Satamosaari

My brother-in-law and his spouse were coming to visit, and the intention was that the four of us would go sailing on the Saimaa, which would also be their very first sailing trip. The wind forecast was for a nice 8-9 knots in the morning, but by evening it would be calm.

With these constraints, I decided to choose the small and relatively unknown bay of Satamosaari as the destination and starting point of the Myllylahti. This would allow for a longer outbound trip with decent winds, and on the return trip there would be no need to paddle a long distance if the winds died down.

We launched the boat from a modest ramp, from where we paddled headwind for the initial leg, and set sail in first condition when we started to get creative. Initially the wind blew very gently, keeping the speed in the 2-3 knot range.

We decided to go around Ala-Lyly and Keski-Lyly islands, as the prevailing wind on the ridges was around 9 knots. From Keski-Lyly the boat was moving comfortably at over 5 knots, which brought us to Satamosaari at a good speed.

After landing at Satamosaari, we started to heat up the sauna and prepare lunch. After the meal, the sauna was already warm. Having sauna before the heat of the afternoon and swimming in the 20 degree water was a pleasant way to spend time together.

After the sauna we went for a walk around the island. Sometimes you noticed how the temperature was quite stifling in the places where there was no wind. It was refreshing to be on the beach in the breeze.

After the walk, we decided to head back, as by evening the wind was forecast to die down. We made the initial leg of the journey with a crosswind of about 3 knots, but before reaching our destination the wind died down to almost calm. We paddled the last half mile. Towards the end of the trip the wind started to blow again, so we arrived in the bay under sail.

Before reaching Myllylahti I noticed how phone’s positioning had not worked properly. For some reason, in calm weather, the phone loses speed and heading information, and sometimes the position starts to lag behind, creating a dangerous illusion of the boat’s location. This was again the case as we had supposedly moved across the Peltoniemi by boat! It is therefore worth keeping your eyes open in future.

My impression was that our guests liked the trip, even if the boat felt a bit small. It was a lovely day on the island, and the sailing part was mostly successful in a pleasant breeze.