This is a pleasant guest quay on a nature reserve island. It’s free, as far as I could tell (ed. note: actually there at least used to be a small coin box for a small harbour fee, the pace is maintained by the Stenskär island owners). There’s a composting bog and waste facilities. With a strong north westerly forecast I chucked my stern anchor out on the south east side of the quay. I had to get there early as that side filled up quickly. Though latecomers still found space by going further and further into the shallows next to the land. It shallows quickly to the south east of the quay and there is a rock just above water. But there’s 50m or so of space to approach the quay. Plenty of room.
There’s a guest harbour (Stenskär) just across the bay
Sailing into Birsskär
The other side would have been crap in a northerly, with the quay as a lee shore. Indeed the latecomers who populated the north west side of the quay either moved elsewhere in the evening or spent a somewhat fraught night. The whole thing would be nicely sheltered in a prevailing westerly. On the other side of the bay is a more developed guest harbour with, I believe, showers and stuff (ed. note: Stenskär). But you’ll probably have to pay there.
A lot of the published information waxes lyrical about the nearby island of Gulkrona, where there is purported to be a nice guest harbour (60° 05.305’N 22° 04.803’E). This now seems to be shut. Or rather, there’s signs up saying that it’s open only from 9am to 5pm in the season. What legal basis there can be for an island to be ‘shut’ at night I can’t imagine, but I couldn’t be bothered with the confrontation of finding out. I’d just stick to Birsskar if I were you.
In a north westerly or south easterly
you’ll need to choose the right side of
the quay
In this case the south
Locate Birsskär on the map and find more adjacent harbours and marinas here.
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.