Helsinki at last

Well I'm here.  My first major staging post.  It's been an interesting trip with it's fair share of hassles.  Apart from the leaking water pump and falling out of the dinghy and drowning my mobile phone and camera I rounded it off by hitting a rock.  The rock was in the wrong place!  Or rather the buoy marking the rock was.  It was a north cardinal buoy signifying the danger (the rock) was to the south of it and I should pass to the north.  That is exactly what I did but I still found the rock.  It was a helluva bang since I was doing 5+ knots at the time.  The boat stopped dead.  I was under engine and the prop of course was still turning and the next second we came off and the boat went on her merry way.  I slowed right down whilst what had just happened sank in.  Unfortunate turn of phrase  for I was in fear of sinking for a short time.  But a hurried check of keel bolts and for any signs of water ingress revealed nothing untoward, and my heart rate returned to normal, more or less.

I KNOW I was in the right place, ie north of the north cardinal buoy, so either the rock had moved or the buoy had.  And that turned out to be the most likely explanation according to Graham the secretary of the CA Baltic Section and an experienced yachtsman in these waters.  Apparently ice can move buoys, often does, and there had been a lot of ice this winter.  Lesson?  Keep WELL clear of danger marks 'cos the marks may be kidding!

I continued to my next anchorage feeling distinctly less confidant but after a stiff drink and a glass or two of wine with dinner I reverted to my normal carefree self and put it down to experience.  Fay, Graham's wife, who has sailed with him in the Baltic for over 15 years, tells me you're not really a seasoned Baltic sailor until you've hit a rock or two.  I'd read that somewhere before but you never think it will happen to you do you?

My crew, Penny, Joyce and Fran, arrive on Friday, the day AFTER my birthday.  They arranged it like that to avoid spending oodles of money on me ON my birthday, but they'll pay.  Oh yes, they'll pay!  Last year Penny and Joyce had to hire a car and drive the length of Sweden to join the boat after I'd been held up by a collapsed lock gate in the Caledonian Canal.  This year they are flying  in to Helsinki and here I am waiting for them just outside the baggage hall with Toytown gleaming from stem to stern.  So they owe me!