When far from home port, every cruiser constantly seeks something called “local knowledge.”

With local knowledge, a cruiser can guide his vessel outside marked channels, knowing the waters are deep and no hazards threaten his hull.

With local knowledge, a cruiser need not settle for marinas marked on the chart. He can navigate off the beaten path to the most beautiful, uncrowded anchorages.

With local knowledge, shore excursions become intimate views into the local culture rather than cursory stops at tourist destinations.

With local knowledge, a whole new world opens up to cruisers who are fortunate enough to have it.

But how to get local knowledge? Pilot books, cruising guides, and charts are a good start. But these are available to everyone. To gain local knowledge, one must dig deeper. One must find local sailors who have it and are willing to share it.

Thus far during our stay in Finland, we have benefited from three sources of local knowledge.

First, there was Marco. I met Marco in the sauna at the Old City Marina guest facility in Tallinn. Marco was cruising out of Helsinki with his girlfriend Nana on their 36-foot sloop. After chatting a bit, I invited him and Nana to the Windleblo for a drink. There, we reviewed our route between Helsinki and Turku and he recommended several secret anchorages.

Then, there was Jussi Mattila. Jussi owns Jotiko Marine, the Helsinki boatyard where we left Windleblo while we were in St. Petersburg. Blond, around 40, and always smiling, we were extremely fortunate to have Jussi as our first contact in Finland. Not only did he greet us warmly upon arrival in his country, repeatedly saying, “You are most welcome here,” he also repaired our whisker pole and offered us a slip for a week, all for only 75 euro. On top of that, he gave me his user name and password for VIP access to foreca.fi, the premiere Internet source for weather information in Finnish waters, and showed me several hideaways where we could moor on the way to Turku.

Finally, there was our neighbor in the Hanko marina. He pulled in an hour or so after us. Martin struck up an initial conversation with him as he was relaxing in his cockpit. He lived in Helsinki and was on his way with his family to his summer place in Turku on their 41-foot Finngulf sloop. Later, we invited him on board so he could show us places to anchor between Hanko and Turku. He never did tell us his name.

Our first stop out of Helsinki was Pentala Island. Jussi invited us to stay as his guest at his former sailing club on the island. He said the island was most unusual as it was the only one to his knowledge that had a fresh water lake on it. After taking a slip and getting settled, we walked the 500 meters to the lake. The cool, clean water felt exquisite on our skin. We swam and swam, then dried ourselves in the warm evening breeze.

Our second stop was at Elisaari Island. Both Marco and Jussi recommended it, which at first was a bit disconcerting. How could the place be such a secret spot if the first two Finnish sailors we meet both tell us about it? But Marco’s description was alluring. “You can’t believe such a place exists, especially as you steer your boat through a long, narrow, weedy, shallow channel to get there,” he said. Elisaari did not disappoint.

After our reprovisioning stop at the Hanko marina, we set out again in search of a natural harbor. Our Hanko neighbor recommended a small cove on the island of Hogsara. “There is plenty of room there in case others arrive,” he said, “and you can take your dinghy to a small café not far away.”

Last night, we dinghied to shore around 5 p.m. to find the “small café.” At the landing, there was a quaint, hand painted sign that read, “Farmor’s Café, 350 meters” with an arrow pointing inland along a dirt road. We started walking. Twice along the way, we stopped short, fearing we had taken a wrong turn and wondering whether our hot, dusty trek would be worth it.

Again, local knowledge did not disappoint. Farmor’s Café turned out to be absolutely phenomenal and much more than we expected. It was set in gardens outside an old farmhouse adjacent to pasture complete with bleating goats. Many tables were filled with other patrons on summer holiday, some from island cottages, others like us who had arrived by boat.

We arrived thinking we would be lucky if the place had beer, but soon realized the gourmet cooking was not to be missed. Jocelyn ordered crepes with chanterelle filling and salad, Dawn had an entrecote and parmesan salad, and Martin and I enjoyed grilled pork and vegetables with roasted rosemary potatoes, all of it extraordinarily spiced. The desserts were not to be missed, either. We chose from a fabulous selection of sumptuous cakes and pies. As an added bonus, we engaged the proprietor in an interesting conversation about Finnish history.

We trust our continuing efforts to gain local knowledge with bear similar fruit in days to come as we wend our way through this endless archipelago.