Summer vacation 2012 - Sammakkalahti

We left Huvön very early in the morning as anchor alarm woke us up - the wind had woken up and blew in exactly from the bay opening causing small but effective waves running into us.  Captain decided that we will not re-acnhor but we move to an other bay very close to Huvön, to sleep few hours and then continue to Sammakkalahti. I have never run to the cockpit as fast as then - I thought that finally the crew realized that four am is a excellent time to make day's first bird observations. But no, they just started the engine and very fast collected the anchor and motored out from the bay. Getskär-Renskär is very close to Huvön and its bay is protected by mostly underwater reef that settles the waves. We decided to check if SXK buyou would be available and it was. We settled down quickly, continued our sleep for few hours and woke up to notice that the wind was totally calmed down. We had long drive ahead of us, with engine - how unpleasant.

We arrived in Sammakalahti late afternoon and it was very warm and sunny, perfect day for enjoying a beach.The mini peninsula was full of sun bathers and swimmers - my crew told me they have never before parked the boat like this. There was also entertainment for the beach folks as the captain wanted to test how the dinghy works in anchoring business, practicing the double anchor technique. This resulted that the anchor was relocated three times. "Jobbig"(hard) was a statement from our audience on the sand.

One of the lighthouses on our way through Kalix coast.

It is possible
to have such moments in your life
that
the Sun
shines from your mast.

Sammakkalahti is located between the Seskarö's  westmost "fingers" pointing to north, here is the map.

Summer Vacation 2012 - The Finale approaches

The next post in this series is the last one, Sammakkalahti in Seskarö.

In this picture we have sunrise, yes sunrise, at 4:00 as we left our anchor position in the lovely bay of Huvön.

Summer vacation 2012 - Huvön, the bay

Summer Vacation 2012 - Huvön, the shore

Summer vacation 2012 - Huvön, the mountain

I did not go to the top of Huvön but my crew did, one at the time. I will let the pictures tell.

More information about my crew's all time favorite island here.

Next in Summer vacation 2012 - Huvön

Island Huvön has so much to tell about, so many pics that I need to tell about this island in three parts: The bay, the mountain and the beach.

Meanwhile, I am of to marina and wish you lovely weekend!

Summer Vacation 2012 - Sorttisviken in Seskarö

My summer vacation production is getting closer to its culmination, the islands of Seskarö and Huvön and their magical anchoring bays my crew has been dreaming about the whole winter. I have lived with my crew only since last October and yet these destinations feel so familiar to me because my crew has been talking about them so much.

This is first of the three, Sorttisviken. The unique thing in the Seskarö anchoring bays is that you actually drive the boat up to the beach. The sand bank is so steep that when your keel hits, or actually smoothly dips, into it your crew can walk to the beach in knee high water (I don't go to water, I enjoy watching it). The anchor is used in the boat stern and the ropes are connected from the bow to the beach pines or rocks.

The journey to Sorttisviken was partially unpleasant - the old waves from yesterday's high winds were coming from south and we had to manage them in the narrow fairway on the east side of the island. Bumpy drive. I stayed in my sea bunk all the way. Fortunately the rest of the sailing was smoother.

The island is located here, see the map.

Summer Vacation 2012- Haaparanta

This is my first marina outside Finland - Haaparanta in Sweden, very close to Finnish border. Now I  can state that I am an international sea cat! We were on our way to Sorttisviken in Seskarö but we had to interrupt our sailing due to raising thunderstorm - the red cable is lightning conductor, just in case. Btw, you are not supposed to stay so close to mast in thunderstorm - I just had to check the vessel environment before taking my crew inside the vessel. Fortunately this time we could watch the storm bypassing us. However it left waves that we were to feel strongly day after.

Summer Vacation 2012 - Puotikari

I am still upset on how much attention the marina dog got from the first mate - I really think that I and only I should get those kind of amounts of attention. Situation is explained in my earlier post "Winning the windmills"( at Port of Puotikari). Here in the pic I am sulking down below when my first mate rubs the dog's shoulders outside on the dock...

For more information about the marina in http://venenetti.fi/satamat/perameri/puotikari-onkalo/1992-puotikari/puotikari.

Summer vacation 2012 - Iso-Huikuri

From Kemi we continued to island Iso-Huikuri. We anchored north of the island. To make sure that the anchor does not drag it must be monitored for some time and I took the task.

Also, if your captain wants to be a great explorer and study new islands one must keep him on eye... Fortunately this time he managed to get back by himself.

Summer Vacation 2012 - Kemi Part 2

As a hint for all the sea cats who need to take care of entertaining their crews and enabling them to replenish vessel's provisions I can tell that this is the quest marina: very beautiful club buildings with excellent facilities and nice restaurants, lovely sea side boulevard connecting the marina to the town center with all the shopping including specialty store for my favorite delicacies.

More information in http://venenetti.fi/satamat/perameri/puotikari-onkalo/1964-kemi/kemi.

Summer Vacation 2012 - Kemi - Part 1

After a very pleasant sunset sailing we arrived in Kemi, just before midnight. I had rested well as the later part of the sailing was in calming tail wind. On our way trough Kemi industrial harbor we saw an idle ice breaker Sampo, waiting for winter and ice to break. I was ready to enjoy fresh night air and the views of the new marina - a harbor without any windmills. And I really enjoyed it until 2 o'clock - the crew become hyperactive about the sailing after several days of staying in marinas and stayed awake much longer than usual.