In July Sottunga was properly busy. There’s a small harbour to the east and a substantial pontoon to which you tie with the use of a stern anchor to the west. I went for the latter. At first I was more or less convinced that the place was full. Boats were packed shoulder to shoulder all round the pontoon. I poked round its west side and as far inshore as I dared, beyond the shallow draft motorboats. I shouted to someone on the furthest in motorboat to ask how deep it was. “Not deep enough for you!” came the reply. I resolved to try anyway. There was fully 2.5m of water right up to the pontoon. Later another sailing boat came along and moored inshore of me. They told me that they weren’t going to bother, assuming it to be too shallow, until they saw me in there. It was another lesson on the need to be pushy and stick your nose in as far as you can. As I’ve said before, most Scandians are very conservative in their mooring choice.
Even when it’s very busy there’s often
room for a small yacht right inshore
Later the nice young couple off the boat that came in last gave me a small miniature of aquavit, for no good reason. Result.
There’s a couple of seasonal cafes here, then it’s a couple of miles across the island to the shop. The wifey will come demanding money for the use of the pontoon. In one book the bogs (ed. note. bog = toilet) are described as “perfect”. They have a strange conception of perfection.
It may be worth pointing out that the glowing descriptions of harbours in the free guides are, of course, composed by the people who charge you for mooring there.
Locate Sottunga on the map and find more adjacent harbours and marinas here.
Main page headline image by s/y Suwena CC -licensed.
More information on Sottunga can be found from: www.guestharbours.fi
Disclaimer. While Martin Edge and Sail in Finland have taken every precaution to ensure that the information in this post is correct, it is not a replacement for proper charts. Safe navigation is the responsibility of the skipper and Sail in Finland assumes no responsibility for accidents occurring while entering or leaving the harbour.
This is a great list! I love how you combine funny with informative. This makes me want to head to Finland next – who wouldn’t want to see a “perfect” bog :-) Love it!