Finally back on the water (with pics and a vid)

scubaman

scubaman

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This may not be terribly interesting, but I'm just happy to be back on the water and thought a few pics might be in order.

As always, it has been a long spring waiting for the ice to melt so that the boat could be put back to it's natural habitat. The teak project meant that I got to start on my routine maintenance a few weeks later that usual, which in turn meant that the final three weekends leading to last weekend saw me doing long hours to get everything ready. Wash, polish, coat of wax, engine servicing, interior clean up, etc. were all on the task list.

The spring progresses quite rapidly once we get to April. This vid is from 27th of March and only three weeks later the ice was gone.



Still the weather in April has been a bit chilly at times. This pic was taken a week ago when I was servicing the engines. Some new ice had formed and the pontoons were icy.

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And then last weekend it went from chilly spring to early summer. Temps were +16 C and above and people were wearing summer dresses and shorts and were strolling and chatting. It's amazing what a difference the sun and a bit of warmth makes.

This was the first weekend the whole family was together on the boat. We settled in, did some shopping and just relaxed. Didn't even go out for a spin.

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The plan is to return on Wednesday for an extended weekend so proper boating will have to wait until then. One more thing on the mandatory to-do -list is to have the boat inspected which I'm hoping will take place on Thursday. The inspector goes through a list of required equipment on the boat and advises on any safety shortcomings he might encounter. I have all the required gear so it should be fine. The good thing is that the insurance companies offer a discount for inspected boats so there is also a financial incentive to have it done.

Thanks!
 
now that form of bribery is well worth it ! What a sensible way to avoid enforcement by legislation.
 
Great stuff K, many thanks. Aida looks amazingly shiny, btw - as I recall, you use some Aglaze stuff, don't you?
Oh, and "moi kaikki" written walking on the snow was a lovely touch indeed for the drone video! :encouragement:
Though I had to resort to google translate to understand it, obviously... :)
 
Well spotted, P, it was the kids idea to write something on the snow :).

I tried the A-Glaze some years ago but nowadays use 3M's stuff. I've become somewhat of an advocate of their products. Their paste wax does give a nice shine that seems to last well. The one mistake I made this spring is that I didn't wash the flybridge cover, which was quite dusty from the teak work, and as a result there were black streaks everywhere after the heavy rain we had earlier. Good thing was that it was easy to wipe off as it hadn't yet set into the surface.
 
Lovely video and the boat looks great. I wondered if Fairline had quickly knocked a new on up for you out of bits they had found in a cupboard :)

Henry :)
 
Thanks for the video and pics K, always interesting for me to see how you Finns do your boating thing.

Aida looks very sharp/nice with the new teak, looking forward to some more photos during your upcoming season.
 
Nice vid and pics, many thanks. It still feels like winter won't give up here, northerly winds making it unseasonably cool, so your 16c sounds very nice ��
Aida looks fantastic.
 
scubaman said:
I tried the A-Glaze some years ago but nowadays use 3M's stuff.
Click to expand...
Aha, interesting. What sort of 3M product exactly?
With apologies for not searching first...
...I seem to recall some previous debate on this matter, but it's easier to just ask! :o
 
Absolutely no probs, I used the 3M Ultrafina SE (50383, http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/462253O/3mtm-perfect-ittm-iii-ultrafinatm-se-50383-brochure.pdf) which is one of their least abrasive products but just enough for cleaning the stubborn stains. The second coat is their Marine Ultra Performance paste wax (09030, http://3mmarine.com/products/wax-ma...ultra-performance-paste-wax-9-5-oz-09030.html) which is the sealant, so it doesn't clean the surface at all but only adds protection.

I'm not sure if the experts on this forum approve my choice of products, but I have certainly been happy with the results.
 
Always a pleasure to get a pics fix from Finland! Also looking forward enjoying the pics of your next cruise.

You went to water faster than me, I was supposed to launch last Friday in Greece but it was delayed because of an unforeseen rudder bearing problem.

