Via Francigena, stage 1/3, October 2010

In 58 BC Julius Caesar opened the 'Road of the Sun', the shortest route between the North Sea and Rome. This route was called 'Via Francigena' for the first time in 876 AD. The archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric wrote down the itinerary in 990 AD when he returned home from Rome. The road was used by merchants, armies and pilgrims. As a pilgrimage, this route fell out of fashion around the 17th century. In 1985 Via Francigena was retraced as described back in 990 AD by the archbishop.

The route starts in Canterbury, England but we started from Grand Saint Bernhard in Switzerland. From there it's 1020km's to Rome, on this leg we walked 360km's. The next stages are planned for march and october of 2011.

Huittinen - Pori kayak trip, June 2010

Our latest inland kayaking trip started in Huittinen where we ended up last year. Our goal this year was to finish up in Pori, 85 kilometers away, by the coast. The idea was to leave the car in Huittinen and after reaching Pori, one of us would take a bus back to Huittinen to get the car. This was the last stage of five. Fortunately there are a lot of lakes and waterways to explore in coming summers but there is no way to top the weather we had on this trip.

Riksgränsen, May 2010

This winter has provided very cold temperatures and heavy snowfall, this means it's going to take a long time to melt away.

We spent an extended weekend in May travelling to Riksgränsen, on the border between northern Sweden and Norway, to take advantage of our last opportunity to do some downhill skiing.

The weather was for most parts sunny and temperatures reached above 20 degrees C. The extreme temperature changes also meant there was a chance of fog, which we also experienced.

Pikanto FIN-XX, Winter 2010

After sailing a Triple Crown for over five years (with mixed results) it's time for a new and better designed boat. Click here to see the building of that old boat.

We had initially a lot of designs to pick from, but we chose a modern, Graham Bantock designed, Pikanto-model.

This time we didn't build it all from scratch, we got the hull from the factory of Immanen & Wallin in Helsinki. We hope to trick it out and optimize its performance and handling. This post will be updated during winter and spring of 2010. Stay tuned!

Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage, October 2009

The 1000 year old pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is known in English as the Way of St. James and in Galician as the Camino de Santiago. Each year, over 100,000 pilgrims from all over the world travel to Spain to walk the Camino, or part of it.

These are the pictures from the second part (Léon - Finisterra) about 410km in October 2009. Mostly good weather considering we started late in the autumn.

Hanko Sea Kayak Gathering, August 2009

Kayakists from all over Finland gathered for their second annual meeting in Hanko, in southern Finland. There were lots of lectures and practical training to better safety and navigation etc.

On the other hand this meeting gave the opportunity to meet and enjoy the sport with likeminded people.

A big thanks to the organizers, NIL Finland.

Tampere - Huittinen kayak trip, June 2009

Second to last leg of our kayak tour of the lakes of western Finland. It rained for most of the 81 km:s but all in all it was a interesting trip.

Click here to see the first part (2007) and here to see the second part (2008).

Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage, March 2009

The 1000 year old pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is known in English as the Way of St. James and in Galician as the Camino de Santiago. Each year, over 100,000 pilgrims from all over the world travel to Spain to walk the Camino, or part of it.

We walked the first half of the journey (St. Jean de Pied Port - Léon) about 470km in March 2009, during off- season. The second part, 380km, is planned for October.

Landscape Panoramas from Ruka, Northern Finland, February 2009

We've been experimenting with stitching pictures together to create panoramas. Here are a couple of great landscape panoramas from the Ruka ski center in finnish Lapland.

They were taken with a simple Canon point-and shoot (A570IS) camera, but the results came out better than expected. You should really view them in slideshow mode to make them justice.

IOM European Championships, November 2008

Eero L. (FIN-45) and myself (FIN-41) had the pleasure to represent Finland. We travelled to Croatia by car, the nonstop journey from Vasa to Dubrovnik took 3 days.
We had pleasant mediterranean weather, 20-25 degrees and mild winds, the kind of weather we have in Finland during summer months. The tide, on the other hand, was a new fenomena for us northerners.

Croatians really worked hard for the event and as You can see from the results, they are very good sailors too. On the way home we made detours to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden.

Saint Henry's pilgrimage, September 2008

St Henry, the patron saint of Finland, was an Englishman who became appointed bishop of Uppsala in Sweden — or, according to other sources, as a missionsbishop. In 1155 he accompanied the Swedish king on a crusade to Finland and stayed on to do missionary work until he came to a violent end on ice-covered Lake Köyliö in 1156.

According to a legend his bones were first brought to Nousiainen and later in 1300 moved to the newly consecrated Turku Cathedral. In the Middle Ages the road from Köyliö to Nousiainen and further to Turku was known as St Henry's road and became a popular route for pilgrimages.

Hiking and fishing in Norway, July 2008

Last week in July, we made a 7 day fishing trip to Troms fylke in Norway. It wasn't Your typical summer weather. The fish did bite despite the grueling weather, but they don't grow big in the small mountain lakes compared to nearer the coastline.

Ruovesi - Tampere kayak trip, June 2008

Starting where we left off last year, in Ruovesi, we made our way south towards Tampere. We covered the 75 km:s in three days. To see photos from our previous trip go here.

Riksgränsen Sweden - Norway, May 2008

Our last ski / hiking trip of the season was to Riksgränsen. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side with lots of rain and snow during all three days. At the same time southern Sweden enjoyed record warm and sunny weather. That's so unfair!

Höga kusten, September 2007

Having finished Kungsleden and Karhunkierros in past years, this autumn we decided to head across the pond to Sweden and the Höga Kusten "mountain" range. There's a map included so You can follow along.

Ähtäri - Ruovesi kayak trip, June 2007

Pictures from the a kayak trip trough the lakes of central Finland in mid June 2007.

IOM-ranking Wasa, June 2007

Spring activities, May 2007

Pictures from the first Scandinavian Cup Race in Oslo, Norway. Remember, You can comment on the pictures when viewing them.

Hobby activities, Winter 2007

As You can tell from the lack of updates on the site, nothing major is happening during the winter months. However, there is alot of work going on in preparation for next season. We're working on two half models and doing some improvements on Henrietta. Here are some photos of Henrietta sailing, just before the sea freezes over, also included are some early pictures of the half model of the Triple Crown.

Finnish IOM championship, September 2006

Here are some of the pictures taken during the Finnish IOM championship in Vaasa. The competition was a success, both days saw beautiful weather and windy conditions.

Click here for complete results.