regardless of country).
For most Americans, where we often put a high value on ownership and privacy, this is a totally unknown concept. That you actually can venture out and across ANY lands (public as well as private) as long as you are on foot or on non-motorized transportation. That you can make fire, that you can collect flowers, fruit and berries, etc. That you can go swimming “anywhere”. You can even camp for one night w/o landowner’s permission, you can make a camp fire (common sense applies), you can tie up for the night or come ashore in your dinghy, etc.
You can essentially venture anywhere, respectfully, as long as you are away from someone’s direct residence (hnece, do not cross the frontyard of a house, common sense say to keep a distance of about 70 meters, but there really is no “firm” distance. Respect is more important than meters.
I’m adding this comment as I saw somewhere you had mentioned that a sailing club “owned the entire island” – which in the US would be a big thing and make it fully “private” – while in Sweden as an example, that island is still accessible for anyone – as long as keeping a respectful distance from the clubhouse or dwellings.
As you have so many international followers, maybe you can promote this official link in a post about it somewhere:
https://visitsweden.com/about-the-right-of-public-access/
As I’ve been living abroad for so many years, and am curious, I have to ask; Are you being forced to pay the horrendous fuel taxes on diesel while in Sweden, or as Dirona is an international vessel from outside the EU, can you fill up tax free?
Thanks for the useful links.
You asked about fuel taxes. Mostly we do have to pay. Our last two fueling stops were tax free. One was Helgoland and the other was the load of fuel we took on in Stavanger when leaving Norway. The previous stop in Tromso Norway was taxed since we were not leaving the country. Our next fueling in Finland or Sweden will be fully taxed as well.