Re the video. A slightly OT question. You drive on the winter on the ice, I guess you win a lot of time to get from A to B compared to the summer? How fast can you drive on ice and who checks whether the ice is solid enough? Here in Switzerland, we often have prepared cross country slopes on frozen lakes. But from time to time, snow grooming machines just break through the ice and sink! I guess cars often disappear in Finnish lakes?
 
Hardmy said:
Always a pleasure to get a pics fix from Finland! Also looking forward enjoying the pics of your next cruise.

You went to water faster than me, I was supposed to launch last Friday in Greece but it was delayed because of an unforeseen rudder bearing problem.

Re the video. A slightly OT question. You drive on the winter on the ice, I guess you win a lot of time to get from A to B compared to the summer? How fast can you drive on ice and who checks whether the ice is solid enough? Here in Switzerland, we often have prepared cross country slopes on frozen lakes. But from time to time, snow grooming machines just break through the ice and sink! I guess cars often disappear in Finnish lakes?
Click to expand...

Yes, ice roads are regularly used in the area but these are not officially maintained by the council, and no one assumes the responsibility for the safety of the roads. This also means that the normal rules of the road don't apply and it's every man for himself, more or less. In reality there are seldom any road accidents as such but every now and then someone does go through the ice with their car. Local knowledge is important especially when there is very little snow and you can basically drive anywhere, including inlets with currents. Can be a huge amount of fun though.

In our case, we checked with the local pub keeper and he told me that Matti drove there with his 4*4 yesterday so should be ok. It was :).
 
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scubaman said:
Yes, ice roads are regularly used in the area but these are not officially maintained by the council, and no one assumes the responsibility for the safety of the roads. This also means that the normal rules of the road don't apply and it's every man for himself, more or less. In reality there are seldom any road accidents as such but every now and then someone does go through the ice with their car. Local knowledge is important especially when there is very little snow and you can basically drive anywhere, including inlets with currents. Can be a huge amount of fun though.

In our case, we checked with the local pub keeper and he told me that Matti drove there with his 4*4 yesterday so should be ok. It was :).
Click to expand...

I did wonder about driving on the ice when the video was playing, I'm guessing the video was shot well back in the winter time? As long as knew your stuff and had the right gear to do it, I reckon it would be great fun sliding around on the ice.
You have to be able to amuse yourself during those long winters :)
 
AndieMac said:
I did wonder about driving on the ice when the video was playing, I'm guessing the video was shot well back in the winter time? As long as knew your stuff and had the right gear to do it, I reckon it would be great fun sliding around on the ice.
You have to be able to amuse yourself during those long winters :)
Click to expand...

It was shot on March 27th, a week later and I wouldn't have gone there anymore. I do remember one time years ago when there was smooth, fresh ice and only a couple of centimetres of snow on top. You could do pirouettes from road speeds. It was fun. No special gear required really, only general advice is to leave your seatbelt unbuckled. You are unlikely to crash into anything, but if the car sinks, you have one less thing to worry about when getting out of the car (through side windows). But this doesn't really happen often.
 
scubaman said:
It was shot on March 27th, a week later and I wouldn't have gone there anymore. I do remember one time years ago when there was smooth, fresh ice and only a couple of centimetres of snow on top. You could do pirouettes from road speeds. It was fun. No special gear required really, only general advice is to leave your seatbelt unbuckled. You are unlikely to crash into anything, but if the car sinks, you have one less thing to worry about when getting out of the car (through side windows). But this doesn't really happen often.
Click to expand...

You Finns are hardcore, I'd get nervous walking on an ice covered lake, let alone driving a vehicle on one :eek: :)
 
AndieMac said:
You Finns are hardcore, I'd get nervous walking on an ice covered lake, let alone driving a vehicle on one :eek: :)
Click to expand...

There is a fine line between hardcore and mad. In my eyes ice fishing enthusiasts often seem to fall into the latter category by going out far too early/late with a kicksled to spread the weight. Such is life, I guess...
 
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