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Via Francigena terza parte

2011-10-10T23:59:00.167+03:00

The third and final part of Via Francigena. We started from Siena where left off last march. Via Francigena roughly follows the SS2 (Strada Statale) highway, which is mostly built on the old roman Via Cassia road.

Tuscany and Lazio were the provinces we passed this time around. Again we had luck with the weather, even if it was october. Just a little rain on the last walking, there were a total of 15 walking days. Our goal was Basilica di San Pietro and Pietros tomb in the Vatican.

Click on the first picture to start the lightbox slideshow with commentary.

With Trenitalia from Roma to Siena.

From here, Il Campo in Siena, we started our third and final part of Via Francigena.

Porta Romana and out from Siena.

We spent the first night at the Duo Ponti Palace Hotel.

Siena in a view from the south.

No one shall pass here.

But we had no trouble crossing the railway.

Again, a new kind of roadmarker.

Cappella Pieri Nerli.

The local 'Parliament' in Ponte d´Arbia.

The 'Ponte'.

Our albergo was quite old or it had suffered earthquake damage, we don't know.

Morning mist.

We passed our dinner on the road.

Midday, time to change to shorts.

A common way to dry clothes.

The vineyards of Tuscany.

The reward after a day´s walk, not wine but beer.
In the background germans touring San Quirico d´Orcia.

Sunset from our window.

Bagna Vignoni and ponds with hot water pouring out from the ground.
Here the old romans took hot baths.

Modern people enjoying a footbath.

P. Poggio Covili.

How's the shepherd supposed to get everybody into that small car?

Our hostel in Radicofani: Spedale di San Pietro e Giacomo.

Radicofani from the south.

Entering Lazio.

Lunchmeats.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus).

A market in San Lorenzo Nuovo.

Lago di Bolsena is a quite large lake.

Basilika Santa Christina in Bolsena.

Yacht Club Bolsena.

A strange formation of rocks called "Thrown stones".

Wild boar hunting in progress.

Madonna di Turona.

Again a new roadmarker.

An old Roman road (Via Cassia). Wonder where it leads?

Attenti cani.

Montefiascone skyline, unchanged for a thousand years.

It was olive harvesting season.

In this supermercado they sell wine by the liter.

Goodbye Capranica.

Visiting a local pilgrim.

The mainstreet in Campagnano di Roma.

The photographer in Campagnano di Roma.

Suore Delle Poverelle.

It was raining the last day of walking. It resulted in the worst
flooding for years in neighboring cities.

We had Rome in our sights.

Ceremonial foot washing in Spedale della Provvidenza.

Piazza Pio XII.

Basilika di San Pietro.

Guardia Swizzera.

Tomba dell´Apostolo Pietro.

The dome.

The dove of the Holy Spirit dates back to 1655.

Repairs are always ongoing.

1023 kilometers later. You have reached Your destination!

Hiking in Norway, August 2011

2011-08-26T21:11:00.008+03:00

Needed some fresh air so we went hiking in Finnmarken in Norway. Nine days living rough and without human contact, food was great.

Click on the first picture to start the lightbox slideshow with commentary.

Monday morning at the Rovaniemi railway station.

And here comes the car.

Food and equipment for 10 days in the wilderness is packed.

Our transport further into the wilderness.

Hold on!

No hobbits here, just a sami camp.

Our first camp.

A late dinner.

Waking up on our first morning and after a good nights sleep.

Now it was time to catch dinner (Tom, Heikki and Olle).

Long distances between small lakes...

...require many breaks.

Hmmm.

Dwarf birch (Betula nana).

The water was quite clear.

A lemming (they are very fast swimmers).

Weapons.

Yes!

Releasing a trout.

Heading for new hunting grounds.

Backpacks weighed about 25 kgs.

It was not easy jumping streams with the backpacks.

Wind shelter for Trangia.

Our second camp.

Cloudberries are ripening.

Which bait? Decisions, decisions.

Planning the day.

Morning bath, water about +10 degrees.

New sceneries.

After 4 days the first contact with woods.

Relaxing after a days walk.

The third camp.

Stretching.

Delish!

Char (Salvelinus alpinus).

A swamp.

Fishing in the rapids.

Preparing the sauna.

The stones are now glowing hot.

2 kgs of rubbish.

9 days later we were picked up and headed back home.

Sailing in Lake Saimaa, July 2011

2011-07-27T15:21:00.042+03:00

This summer we decided to experience what the inland lakes of Finland had to offer. First we had to sail south through the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland towards russian waters. After passport checks at the border we would have to make our way up the Saimaa canal and into finnish territorial waters again.

This was a one and a half month journey and we had four different crews helping us out along the way. Everybody took photos and after sorting through all of them, here's a small selection. Click the first photo after the map to start the slideshow.

