Better than a 'Retreat'

It's been three days now.  Sun but no wind.  Trees and water but no people.  Actually a small boat did go by yesterday about three miles away but that was a different world.  I shall have to move soon because, with no fridge (have to conserve batteries), the milk's gone off and I just don't like powdered milk in my tea.

Today I hauled up the anchor and went in search of milk and other supplies.  I found two or three 'visitor's berths'marked on the chart.  These can vary from an inlet and no facilities at all to a small harbour with a dry toilet ashore, a BBQ area (complete with wood and axe) and a shop, perhaps in a nearby village.  The first one I went to was of the 'no facilities' variety except for a shoal patch unmarked on the chart but which I found with unerring accuracy.  I abandoned that.  Then I found a couple driving a small house on a barge across the lake. It looked most strange from a distance.  They were both seated at roof level and a small outboard drove them along.  I pulled alongside them and they told me there was a small harbour about four kilometers away with a shop nearby.  I found where they meant, went aground trying to pick up a mooring buoy and finally tied up alongside in 1.8m of water.  I draw 1.6m so it was tight.  The shop turned out to be four kilometres away!  I don't mind a walk but that is ridiculous!  8k round trip!  But I was fortunate.  A couple passing in a car gave me a lift to the shop and I caught a taxi back.  Taxis aren't cheap in Finland but it was better than carrying a heavy bag of shopping all that way.

I took off in search of another remote bay in which to drop anchor and found one after an hour or so.  Totally deserted a small inlet gave seclusion and shelter from any wind.  I went in gingerly (wary of unmarked shoals and rocks) and tied up to a small pontoon with just a foot or so under my keel.  It was idyllic.  A reed bed fronted by floating water chestnuts was to one side of me and tall pines surrounded me on three sides.  I could just see out to the lake beyond.  But I'd only been there 15 minutes when another boat arrived and tied up a few feet away on the other side of the pontoon.  I took their lines and we said hello.  A few minutes later the skipper came across to me with a bucketful of what can best be described as fresh water sardines and offered me some.  They'd been caught by a local fisherman only 15 minutes beforehand and couldn't have been fresher.  They were called 'vodance' in Finnish and my new friends showed me how to gut and clean them before frying them in butter.  They were delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process.  There was a family with a 6 week old baby on board and another couple with them.  They all stripped off without a moment's hesitation and went for a swim.  There was no question of modesty about it and the girls stood there in the altogether drying themselves after a brief dip.  

After my meal I settled down to reading a book about a family who'd bought an old Dutch barge and were travelling around Europe's inland waterways. It sounded a fantastic lifestyle and got me to thinking.