Blog Feed: S/Y Dolphin Dance

For this season, Dolphin Dance has a new home port as we got a berth for this summer from a marina located in Hirvensalo. The main reason for changing to a new harbour is getting closer to the main sailing areas of the Archipelago Sea. The marina is

Safety on board: avoiding ships

Published on 2013-05-09 15:46:00

Discussion has lately been vivid on the subject of sailboats vs. ships on various internet's sailing forums. Locally, we had a recent court case where two skippers of yachts, participating in the sail race, were fined for steering their boats too clo

Maintenance update: When shall she be floating again?

Published on 2013-05-06 13:15:00

Two years ago, Dolphin Dance was already floating in the beginning of May. Last year, she was launched on the 1st of June

Plans for the season: Sandhamn and Lökholmen

Published on 2013-04-29 13:55:00

Located in the outer Stockholm Archipelago, Sandhamn is one of the most legendary sailing destinations in the Baltic Sea, especially among the sail racing folks. Sandhamn is probably best known as the main scene for the prestigious Gotland Runt saili

Weekly maintenance update

Published on 2013-04-27 06:37:00

We have still about three weeks to go before the launch, so I think that we are quite well in the schedule

Plans for the season: Isokari island — the jewel of the Southern Bothnian Sea

Published on 2013-04-21 11:43:00

The Isokari lighthouse island is located in the Southern Bothnian Sea, about eleven nautical miles north from Kustavi. My first visit to this island was in the beginning of the 21st century with our family's small sailing boat. Although located next

Dreaming... about sailing in the Caribbean!

Published on 2013-04-17 12:20:00

Antti has been there twice. I have not. I would like to go! How would it be to sail, when it is warm? When you do not have to wear that lovely Helly Hansen foul weather gear, woolen socks and two layers of underwear? I do not know, but would like to

Maintenance update: Refit project full speed ahead

Published on 2013-04-13 07:04:00

This week it was time to face the facts: there is about a month to go until the planned launch and still plenty of things to do. In the imaginary world, everything would have been done already during the winter and one could just wait for the ice to

Plans for the season 2013: Jurmo

Published on 2013-04-11 14:57:00

It was about fifteen years ago when I first visited Jurmo, one of the southernmost inhabited islands in the outer archipelago of Turku. I instantly fell in love with this barren island, located close to the open sea. However, it took ten years before

Dream Sailing Yachts from the North

Published on 2013-04-07 05:40:00

When I was a kid, one of my favourite hobbies at summer was to cycle to a local harbour and walk through the pontoons to check out the boats there. I was especially fond of yachts that looked capable of handling the most demanding offshore conditions

Safety onboard: clip for the swimming ladders

Published on 2013-04-04 13:35:00

I would like to share with you a simple tip, which I heard from our club's surveyor last spring. It is a fairly common problem, that the boarding/swimming ladders of boats with, more or less, vertical transom tend to fall down when the boat is heelin

Weekly update: skiing in Lapland

Published on 2013-03-30 13:50:00

The spring is late here. The cold weather continues and the ice situation in the end of the March is one of the most severe for years. This means delayed start for the sailing season. Our initial plan was to launch already in the April, but many of t

Renewing the mattresses

Published on 2013-03-24 03:45:00

Last autumn, we started the refit/renovation project, which has kept us busy during the winter. The boat has been in a shed over the winter, and Antti has had nicely time to fix things related to the boat. At the same time, my role has been to figure

Safety on board: MoB recovery gear

Published on 2013-03-17 05:10:00

The man overboard (MoB) is one of the most serious emergency situations, that one can encounter on a boat.

Visiting Meri Kutsuu -boat show

Published on 2013-03-13 17:19:00

On Sunday, we visited Meri Kutsuu 2013

Weekly update

Published on 2013-03-09 03:54:00

We have been busy with work during the last few weeks, so not too much has happened with our maintenance project. However, I try to work at the boat at least once per week even if it is just for few hours at a time, since these small steps will build

Thoughts on sailboat design

Published on 2013-03-03 11:48:00

Some of you may have noticed that we like to visit various boat shows, and also frequently report about the ones that we have visited here in this blog. Some time ago we actually got a question, if we are looking for a new boat from the boat shows. T

What's on DD's bookshelf - part II

Published on 2013-02-25 09:36:00

In the first part of this blog post, we presented some of the more technical and instructional books in Dolphin Dance's library. This second part deals with cruising narratives and inspirational books, that we like to have on board.1. Endurance: Shac

Winter in the Archipelago

Published on 2013-02-20 14:05:00

Every season has its own charm in the archipelago. That said, I am especially fond of the early spring when one starts to see, that day is finally getting longer. And usually in late February/early March weather often turns sunnier but is still cold

Refit project: Water in the keel!

Published on 2013-02-18 04:05:00

Last December, when blogging about our maintenance schedule for this winter, I wrote that most probably new things will come up, once we start digging deeper.Unfortunately, this turned out to be too true

Maintenance update: servicing the self-tailing winches

Published on 2013-02-13 13:11:00

Servicing the winches is something that I have been putting off for too long. During the last few springs, I have often been too busy with other tasks at hand, and during the autumn, just too lazy. And on the other hand, during the sailing season, I

Helsinki International Boat Show 2013

Published on 2013-02-10 12:16:00

On Saturday, we visited the Helsinki International Boat Show. Sailing is the main theme of this year's event, and therefore, at least from a sailor's point of view, the program is perhaps the most interesting for years. Even to the extent, that on Sa

Maintenance update: cleaning behind the wooden strips!

