Our position is 60:09.202N 24:56.863E

It was bright but breezy the next day as we set off for the last leg of the first part of our trip. We were soon broad reaching with just the genoa but before long we were getting 35 knot gusts  so we rolled up enough to maintain a 5 knot speed. We certainly didn’t envy all the classic boats beating in the opposite direction, knowing how far they had to go before reaching Hanko.

Leaving Lahteela

Many classic yachts beating the other way with varying views on how much sail area was appropriate

This guy seemed to be on his own which seemed ambitious

  This looked a whole lot more comfortable

We negotiated the rather tortuous approaches to our target, the HSS club marina, and emerged in a bay full of windsurfers racing. It was a European championship of some sort we believe and the standard of sailing looked high as we passed them by and found our reserved berth in the harbour.

Approaching Helsinki

Windsurfers racing

Kristina at the club was extremely welcoming and showed us round their very active club, situated on an island. There were a lot of dinghies for youth training as well as a whole pontoon for classic boats. The little ferry ran to and from the mainland frequently and there was also a small rowing dinghy for use if you needed to get ashore outside the time it was running, so we were very happy about our plans to leave the boat there for a few weeks and undertake other trips as well as some time back home.

  Kristina showed us round

Views of the HSS club marina at Helsinki – flying the Union flag for us.

  Preparing to leave Moorglade

We took a walk to the railway station and it seemed the trees needed to wear dresses