Airisto
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

Today the wind eased a little, so we sailed on to Airisto, on Stormälö island. The wind was still strong enough that with just a reefed mainsail we were sometimes doing more than 6 knots, which was a little hectic at times but we’re getting used to it. In the photo you can see the channel up which we approached Airisto – the yellow ships are island car ferries, which we had to dodge.

Tomorrow we’re off to Nauvo, which is supposed to be amongst the best of the archipelago – next report from there!.

Staying put at Gullkrona
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

The wind today is 14m/s, so we’re being smart and staying put. Kittiwake is rocking and pitching at her moorings (you can see her near the end of the jetty – the smallest boat, white with a red stripe), and Eve in particular didn’t sleep well last night. Around 5:30am I followed the example of our neighbour and swam out to the buoy with a second stern rope – brrr! Luckily we had the sauna booked for 9am, which got me properly warm again.

So, another quiet day in Gullkrona, either wandering around the island or sitting somewhere reading. Eve is hoping to try out her hammock, if we can find two suitable trees :).

Kittiwake’s tender
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

Every yacht should have a tender (small boat), for when you anchor in a sheltered bay and need to get to shore. Today we tested out Kittiwake’s rubber dinghy, and it was just fine.

Gullkrona
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

Today we sailed for a couple of hours to Gullkrona, another small island in the Turku archipelago. It’s a beautiful place – typical Finnish nature, and a fishing family’s cottages and sheds. We went for a sauna this afternoon and swam in the sea – rather cold! The family maintain the guest harbour facilities very well, we’d certainly recommend this place.

Helsingholmen
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

Tonight we’re moored at Helsingholmen, a small island in the Turku archipelago. It was just a short sail from Kasnäs, where we spent last night. The trip from Hanko to Kasnäs was very hard – we had the mainsail reefed and the storm jib up, but we were still fighting for five hours beating into a very strong wind, and we were exhausted when we reached our destination. Also very wet, as the waves were continuously splashing over the top of the boat – fortunately Kittiwake held up very well, and was still mostly dry inside.

The plan for tomorrow is to have a short sail to Gullkrona, which sounds very fine from the pilot books. Then make our way to Nauvo, then work south from there and start our return journey.

Eve and Kittiwake at Helsingholmen
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

I think this picture shows well our usual situation here on our cruise – poor little Kittiwake squeezed between two much larger boats. It’s amazing how many large yachts there are in these guest harbours – there’s clearly no shortage of money around here.

But Kittiwake is proving herself a very fine boat – faster than other yachts her own size (sometimes putting much bigger yachts to shame), and very seaworthy when the winds get stronger and the waves larger.

Anchored at Högbranten
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

We’ve anchored for lunch at the south end of Barösund, in a sheltered channel between two islands. It’s again hot and sunny, but the strong southerly wind would have been against us all the way up narrow Barösund so so far we’ve been motoring. After lunch and a swim, we’ll hoist the sails and continue on towards Tammisaari.

Elisaari
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

After another pleasant overnight stay anchored at Tony’s family cottage at Porkkala, we today sailed to Elisaari, near Barösund. We started with scorching sun but very little wind, and finished motoring the last bit as the wind got up to about 10m/s and we took the safer option and took in the sails.

Elisaari is a very beautiful area, lots of narrow reed-lined channels between typical Finnish rocky woodland.

Eve sailing Kittiwake
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

On Juhannus (midsummer) Saturday Eve & I decided to go and visit Tony & Cindy at Tony’s family summer cottage on Eskholmen, at the end of the Prokkala peninsula (west of Helsinki). My navigation software told me the trip was about 42km, but the wind was against us and we had to tack all the way, so we probably did nearer 60km. It took us 8 hours to get there, and for most of the time we were doing 5-6 knots.

We arrived at the cottage just after 8pm, and went to the sauna and then grilled some sausages and sat drinking wine & whisky with Cindy & Tony. We slept on the boat (fine, but we must get curtains to keep out the early morning sun), and then the following lunchtime we took Cindy & Tony for a short sailing trip before returning to Helsinki. The return trip took just 5 hours (running before the wind through the archipelago), and we got home satisfied but exhausted.

Here’s a short set of photos from the trip: Porkkala Cruise, Juhannus 2006.

Eve grilling on Kittiwake on Juhannus Eve
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

On Juhannus Eve I was too sick to go and celebrate properly, so Eve brought some sausages & sparkling wine to the boat and we had a picnic there.