Published on 2013-02-07 03:00:00

Earlier in autumn, we got a good practical tip from a fellow HR 29 sailor to remove the mahogany strips on the sides of the saloon berth and fore peak to clean the top coated fiberglass wall from dust and dirt.We started to tackle this issue a few we

Video for Meri Kutsuu/Down By the Sea

Published on 2013-02-04 13:14:00

I have been making sailing videos since 2006, when I bought my first digital video camera. Perhaps, some of our newer projects might be familiar to you through this blog. As filming and editing is something that I like to do very much, I was very ple

What's on DD's bookshelf? Part I

Published on 2013-01-29 14:42:00

I decided to write a blog post on the sailing related books, that we like to always have onboard. When writing this post, I came across more and more interesting books in our library, which I think, deserve to be listed. Therefore, this blog post is

Plans for the season 2013

Published on 2013-01-23 16:32:00

During the darkest and coldest time of the year, it is nice make some hot beverage, grab a chart book (or an iPad), and start planning for the coming season. Since our work schedule for the next summer is still bit open, we don't want to have too fix

New YouTube-videos

Published on 2013-01-18 02:10:00

We have now uploaded two new videos on our YouTube-channel. The first one is a short movie about last year's sailing trip to the High Coast and Stockholm Archipelago. I actually edited the video during the holidays, but when exporting the movie, very

New Year's resolution for 2013: Improving safety onboard

Published on 2013-01-14 02:50:00

I am not too keen on making New Year's resolutions. But I guess that the decision, that I made already last autumn, to 'name' safety onboard as the main theme of the season 2013, could be labelled as one.One could say that improving safety should be

Greetings from Norway!

Published on 2013-01-06 12:18:00

Today it is the last day of our skiing holiday in Hemsedal, Norway. Perhaps, it is no wonder to you, that we are fans of this amazing country and want to keep coming back year after year.

Igor sailing from Nordkapp to Stockholm

Published on 2013-01-03 10:39:00

Happy new year everyone! As the first blog post of this year I would like to share

Top 10 Sailing destinations in the Baltic Sea - part II

Published on 2012-12-27 10:22:00

The Baltic Sea is an unique area located between the Baltics and Scandinavia. It is one of the largest brackish inland seas (i.e. mix of salt and fresh water) in the world.For a sailor, this area offers unique cruising with plenty of islands and shel

Merry Christmas from s/y DD!

Published on 2012-12-23 08:59:00

We would like to thank all of our readers for the year 2012 and wish you all a Merry Christmas!We would like to also thank you for all the comments, practical hints and questions in the comments section or sent to us by e-mail. It is always encouragi

Top 10 Sailing Destinations in the Baltic Sea - part I

Published on 2012-12-16 08:57:00

The Baltic Sea is an

Making the hull shiny again

Published on 2012-12-13 14:45:00

My initial idea two months ago was to quickly wax the topsides and the coachroof before the winter and then repeat the procedure in the spring. Afterall, the hull looked pretty good after the pressure washing and acid treatment, which were done right

Maintenance schedule for the winter

Published on 2012-12-08 04:44:00

I promised earlier to write an update on our maintenance plan for the coming winter. The autumn has proceeded very quickly, and not too much has happened yet. I have been working at the boat about once per week and the hull and the coachroof is now m

YachtTV video: long keeler vs. short keeler

Published on 2012-12-05 04:49:00

Image: © YACHT/N. GünterIn the various internet sailing forums, there is almost a persistent debate going on about, which makes a better sea boat: a traditional long keeler or a modern flat-bottom fin keeler? German Yacht magazine decided to addres

Vote for the best photo from 2012

Published on 2012-12-02 12:14:00

As there is less than one month left for this year, it is a good time to sum up the season 2012. During the previous summer the memory card of our camera was again filled with hundreds of photos and also plenty of video material. The video editing is

The Hallberg-Rassy story in PBO

Published on 2012-11-30 05:08:00

The latest December issue of Practical Boat Owner magazine treats HR fans, with Peter Poland's five-page article The Hallberg-Rassy story.

Yacht Design course

Published on 2012-11-26 16:49:00

This autumn the International School of Yacht Design organized the Principles of Yacht Design course at Forum Marinum in Turku. The course was held during two weekends with lectures from 10 am to 5 pm. So obviously there was a lot of information to b

The High Coast presents: Ulvön & Trysunda

Published on 2012-11-22 04:53:00

I love Höga Kusten just shared (on their great Facebook-page)

Cruising article in Yachting Monthly

Published on 2012-11-20 11:32:00

Our article "Cruising the coast of southern Norway" is included in the latest December issue of the

Principles of Yacht Design -course

Published on 2012-11-16 04:32:00

Image: http://isyd.orgThe winter is perfect time for a sailing theory studies! This year I have been lucky, since during

The amazing Baltic Sea sunsets/sunrises

Published on 2012-11-13 15:16:00

I never get tired of watching (or photographing) the sunset and the sunrise at sea. Seeing the sun setting and rising again some hours later

HR29 in magazines

Published on 2012-11-10 10:19:00

When making the decision of buying Dolphin Dance (named Johanne then) three years ago,

Misty November

Published on 2012-11-05 16:15:00

The first weekend of November was misty and calm. On Saturday afternoon the mist cleared away for a few hours, but when the Sun started setting later in the afternoon, sea smoke built over the water. This made great conditions for photographing!/Antt

Natural teak vs. Flexiteek

Published on 2012-11-01 02:44:00

I have previously blogged about my

Turku Boat Show 2012

Published on 2012-10-29 18:08:00

Turku Boat Show, the only indoors boat show during

New GoPro -helmet camera

Published on 2012-10-25 06:36:00

This week I finally got a new camera which I have been longing for quite long - a GoPro HERO2 -helmet camera. It was actually purchased for filming time-lapse video for one commercial project, but I cannot wait to get to test the camera on a boat. The camera can record full wide angle (170 degrees) 1080p HD-video as well as take 11 mpixels photographs. One very interesting feature is a time-lapse photography - in time-lapse -mode camera

Right size for a sailboat?

Published on 2012-10-18 15:02:00

"Too many of my friends follow the erroneous belief that a yacht should be as long in feet as the years of your age." -Bill ButlerI often feel that 'boat fever' is merely a permanent state of mind rather than some passing phase in the life!

Wintering indoors

Published on 2012-10-12 05:23:00

This morning Dolphin Dance was moved from yard to a boat shed, where she will be spending the coming winter. So everything is now about ready for the winter refit/renovation. First on the to-do-list is polishing and waxing the topsides and coachroof, which I will probably start doing next week. The actual renovation plan is however still to be done, but I will keep you updated after we have had time to go through the boat and make the plan with Airisto Marine, that is the company doing the renov [..]

