Houtskär

About This Anchorage

Houtskär (Finnish: Houtskari) is one of the more remote inhabited island communities in the Turku Archipelago — a Swedish-speaking municipality of scattered islands between Korppoo and the outer archipelago. The community has maintained its identity across centuries of island isolation; the old church at Mossala (accessible by boat) and the traditional village at Hyppeis give a sense of what the Finnish archipelago looked like before the modern era. The anchorage at Hyppeis is the best in the island group — reasonable shelter, adequate depth, and access to the small village. The surrounding islands are classic outer archipelago landscape, and the waters are noticeably less trafficked than the inner channels near Turku.

Hazards

• !Open to south and SW — southerly conditions expose the harbour bay
• !Cable ferry crossing nearby — anchor clear of ferry lane
• !Rocks and shoals throughout approach — transition to outer archipelago; use Finnish chart carefully
• !No fuel available
• !Remote — limited facilities; plan ahead from Turku or Nauvo

Skipper's Tips

• →Houtskär is off the main sailing route — a deliberate diversion rewarded with genuine tranquillity
• →The old church at Mossala (4nm by dinghy or small boat) is one of the most atmospheric medieval churches in the archipelago — 15th century granite, remote setting
• →The cable ferry crossing at Hyppeis is one of the last traditional rope-guided ferries in Finland — the crossing takes 3 minutes across a narrow sound
• →Swimming from the anchorage — the water here is clean, warm in July, and far less trafficked than the inner archipelago
• →From Hyppeis, the outer islands toward Jurmo and Utö are within easy day-sail range — this is the start of the real outer archipelago

Nearby Anchorages