It is raining. Long time since. Back to chilly unfortunately. Warm inside, got an electric heater going!
Very long day yesterday, woke just after 5, away at 6:20, lunch stop for an hour, (including zizz) arrive Vasa at 18:40, just before the rain started, 62 nautical miles motorsailing. Done partly as an experiment to see how it went, because time is running out, and the goal of Haparanda and the end of the Baltic is still a ways to go. Done some pencil-chewing arithmatic before breakfast this morning, fortified for the effort by an extra cup of tea. Started May 25th, therefore 44 days gone, and must assume the same to get home again, takes us to 25 August. It is still at least six normal days to Haparanda, and six back, which would mean home in at least one week into September. The later in the summer the less reliable the weather, so the conclusion is straght forward. No more Finland. Bad luck! No, not really, just too many days rebuilding the electrics, (very successful bytheway, except at the top of the mast!), which just had to be done before a summer’s cruise. No worries, must leave some white spaces on the Scandinavian charts. Wouldn’t be any mystery left otherwise, would there?
What I didn’t really appreciate when planning this trip was how many more boat-miles there are in Finland, partly in Åland too, compared to crowfly-miles. Finland’s west coast is very shallow with myriads of islands, rocks etc, and the towns, and therefore harbours and facilities, are almost always down a fjord or so from the sea, and take half a day to get there and back. Much navigating everywhere else. Staight line progress is therefore slower than usual. NB for those who follow. The relatively shallow waters means that choppy seas develop quickly outside the skerries in any wind, and make sailing rather less than comfortable, so inside the skerries is milder, but wind-sheltered of course. Compromises here too, as in life otherwise!
As long as one keeps to the marked channels, navigating is easy and reliable. Very well marked all the way, especially the main route. Paper charts are still, in my opinion, necessary, as well as the apparent advantages of electronic ones. My combination of overview paper, detailed paper and an iPad with Navionics charts is hard to beat. Safe. Expensive though!
Must go and negotiate with the harbourmaster to get the WiFi to behave, before I can post this, and look at the weather forecast, and,and,and. My on-board ICE WiFi works well in the rest of Scandinavia, but doesn’t reach Finland. The in-harbour WiFi generally leaves a lot to be desired.
All is otherwise well, from SailorJohn.
Josin's 2025 cruise 