An adventure into the unknown (with vid)

[scubaman]

… and this is not about politics .

As some may remember from my earlier posts, we spent the summer 2014 exploring the south coast of Finland and had a fantastic time. We had initially made a plan to bring the boat back to the Lake Saimaa at the end of the season and so we did with the help and great company of MapisM and S. 2015 was spent in the Saimaa again but in the backs of our minds we knew that we’d like to return to the sea and explore a bit further. So, in May this year two of my friends and myself took it upon ourselves to deliver the boat through the Saimaa Canal back to Helsinki from where I had secured a club membership and a berth for the season.

The plan for this summer is to cross the Gulf of Finland over to Estonia and visit Tallinn and marinas on Estonia’s north coast. We’ve made no further plans. If we are feeling adventurous, we might cross over to Gotland (some 120 miles across the baltic sea) or Stockholm (roughly the same distance) but most likely after a week or three, we cross the gulf again and head back for the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Good thing about holiday is not having to plan too much ahead...

Anyway, leaving Helsinki and heading towards our new adventures I took the drone out and shot this bit of film yesterday.



If you are interested, here’s a link to Navionics Webapp map of the crossing -> https://webapp.navionics.com/#@6&key=utukJkz{uC

Everything went smoothly (although in driving rain) and I’m now typing this in Pirita, Estonia after a fantastically beautiful day -> https://www.google.fi/maps/place/Pi...:0x500b36d18fc70c0!8m2!3d59.4749!4d24.8724999. If I manage to get some decent shots along the way I may update this thread from time to time, but I’m making no promises. I’m on holiday .

Great summer to everyone!

 

[rafiki_]

Lovely vid, many thanks. Summer not started yet in th UK. Wettest June I can recall. Hope it dries up soon, as a week on board is calling.

 

[henryf]

I thought blimey, he's upgraded his boat.

Then I realised it was the ferry

Henry

 

[Pinnacle]

K

Enjoy the trip. We have visited several ports in that area - but the boat we were on was c110,000 tons!

Please try and post more pics and vids.

Best S & P

 

[baylabayla3288]

Nice drone fotage again! Keep them comming. I warmly recommend the Baltic crossing option. We did the same route summer 2014. I prefer the old city marina of Tallin over Piritta. We stopped also at Haapsalo, beautiful old town with old wooden houses. Next was Kuressari, a very nice historical Hansa town. Estonia offers exceptional service and good food but watch out for he shallow and rocky waters. Then followed Gotland with Fårösund and of course Visby. Dockspot.com worked well for reserving a berth n Visby and other places in some of the crowded places in Sweden. I will never forget the 120 mile Baltic sea crossing. Although we had a nice weather window with kalm winds there had been a storm the day before and the swell from south west was spectacular. It was like running on a socker field that was leaning 20 degrees first in one direction and the in the other and this lasted for 6 hours. Right in the midle the engineroom bilage alarm went off... Probably due to spray. After allmost a week in Visby we vent up to Trosa, Mälaren, Stockholm and then back to Finland and Hanko where we were moored next to you. Go for the Baltic-Sweden scenario if the weather allows!

 

[scubaman]

@Raf: hope the weather improves in time. We've had some fantastic sunshine and also violent thunder and boating definitely is much nicer in the former.

@Henry: one is always planning to trade up but that would be a nuisance to berth stern to in most places around here...

@Pinnacle: Tallinn seems like a popular cruise port, there are ships coming and going all the time. As I'm typing this, I can hear their foghorns leaving the port. Pretty city.

@Baylabayla: Thank you for the pointers regarding places to stop in Estonia, I will add them to my itinerary. I've also heard good things said about Lohusalu and Kärdla. I remember the chat we had in Hanko about your cruise, that was quite a trip indeed. I do feel tempted but will have to see what the rest of the family thinks.

Whereabouts are you cruising this summer? Would be nice to catch up and I'd also love to have a nose around your lovely Ferretti.

 

[MapisM]

Nice drone fotage again! Keep them comming.

Positively +1.

Yep scubaman, Talllinn is indeed a place worth visiting.
You might remember that myself and S went there by ferry during our stay in Helsinki, before joining you in the return trip to your home harbour, and I can confirm that pretty it is.
TBH, the sugar spiced almonds (which for some reason is their most popular street food) failed to impress us, but we are a bit spoiled with food, I reckon...

 

[baylabayla3288]

Whereabouts are you cruising this summer? Would be nice to catch up and I'd also love to have a nose around your lovely Ferretti.[/QUOTE]

We will be cruising around in the Archipelago this year with the target to stay at many of the "natural harbours" either at anchor and using the dinghy or by mooring with the bow towards the island shore rocks. To be able to do this I have installed a "semi" automatic stern anchor during the winter. I call it "semi" as it is based on the existing stern winches and a newly installed anchor davit on the bathing platform.

