We left Soviken at 09:30 after a restful night's sleep in this excellent anchorage. It was sunny, with a SW breeze of F4 blowing in our faces but we were able to sail at least at times, where the angle of the channel relative to the wind allowed us. Our destination was what looked like another excellent anchorage from the pilot books, a pool resulting from a number of islands with some islets inside it so that there would be shelter from any wind direction. This gem was called Ringsön and it was some 18 miles away.

This archipelago is, I think, part of the Vastervik archipelago and it is subtly different to Stockholm’s . It is very beautiful and is not as developed, which is to its advantage. It seems to be popular, judging by the number of yachts that passed us heading back towards Stockholm, as July, the holiday month, draws to a close.

Whilst we were sailing, I noted a text message from Ed & Roos Vandermeulen, our friends from Fehmarn on board their yacht Spiriwit. They advised us that they too were heading in the direction of Ringsön but were planning to anchor in a deep bay slightly to the east of the main anchorage. I saw from the AIS that they were, in fact, less than a mile behind us as we levelled with their anchorage so we went into the bay to wait for them. Half way down the bay, a lovely white tailed eagle soared above us and then landed on a nearby pine tree, splendid sight. Soon after, we saw Spiriwit as she powered down the bay towards us. At this juncture, we weren’t sure whether we would stay here to keep them company but we soon ascertained that they were being joined by a Dutch couple and they were planning a barbecue that lunchtime and as we had a roast chicken in store that evening, we declined the invitation to stay . Ed, who had kindly collected 210 SEK owing us from the harbourmaster in Ystad and also had a couple of booklets on the Swedish High coast for us, was determined for us to have them and by dint of a fishing net and careful manoeuvring of boats, we succeeded in the transfer and then we were on our way, leaving them to it.

We were soon in our chosen anchorage and had the anchor down by 14:00. It really is a good spot and out of season, it would be perfect. Actually, it wasn’t bad now, as it was large enough to accommodate dozens of yachts, in fact we counted 57 and it wasn’t crowded, apart from where the rock-huggers piled into their chosen spots.

That evening we decided to watch a film, the first one this year and I’m afraid it was a disappointment, 'Marley and Me’ – about a misbehaving Labrador’s life in America. Poor film, even the dog didn’t act very well (apart from the dead one!)