Gästhamns Guiden

The Swedish Cruising Club is reputed to be the largest sailing club in the world, and every year they publish a guide showing all the possible guest marinas in Sweden.

Sweden has an organised system of guestharbours, 480 in all, and denoted by the Blue Sign with a gold anchor. Some guestharbours are run by the local tourist authorities and are only open in the season.

Every SXK member receives a copy of this book and it is available from most marinas and some bookshops. Mostly, it is free, although a few marinas charge about 120 SEK.

The book starts with an introduction in Swedish, English, German and Finnish. Each introduction is accompanied by a key to the harbour entries in the associated language.

The book is organised into 11 coastal areas, stretching from the Finnish border in the north east, all round the coast to Stromstad in the west. It also takes in the Canals and the inland seas, such as Vanern.

Each area then starts with an area map, showing the location of the guest harbours, and then a panel for each harbour. The panels are in geographical order, and all are in the same format. They list, among other things, the following: 

• Name. location,and 'disturbing wind'
• No of guest places
• Prices
• Type of mooring

• Facilities available (e.g. Diesel etc)
• A rating for the quality of the harbours Safety, Environment, Toilets and Showers

Sometimes there is an accompanying picture, but there are no chartlets or aerial photos. A typical example appears below:

Ultimately, the book is indispensable, not only because it is free, but because it lists every harbour available. We found it largely accurate, although some of the prices varied. Its main use was in predicting the likelihood of getting a berth, as it gives you an idea of the size of the harbour. The rating also gives you a clue to the quality of the amenities.

Images are copyright Gästhamsguiden SXK AB