Day Seven - time to take to the water

When you are in such a lovely place, with thousands of islands surrounded by the calmest waters it would be rude not to explore it a bit. The day didn't start that way though. We got up planning to head in the direction we had not traveled before, that meant taking the only main road we hadn't traveled on previously, road number one. (remember there is only four main roads across the island) this one ends in another ferry port this time taking travelers to Sweden. En route we visited the post museum, which was quite interesting in itself. The Aland Islands have always been important trade routes from Russia/Finland to the rest of Scandinavia. After the war of 1808-1809 - when Sweden lost Finland and Åland to Russia - Gustav Wilhelm Ladau became the head of the postal authorities in the Grand Duchy Finland. He decided that there must be Russian speaking officials at every post office. Two of the offices were situated in the Åland Islands: Eckerö and Kastelholm. At that time the Russian border to Sweden was in the Åland Sea and Eckerö was the outpost to the west. Hence a new huge building in brick and stone for customs and post office was built and completed in 1828.

The Eckero Mail Office

After this we came across a place that would hire us a launch, while its not like my rib it was adequate for what we wanted to do. It was fascinating visiting several islands, some only inhabited by goats, and then trying to navigate in shallow rocky water to get into another channel. We had a great day exploring the coves and inlets. Making me think we should come back again and hire a larger boat to tour the islands. Some pictures of our voyage.

Typical Island boathouses

The master of the vessel

Leaving the safety of the channel

 

Full steam ahead

Day Six selfie