Autumn photos

Published on 2012-10-09 04:48:00

Autumn is a great season for photographing, as the autumn leaf colors makes the scenery glow in the shades of red and yellow. This autumn has been quite rainy and grey so far, but fortunately there have been some sunny days in between. At some days the Sun has appeared from the clouds just before the sunset, painting the scenery with beautiful colours.Here is a collection of photos from this autumn. Some of you may have already seen those in our Facebook-page. We will keep updating our Facebook- [..]

Tablet as a substitute for a chart plotter?

Published on 2012-10-02 16:42:00

When writing the previous blog post on waterproof case for iPad, I started wandering off from the topic and decided to make a separate blog post on the subject:

Waterproof iPad lifejacket by Forward

Published on 2012-09-25 15:01:00

I wrote in spring

Soda blasting the underwater hull

Published on 2012-09-20 15:49:00

Our renovation project got a kick start on weekend, as the underwater hull and keel were soda blasted clean of old epoxy barrier coat and multiple layers of old antifouling. The work was done by Samuli and Toni from the company Waterproof Solutions Oy.I actually started scraping off old bottom paint from the keel last autumn, but soon it became evident, that it would take ages to clean the whole bottom this way. Hand scraping the bottom during the dark November evenings did not sound too temptin [..]

Dolphin Dance is out of the water

Published on 2012-09-17 12:57:00

The coming winter

Final sail of the season: Helsingholmen-Sandön-Brännskär

Published on 2012-09-12 02:25:00

On Sunday/Monday there was the last chance to go sailing this season, before Dolphin Dance would be laid up for winter. We started (me and my father) on Sunday afternoon with a nice downwind sailing leg to Helsingholmen.

Autumn Archipelago tour - part II: Aspö-Stormälö

Published on 2012-09-03 16:08:00

The sailing season 2012 is almost over for us as Dolphin Dance will be lifted and laid up in two weeks' time. She is going to spend the coming winter indoors at Paraisten Venekeskus in Stormälö, as there is some larger maintenance work scheduled for the coming lay-up period. More info on this coming later.As there were just two weekends left for sailing, we decided to go at the sea even though the weather forecast for the weekend was quite wet. Rainy weather was forecasted also for the previou [..]

Autumn Archipelago tour: Helsingholmen-Björkö

Published on 2012-08-27 15:50:00

We started on Friday with a seven hours' leg from our homeport to Helsingholmen. After over two weeks on solid ground,

Höga Kusten - The High Coast

Published on 2012-08-23 06:35:00

I wrote earlier this month a

Swan Regatta 2012 in Turku

Published on 2012-08-18 11:41:00

This weekend the guest harbour of Turku has been full of beautiful sailing yachts, as Swan Regatta is back in town after six years. There are 54 boats participating in the regatta this year.Nautor is a Finnish producer of luxury sailing yachts. The company was founded in 1966 by Pekka Koskenkylä, and it was a real forerunner in the late 60's as it started producing large fiberglass yachts in series. Legendary design office Sparkman & Stephens were designers of the first 775 Swan yachts, and thi [..]

Video tab updated

Published on 2012-08-16 15:23:00

Our video tab is now updated with a walkthrough video of Dolphin Dance. Also Hallberg-Rassy 29

Good food onboard

Published on 2012-08-12 16:03:00

When one spends almost the whole summer holiday onboard, cooking good food onboard feels important. It keeps the spirits high and makes the holiday feel like holiday. Why spend the holiday eating only quick and easy dishes? With a little more effort one can create a lovely atmosphere onboard! For example, we grew our own herbs onboard: basilica, rocket (rucola) and chives were the basic ingredients for many dishes prepared onboard.

Back in home port

Published on 2012-08-09 17:16:00

On Tuesday we continued from Katanpää towards south. The southwesterly wind was fresh and gusting up to 12 m/s in the afternoon. However, the direction of the wind was favourable, so we managed to sail all the way from Katanpää to Östra Långgrundet, which is a skerry harbour of the boating club, Turun Navigaatioseura.On Wednesday we continued the last 20 nautical miles to our home port in Turku. Again we had a great sailing day and travelled almost the whole leg under sail. This time one c [..]

From Kustavi to Turku: Katanpää-fortress

Published on 2012-08-07 13:41:00

After almost two weeks on solid ground, it feels good to be sailing again - this time together with my father, as we are taking Dolphin Dance from Kustavi to Turku. We started on Monday with a short leg to Katanpää, which is located in northern Kustavi.The place has a really interesting history: during the first world war, the Russians built the Katanpää fortress to the northwestern corner of the island Lypertö which has an excellent location to monitor and defend the most important coastal [..]

Summary of the sailing journey to High Coast and Stockholm

Published on 2012-08-02 03:12:00

It has now been about a week since returned back to Kustavi, where we started the trip towards High Coast (Höga Kusten in Swedish) four and a half weeks earlier. During the journey, Dolphin Dance logged total of 792 nautical miles in 30 sailing days. Thus, our average distance travelled was 26,4 nm per day and average speed 4,6 knots. Thus, we had a bit more relaxed schedule than on the previous season.Bad weather has probably been the no 1. topic in discussions among boaters this season in Bal [..]

The last leg from Djupviken to Kustavi

Published on 2012-07-29 15:09:00

We finished our summer journey on Wednesday with a longish 12 hours and 60 nm leg from Åland to Kustavi. During the last two weeks, when we were coming back from the High Coast and cruising in the Stockholm Archipelago, we were quite unlucky with the weather, since the wind was mostly against us. In the end, our luck changed and during the last three legs we enjoyed some nice downwind sailing. After the Åland Sea crossing I wrote in the logbook, that it was the best sailing weather of the seas [..]

Djupviken - a wild anchorage in northern Åland

Published on 2012-07-26 16:04:00

After the coffee break in Sälskär, we continued to Djupviken, which is a popular wild anchorage in northern Åland, about 8 nm east from Sälskär. In Swedish its name means deep bay, and it is a perfect natural harbour especially at southerly winds - in the bottom of the bay one has very little idea about the conditions at the sea. However, the bay is open to the north, so in strong northerly winds it can be a nasty place.The weather was cloudy and grey during the day, but towards the evening [..]

