Weekend in the home harbour (or "almost there - Part 2")

No matter the weather forecast did not look good, we still had hopes to release the ropes and go with the wind... Well, it did not happen. We were still missing the sails: genua was in place already on Friday night (not without challenges), but to have the main sail up we had to wait until Sunday due to the wind. Overall weather this weekend was totally unstable, many times per day sun would show up, then it would get windy, cloudy, it would start raining and even snowing and showering hail.

Having avoided the cold and the snow out in the sea was a very comforting thought :) Besides we still had several "projects" ongoing: I took care of the inside, while my hubby tried to do some techy fixing. One easy thing turned out to be a weekend long project: changing the batteries (separate post will follow). That's how it often goes with any "small" jobs: you believe it will take you 1 hour, but later you realize you are missing some tools and shops are closed or no more ferries scheduled (boat is located on an island).... 

Since we were not in a hurry, we went "exploring" our home harbor island and found out that some 20 swans are staying on the shore for already a couple of days. Would be so awesome if they decided to make nests here!

Coming back to work, we finally got the main sail up too :) 

And as soon as it happened the flag found its place :)

Independent of weather, sunset time is always awesome at the sea, both evenings were beautiful and enjoyable. Obviously we could not enjoy being outdoors, the temperatures were around 0 and we had the heater on for the whole weekend non-stop. 

Still views were stunning:

Now (again!) I believe we are almost there! :) Hoping for a better weather during next weekend and looking forward to have the first sailing this season! 

Almost there!

Instead of celebrating the May Day like all the Finns do (picnicking and grilling, not to mention drinking:) ), we decided to use the day off to get some boat work done. The decision was not that bad, considering that we have a winter come back today: +2 and rain. We rented a minivan and headed some 140km away from Helsinki to pick up the mattresses and sails from the winter storage location. At our return The Boat was full of stuff all over... 

It was scary how much of everything we had to fit into this limited space, but little by little things found their places and the outcome was very pleasing :) 

My favorite reading corner is fully ready, tomorrow have to remember to get something to read with me. At least some cook book if nothing else :)

Finally the pillows that we bought during the last Boat Exhibition are also in use!

And to crown this really Labor Day in our case, my hubby got the mast pre-bend and tightened properly the rig. 

Easy dinner was a must today, so Carusel pizza was simply perfect. To my huge surprise not only there was no queue, but we also got the pizza in 10 mins. 

We turned out to have a great May Day, no matter I had to wear the winter coat :) and we are almost there, boom and sails are missing and some dish washing is needed.... and deck should be cleaned, batteries replaced, water tanks rinsed, and......... should I go on? :)

Suddenly sailing season started!

The spring came quite suddenly and rather early this year, so all the boat preparations were done in a fast mode to start the season ASAP. I must say I have been a lazy bone with all the spring work, as I spent 10 days around Easter in Belarus visiting my family, while my hubby has used all his winter holiday to do all the necessary for the season to start. This is also why I did not make posts about boat readiness so far. I am still the one to take care of the interior, and hopefully will have all in place and ready by the coming weekend. No Vappu sailing for us this year, but this day off is much needed to complete all what is missing. Still several "projects" ongoing, but will try to make separate post on those...

So the "historical moment" was today and our boat has again water under the keel. And as soon as she reached it, I have no doubts she said: "Brrr!!! The water is cold yet!"  :)

So there she was, alone in the sea when we came :) The actual move from dry land to the water happened before we reached the island.

Our "motor boat" was missing the mast ... 

Thanks to the great crew of the yacht club it was installed in no time! 

Today the boat spends her first night this sailing season at her own place. The mast still needs to be adjusted properly, boom and sails are to be put in place, interior is not done at all, but those are minor details. Summer is in the air, no matter it got a bit chillier today.

 Have a good night, boat, see you tomorrow :) 

Ready for the summer!

Surprise-surprise I am already looking for the summer to come :) 

Not only preparing the boat - winter cover is already removed- but also preparing myself: 

Here they are: the new weekend bag and sailing shoes. I was bored to carry around my orange backpack, which did not really match the whole marine style :) This new bag is just perfect size for the weekend trips, not to mention my favorite stripes and colors!  

  ''

 I don't know yet if this concrete pair can be called "sailing shoes" though, their technical qualities probably are not the best, but they look great and have a rubber sole. However the grip on the deck remains to be seen.

