Patrik with family left yesterday after breakfast. Hakan set sails after some preparations (and restoring a lot of things that had been moved from their normal places in the starboard aft cabin to allow space for the family).
It was a lovely sunny day with a strong following wind and Sally made good progress north through the archipelago. Lots of islands and markers keeps you busy navigating. The crossing of Braviken was the only part were the autopilot could be left without attention long enough to allow for preparing and eating lunch.
There is a nice bay with a buoys south of Nykoping (Nyköping) for a quiet night. Hakan left early next morning to go to Nykoping to pick up his brother who would sail with him for a week.
Nykoping is at a river mouth. The water level was three meters higher when Nykoping started to develop in the 12th and 13th century and the city was then by the see. Land uplift and silting has now mode the city inland with quite a long dredged (and well-marked) channel leading up to it. We skipped the marina and tied up along the old dock in the river.
There is a lot of history over the centuries. Most well-known is probably the Nyköping Banquet (Nyköpings gästabud), the Christmas celebration 11 December 1317 at Nyköping Castle by King Birger of Sweden. Among the guests were his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric, who later that night were imprisoned and subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle.
The castle still stands proud by the river and I am surprised that my brother suggested this place to meet up as I have heard that there are still keys in the locks to the dungeon… The walk along the river is very nice and takes you to the centre of town where Hakan provisioned for the coming week.