Also the following places are on the favorite list for this summer:

Tallin
http://www.portoftallinn.com/old-city-marina,

Nauvo
http://naguhamn.fi/site/index.php/en/

Mariehamn
http://www.segel.ax/sv/gasthamnar/ass_marina_en/pictures

Naantali
http://www.naantalinvierasvenesatama.fi/english

Here is also a quite complete list of harbours for route planning (iPAD app)https://appsto.re/fi/cP_R0.i
or
www.guestharbours.fi

Alexandra is currently undergoing prop service as I managed to damage a prop laste week. Luckily the damage is light an she will be back in the water this Friday. We plan to start our jurney next week.

hope to cu an welcome on board

 

[AndieMac]

Good luck with your summer cruise K, I liked your footage. The ferries we use currently between our home island and the mainland are ex-Baltic, we might even get the one shown on your footage as our next upgrade?
Since watching the TV series Vikings, I recognised the island of Gotland......you be careful out there, it looks dangerous

 

[scubaman]

We will be cruising around in the Archipelago this year with the target to stay at many of the "natural harbours" either at anchor and using the dinghy or by mooring with the bow towards the island shore rocks. To be able to do this I have installed a "semi" automatic stern anchor during the winter. I call it "semi" as it is based on the existing stern winches and a newly installed anchor davit on the bathing platform.

Also the following places are on the favorite list for this summer:

Tallin
http://www.portoftallinn.com/old-city-marina,

Nauvo
http://naguhamn.fi/site/index.php/en/

Mariehamn
http://www.segel.ax/sv/gasthamnar/ass_marina_en/pictures

Naantali
http://www.naantalinvierasvenesatama.fi/english

Here is also a quite complete list of harbours for route planning (iPAD app)https://appsto.re/fi/cP_R0.i
or
www.guestharbours.fi

Alexandra is currently undergoing prop service as I managed to damage a prop laste week. Luckily the damage is light an she will be back in the water this Friday. We plan to start our jurney next week.

hope to cu an welcome on board

Thank you for the tips. I downloaded the app and look forward to putting it to use once we are back on the Finnish side.

The places you mentioned are indeed nice and on our list as well (except perhaps Mariehamn this year). More on a separate post.

I'll pm you my mobile number so maybe we can txt/whatsapp somewhere along the way and see if our paths cross.

 

[scubaman]

Since watching the TV series Vikings, I recognised the island of Gotland......you be careful out there, it looks dangerous

Then you know more of the island than I do . I've only very briefly stopped at Visby whilst delivering our previous boat back home in 2007 so never had a change to properly explore the island. Everybody I've spoken to have said nice things about the island, though.

But we may give it a miss this year and save it for coming cruises. Thanks for the wishes!

 

[scubaman]

We made it to Estonia last week and headed to Pirita (a couple km's north of Tallin city center) for the first couple of nights. Pirita hosted the sailing events during Moscow olympics in 1980 and still remains a busy sailing hub. We spent our time exploring the river, walking around the local suburbs and enjoying the nice beach just next to the marina. A very nice place.

I hope you don’t mind a couple of sunset pics, I just love the colors.

The pavilion that was used in the olympics.

We then moved to Tallin Old Port which was only a short stroll away from the Tallin old town. Very convenient place to explore the city and with great facilities (although moorings are a bit on the pricey side at 55€/night).

Nice Canados.

We left Tallin yesterday evening with an intention to go to Lohusalu, some 25 miles west, but a stiff F6 kicked up unpleasantly steep waves right on the nose and after ploughing on for a while we decided divert to Naissaar instead -> https://www.google.fi/maps/place/Na...582c2d3dd8dcbb7!8m2!3d59.5626152!4d24.5117892

I’m glad we did as as we were having our morning walk, we discovered that they had electric Polaris Rangers for hire for a very reasonable price. The island has a very interesting history. Among other things, during WW II it was used for manufacturing mines.

The history was still very much present with derelict buildings (along with some very nice villas), old military vehicles and mines scattered all over the island. I took us two hours to drive around Naissaari, a very beautiful island with beautiful sandy beaches. Our vehicles were amazing, btw, we still had 90% charge left when we returned them.

The sea was a complete opposite to what it was yesterday and so we headed out to sea again and drove to Lohusalu from where I’m typing this -> https://www.google.fi/maps/place/Lo...0x66631b1787b7d43d!8m2!3d59.3948!4d24.2020999

Forecast for tomorrow promises a warm day (27 C) but again with some southerly wind (ie. on the nose...). Our plan is to continue first west and then south to Haapsalu so we may have to go for an early start.

Thanks for reading!

 

[baylabayla3288]

Beautiful pictures, Piritta has spectacular sunsets over the open sea. This time of the year it sets at almost 11 pm and rises at 4AM. Good to have proper window covers if you plan to sleep

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Summer not started yet in th UK.

