Blog
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Satamosaari in May
· Suur-Saimaa · Sarastus · 9 MThis year May started exceptionally warm. During the last few days temperature reached over twenty centigrade, that has also affected to the surface water temperatures of the lakes. Lake Saimaa is over 12°C already. Bread engine doesn't fail Since the weather was sunny and the winds not too strong, we decided to have a trip to Satamosaari island. Actually the winds were that light from time to time that we had to rely on a bread engine, that’s an excellent way to burn some extra calories. During the return trip a light breeze moved us at speed of over four knots. On the island we had sauna and swam the first time this year. The trip was truly enjoyable.
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Summer Is Coming!
March Equinox was passed one week ago. Yesterday the daylight saving time started in Europe. Today we saw the first Coltsfoots and Northern lapwings (Vanellus vanellus). According to the measurements, the thickness of the ice cover on Lake Saimaa is still around 40 centimeters. So, the boating season has to be waited for still. Nevertheless, the beginning looks fairly promising!
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To Tierra del Fuego in a Sailing Dinghy?
Remote rugged naturally beautiful places have something that fascinates our minds. If you leave the cities and head for the inland and upwards, you can end up to a mountain summit where wind and some sporadic birds are your only companions. In such a place you can feel like you were in a completely different world, far from civilisation, noise and stress. Another good direction is along the water towards islands, capes and open waters. Already in the lakes and shores of Finland you can experience of that all very well, and that’s something I have tried to share in this blog.
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The Picks of the Season 2015
Writing this post the temperatures at the lake start to be at same level as the Barents Sea temperatures in summer, that makes it wiser for us to stay ashore. Washed and cleaned Sarastus is waiting for the next spring. We have explored several new waters during the summer and gained new experiences. Now it’s time to look back, to have an overview of the sailing season.
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The Scenic Waters of Ireland
· Lough Derg · Wayfarers · 106 MHow does it sound to you, to sail in a beautiful scenery together with foreign sailors, who enjoy spending time on water? This kind of experience is possible in Wayfarer International Rally, which takes place annually either on the waters of Europe or North America. In this September the destination was Lough Derg in Ireland, where Wayfarer sailors gathered, not only from the British Isles, but also from the continental Europe and North America. The event is for the friends of cruising sailing, as the racers have Wayfarer Worlds.
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Petrisaari
What makes you wake up at 5:00 am at weekend? Probably there are many good reasons, but in my case it was seeing the clearest water of the big lakes in Finland. It was still a dawn and the rest of the family was sleeping, when I cooked up porridge, ate breakfast and started to prepare Sarastus for the day trip to Puruvesi, which is two hours drive from us.
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U-turn
Family sailing sets its own limits to the conditions. We had to notice that yesterday, when the wind was stronger than expected. With two or three experienced adults the situation would have been different, but now we would have had children aboard. After spending around 30 minutes admiring the white caps from the breakwater, we decided to headed back to home. That was quite frustrating after all the preparations and driving, but there are surely many great sailing trips waiting for us in the future.
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Listinki and Satamosaari
· Suur-Saimaa · Sarastus · 43 MIt was August and the weather conditions have improved clearly since the record-breaking cool and rainy July. We launched Sarastus and headed for Listinki island, where we arrived in a gentle breeze. In Listinki you didn’t need to feel yourself lonely In Listinki we prepared a meal quickly, to continue to Satamosaari island and to pick up our guests from the continent. I have to say, that Listinki beach didn’t meet my expectations. Maybe that was because of the high water level of this summer. Between Listinki and Satamosaari the wind died completely, but returned after Pitkä-Kaito island, that made us arrived at Satamosaari in a light breeze.
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Linnansaari
Weather in this summer has not been that great, but fortunately there have been some good days too. Thw week started with two of them, and we decided to head for the Linnansaari National Park in the northern waters of Saimaa. Sarastus traveled well on the trailer without any issues. Its mahogany surface lured couple of locals, when we refilled the car at Lohilahti service station. They couldn’t believe, that the boat was twenty years old already.
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Äyrätsalo
· Suur-Saimaa · Sarastus · 17 MBy one of the traits leading to Puumala there is an island called Äyrätsalo situated. There is a sheltered long lagoon on its west shore. The entrance to the lagoon has maximum depth of about 1.5 metres, but the deepest point there is almost 10 metres. There is a small sandy beach at end if it, where it’s nice to start swimming. On the southern side of the cape bordering the lagoon there is a longer sandy beach, which is a perfect place for swimming and watching sunset.