Visiting Sälskär lighthouse island

Published on 2012-07-25 14:54:00

After two nights in Käringsundet, we continued with a short 24 nm leg to Djupviken, which is a wild anchorage in the northern Åland. The wind was light in the morning, and there was still some swell remaining from the strong southwesterly breeze the day before, so we had to motor the first hour. Fortunately, the wind picked up somewhat during the day so we hoisted the gennaker and could continue the rest of the leg under sail. The northern part of the Åland Archipelago is one of the most beau [..]

Fejan and crossing the Åland Sea

Published on 2012-07-23 15:17:00

On Saturday, we continued to Fejan in the northern part of the Stockholm Archipelago. Strong northerly wind was mostly against us, so we had to motor about two thirds of the leg. We managed to get one of the last free places in Fejan, which turned out to be a very lively little island. The restaurant near the harbour was full of people and there was a reggae band playing until the late hours.

In Stockholm Archipelago: Getudden & Paradiset

Published on 2012-07-21 11:45:00

We enjoyed our three nights' stay in Stockholm: the location of the guest harbour Wasahamn is excellent since it is situated so close to the city center on Djurgården. On Thursday, we decided to leave the sunny capital behind and started the journey towards Åland. For a change, we decided to stay at wild anchorages. First we sailed to Gällnö, Getudden. The wind was light so we enjoyed relaxed sailing. However, the traffic outside Stockholm is busy and all the time there are boats and passeng [..]

Greetings from Stockholm!

Published on 2012-07-18 16:12:00

Waxholm - and arriving in Stockholm!

Published on 2012-07-17 12:20:00

Before arriving in Stockholm, we visited Waxholm, a traditional Swedish summer town. It is situated only 10 nm from Stockholm so it is a good place to visit before arriving in the capital. The harbours seem to get full here early, so we heartly recommend that you arrive early like we did.No we are spending a couple of days in Stockholm - more photos coming later!/MinnaWaxholm Guest Harbour

Väddö Kanal and Furusund

Published on 2012-07-15 16:11:00

On Saturday, we continued from Öregrund towards Stockholm. We motored through the Väddö Kanal, which is a quite narrow canal in the northern archipelago of Stockholm. In the first quarter of the waterway (when coming from the north) there is one 17 metres high bridge and in the canal there are two lower bridges, which are opened once in an hour for ten minutes' time. Bagghusbron, in the southern part of the canal, is opened half past the full hours between 7.30 and 21.30. Älmstabron, the nor [..]

Granskär-Öregrund

Published on 2012-07-14 09:00:00

On Friday we continued with a long 46 nm's leg from Granskär to Öregrund. The wind was either calm, against us or gusty due to the thunderclouds, so we had the chance to sail only 40 minutes of this over nine hours' leg.Like on Thursday, there were a number of thunderclouds in the area. A couple of them were quite nasty-looking, but fortunately most of them passed us in a distance and we did not experience that kind of wind than the day before. Here some pictures of thunderclouds, that we saw: [..]

Storjungfrun-Granskär: Sun, rain and thunder

Published on 2012-07-13 13:54:00

After provisioning in Sandarne (near Söderhamn), we continued to Storjungfrun, which is a beautiful lighthouse island about 10 nm southeast from Söderhamn. There were some rain showers during the day, but the Sun came out just after we had arrived and the evening turned out to be very beautiful. We walked to the northern corner of the island and after that enjoyed a

Rain and wind

Published on 2012-07-11 04:16:00

On Sunday we started early in the morning. Northerly wind was good and we were able to sail the whole leg mostly at good speed from start to finish. Otherwise the weather was good, but there was some fog during the day. We refueled diesel at Mellanfjärden, and also decided to overnight there.

Starting the journey towards Stockholm

Published on 2012-07-09 07:24:00

We have been quite lucky with the weather, as during the whole week that we spent cruising in the High Coast, the weather was mostly sunny and also got warmer day by day. However, our luck appeared to be changing when we saw the forecast for the coming week: four days of rain! Good news was that the low pressure that was approaching would bring northerly winds.Thus, we made a decision to leave the High Coast behind, and start a journey towards Stockholm. First this decision was a bit disappointi [..]

Skrubban & Norrfällsviken

Published on 2012-07-08 07:00:00

On Friday it was time to turn south and start a journey towards Stockholm. Thus, Trysunda was our northernmost point in Höga Kusten and also probably the northernmost place where Dolphin Dance has ever sailed: 63°8' N.The weather was calm so we decided to take a closer look for those massive cliffs in Skrubban. They rise to 40 meters’ height straight from the sea. Furthermore, the water is 40 meters deep almost next to the cliffs. The wind was calm and sea very flat so Antti took the dinghy [..]

Trysunda - the pearl of the Höga Kusten

Published on 2012-07-07 06:00:00

On Thursday, we continued north to Trysunda, which is a small fishing village near Örnsköldsvik. It is a popular holiday destination among boaters – we arrived in the early afternoon and managed to get one of the last places in the guest harbour.Trysunda was one of the must-see places for us in Höga Kusten. It definitely fullfilled all of our expectations. It is truly an idyllic and tranquille village with small red boat sheds, so typical for the area, gathered around the small bay. From th [..]

Docksta and Skuleberget

Published on 2012-07-06 10:52:00

On Wednesdey we continued from Mjältön to Docksta for provisioning. Docksta is located by the Ullångerfjärden. The waterway to Docksta is very beautiful and the landscape resembles Norwegian fjords with steep hills rising straight from the sea to over 200 meters.

Mjältön - the highest island in Sweden

Published on 2012-07-04 11:21:00

Mjältön is an island located about 4 nm west from Ulvöhamn. We decided to head next for the popular, sheltered anchorage in Baggviken, on the eastern side of the island. There are some pontoons for visiting boats in the bay, but we decided to anchor in the middle of the bay, and inflate our dinghy.In the evening we climbed to the Mjältöntoppen, which is 236 meters over the sea level. The nature trail to the top was very well marked, but it was very difficult for us to notice where the trail [..]

Sunny Ulvöhamn

Published on 2012-07-03 04:59:00

One nice thing about the High Coast area is that there are a lot of good harbours within short distance. Therefore, one can sail relaxed a couple of hours' legs and arrive early in the harbour. On Monday, we continued with a 12 nm leg from Bönhamn to Ulvöhamn. We sailed about the first half of the leg but in the afternoon, the combination of light wind and large swell made sailing less relaxing so we had to motor the last five mails.Ulvöhamn is a small fishing village and a popular holiday de [..]

