27th August 2008
The front came over during the night with a moderate amount of rain. The wind did shift from light north easterly to warm south westerly but was seldom more than 10 knots.
We spent the morning in the Wasa Museum which houses the 300 year old wreck of the Wasa which sank in 30 metres of water on its maiden voyage. The top heavy ship, rigged with extra cannon by Royal Decree, proved unable to withstand a squall which struck just a few metres from her launch and she quickly sank. There she lay, undisturbed, until the 1960’s when she was painstakingly excavated and then salvaged before being towed back to a specially constructed dry dock. The black, anaerobic mud, had perfectly preserved her timbers and she now stands in a purpose built museum building within a few yards of the marina.
Initially we planned to sail back from Stockhholm through the canal system that first runs west from the city to Lake Malaren and then south through the Sodertjale. By early afternoon, however, the sun had come out and the breeze had filled in and the prospect of sailing eastwards seemed rather more temping than motoring through the canals. We left the Wasahamn at 1300 and drifted eastwards at a gentle 3 to 4 knots out of the city. After about an hour we turned south to enter the Baggensstaket which was mercifully almost completely deserted. We passed one yacht coming the other way. At the southerly end the sails came back out and we had a delightful, flat water, reach back to Napoleanviken. As we dropped the sails to motor into the anchorage a sea eagle circled to the south of us before disappearing off into the distance on a fast glide.
This time there were only 3 boats in the anchorage and we anchored in 5 metres in the north east arm of the loch. Arrived 1730.