The year of the Viking. Viking Line, tax free shop and stores. Another experience for me. I was happy to move on to full time sales in Maritim, but also sad to leave the family of Ms Gabriella.

23 March we visited my dear friends Pertti and Mirja. After the evening sauna I sneaked out to get a sparklin rose from the snow and made a little speach which ended me asking, if Annina would like to spend the rest of her life with me? We had of course spoken about this earlier, but now it was official - engaged to be married.

Time to work on the boat. In reality, I was mostly working on the Viking Line ship as well as part-time in Maritim, selling boating equipment and scoring good discounts for myself. We drove once the 300km to Aliisa and did as much as we could. Annina was still studying hard, trying to pass the last exams to become a lawyer.

The first of May is celebrated heavily in Finland. It is the day when the academics put on their hats and the working class go and march. Most of all, it is a celebration of spring and a happy drinking party, particularly in the centre of Helsinki. We spent it together with Solmukoulu season opening cruise, driving around Helsinki and partying onboard. The weather was cold and I had just finished a 8-day shift on Viking Line. I passed out early, partly from being tired and certainly helped with copious amounts of sparkling wine.

Summer at last! For Annina, June marked the end of a 10-year-struggle to finish her law studies. Life had so much more to offer, it was difficult to immerse oneself into the exciting world of law. (?) It was a step towards freedom and a big weight off her shoulders. We were one year from departing Finland on Aliisa, but all that seemed still too far away to even consider certain.

14 July, Bastille day, Aliisa-day in Finnish calendar, the day we got married. It was a wonderful day, bare feet on a yacht, engine off, under sail. The finnish wedding ceremony (civil) says: "Do you want to take this..." instead of "...do you take". This little detail bothered me and I made a point of saying: "I do, and I will!"



There was no time for honeymoons, yet. From the wedding it was straight back to work - Annina to her job at Tapiolainsurance company and me straight to lake Saimaa to do the first haulout in 3 years.

Time to bring her a little closer to departure. With only one week to spare, we made the most of the August heat wave and brought Aliisa 85 meters down from the lake, back to sea-level and the Baltic.

No rest here. Aliisa had already started her refit at the Sindbad marina and as soon as the winter storage was allowed (by the city council), Aliisa was up there. A long, hard winter ahead, a long dark tunnel that has the warm tropical sun shining at the end of it...

Jyrki Mäkinen, one of my childhood friends, came to aid when Aliisa needed more metal. There was a few thin spots and.. hmm.. a few holes down below the anchor locker. Jykä spared no effort in getting the hole filled from both sides...

As the winter temperatures made work on the boat difficult - not impossible - we went to work at our tiny warm storage room near the hard stand. Varnishing and covering the old interior lining with fake leather, doing all new wood panels from plywood and lots more was done underground, in a 1950's (?) bomb shelter.

We escaped Xmas to Madeira, though it didn't quite do the trick. We still had to do all the courtesy visits and christmessy things. It was my first packaged holiday. It may have been the last too. The point of the excercise was to see the sun, and that we did. By this stage, everything we did, was geared towards our departure. Madeira gave us a brief break from all that, for 700 euros a head.