Tuesday, 28. July 2009 : Hot days
From Puumala we continued southwest to a place with the best sauna so far.
Ruhonsaaret is a sandy island with a horseshoe shaped bay facing north. We
tied up at the jetty early afternoon and were able to book the wood-fired
sauna before dinner.
Late afternoon, the jetty populated with a number of boats and it started to
feel a bit crowded. Also, the sun disappeared behind trees, so we moved out
in the bay and dropped the stern anchor to fully enjoy the late evening sun.
Next stop was Lappeenranta (Villmarstrand in Swedish), where we planned to
continue to the Saimaa Canal the day after.
Hilkkas friend Auli, who had been sailing with us for some days a week ago,
visited us by car and brought some Karjala specialities.
Weather report promised 8-12 m/s southwest for the track between the Canal
and the Finnish border at Santio, ca 45 miles straight southwest. This would
mean a rather inconvenient trip that can not be interrupted due to Russian
border regulations. So we decided to stay another day in Lappeenranta, and
this was the year’s hottest day so far with 30 degrees in the shadow.
Poor Smilla with her black fur coat needed a lot of cooling; fortunately the
water is not far away. Also Skipper and mate needed some cooling;
fortunately there are a lot of bars selling beer along the beach.
After two days in Lappeenranta it was finally time to continue to the canal.
At the first lock, Mälkiä, we stayed to visit the Saimaa Kanava Museum and
continued then to the Finnish border at Nuijamaa, where we were we stayed
overnight. Next morning, after Sir Francis had been thoroughly inspected by
the Finnish borderpolice, we continued to the Russian border at the
Mälli-lock, where it took about half an hour to check the boat’s and the
crew’s documents. After another five locks, we arrived at the last one,
Brushnicnoe, where we stayed for the night after having been thoroughly
checked once more by the Russian border police
On Monday morning, we continued, passing the now Russian town Vyborg through
Russian territory in a “controlled passway”, ca 45 miles southwest towards
the Finnish border station at the island of Santio. First no wind at all,
then increasing south-westerly starting with 4 and increasing to 10 m/s. The
last hour before Santio, it was a bit choppy and all three of us were happy
to be back in Finland. A friendly border officer helped tying up and after a
final control of the ships and crews documents, we were granted re-entering
the EU.
This great moment was celebrated with a glass of dry rosé wine and some
snacks made of dark bread. Caviar and fresh onions.
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