Högbonden and Bönhamn

Published on 2012-07-02 07:00:00

On Sunday, the weather was perfect for sailing: enough wind, maybe 6-8 m/s but it was also warm so one needed not use all possible sailing clothes. From Lövvik we started sailing through Storfjärden and continued towards northeast. There was quite a lot of swell, when we sailed to the open sea from the sheltered archipelago.

Höga Kusten Bridge and Lövvik

Published on 2012-07-01 15:13:00

On Saturday, when the rain stopped, we started exploring the High Coast area. There was not that much wind so we were motoring. First, we went to see the Höga Kusten Bridge which is the third longest suspension bridge in Europe. The maximum height is 40 meters and the pillars are about 180 meters high.

Härnösand

Published on 2012-06-30 07:00:00

On Thursday we set sail just before noon and headed for Härnösand, which is the starting point of the Hight Coast. The sun was shining and we had finally some cosy downwind sailing in the morning, like the ones who like us on Facebook saw in the photo we posted while we were sailing! :)In the evening we then arrived in Härnosand. We chose to go to the Norra Sundet - the northern harbour. Unfortunately, this one does not have service like toilets or showers but one needs to go to the other har [..]

Decorating the interior of S/Y Dolphin Dance

Published on 2012-06-29 05:36:00

We have earlier already blogged about our new pillows, curtains and storage boxes. Now they are happily settled at the boat. During these first days of our sailing journey, we have been very pleased with this new storage system since our clothes have their own places and they need not be carried in huge bags that are on the way all the time. Here some photos, how the pillows and storage boxes actually look like at the boat. Additionally, you will now see my DIY-project's results - those new lov [..]

Leg 3: Sundsvall-Åstön

Published on 2012-06-28 13:52:00

On Wednesday afternoon, we continued with a short leg from Sundsvall towards north. We decided to stay at wild anchorage, but since it was an evening of Euro 2012 semi-finals, we tried to find an anchorage with a good tv-signal. We first sailed to Söråkersviken, but the forrest and the hills were blocking the tv-signal, and the place also appeared to be a bit dark. Thus, we decided to continue a few miles northwest to Kattskär, which is

Arrived in Sundsvall

Published on 2012-06-26 16:24:00

On Tuesday just before noon, we arrived in Sundsvall in Sweden after a pretty tiring 154 nm crossing from Finland. Actually, this leg was longer in terms of distance than any of the ones that we sailed last season. We delayed the decicion to go until the early Monday morning, when we got the latest weather forecast. In the end we were quite lucky with the wind, but not with the rain. We were able to travel most of the leg under sail mostly at good speed. The wind was first from east, but it veer [..]

Final preparation and the beginning of the journey

Published on 2012-06-24 16:39:00

We spent Sunday doing a lot of preparations for the beginning of our journey towards Sweden. The weather seemed to be getting better and we were eager to go! We set sail in the evening and started with a short leg to Isokari which is the last island before the open sea.

Celebrating the Finnish Midsummer

Published on 2012-06-23 16:26:00

Midsummer is the biggest celebration of summer in Finland. Basically, most of the Finland moves to the archipelago and countryside for a weekend. Boats and buildings are decorated with birches, we eat, swim and go to the sauna... On the Midsummer Eve, the weather was perfect: sunny and warm and we got to enjoy the fantastic Finnish summer!/Minna & AnttiS/Y Dolphin Dance in KustaviPeterzen's guest harbour full of boats on Midsummer Day

New Delta anchor

Published on 2012-06-19 12:04:00

I wrote earlier a blog post on bow anchor selection. Last week I lowered the anchor and all the chain to the pontoon to check the condition of the chain and to improve the length markings. It turned out that the anchor chain was 40 meters long and not 30 meters as I had previously recalled. The chain weighs probably well over 1 kg per meter, so it is a heavy lump in the bow. Furthermore, I think that our 20kg CQR-anchor is a bit over-sized for a 29ft boat and it is often seen in boats over 40ft.

Celebrating a friend's birthday in Pihlajasaari

Published on 2012-06-18 08:41:00

Before we set sail, I would like to share you a bit of information and lovely photos from Pihlajasaari, where I went last Saturday to celebrate a friend's birthday!Pihlajasaari is an island (or actually a group of islands connected with a bridge) situated only ten minutes' boat trip away from the centre of Finland's capital, Helsinki. During summer, there is a boat travelling between Kaivopuisto and Pihlajasaari and we took this boat to get to the island. The island has no permanent residents an [..]

Seven days to go!

Published on 2012-06-16 19:13:00

We have still about a week left before we should start our sailing journey towards Sweden and the High Coast. Actually, the boat will be first sailed to Kustavi, which is about 40 nm north from our homeport, in the beginning of the next week. This way the boat

Sailing to Östra Långgrundet

Published on 2012-06-13 16:17:00

This is our second season of membership in the boating club Turun Navigaatioseura. The club has two skerry harbours in the archipelago available for member use. However, last season we did not have time to visit these two islands, so this season we decided to correct this and first make a one night trip to Östra Långgrundet. The island is located just about 20 nm from Turku, so its location is very good for shorter sailing trips.

Hairline cracks on the rudder

Published on 2012-06-11 16:08:00

One more maintenance orientated blog post from May...Last autumn, after the boat was lifted, I noticed that there were a couple of cracks on the rudder. I decided to tackle those at spring. First the cracks were widened into a V-shape with a Dremel, which is a useful tool for working at tight places. I decided to use Hempel's Epoxy Filler for filling the cracks. I find this two-component product easy to use and mix at right quantities. When mixed it forms a grey paste. Because the repair was und [..]

Installing a VHF-antenna

Published on 2012-06-09 01:17:00

Our old masthead VHF-antenna is lying somewhere in the bottom of the Baltic Sea

Stenskär – Helsingholmen

Published on 2012-06-06 03:15:00

On Monday our four days' trip continued with a leg from Stenskär to Helsingholmen. The distance between these islands is less than ten nautical miles, and as the weather was turning sunnier, we decided to make a small detour to the Southern Archipelago Sea which is one of my favourite sailing areas in the Archipelago of Turku. I very much like this intermediate part of the archipelago, where there is more open sea compared to the inner archipelago, but the outer archipelago gives shelter from t [..]