Thats very odd. Its started here in Sardinia

 

[scubaman]

Last night when we were at Lohusalu, these guys approached the marina, but instead of turning to the entrance to the pontoons, they decided to press on towards the shore. A couple of seconds later I heard an outboard kicking up and saw them come to a halt firmly grounded on a shallow rock. As Baylabayla mentioned, the waters around Estonian coast are VERY shallow and rocky and these were clearly marked on the map and they should also have been well visible had they looked down, so a bit of an hazardous attempt but these things happen.

After a while one of the two crew members went into the water and managed wriggle the boat free while the other one reversed with all the might of a 2.2 hp outboard.

A couple of moments later I observed them enter a berth in the marina with a slightly too long approach. Fair enough, new to boating, has happened to the most of us.

I noticed them heading out to sea again around 2100 with a new crew member.

I made an early start at six this morning leaving the others still asleep in the fore cabin. It’s always a special feeling being out and about early in the morning, btw. After 38 miles rounding the north western headlands of Estonia I was approaching the shallow waters between Vormsi and the mainland (http://webapp.navionics.com/#@10&key=uvjgJ}xumC) and at the very first cardinal buoys marking the channel, I observed a tilted sailboat (you guessed, who) on the wrong side of the west and south buoys.

The southerly wind was picking up (with streaks of foam, so I’d guess maybe F5) but the waves weren’t bad due to the short fetch. I couldn’t safely approach them without ending on the shame shallow, so I called the coast guard and let them know what was going on. During my communication with the CG one of the crew members again entered the water and tried to wriggle the boat free. At no point did they do anything to attract my attention or indicate that they were in need of any help.

I saw them leave some 12 hours earlier and the tiny outboard couldn’t have given them more that 3 - 5 knots at a guess so they must have kept going through the night and hit pretty much the first rocks in the shallower part of the route.

I volunteered to stay on site but CG said they will take over and that I should continue my journey, which I did after a while seeing that they weren’t in any immediate danger. A bit later we met a SAR boat heading their way so situation was under control.

I have to admire their attitude but at the same time wonder what the heck they thought they were doing. I saw the SAR boat return to base at Haapsalu without them so I assume they are continuing their eventful journey south.

I bit of a long post for which I apologize but an interesting event (at least to me) I thought I’d share.

 

[baylabayla3288]

One must admire the brave attitude these guys have to head out to sea in any available vessel with little respect for the element to satisfy the need of a sea adventure. A couple of years ago we ended up pulling four guys outside Naissaari outside Tallin in bad weather whos anchient engine in an old metallic sovjet military boat had stopped working in a very bad place, to a safe harbour...

 

[AndieMac]

Fantastic pics SM and also a good read, an interesting post indeed.

 

[scubaman]

Just a quick update on our recent movements for those who might be reading. We spent a couple of nights in Haapsalu, Estonia and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The town was established in the 13th century when Haapsalu Castle was built as an episcopal stronghold. It was fascinating to observe the signs of different eras gone by. Beautiful old houses were everywhere, some of which had been very recently renovated, others still waiting for their turn.

Our plan next was to visit the north westernmost island of Hiiunmaa but the weather forecast was showing strong westerly winds for several days so we decided to cut our Estonian visit short and head back to Finland. Winds were due to pick up around 3 pm so to play it safe, I again decided to make an early start and set the alarm at 6 am. With the heading almost exactly at 0 degrees we had an uneventful cruise back to Finland and arrived at Hanko around 9 am. As per the forecast winds started to pick up during the afternoon and had a change to take the drone out for a quick spin around the marina. It was blowing maybe 7 m/s and the drone coped fine, although you could see the effect of the gusts.



What the followed was five days of F6, gusting F7. The strong wind caused upwelling bringing very clear and very cold water from the depths of Gulf of Finland. My echo sounder showed 7 degrees and it has always showed 2 degrees too much…

Still, there are worst places to be holed up. We had a change to try out their new sauna with one of the best sceneries I have seen from a sauna window. We also had some very brief dips into the sea.

One of the biggest sailing events around here, the Hanko Regatta, was due to start on Friday and while we enjoyed the atmosphere, the sight and sound of loudspeakers being rigged on the decks on Friday afternoon reinforced our plan to continue our journey. We manouvred out from Hanko and headed west in an F6 head wind using the shelter from the skerries.

Thanks for reading .

 

[MapisM]

Still, there are worst places to be holed up. We had a change to try out their new sauna with one of the best sceneries I have seen from a sauna window. We also had some very brief dips into the sea.

THAT
IS
STUNNING
period.

I'm not a fan of the weather that, on average, you guys have to cope with.
But the sauna facilities that you established in almost every beautiful natural spot is something that really make me envious! :encouragement:

 

[AndieMac]

It's handy to have the google map links in your previous posts to see where you have been so far, if heading west from Hanko will you follow the coastline north toward the Turku direction? From memory Aida came in by ship from the UK to Turku?

The aerial footage really captures what an attractive little port area this is, also liked the "5 star" sauna, location location location!
The elegantly positioned items in the interior of the sauna showed an arrangement of greenery, almost like a bouquet. Are these merely decorative or have a purpose?