◉Est. 1931
Södra sidan av Svarta Hästen. A small village in the archipelago.
◉ I · The Island
the Black Horse
Svarta Hästen lies low against the water, a long irregular shape of granite and pine. Seen from a passing boat the outline can, with patience, resemble the silhouette of a horse at full gallop. The name has been used in Swedish since at least the early nineteenth century. The Finnish form, Musta Hevonen, appears in more recent maps.
The island is small. A handful of farms on the northern flank. Forest in the centre. On the south side, sheltered from the prevailing wind, the village of Klobbsund.
Two languages have always been spoken here. Swedish at home, in the church, on the boats. Finnish in the post office and on the signs at the jetty. Both are quiet. Both belong.
◉ II · The Village
There are perhaps thirty houses. They were built in stages between the first decade of the last century and the years before the war. Painted in the falu red of the mainland, weathered now to the colour of old brick. White trim. Steep shingle roofs that carry the snow well.
The village runs along a single road from the chapel to the landing. In summer the road smells of resin and lake water. In winter it does not smell of anything at all, which is its own pleasure.
People do not arrive at Klobbsund by accident. The strait that gives the place its name is narrow and the channel is unmarked on the older charts. One has to know where one is going. Most who come, return.
◉ III · The Clubhouse
The clubhouse stands a short way back from the second jetty, behind a low stone wall and a row of pines. It was raised in the early nineteen-thirties on subscription from the families who summered on the island. The court was rolled by hand. The net was ordered from Stockholm. The annual Championship, played over three afternoons in late July, has been contested every summer since, with the exception of the war years.
Veranda chairs are wicker. The tea is strong and served from a brass urn. Members and their guests are asked, by long custom, to wear white. The trophy is a small silver cup. The names go back to 1931 and are read aloud once each summer, in Swedish, at the closing dinner.
◉ IV · The Fish House
FISKEBODEN
Klobbsund · 1931
The Fiske Boden has stood at the end of the jetty for as long as anyone now living can remember. Nets are mended on its north wall. Salt is kept in the loft. The sign was painted in the spring of the year the village kept the date, in cream serif on black, by a hand from Hangö.
◉ V · Approaches
Three ways, in descending order of patience.
By private boat
The strait between Klobbsund and the smaller skerry to the south is narrow and shallow. Approach from the west, at slow speed, with attention to the markers. Visitors may moor at the second jetty for up to forty-eight hours.
By seaplane
A floatplane may put down in the lee of the northern headland in any reasonable weather. Charters are arranged from the Helsinki archipelago through the local seaplane taxi. The walk from the alighting place to the village is short.
By the Runeberg
The historic m/s J. L. Runeberg sails from the Market Square in Helsinki to Porvoo through the summer months, and on certain weeks to Loviisa. The crossing is long and pleasant. One disembarks at a small intermediate landing and continues by local launch.