Sailing season officially opened!

Published on 2012-06-03 15:28:00

This weekend the weather has unfortunately not been on our side since it has been cold and raining almost all the time. However, we decided to go sailing on Saturday since the wind was favourable east-southeast and forecasted to turn south on Sunday. This season's first sailing trip took us to Nauvo, where less than half of the guest places were occupied. During the summer season this is one of the most popular harbours in the area.The wind was pretty strong and gusting about 13-14 m/s. We decid [..]

Floating at last!

Published on 2012-06-01 15:41:00

I have been working these last days around the clock to get everything ready for the 1st of June. Partly, this was my own fault since I left some tasks that could have been done way earlier till the last minute. These included for example replacing the ball valve on the toilet sink, antifouling, installing an outer rubber membrane for the sail drive and installing the tiller. I thought that I had a plenty of time to fix the boat, but new things seem to emerge as one spends time on the boat.Dolph [..]

Cleaning the mattresses

Published on 2012-05-29 16:15:00

In the end of last season we spotted some mold spots in the back fabric of the mattresses. I think that this was especially due to the persistent wet and rainy weather conditions in July, as we did not have a chance to dry the mattresses thoroughly.

Four days to go!

Published on 2012-05-28 15:22:00

The launch of S/Y Dolphin Dance is booked for the Friday 1st of June, so this is going to be a very busy week - today I worked about 10 hours at the boat. Yesterday we finally removed the tarpaulin and today it was time to raise the mast. We decided to use a crane truck for stepping the mast to save some time and nerves. This was also the only option to raise the mast while the boat is still on the hard.When the mast was standing, it was time to relocate the fridge compressor. As I wrote earlier [..]

Interior stuff

Published on 2012-05-27 03:36:00

While Antti has been busy at the boat, I have made some purchases. For this season, we are trying to upgrade the interiors and the storage system like we have blogged before. So now finally, I went shopping and made some decisions! Since the new curtains will be natural white, I decided to get stuff that blends blue, turquoise and natural white. As you might remember from my interior posts last year, we had quite a lot of turquoise stuff so we will now need a bit more white to make a the interio [..]

Fridge compressor incorrectly installed!

Published on 2012-05-24 08:05:00

I wrote a blog post earlier about installing a new compressor for the fridge. Unfortunately, the installing did not go quite as planned, since the Waeco CU-55 compressor is not suitable for wall mounting! Many thanks to Chris who pointed this out after seeing my blog post on the subject!It is a pity though, since I thought that I had found a good place for the compressor. Now I have to start all over again with the positioning. More info coming later on as we have re-positioned the compressor./A [..]

Installing new fridge compressor

Published on 2012-05-23 15:20:00

Our old Frigoboat fridge compressor terminated its work contract last summer after 21 years of service. Thus, we had to manage most of the season with a portable cool box. For the coming season, we replaced the old compressor with a new Waeco CU-55 unit. The O-shaped evaporator plate was also changed. We chose Waeco CU-55 unit mainly because of its price, compact size and the fact that it can be installed vertically as well as horizontally.

Teak deck maintenance: injecting epoxy and re-caulking

Published on 2012-05-19 11:11:00

One seam between the deck and the coachroof has definitely given me a headache! I repaired it twice last season, but unfortunately the caulking had once again separated from the teak. I believe that the problem with the repairs done during the sailing season is that the teak does not have enough time to get dry thoroughly. It may take at least a week or so for teak to dry thoroughly, and you are not always that lucky with the weather in Northern Europe. If the teak is not completely dry when mak [..]

Thoughts on bow anchor...

Published on 2012-05-15 15:56:00

When cleaning the waterline stain the other day, I noted once again, that s/y Dolphin Dance is leaning slightly towards her bow when floating. Obvious reason for this is her large bow anchor and windlass. To my knowledge HR positions waterlines individually for each boat, so the bow anchor and windlass have probably been retro-fitted by one of her previous owners. She has been previously sailing in the Mediterrenean Sea, so the large bow anchor probably dates from those days. Our 20 kg CQR-ancho [..]

Storage options

Published on 2012-05-11 15:19:00

We have been trying to compare different kind of storage solutions to make it easier to store all our stuff onboard. Earlier we already got the storage box for shoes but now we are planning to get one that we could use to store clothes. We are planning to get a box that we can keep in the fore peak all the time. We already bought the Sea rail bag from Blue performance which is actually designed for storage on the cockpit. However, it might be a bit too small for storing clothes. Surprisingly, th [..]

To-Do List

Published on 2012-05-10 16:28:00

Our current plan is to launch S/Y Dolphin Dance in the last week of May and have the boat ready for the season's first sailing in the beginning of June. Still plenty of things to do, before we can set the sail. The keel repair is advancing and the front part of the keel got its third layer of epoxy primer yesterday. A tractor with a boat hoist is booked for Tuesday morning and the idea is to move the keel support a bit forwards which will allow access to the centre of the keel bottom.Yesterday, [..]

Articles in Nautic-magazine

Published on 2012-05-08 14:53:00

During April I have been working with two articles for a Finnish boating magazine Nautic

A weekend in Gdansk

Published on 2012-05-06 16:48:00

Since the cold spring weather continues in Finland, we decided to take a break from boat maintenance tasks. Thus, we took a flight to Gdansk in Poland for a weekend vacation. It is nice to see that in the southern coast of Baltic Sea the spring is further: the trees have already leaves and everything is green.On Saturday, the temperature climbed well over 15 degrees and the Sun was shining so we decided to go to check out some local marinas. First we took a bus to Gorki Zachodnie where the polis [..]

Waxing almost done

Published on 2012-05-01 14:30:00

Hopefully everyone had a nice May Day!On Monday we started, among other things, waxing the topsides of s/y Dolphin Dance and 3/4 of the work is done now. As mentioned earlier, the keel repair is the deciding factor for our launch schedule, but we try to make the boat as ready as we can regarding other respects. If we have spare time before the launch, we will do a second round of waxing, but the topsides look pretty good just after the first round. The topsides were first washed with plenty of w [..]

