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Tag: Winter

Apulia – Trulli Baroque

Apulia – Trulli Baroque

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Coned trulli housetops with decorations

Our sailing blog has been greatly neglected this past winter and spring. Life got in the way – more precisely, land life in a very cold land. It was hard to find inspiration for writing about adventures along the sunny Mediterranean while wading about in deep snow. Now that the new sailing season has already begun, perhaps it’s time to draw a quick summary of the places we visited from our winter base – in no particular order. Next time, I might tell you more about which way the winds are blowing this summer. Continue reading

Escaping winter to Crete – Spinalonga and Elounda

Escaping winter to Crete – Spinalonga and Elounda

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Elounda fishing harbour is full of colourful boats.

Aina sailed peacefully, following her favourite compass heading, 180°. We saw Mykonos behind us, and soon also Naxos and Paros, as we continued further south. It was the last day of October, and the sun would set early. There would be no moon to guide us on this night passage. The cloudy sky soon turned pitch black. But the wind wasn’t bad, the sea not too bumpy, so we both slept well in turns. As I climbed into the cockpit for my shift around midnight, I saw the beautiful glittering lights of Santorini on our starboard side. Perhaps we would sail there one day, but not tonight – our destination was Crete. Continue reading

Mykonos with Wintry Winds

Mykonos with Wintry Winds

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We had been dodging strong northerly winds for a week in Naxos during the second half of October. During a short calm break, we paid a brief visit to the island of Delos before having to hunker down for the next windy spell. There appeared to be some sheltered bays on the south side of Mykonos, so we headed there. Mykonos is one of the most touristy islands in the Cyclades, but perhaps this late in the season it might not be quite so crowded. Continue reading

Ionian to Aegean – s/y Aina’s year 2021 in Greece

Ionian to Aegean – s/y Aina’s year 2021 in Greece

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When our sailing journey began in the summer of 2018, we never thought we would be staying very long in any country. But we’re still in Greece after more than two years! This winter will be the third that our Aina rests in a Greek harbour – this time in Crete. We hope our readers can wait for future sailing plans patiently, as they are never revealed even to us until the very last moment. Continue reading

Minimalist Sailing Adventure – Another Lockdown Winter in Greece

Minimalist Sailing Adventure – Another Lockdown Winter in Greece

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Sailboat Aina’s crew is still floating in Greece. No worries – we haven’t accidentally sailed over the world’s edge, or been swallowed by a whirlpool, or even poisoned by the fumes of the Mount Parnassos that used to inspire the oracle at Delphi. But the strict lockdown that has lasted for more than six months has had its effect on my writing inspiration. Continue reading

Wishing You a Peaceful Christmas 2020!

Wishing You a Peaceful Christmas 2020!

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The crew of sailboat Aina wishes all of our readers a cosy, warm, peaceful Christmas! We will celebrate ours in the pretty town of Galaxidi, Greece – just the two of us, at home in our safe little nest. The lockdown will continue in Greece until early January, at least, so I guess we’ll not potter too far from home. Maybe we’ll cook something resembling traditional Finnish Christmas dishes, and enjoy long walks along the hills and pine forests, and the views over the sea and mountains. Continue reading

More Finnish Vintage Cooking – Grandma’s Karelian Pies

More Finnish Vintage Cooking – Grandma’s Karelian Pies

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To tell you the truth: the best bread in the world comes from Finland. But that’s not the whole truth! The world’s best breakfast, snack, travel snack and emergency food –  the savoury Karelian pie – also comes from Finland! We successfully tackled our acute rye bread shortage last spring – the sourdough starter created then is still alive and kicking, and part of it actually now lives in Northern Ireland! Apart from the hottest summer months, we’ve been baking Finnish sourdough rye bread every two or three days in our sailboat galley. At times it’s been a little difficult to find rye flour, but the situation is very good at the moment, because a local shopkeeper here in Galaxidi, where we are spending the second lockdown of 2020, was able to order it for us. Continue reading

