Hello from above 60° North

[South Bound]

I am the female half of a Finnish couple, anxiously waiting for the second season on our very first sailboat.

We are a middle aged couple with a lot of experience in boating and some in sailing, but for some reason we ended up spending almost a decade on dry land - a big mistake!

We chose a very small, no-luxuries sailboat with the sole intent of practicing before (hopefully) heading off into the big seas on a (hopefully) bigger boat. I've been writing about our progress in a blog called Compass Heading 180° as that's where we're eventually headed

I've been following this forum for quite a while now and find it extremely educational and interesting.

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum.

[Tayana42]

Hello to you too. I enjoyed reading your blog. Good writing, good attitude, good sense of humor. I'll enjoy your future posts.

[South Bound]

Thank you, Celestialsailor and Tayana42, for your welcome, and especially Tayana42 for your kind words! I will try to keep blogging although currently our boat is covered in ice and snow and it's still too cold to start working on any boat projects. We hope to get back in the water in May, so still a while to go...

[CaptainAR]

Welcome to the forum. I just saved your blog to my ipad and looking forward to reading through it. Take care and best of luck.


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[South Bound]

Thank you, CaptainAR! The same to you - but where do you sail in Arkansas?

[Mark424]

Originally Posted by South Bound

We chose a very small, no-luxuries sailboat with the sole intent of practicing before (hopefully) heading off into the big seas on a (hopefully) bigger boat. I've been writing about our progress in a blog called Compass Heading 180° as that's where we're eventually headed

Congrats, you might enjoy Keep Turning Left, an english bloke with interesting videos of his journeys around the UK and Shetlands on a 26' sailboat.

[barnakiel]

Hi Suomi!

You are so privileged to be sailing in your lovely Nordic setting. In fact, everything (except for cold sea water) is better up there: you have fewer boats, plenty of space, safe harbours and inexpensive facilities. I bet Finnish food is absolutely fabulous too!

So I would gladly swap your 180 dreams for my 360 ones!

Welcome to the forum and we hope your summer 2017 will be lovely long and sunny!

Best regards,
barnakiel
Canary Islands

[CaptainAR]

Originally Posted by South Bound

Thank you, CaptainAR! The same to you - but where do you sail in Arkansas?

Unfortunately I am land locked at the moment so the only sailing I get to do are on the local lakes in the area. I hope to one day retire near the ocean and get to experience some actual water sailing">blue water sailing. Until then I continue to live my dream through people such as yourselves. Who knows, maybe I'll find myself in your neck of the woods one day. Safe travels.

Steve


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[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard, Suomi & Suomi's partner,

It's still a long time till summer at your latitude, for sure, but I wanted to wish you guys many happy sailing hours. Your choice of boat is wise, your plan, good. Enjoy.

Ann

[MarV]

Hello!

It seems that it's almost some sort of standard to make a first trip abroad from Finland to Estonia - and vice versa.

Welcome - to both CF and Estonia

[South Bound]

What a bunch of nice people!

Mark424, I'm a long time fan of Keep Turning Left and enjoy it very much. Shows you how you can find great places just around the corner if you look closely. No need to travel exotic places - a skill I have yet to master though, always wanting to be someplace else.

Barnakiel, let's meet somewhere half way and I'll trade you my cold weather tips for your warm weather ones. We'd like to see some higher latitudes as well, but not until our fingers and toes have thawed a little under some palm tree for a while.

G'day Ann, and thank you for your warm welcome. Enjoy yourselves down under!

Aitäh, MarV! Likewise, welcome to the northern side of the pond! I guess it's just that whenever you see a horizon you want to find out what's beyond - even if it's just a little puddle. We found extremely friendly natives, but we knew to expect that.

Yes, the north is nice for a couple of months in the summer, and for a couple of snowy winter months. It's what's between that sometimes gets a bit tough. But that's a good excuse to watch some more tropical sailing videos!