Keel repair - part 1

Published on 2012-04-29 15:18:00

Finally we got plenty of sunshine and a bit warmer weather

Cleaning the topsides

Published on 2012-04-27 01:28:00

The spring maintenance continues: the topsides of s/y DD are now cleaned with Hempel's Cleaning Powder and are ready to be waxed. I am very pleased with the result and the efficiency of this cleaning powder. The operation of this oxal acid based product is based on a chemical reaction so there is no need for mechanical cleaning. The cleaning powder worked especially well in removing the yellow stains near the waterline.

The first impression of new curtains

Published on 2012-04-23 16:08:00

Last week, we received the fabric for the new curtains and on Saturday, I started cutting and sewing. On Sunday, we

Instead of studying for the exam...

Published on 2012-04-18 11:52:00

As I wrote earlier, I have taken part in the coastal navigation course during this spring. The examination of the course is held this Friday so I should be preparing for it! I should do those tidal calculations, study the theory of weather and do some drift calculations.On the other hand, I went shopping yesterday and I might as well show you what I found! I had a work trip and on the way, I stopped at Design Hill, a nice design store in Halikko next to the motorway from Turku to Helsinki. They [..]

Planning new cushions and blankets

Published on 2012-04-17 06:00:00

We are planning to get new cushions and blankets for S/Y Dolphin Dance. I have looked through many online stores and catalogues to find the perfect ones... Last year, we had some turquoise pillows onboard but now we would like to change the cushions a little since we will have those beige curtains (we have ordered the beige fabric and will get it next week - after that you will hear more about the curtains project!). We also have dark blue new frotee bath towels so we would like all these beige, [..]

The tiller and the mattress boards varnished

Published on 2012-04-15 03:01:00

The tiller is now varnished with the total of eight layers of Hempel's Favourite Varnish. We are quite pleased with the end result, although the tiller still does not look like a new one. Over the years the varnish layer had let go

Spring maintenance finally began

Published on 2012-04-10 15:38:00

Finally the weather permitted starting spring maintenance at the boat - the topsides of S/Y Dolphin Dance are now washed with a boat shampoo to get rid of the easily removable dirt and grime that has accumulated there during the winter lay-up. The boat has been well covered during the winter so the topsides look pretty good after this first stage. Thus, this year we are trying a little bit different method and

Varnishing and planning purchases

Published on 2012-04-09 03:56:00

Usually at this time of the year we have already removed the winter cover and started cleaning and polishing

Organization and storage onboard

Published on 2012-04-03 15:48:00

During last summer we learned that for two persons, a 29ft boat is spacious enough when everything is kept well organized. However, after a longer sailing leg one is often tired and organization is easily forgotten. A tidy boat can alter to a very messy one in a very short time. One of the problems are the shoes. One needs to have quite many of them onboard for different situations.

Preparations during spring

Published on 2012-04-01 15:40:00

We were planning to start cleaning and fixing the boat already. Even though it is the 1st of April, the spring has not arrived yet: it

Preventing and treating seasickness

Published on 2012-03-27 13:50:00

Seasickness is something that we both are prone to. This issue was worrying

Amazing videos from the Volvo Ocean Race

Published on 2012-03-25 06:24:00

Extreme sailing footage from

Sailing video from Southern Norway

Published on 2012-03-22 17:16:00

We have now uploaded a new sailing video to YouTube. The material was filmed during the summer 2011 in Southern Norway. The music in the video is composed by Pekka Laine. Check out also our previously uploaded

Improving the interior of the boat: organization is everything!

Published on 2012-03-20 15:59:00

We are planning to improve the interiors of S/Y Dolphin Dance before the sailing season starts. During our sailing journey last summer, we learned that the key for a comfortable life onboard is to organize everything one has. All things need to have a purpose and a designed place especially when sailing with a rather small boat.

Waterproof tablet or waterproof case for iPad?

Published on 2012-03-15 17:20:00

The last two years have seen a huge growth of tablet computer markets. For boating people this has meant inexpensive, versatile and easy-to-use devices with interesting applications especially for navigational purposes. One does not have to be a fortune teller to predict that tablets with various applications will be a major future trend for boaters.The main shortcoming with the consumer tablet computers is the lack of design for maritime use. However, for the coming season there are some intere [..]

Spring is getting closer day by day

Published on 2012-03-11 16:46:00

Turku Boat Show (Meri kutsuu 2012) was held this weekend. It is a traditional sign that spring is approaching! We held two presentations at the fair, both on Saturday and Sunday, and we were pleased to discover that there was interest towards our sailing experiences. Thank you all for coming!The weather on Sunday was beautiful, so in the afternoon we decided to go cross-country skiing in Ruissalo, which is an island close to the city of Turku. It was also interesting to discover how the springti [..]

Articles in Turun Sanomat and presentation at a boat fair

Published on 2012-03-06 04:30:00

This week seems to be very busy for us! Today, you can find two articles written by us in Turun Sanomat newspaper's theme edition for boating, called Vesille in Finnish. There is an article written by Minna about our sailing journey to Norway and an article written by Antti about using iPad and other mobile devices when sailing.Next weekend, on the other hand, we will give two presentations about our sailing journey to Norway at the local boat fair Meri Kutsuu at Turku Congress Center (Turun Mes [..]

Articles in Turun Sanomat and presentation at a boat fair

Published on 2012-03-06 04:30:00

An older Hallberg-Rassy: keel and hull construction

Published on 2012-03-03 04:12:00

We have received some questions from readers that are considering buying an older Hallberg-Rassy. Since the construction issues might be interesting to other readers as well, I decided to write a blog post on the keel and hull construction on older HRs. However, I consider my two years experience with one HR boat (29) fairly limited, so more extensive user experiences can be found from various discussions forums for example. With about twenty years old HR, one of the most important distinctive f [..]

An older Hallberg-Rassy: keel and hull construction

Published on 2012-03-03 04:12:00

Greetings from Lapland

Published on 2012-02-25 06:46:00

This year, we spent the winter holiday week in Ylläs in Finnish Lapland. There was plenty of snow and the weather was mostly great for skiing. In this winter wonderland one feels that spring is still far away. However, in Southern Finland, the spring should be a bit closer when we get there since temperatures have climbed above zero during the last few days. We are hoping for an early spring since there are lots of things to do at the boat. However, it takes at least a month before we can star [..]

