Video: A summer at Sea

Watch the video from the archipelago

 

The rope slips off the cleat - the boat undocks from the mainland. A few strokes of the paddle, lift the bow to the wind, hoist the mainsail, then the jib. Veering off downwind, we pick up speed and the rustle of the wind is replaced by the gurgle of the water. The L. Francis Herreshoff design Buzzards Bay 14 is gliding through the water, waves gently kissing the bow. It's summer again.

This time the destination is a small rocky skerry only 3nm southwest from Helsinki. This is only one of the 300 islands in Helsinki, one of the over 200 000 islands in Finland. The vast archipelago is a limitless treasure-trove of discoveries and natural habitats. As soon as you get out of the immediate vicinity of the shore, you’ll find a new reality, wild places where many of us never visit. The smaller the rock, the less possibility someone has visited it in the last few years.

Countless isles and skerries 

There's something beautiful about being carried by the wind. When you observe, navigate, and use the surrounding elements you enter a state of deep flow. In a sense, you become one with the elements, leaning to the wind and waves for support. Keeping an eye on the gusts that roam the surface of the sea as dark shadowy figures. Watching the horizon for approaching fronts of showers. And navigating between rocks and beacons.  

The nature and accessibility of the islands available for exploration varies greatly. From the wild tiny skerries far out at sea, best accessed by kayak, to places with docking and buoys, there is something for everybody. Some places have common Saunas that can be used. Uuvi is a great place to find some of the destinations in the region of Uusimaa, while Suomen Latu has published a more extensive nationwide list on their site.

Hoist your sail. Discover a place. Leave no trace.

L.F. Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 14 - daysailer gliding along on a warm summer evening