Winter in Messolonghi – Boat Projects and BBQ

Winter in Messolonghi – Boat Projects and BBQ

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After a leisurely Christmas and New Year it was time for some much needed boat refit – plumbing, to be precise. We’re still in the middle of it, and that’s why I won’t go into any detail at this moment. I will write about the project later, when it’s finished. There hasn’t been much time for anything else besides drilling, screwing, demolishing and building during the last few weeks. Continue reading

Winter planning in Greek summer

Winter planning in Greek summer

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We left the island of Kefalonia to sail to the Greek mainland. Along the way we anchored for one night on the island’s southeast corner, and continued in the morning towards the town of Mesolongi. We made landfall at dusk. Mesolongi is situated at the mouth of the Patras Bay, and surrounded by extensive salt marshes and lagoons. A narrow, dredged channel leads into the town bay, about a mile and a half inland. There are peculiar houses built on stilts on both sides of it, and many small wooden piers. Numerous bird species inhabit the wetlands, even pink flamingos, of which we saw a great big flock with our binoculars as we motored along the channel. Continue reading

Binic, in Rain or Shine!

Binic, in Rain or Shine!

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What a great time we had back in the homeland! Six weeks of celebrations – Christmas, New Year, meeting many of our old friends, neighbours and many members of our family. Those six weeks were packed with activity and socializing! It could have been overwhelming, after all, we had spent the preceding six months exclusively in each other’s company. But it felt great! Either we managed to infect our close ones with our cruising zen, or people just happened to be in their hibernating mode. Continue reading

The Way to France – Good Bye North Sea (We Will Not Miss You)!

The Way to France – Good Bye North Sea (We Will Not Miss You)!

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The pretty fortress town of Willemstad was now behind us, as we were nearing our last opening bridge in the inland waters of Holland. We had gotten pretty good at this – once again our timing was perfect, the bridge opened and we just motored through without stopping. A few hours later we reached the last locks at Stellendam, and just like that, we were out in the North Sea again. The sun went down, and we could see the bright lights of Hoek van Holland’s large port behind us, to the north. Continue reading

Boat Projects Start Again – with Another Big Bang!

Boat Projects Start Again – with Another Big Bang!

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What a mess we made of our boat!

I have read Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time. I know the universe started with a Big Bang, and as soon as it’ll be done expanding it’ll shrink again, and another Big Bang will follow. The same theory seems to apply to boat projects. Last year it wreaked havoc on our little boat, and we had to sweat for days and weeks on end to get everything back together. But in the end we had a much better boat than we started with. I’m really hoping that this spring we can pull it off again – on our new boat! During the Easter holidays we finally had time, and tolerable weather – it’s a rare thing for the two to happen at the same time during the Finnish spring – to delve into the boat matters and to take a better look at our projects. Continue reading

Ready for Launch! …Not!

Ready for Launch! …Not!

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Spring is late this year. Really, really late. Not a bud in a tree, not a green blade of grass.

Our sailboat’s spring refit is running late too. We’ve been held up by very cold weather. We’ve been dodging hale storms and taken a beating from angry northerly gusts. And today, just as we thought the worst would be behind us as it’s almost May, we’re having this great big snow storm. Everything is covered in snow – insolent, inpolite, unenvited snow! Continue reading

Sailboat Projects – Well Begun is Half Done!

Sailboat Projects – Well Begun is Half Done!

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Actually, in Finland the saying goes “Well planned is half done”. As our boat is currently covered in ice and snow, there isn’t much work we can begin – but we sure can plan. As it happens, I’m very good at planning. So good in fact, that I have turned it into a way of making a living – I prefer not to talk about a career, because careers are something that successful and ambitious people have, and I’m just an ordinary person who likes to make plans. I like it so much I hardly ever stop planning. Sometimes I even make plans while sleeping, which is the best way of putting that time into some use, if you ask me. Continue reading