I have been back to normal routine of life on land for two weeks, back from the sea. As always, it takes time to get used to the change from excitement of the new and inspiring marinas and moorings to uneventfulness of city life in my apartment. Fortunately, there are still summer weekends left to go spend outdoors. Most of the mosquitoes and black flies are gone so I can extend my outings to my own preference, without the annoyance of the black flies entering the non-furry part of my ears and biting painfully.
I want to share the sailing itinerary with you, and later I will return with the most interesting details.
We started at Mustakari in Kokkola where we had sailed the vessel already earlier. Thanks to the friend who helped us with the weekend sailing from Oulu to Kokkola! It took an18 hours long sailing day from Marjaniemi to Mustakari including of course the shorter leg from Oulu to Marjaniemi. The summer sailing route was like this: Mustakari, Tankar, Bjuröklubb, Ratan, Mässkär, Tankar, Raahe, Marjaniemi and back to home at Oulu.
Weather was not as bad as last year: first part of the sailing it was very hot with light winds and the second part was stormy. The hot weather ended just before it was about to become too uncomfortable. You know, my fur is not made for 30C temperatures, really ... Even the crew with less developed fur started to complain.
The strong northern winds and the powerful waves kept us in the marina for several days. However, this was really not bad as we had been guided in Mustakari that Ratan is well protected from all the winds and has all what is needed for an extended stay. The days in Ratan turned out to be best part of the sailing. I will report in detail!
