Drawing by Björn Ring from the Pilgrim Sail 2007
From about 1450 until the Swedish reformation in the sixteenth century a Franciscan priory was situated on Hamnö in Kökar. Its patron was S:ta Anna. In those days, the main sailing route between Sweden and Finland (king Valdemars sailing route) passed Kökar. Each year a "Franciscan feast" is arranged on Kökar the first weekend of July, in 2008 on the 4t, 5th and 6th of July. We have now established a tradition of ecotourism, combined with spritiual and historic experiences through a yearly sail trip from Norrtelje in Sweden to the Fransiscus feast.
This year, the three basic objectives were well satisfied:
A historic experience
Especially those who sailed the Viksboat (replica from the year 1050) got a historic experience through sailing through the Åland archipelago under medieval conditions. Further:
On Björkör we got an introduction into traditional archipelago life.
Om Kökar, Philip Hällund guided us on Hamnö's history for the last 3000 years. On the image below, he is seen by the cellar to monks´ house outside the Franciscan priory.
An experience of nature
The archipelagos we sailed through present a unique nature with birds, seals and very few people. For most of the time we had good weather and we experienced a substantial stillness. On the image below, the Viksboat is moored at Skottskär, south of Föglö.
A spiritual experience
Each morning and evening the participating priests held a gathering with singing and reading. Among other things, we heard about Paulus´experience of shipwreck on Malta. Having arrived at Kökar, we took part in the Fransiscus feast with several priests and a bishop.
The pilgrim sail was a good experience and we sill meet during the coming winter to plan for a new sail 2009, preliminary with start from Norrtelje on the 26th of June in the evening. This website will be updated to give information.
Contact ingmar_ogren{a t}etanet.se