Turku to Näsby

Monday 7/15/19

Dep. 11.44 Arr. 7.34pm 36nm. 7 hours 49 mins

For a higher-resolution map of this route, click HERE:

Richard arrived from Spain on Sunday afternoon and after a pleasant few hours of catching up and dinner on the terrace of the nearby Nood restaurant, I was more than ready to cast off for Näsby, about 40nm to the west. Richard (who often goes by the nickname ‘Tricky’), came bearing gifts, including a very cool matching set of Henri Lloyd foulies, which will stand me in good stead on future passages.

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The good weather of the previous two days had disappeared and we faced grey skies, occasional rain and some shifty winds for much of our passage. Richard adapted to helming pretty quickly while I navigated – he was always decent on the tiller when he first joined me back in 2016 and he seemed to have remembered almost everything. The passage was the usual mixture of wind shadows, sudden puffs, dodging rocks and skerries and trying to decide if we had too much sail up, or not enough. In the end we opted for a full main and 140% genoa and I stayed on main trim dumping the wind when necessary. We sailed for perhaps three hours before the finally died and the rain started in earnest.

  Näsby is the island but the harbor is actually called Houtskär, and is beautifully sheltered in a deep inlet, which perhaps explains its popularity. At first blush it looked full, and there were at least a couple of latecomers dropping the hook nearby, but our shallow draft allowed us to find a spot close to the marina office and we squeezed in.

  It was apparent that this island is quite a destination for nature-minded Finns, and not all them on sailboats. I was soaking wet and ready for the sauna which was very crowded, with lots of children and adults roasting together in a box-like room. It was a little unnerving walking in but I broke the ice by toasting the crowd with the ice cold beer I had brought with me, and when they heard the English accent they were all eager to chat.

  There is a pretty good café here serving breakfast lunch and dinner and as an added bonus it also has fast wi-fi – although that’s a given in most places with those hi-tech Finns. The service could not have been more friendly and the price was 26 euro for the night’s berth. With Richard replacing me in the galley we enjoyed an excellent meal of chorizo and potatoes, washing it down with a cheeky Spanish tempranillo. So good to have an old friend on board!