Anyway, I am good to go! :)

Bag: KappAhl, Hampton Republic 27

Shoes: Mexx 

Sunday felt really like "summer-is-coming" for the first time this year! We took the usual bus that we normally took in summer to go to the home harbor, the sea was completely free of ice, sun was shining bright and it felt warm...

... and even my favorite ice-cream kiosk in the city was already open! It was a must to have the first of the season ice-cream to go! :) 

Safety first: Life vest!

We have a golden rule on board of our boat: "safety first", all the crew members, including guests, have to wear life vests when the boat is in motion. We have several spare ones of different sizes for the visitors and the ones that we always use ourselves.

 "Modern" life vests are quite small in size and wearing them is quite easy, you often forget at all that you have it on. At the same time they are very efficient,  they will inflate automatically by releasing the gas when submerged, thanks to a small dissolvable stopper.
It is a good practice to check their condition at the beginning of the season. Normally checking the air leakage and changing the gas cartridge if necessary is enough. Though  this spring we realized that we need to get a new one for the captain :) Venemessut was the right place to shop, they had rather wide choice and you could try them on. We ended up purchasing this one:

When choosing it we had several characteristics we kept it mind:

1. The locker should be made of metal. In worst weather conditions you trust your life to this thingy, you don't want it to get broken. Ever. 

2. It should have a metal "loop", where you can attach the safety rope. It should be metal for the same reason as above. 

3. There should be the belt that can be attached from back to front. In worst case scenario it will ensure that the vest stays on and will not slip off in the water. 

4. It should be comfortable to wear.

This one fulfilled our requirements, and as a bonus had a special indicator, that will remind you when the gas cartridge needs to be changed.

Remember to wear your life vests and have a safe sailing season! 

Coats and Shoes - entrance furniture

When we moved to the new flat the only "major" fixing we did was changing the wallpapers in the entrance. And of course, they could picture nothing else but little blue sailing boats :) Once the wallpapers were in place, big challenge was to find the suitable entrance furniture. I was all the time having in mind some sort of entrance bench & coat rack. Probably this was imposed to my imagination by the white wall cabinet, which would serve as a niche for the bench . Furniture color was also predetermined by the white wallpaper background, white wall cabinet and white doors.

We have checked plenty of furniture shops and online pages and were surprised to see, that generally the choice of entrance benches is extremely small... Not to mention that I wanted it white and embracing the general style of the room. At last, the dream bench was found in Riviera Maison online catalogue (Riviera Mason is the shop where I could live, it deserves a separate post! :) ), but the price was totally absurd and out of our budget for this item.

Browsing online one day I bumped into the pages suggested to me by FB. How huge my surprise was to find there THE-bench-and-rack-of-my-dreams for 1/4 of the original price! It lacks the Riviera Maison logo, but otherwise is simply perfect! And honestly, I am not ready to pay 600€ for the logo.
Look at this :) I think the final outcome is awesome. At least I am very happy with this :)

Coats & Shoes: Wihonen online store

Rug: Kodin1

Pictures: me 

Tips for boat stuff shopping

Now that the season is approaching, many boat owners have the same problem: buying the needed accessories or spares for their boats. Most likely we will use again already familiar to us SVB service. After visiting their webpage we found many things we did not know we needed :)
This will not be the first order, 2 years ago among other boat parts we ordered there Henri Lloyd sailing gear for both of us and have been very happy with the price and quality. In any Finnish shop the price is normally about double.

 Delivery from Germany is not a problem at all, they have a fixed fee for delivery within EU at a very moderate price!  And you will have the goods delivered to your door by the courier. Overall a positive experience.

One more place to be considered for boat parts online shopping, particularly for mast and rigging, is Benn's. Same feedback as for SVB: good prices, easy delivery, good quality. Some time ago we ordered there several parts, not lately though. But currently one item is on the wish list: a rope clutch

For shopping in Helsinki we have also used Veneilijän Verkkokauppa, Marinea, John Nurminen Marine and Maritim. For the best price it is always worth it to check the needed item in different places and find the best offer.

For "all-in-1" shopping a popular place is yearly Venemessut (Boat Exhibition) and Uiva. They offer a good chance to check the products hands-on and often have quite good bargains.

Pictures taken from the respective web-pages.

Your good tips for boat stuff shopping are more than welcome in comments :)