Sail, sail, sail your boat, gently across the sea...

I grew up in Haukilahti which is a by-the-sea suburban area in Espoo, near Helsinki. As a kid I got used to seeing sailboats on the way to the beach. I loved the sight: they looked so gracile and upright, waiting to go out there and face the world. My family didn't sail and I secretly envied those who did - and really could not understand all the complaining some friends did about having to spend several weeks on a boat during the summer.

This year I got a chance to make up for all the envy, as a friend of mine asked me to go sailing with him. We did a few shorter trips around Helsinki archipelago - loved it - and then decided, much owing to my puppy-eyed look, to sail across the sea to Estonia for an extended weekend. This was nothing new to my friend, as he had done it already several times this summer, but I eagerly waited my Great Escape to Tallinn and Naissaar, our destinations of choice.

We left Friday afternoon. As suspected, the wind wasn't really strong enough to cross the Gulf of Finland, so we sailed to Stora Herrö island instead, and spent the night there. In other words my friend slept like a baby and I spent the night listening to the banging and clanging sounds - this was my first night ever on a boat and I was far too excited about it to sleep. :)

The next day we headed to Tallin. On the way we saw

Helsinki from a distance - looks like a small town in the middle of a forest! :D

Some baby boats having a field trip ;)

Tallinn Lighthouse

and a beautiful sunset.

We spent the night at Pirita Harbour, the site for the sailing competitions in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The harbour looks quite normal...

until you look to the left.

Now where did the pyramid come from?!

On Sunday we enjoyed some swimming and sauna at the nearby spa before continuing to Naissaar. If you already clicked the link and went to Wikipedia, you know it used to be a military area during the Soviet rule. This part of the history had been preserved quite creatively in my opinion. My favourite was perhaps

The flagpole with a mine pedestal.

 Naissaar was also a very beautiful place, with

a beautiful beach

and a sheltered harbour.

There are ferries running to Naissaar and two other islands from Tallinn, so even if you don't have friends with sailboats you can still visit them during the summer.

On Monday we headed back to Helsinki. The weather was gorgeous, with sun blazing from the clear sky yet with enough wind to enjoy a good ride back. All and all, there's nothing like relaxing on a sailboat on a sunny day! Even my cardigan agrees. ;)

One of my favourite creations of all time, which has been underused as the lower part used to roll up into my belly, since it didn't originally have a ribbing. Before the trip I added some layers of crochet to the bottom, thus making it sturdier and wind-proof. Made the garment much more usable and gave it a new life! :)

Oceans and islands on my skin

This weekend we did a road trip to Ruissalo, Turku with a group of friends to celebrate the birthday of one of us. Our destination was Sauna Obscura in Saaronniemi Beach. It's a floating sauna building with a wood-heated stove (or kiuas, as we call a sauna stove in Finnish), so you either have to take a boat there or even better, swim. What makes it extra special is that the sauna has two holes on its opposite walls, covered with a lense. Thus the sauna works like a giant box camera, or a camera obscura, projecting an upside-down image of the sea and the archipelago on the walls and the skin of the people bathing inside.

 We were lucky to have very nice weather, and thus a clear picture. Naturally we all swam in turns to a suitable spot outside the sauna and waved to our friends inside - some of us even did all the water tricks they knew. :) The sauna was a thoroughly delightful experience. You could feel the gentle waves of the Baltic sea while looking at sun playing on its surface in the sauna ceiling. Once you got hot, you could just step outside and jump into the sea to swim a for a while. Why can't every sauna be like this?!

To go with the theme of our surprise excursion, I made a bath/sauna gown as a present to the friend who we were celebrating. The model was taken from my mother's old sauna gown from the 1970s, I changed the colour though from bright orange to cream white. The birthday girl was very happy with both the surprise journey and her new garment. This was definately one of the best days of this summer!

Sparkling Power - Ilosaarirock 2011

I went to Ilosaari rock festival with some friends this July, and saw the comeback of Sielun Veljet, a Finnish punk/rock band from the 80's. A quick look in Wikipedia told me the band was into shamanism in their times, and played often with lights directed to their eyes, so that they couldn't see the audience, and tried to achieve a state of trance. This resulted in repetitive, hypnotic music, appreciated by about as many as disliked. ;) 

Here is a video from Provinssi Rock Festival in 1986:

And the same song in 2011 (starts at about 4:30):

After a 20-year break the band was as good as ever, and I became a fan immediately. Unfortunately the official band T-shirt was ugly as hell, so I had to be creative to show my colours.

Here is the official Ilosaarirock festival bag, decorated with the festival wristbands (mine and a friend's)...

...and an embroidery spelling "Sielun Veljet" in the style of the ugly T-shirt/first album cover.