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FIRST 4 MONTHS IN FINLAND..
15 AUGUST 2006 - HELSINKI!
"Jarno, take photos!" -I said. After this one the battery died. Mika and Annina drove alongside and Annina handed over some beer and chocolate. The fact that there was a yacht out to meet me was a notable thing. But there turned out to be something more notable in the event. I had come eye to eye for the first time with my future wife.
It's a bit too late to start to describe every emotion from the arrival. I arrived in Helsinki and there was no big reception. But the reception was warm and very welcoming... there even was a yacht to meet us, about half a mile off shore. It was Mika and Annina on a white and shiny Lagoon catamaran. They had both been following my journey for some time. Coming alongside I noticed Annina more than the chocolate, beer and sandwiches that she handed over to me. Later that night I met the rest of the gang, the Solmukoulu or the Knot Academy.
I had licence to get pissed and pissed I got. I had arrived in Helsinki after ten years of planning and excecuting. So to speak. Jarno, my Finnish crew that sailed across from the Azores, continued partying and didn't come back for two days. In the meantime I had quit smoking and started to look for a job. I got Annina's phone number but left it at that. I did send her a text message. I was craving for love, real love, not just sex but a real relationship, something that would last. She was not the one. Almost a lawyer, a pretty girl with nice clothes and good manners. I could never be in the same league, I would probably not even have the same values. Let alone nice clothes and good manners.
My sister came to visit. She brought her son Adam, a 15-year-old lad. We left Helsinki early in the morning for a day-sail towards Aliisa's destination further east. Much to my surprise, Mika and Annina (Ansku) were there to escort us out of the harbour. She had a lovely smile, all the time.
FIRST GOAL ACHIEVED
After the initial shock of arriving in Finland, I sqeeze the last out of my cruising energy and sail another 200 miles NE. Two weeks later I have achieved the first part of my dream. Half the journey is done. I have managed to float Aliisa from Cairns across Indian Ocean and twice across Atlantic, all the way to Finland and still further. Into Russian territory and through seven locks in Saimaa canal, almost 80 meters above sea level into lake Saimaa and to the home jetty of my dear friend Pertti Duncker. (Crewing with him during 1994-95 provided much of the inspiration to do what I do now...)
I'm standing inside a messy and half-empty Aliisa. I have had to force myself to empty the fore peak and all the food stock. I have also carried all the shit on the deck away, into Mr. Duncker's shed. What remains is hard to remove. The thought of removing the bedding, the books on the book shelf, the spices in the spice rack, the little bits and pieces in the saloon nets and lockers... all the things that make this place a home, is sickening.
The narrow Saimaa canal was planned already in the 1500's but wasn't completed until 1856. It has been widened and modernised twice, the latest major re-build complete in 1968. Mainly a cargo route, it has been an important for the economy of eastern Finland. Since WWII half the canal has been in the Russian side.
1. SEPTEMBER, 61º16´ NORTH, 27º43´ EAST
I'm holding in the tears while we approach Pertti Duncker's jetty in lake Saimaa. No boatyard here, Aliisa's first winter in ice is approaching. This moment was in my dreams about 10 years earlier. Making it come true had given purpose for my life. What now?
Even though the voyage from Australia to Finland has only taken two years and two months, the boat has been my home for much longer. This is the first time since February 1998 that I remove all things from it. This is the first time it returns to the state of being a "boat" rather than a "home". This is the first time in nine years that I will have to find some other place to call home. This is the first time since buying Aliisa that I feel homeless. I'm homeless in Finland...
SEPTEMBER 2006
I left Aliisa and Charlie to lake Saimaa, with Pera and Mirja and borrowed a small bag for my belongings. I then sought refuge with the Mäkinen family, remember the lot that we hang out with in Langkawi? With the soul-soothing evening sessions out in the verandah and the kind care of the whole family, I managed to get by and find work...
Sitting next to me is Hanski, a soul mate from years back
OCTOBER 2006
Turns out that Annina was interested in getting to know me. She told me that if I got stuck with nowhere to stay, I could crash on her couch. I was already stuck with nowhere to stay. On the 1st October I stepped in and really got to know Annina. I never left. I didn't much sleep on the couch either.
SHE'S SINKING!!
NOVEMBER 2006
Aliisa is on her way up again, the steady stream of water visible here from the high-volume pump. She dipped herself deeper than this, the water was nearly waist-deep inside, leaving the engine and much more under the icy water.
Read more about the reason and the consequences.
Oh, shit! I turned 40.
DECEMBER 2006
Annina is pressing the shapes in the dough. Traditional "piparkakku" is a bisquit baked in almost every home for christmas. The dough is so labour intensive to make, that we buy ours from the shop. You might call it ginger bread, but it's not the same. Annina (Ansku) and I are settling in our tiny one-room flat. I work for Viking Line, working 8 days straight in a massive cruise ship, followed by 8 days off. Annina is continuing her studies, grossly overdue from graduating.
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