Ylä-Lyly

We departed the bay early in the morning. Weather was gorgeous, but from the perspective of sailing the progress was so slow, that we decided to choose the nearby Ylä-Lyly island as our destination. The island was unknown for us and we were bit uncertain, if there would be a proper spot for beaching. We didn’t have an anchor with us. At the southeastern side of the island there is a horn of rough sand. On the sunny side of the peninsula there was a lonely motorboat owner sunbathing nude, that made us to choose a different place. On the other side of the peninsula there was a good spot for beaching and we landed there. The shore was quite stony in front of the beach. Fortunately we found couple of logs, that were suitable as rollers, to help pulling the boat to the beach.

Because of its terrain Ylä-Lyly proved to be an interesting island to visit. Especially the sandy horn was an interesting spot. We had a picnic at a campfire and started to think about the return trip. Surprisingly the wind became stronger starting to blow at 10 m/s (20 knots, Force 5) and turned so, that our side of the shore became a leeward shore. I removed the rudder and we pulled the boat farther from the water. Because launching in a stormy wind didn’t look like a good option, we decided to wait and follow the development of the conditions. Forecasts didn’t mention anything about this kind of storm. After one hour the wind became lighter and we managed to launch relatively easily by turning the bow towards the waves, paddling forcefully from the stony shore to the deeper waters and then lowering the centreboard and the rudder. After that raising the sails was easy, and it was time to enjoy of the smooth run.

By the end of the return trip wind died completely and we had to paddle the last nautical mile. Fortunately we had two canoe paddles with us. It has to be said, that paddling Wayfarer is surprisingly easy job. According to GPS the maximum paddling speed was bit over two knots. A big sailboat using its engine passed us by and the skipper joked, that their boat is too heavy to be paddled. We accepted their excuse, and continued the journey admiring the rising Moon and listening to the evening sounds of the nature. Soon our fine adventure was over.