Greetings from Lapland

Published on 2012-02-25 06:46:00

Education during the wintertime - Coastal Skipper Course

Published on 2012-02-20 14:52:00

Winter is the best time for studying the theory of sailing and navigation. When the sailing season starts once again, one can put the theory in practice.I took the Archipelago Skippers' navigation course two years' ago. Back then, I had not been sailing at all but was interested to learn about navigation and the rules of seafaring. When I had met Antti last year, Idecided, despite my lack of sailing experience, to join him for his sailing journey to Norway. In the end, I spent almost two months [..]

Education during the wintertime - Coastal Navigation Course

Published on 2012-02-20 14:52:00

Winter is the best time for studying the theory of sailing and navigation. When the sailing season starts once again, one can put the theory in practice.I took the Archipelago navigation course two years' ago. Back then, I had not been sailing at all but was interested to learn about navigation and the rules of seafaring. When I had met Antti last year, Idecided, despite my lack of sailing experience, to join him for his sailing journey to Norway. In the end, I spent almost two months sailing an [..]

Helsinki Boat Show 2012

Published on 2012-02-12 15:02:00

Season 2012 is now officially opened as on Saturday we visited the Helsinki International Boat Show, which has become the largest boat fair in the Northern Europe. Despite the deepening financial crisis and uncertainty about the economy, there were a lot of visitors on the first day of the boat show. There were also some very interesting presentations at the fair. Especially inspiring was the story of a Finnish couple who sailed with their three young children from the United States to New Z [..]

Helsinki Boat Show 2012

Published on 2012-02-12 15:02:00

Our article on Öland published in Nautic-magazine

Published on 2012-02-07 13:37:00

Öland was one of the places that we fell in love with during last summer. Thus, I was very pleased to write an article on this beautiful, long island for a Finnish boating magazine Nautic. The story is titled "The lost summer found in Öland" and it presents three harbours on the west side of the island: Byxelkrok, Sandvik and Borgholm. The text is in Finnish./AnttiLink to the online article

Our article on Öland published in Nautic-magazine

Published on 2012-02-07 13:37:00

YouTube video about last season's sailing

Published on 2012-02-04 11:27:00

It is only a week until the opening of the Helsinki International Boat Show. This is also an opening for the sailing season 2012, and thus, it is a good time to sum up the season 2011. Therefore, we went through the video material, that we recorded during last summer. Now the first part of the material is edited and it presents the journey from Turku to Copenhagen in the beginning of the summer. We also added a new site/tab for videos./Antti & MinnaMusic: "Tango Untitled" by Pekka LaineSee the v [..]

YouTube video about last season's sailing

Published on 2012-02-04 11:27:00

Teak decks - pros and cons

Published on 2012-01-29 11:13:00

Much of the things related to boating are not rational and teak deck is definitely among one of them. My attitude towards teak decks is contradictory. I must admit that an elegant silvery grey teak deck on a glass fiber boat looks beautiful and adds that extra feel. It is kind of reminiscent of the era when the boats were made of wood. However, practically speaking, teak deck is just that, a thing from the past, when there were few alternatives for wooden decks. Teak is superior of wood species [..]

Teak decks - pros and cons

Published on 2012-01-29 11:13:00

Our experiences on Windpilot Pacific

Published on 2012-01-22 13:13:00

For shorthanded sailing a reliable selfsteering gear is a must. S/Y Dolphin Dance has been sailing with a Windpilot Pacific -windvane for two seasons now. I was very lucky to find a used one on sale just a few kilometres from the harbour where s/y Dolphin Dance is laid up for winter. The windvane is quite an expensive piece of equipment so looking for one on the second-hand markets is in general a good idea. The windvane was installed for the season 2010 and it was put on its first test during m [..]

Our experiences on Windpilot Pacific

Published on 2012-01-22 13:13:00

Some updates: Equipment list and Highlights site/tab added

Published on 2012-01-15 15:03:00

We updated the Hallberg-Rassy 29 site with a listing of equipment on board s/y Dolphin Dance. For the coming season we do not have any major investments at sight. However, we are fixing items that stopped working during the previous season. Among these are our fridge and the television antenna.We also decided to add a new site/tab Highlights on the navigation bar on top of the posts. There is a list of blog posts that in our opinion represent best our sailing season 2011. In general, older posts [..]

Some updates: Equipment list and Highlights site/tab added

Published on 2012-01-15 15:03:00

Plans for the season 2012: The High Coast

Published on 2012-01-11 14:37:00

Now that we have passed the darkest weeks of the year and daylight is increasing slowly but firmly, it is good time to start planning the coming sailing season.Last summer we spent totally eleven weeks on our journey to Norway and back. However, the whole process was a lot longer since there were a lot of preparations to be done. We had scheduled to start in the end of May, so we were in quite a hurry to get everything ready on time. However, in the coming season we are going to take a bit more [..]

Skiing in Trysil, Norway

Published on 2012-01-08 03:51:00

During our sailing journey to Norway last summer we fell in love with this amazing country. Therefore, we wanted to see how Norway looks during the wintertime as well. Thus, on New Years Day we travelled first to Oslo and then continued three hours by bus to Trysil, which is the largest skiing resort in Norway./Antti & MinnaHere are some photos from the winter wonderland:

Remembering summer and past sailing adventures

Published on 2011-12-30 13:49:00

During the darkest time of the year, one gets easily a bit depressed, since summer is so far away. However, during the Christmas holiday there is good time to go through old log books and photos and remember those past sailing adventures. Many of the best pictures from last season have been presented already in this blog. Thus, I went through some old photos from 2007-2010 and decided to select the best ones to represent the things that we mostly miss in the short summer of the north.We would li [..]

Stormy Christmas 2011

Published on 2011-12-26 14:17:00

On Boxing Day, Finland was hit by the worst storm for a decade. It was the same Dagmar storm, that raged in western Norway and Sweden. In Norway the storm caused extensive damage and hurricane force winds. Fortunately, the storm had eased somewhat before arriving to Finland. During the night to Boxing Day, the wind started quickly picking up. I followed the wind observations for example from Utö, the southernmost inhabited island in Finland, and right after the midnight, the wind was already g [..]

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