Preparing for winter storms

The "light-weight" tarpaulin we chose last year is already showing it's age, so we've now added two more "light-weight" tarps on top -- as if this combination will withstand the winter storms. We'll see (and hope for the best).



We also fed the Volvo engine some water and anti-freeze mix, this time in record time of 10 minutes (compared to 4 hours last year :-)).

Terra firma finalmente

All good things come to an end, and so did our first marine season with Summertime. On a beautiful Saturday morning we sailed to the Verkkosaari pier, to wait for our allotted slot #20 to be hoisted up.



We waited less than an hour for our turn, enjoying tea & Dallas buns, with the boat hooked to this eco-and-recycling-friendly buoy:



The friendly dockmaster and the driver from the Reffe transport company guided Summertime to her usual spot, with Mikko tugging at the rope too.







Then remained the dull part of the day: washing the rear-and-underwater parts of Lady Summertime. And she was dirty: bay barnacle (Balanus improvisus aka merirokko or näkki in finnish) all over her. It seems that next spring we'll choose some other anti-fouling paint than Blakes Cruising. Or add some chili to the paint...

And the hunting is easy..

Or maybe not. Results for todays hunt at Päntäri island: zero birds, zero fish. But it's wide open sea out there, and still you can see the Helsinki Cathedral.



Pertti had his plastic ducks in a row, but it didn't fool no real birds, so he enjoyed untangling some Motonet rope instead :)