Lady Hamilton 2019

MARIEHAMN

Day 68  Wednesday, 7^th August 2019

I blog and did one load of washing in the laundry this morning.  I needed another token for the sheets and towels but the lady in the laundry told me that the Harbour Master’s office is shut until 2 pm – so I’ll do it this evening.  Malcolm fuelled up and then plotted the route for the centre of Stockholm.

After lunch we go to look round the sailing ship, ‘Pommern’, at the Aland Maritime Museum (Sfofarts Museum) which is near to the marina.  We get headphones from a friendly Australian lady who lives in Mariehamn. 

Pommern was built in Glasgow in 1903 and is practically unchanged since then.  She was built as a cargo ship and has shipped timber from Scandinavia, saltpetre from Chile and grain from Australia.  Pommern was bought by the Aland shipowner, Gustaf Erikson in 1923 and made her last voyage in 1939.  Since the 1950’s she’s served as a museum ship in the Western Harbour of Mariehamn and she is Aland’s best-loved visitor attraction.

Pommern is 94m long and 13m wide, her main mast is 46m high.  She has 28 sails and a crew of 26 – they had to work very hard!

The audio-guide only works on the Weather Deck which tells you all about ‘100 days under sail’ from Port Victoria in Australia to London, so we go down to the Tween Deck where there’s several  activities and large photos, with information.  I like this one which is about crossing the Equator – an initiation rite for the sailors who’ve never crossed the line!

In the Cargo Hold there’s a weather and wind show. They took ballast on the way to Australia and the crew had to empty the hold by hand as they were bringing back grain.

In the museum, there’s lots of information and large photographs.  I love this one of the Captain on Pommern and the sails, crashing through the waves.

 One of Gustaf Erikson’s (he was an Aland ship owner who bought Pommern) ships sank off Salcombe.

There was a female sailor who served under Gustaf Erikson.  Can’t believe she rounded Cape Horn 8 times!

 

And here is Eric Newby, who photographed the sailing ships as he knew they were dying out.

After we’ve finished in the Museum we find a Midsummer pole outside – with more yachts on the top.

 We stroll down the road to the supermarket and find lovely pastel-coloured wooden houses.  We think the one on the right looks like the Psycho house.

And we have to taste an Aland Pancake before we leave, a fluffy square pudding made with semolina and served with applesauce and cream.  There’s a café just opposite the supermarket and they do Alandspannkaka!