Sailing equipment

Sailing in Sweden and Finland requires boat to have a set of moorong pitons of different shapes, for mooring "on the rocks". The left one on the picture is the best. The right one is for large cracks.

A big hammer, and a rucksack to carry everything. You may need 2 hands to go ashore...

Note: sometimes there are already rings onshore, marked on some guides

Bow ladder, for going onshore or on a pontoon. compulsory even when the bow is not too high. The ladder is particularly needed when mooring "on the rock" as the crew at the bow needs to land from the bow on the rocks, which can be at water level. It is needed as well when landing on flaoting piers which tend to be low. It is good to be able to set the height of the ladder so as to adapt to all situations.

A roller with 50m strap, much easier to manoeuvre than a rope. Prefer a stainless steel reel to a plastic one that will inevitably end-up breaking. The strap on Cybèle 17 (picture) resists to 3500Kg, and is 50m long. The strap should be equipped with a stainless steel snap hook, so that you can use the line to attach either to a rear buoy using a bojkrok in marinas or to a stern anchor when mooring on the rocks.

The line is not stretchable, which is good when mooring bow to pier or to rock. The strap should be attached to a cleat like any other mooring lines. Note that the strap can be pulled using one of the boat winches, which is nice when pulling it back.

Don't hesitate to take a long line. We use 80 metres on Belisama.

A stern anchor is a must. Most of Swedish sailors in the archipelagos do not have bow anchors or windlass, but all have a stern anchor and some even a windlass at the back. The anchor is attached directly to the ankarolina, or sometimes, there is two or three metres of chain between the anchor and the line to ensure a better grip.

The most common stern anchor that you will see in the archipelago is of the Bruce type. It is an old model initially developed in big sizes for holding oil rigs. They hold very well on the boulder and mud seabed of the archipelago. However, they do not behave well on seabeds with seaweeds. They should be oversized compare to the more modern types of anchors.

Link to the specifications and sizes for Bruce anchors...

Bojkrok is the best aid for catching a buoy from the side or the stern. The simplest open one works very fine, is easy to set and remove. Take the longest you find as it can hardly be too long. There exist more sophisticated bojkroks but they don't add much and run a chance of getting stuck when you want to remove them.

You will use either the stern anchor or the bojkrok on your aft ankarolina.