Mariehamn, the Åland Islands
Early in the morning we sailed out of Stockholm, and enjoyed a good view of the many islands of the Swedish Archipelago. Eventually we were away from that area, and going north into the Baltic Sea. During the morning we had a series of talks to prepare us for the afternoon’s visit to the island of Mariehamn. This island group (the Åland Islands) was given to Finland at the end of WWII, but under the condition of having a certain autonomy from Finland. Today they speak Swedish here, and their flag is like Sweden’s but with a red cross inside.
Early in the afternoon we made our way off the National Geographic Explorer and onto the dock, where very near we found the Pommern, a huge iron cargo ship, built in 1903. It is conserved in an almost workable condition, very lovingly maintained. It is a four-masted barke from the Flying P-Line, and has a rich and very varied history. With 3000 square meters of canvas, it was a very fast ship, sailing mostly from London to Australia at a good 20 knots, going out on ballast, and back with wheat. The crew consisted of only 26 men, who worked eight hour shifts, on and off. The food was “bad” and the work terrible, but they all looked upon them, years later, as the best moments of their life.
We had a short time after the visit to walk around town, boarded our ship, and sailed off to the entrance of the bay, where we anchored and were taken onto the small island with the pilot station of Kobba Klintar, where we walked around the island, saw quite a few flowers, and even a small, non-poisonous snake!
