Safe Return Doubtful

Henrik, the environmental scientist I met a couple of days ago, recommended that I stayed at Ajola Yacht Club, but I had thought it wouldn’t be my scene. I had the image of Lytham Yacht Club in my mind, most members of which didn’t own a boat, but enjoyed the privilege of quoting their hugely expensive membership to get them into places that don’t accept riff-raff. But Henrik sent me a message on Friday to say he needed to drop some stuff off at the Club that evening and would meet me there. 

The idea I had of a British type Yacht Club was actually very different from what the place was. Ajola Yachts are actually one of the largest and most established yacht builders in Scandinavia, and this is the hub of their operations, with several huge warehouses and dock for many people who moor their boats here. There isn’t any clubroom or social facility other than toilets, showers and a sauna. 

Henrik was dropping some gear to a friend, Tom, who was racing his yacht this weekend, and was keen to show his friend and his partner my van, as he was thinking of building one himself. 

They showed me around the premises which were very impressive. From the 1920s there was a ferry connection from here to Turku. The yacht building company, Ajola, has existed since the 1940s which was about the time that yachting began to become popular as a leisure activity. There was a day of rain forecast for Saturday, so Tom was making careful preparations for his race, and then sail there, about an hour to the north. 

After a beer they left, and I found a corner of the vast and mostly empty car park to settle in. The following morning I took Roja out for a ninety minute circuit before breakfast, just beating the rain which arrived at 10 am. 

We then drove through Turku, Finland’s oldest city, stopping for a shower and a sauna at a place Tom and Henrik had recommended, and then down to the south of the archipelago. Two weeks ago I would have been able to do this by the little yellow ferries that run around the islands, but they have now closed operations for winter. 

I headed down to the Söderlångvikin museum, another place recommended to me. The museum, an old country mansion and its grounds, didn’t really appeal to me, but there was a hiking circuit that did, so the place made a good stopover to shelter from the rain, and undertake the hike this morning. 

From there we have headed north and are now in Teijo National Park, more about that in the next post. I arrived in time for a quick hour out with Roja, with the plan then to watch the England Australia T20 decider from Manchester, but at the moment, it is raining steadily in Manchester..