Selkäsarvi sunset

Selkasarvi trail trekking

Finally we reached Selkäsarvi, an island in Bothnial Bay national park. I was really eager to go out to the island, both exploring and trying to find cooler places. In the evening we did a nice tour, and on the old helicopter? platform is was nice to chill out. But it was still too hot...

Tropical nights in Toranda

The new experience to our summer sailing was crawling a river, the mighty river Torniojoki that streams between Sweden and Finland. Few nautical mails upstream from the sea towards Tornio and Haaparanta there is a nice marina. The name Toranda is probably a combination of the names of those two towns. 

Marina is very nice with great facilities and there is good crew food at the restaurant. It was Sunday evening in our arrival so it was very quiet, with only one other boat, so we got to enjoy all the beauty of the river almost alone. In sunset the temperature had reached bearable levels under 25C so it was good time to explore the grounds of the marina. My favourite feature was those nice huts with good surface to chill on and observe the river view. Also, the huts have seats to set your crew on, very considerate :-)

At river Torniojoki the first mate got nostalgic. Swimming in the river reminded her about her childhood summer trips to her cousins who lived on the banks of the other mighty northern river, river Kemijoki. She remembers the unlimited swimming in the river, how exiting and fun it was. Maybe it was the scent of the river water or special feel in the water that brought the memories?  

Fall colors

Kemi marina

Kemi skyline from the top of the city hall

By using this elegant door handle you can enter into this elegant building and on the top of it there is fantastic view to over Kemi city and the archipelago. 

Also, there was a nice cafe for coffee and lunch. Kemi is a small city and they just seem to can do it, using their assets to make the town pleasant to stay.