Spirit of Discovery blog
Stockholm
We had quite a breezy sea day enroute from Gothenburg into the Baltic Sea and across to the eastern Swedish Coast. We made it underneath the Oresund Bridge at 4am on Sunday morning – the clearance certainly looks less than what is shown on the chart!!
With winds forecast over 30 knots we were advised to use the Northern Fairway for our arrival into Stockholm, so that meant speeding up overnight so we would still be on time for arrival. We are very lucky to have an overnight in Stockholm and to start this 5 hour pilotage at 8am when all the guests can see the beautiful archipelago, all 55 miles of it from the Tjärven Pilot Station, into downtown Stockholm. By 1pm we were docked and with the wind having dropped we were in a very pleasant day for our guests which is perfect as there is so much to do in the Swedish Capital.
Late in the afternoon I decided to go for a spin on my road bike with my cycling buddy Rico. When I got onto my bike I soon realised that Rico had stripped my bike down to its bare frame, cleaned it all up and then reassembled it – I had a new bike again!! (here is a photo of the bike dismantled). Such a great guy and a good person to have on board!!
Anyway although only 6’C it was a great ride through parkland and woods, with a small amount of traffic. We managed 13 miles before the light started to fade and with no lights it was time to head for our 2nd home.
Once back on board I met up with the Ships Doctor Milija and we headed for the “East to West” speciality restaurant – just wonderful to sample this Asian Fusion cuisine again. With 3 speciality restaurants on board and all at no extra cost, this is one of the many wonderful features on board Spirit of Discovery.
It was a stunning morning that awakened us on Tuesday and we were still in Stockholm. I do like waking up in the same place for a change. With lots more tours in the morning the weather was perfect and this only added to a spectacular afternoon sail out through the Southern fairway and on towards Helsinki.
Captain Julian Burgess
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