Turku

Our third crew change is complete. Dawn and Martin departed Sunday morning for Vienna, and Sunday afternoon Carmen arrived from Sicily. We’ve shoved off Monday for our archipelago wanderings and are now anchored in a cove on a small island 30 miles west of Turku. Our immediate itinerary is flexible. We will put Windleblo on a beam reach and see where we end up after 20 or 30 miles each day.

In Turku, besides crew change we scrubbed and provisioned the boat, gathered local knowledge, and enjoyed a marvelous reunion with Marianne and Case, owners of the Dutch-registered Freedom sloop we met in Poland. Since we saw them last in Klaipeda, their route has taken them to Riga, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and finally Turku where they caught up with us. We yucked it up on their boat for an extended happy hour, swapping stories of our adventures. In Helsinki, they booked a tourist ferry to St. Petersburg just before boarding. Their booking included a 72-hour single entry visa, which allowed them to avoid the lengthy visa application process. They are now on an itinerary similar to ours, with each day bringing an unknown archipelago destination.

We must weigh anchor now, headed for an island 20 miles northwest of here on the northern edge of the archipelago and the southern edge of the Gulf of Bothnia. In grade school geography class, I first learned of a place called "the Gulf of Bothnia." Ever since, I wanted to go to there to see if it looks as mysterious as it sounds. Now, I will find out.

During chatter in the Turku guest harbor sauna, I gathered local knowledge from the Finnish sailors. Many suggested cool destinations further south. As I complimented them on the beauty of their country and sailing grounds, one of the most grizzled among them commented, “I have sailed around the world twice, and it took me two circumnavigations to realize the waters between Finland and Sweden are the most beautiful in the world.”

At this point, I couldn’t agree more.