This photo is another of the many Swedish islands, quite like Trollholmen
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The
photo on the left is from Uto, but could be from many similar locations.The herd of deer we saw on Ringso is a fairly rare sight, although we saw deer signs on a few other islands
Our favourite in Stockholm is the Vasa museum. The Vasa (or Wasa) was launched in 1628, and was intended to be the most magnificent vessel in Europe. However, the engineering was faulty, so she sank on her maiden voyage, after sailing under a mile.
The hull was raised in the 1960s, and it is now in a specially built museum.
The photo on the left is a 1/10 scale model, painted as the original was.
In addition to the original hull, there is a fascinating range of exhibits of life on board.
Living conditions on board were abominable, and extremely crowded. Men had no bunks or hammocks, but just slept where they could on the decks. Most of the crew were press-ganged, and it was seen as sentence of death to be forced into the navy. Disease and nutritional inadequacies were normal. 150 years later, Captain Cook sailed around the world in three years, with loss of only 4 men.
The
actual hull of he Vasa is blackened with age, and the preserving chemicals
used after she was raised.The photo of Denis and Helen below the enormous bow structure shows how complex construction was.
The ornate starboard quarter shown here was magnificent, but added some of the weight that made the ship top heavy.
Sailing
weather varied, with more good than bad.Watson and Wiz Leslie were with us through the Northern Stockholm Archipelago and on to Finland.
Teh woods on most of the islands are relatively sparse, so hiking through them was generally easy.