This is the route we took, click here for a larger view.

Olle set off from Vaasa in mid June. This picture was taken near Pori, You can see Reposaari in the background.

Our navigation station. The next step is to mirror the laptop screen on a tablet that one can have on the side whilst steering.

Our first crew, Mikael and Päivi, helped Olle get the boat from Uusikaupunki to Hanko.

European Sailing Championships were taking place in Helsinki when we arrived there.

Giving a tug to a classic boat during calm winds.

The Viking Line ferry from Sweden arrives. Navigating through Kustaanmiekka strait
is difficult because it's very narrow.

Oldtimer from 1912.

Henrietta in Porvoo, just east of Helsinki.

Continuing east you'll eventually end up in Kotka, this picture of the city is taken from the top of Haukkavuori Tower.

Santio, the last harbour before the Russian border.

'Your papers please'

The next day we'll be travelling across the border into Russia.

Is it possible to pass with a train over your head? Sometimes yes, sometimes not: http://youtu.be/oEYLoT66Z6Q.

Taking photos wasn't allowed on the Russian side so we had to be sneaky. Titti and Hannu, pictured here, were our second crew.

Soskua lock. M/s Helga (less than 82 meters long, 12,2 wide and 4,35 deep). The Saimaa canal lifts boats up and down a total of 75 meters.

There are eight locks, five on the russian side and 3 on the finnish side of the border.

It takes about a day to travel through the canal.

Lappeenranta guest harbour. Now on Lake Saimaa, 76 meters above sea level.

The guest harbour in Puumala beneath highway 62.

Sulkava Rowing Race is one of the Finland´s biggest rowing events, which have gathered in its best years over 10 000 rowers and over 20 000 visitors.

A panoramic view of Savonlinna.

The weather was almost unbearably hot, above 30 degrees C.

I drove to Savonlinna to join up with the crew. I wasn't on the first leg because my vacation had not yet started and I also didn't have a valid passport to get me through Russia.

Sailing under the swingbridge with Olavinlinna castle in the background.

Saimaa lake is an ideal transportation route to get timber from the finnish inland to the paper mills near the seashore.

There is almost no pollution in the fresh waters of lake Saimaa.

Trying out some different photography techniques.

There was no wind to speak of, but we weren't in any hurry.

The deep waters meant one could park the boats directly onto the shore. This place was a "nature harbour" called Linnansaari.

The view from top of Linnansaari. There was national park as far as the eye could see.

Just floating around.

The midnight sun and a scorching heat made it almost impossible to sleep.

All this warm weather and high humidity meant thunderstorms were to be expected. The question was just when.

On our way to Varkaus.

Taipale Canal near Varkaus.

Rising only about 5 meters this time around.

Keep on pouring!

Here we come!

In Varkaus guest harbour, Tuula Olle, Hannu and Titti.

Planning the next days route.

So this is the storm we've been waiting for so long.

A freshwater seal (saimaannorppa), local only to lake Saimaa.

This is another natural harbour on the other side of Linnanvuori island, on our way back to Savonlinna.

On the hunt for blueberries.

No comment.

Pancakes + blueberry jam = crazy delicious.

In Savonlinna we had tickets to the opera, tonight Don Giovanni was playing.

The old castle provided a great venue.

Again making plans, this time the old analog way.

In the city of Imatra we switched crews again. I, Hannu and Titti left. Torre and Ulla-Maj joined up.

Waiting for the damned dam to open.

Whoa...

...Cool!

Now it was time to start our journey home. First we had to tackle Saimaa canal again.

We made it to the Gulf of Finland (although this picture of Torre was taken on the Russian side).

We swapped crews for the fourth time. This time Tuija, Johanna and Björn would help us get back to Vaasa along the west coast of Finland.

We stopped by the old Bengtskär lighthouse.

The lighthouse is usually much inaccessible, but calm seas meant there were lots of folks there taking in the sights.

Making our way to Turku. Lots of nice houses by the seaside.

The river Aura in Turku.

Good winds meant we made it back to Vaasa in record time. All in all a really good trip, we have to do it again sometime. Perhaps next summer?

Ikaalinen - Tampere kayak trip, june 2011

2011-06-06T18:50:00.012+03:00

Our inland kayak trip started right after the 5o5- Championships in Helsinki. On sunday evening we drove to Manso-niemi, where we on monday morning set off. When we got to Kyröskoski later that day we found out, to our surprise, that the whole river Pappilanjoki in Kyröskoski was closed. One of us had to go back and get our car to get us passed this unforseen obstacle. Despite this setback the trip was a success, we had all kinds of weather and gathered 73kms.

Kayaks in the harbour of HSK (Helsingfors Sailing Club).

Stig-Helmer soon ready for the Finnish Championship.

Loading lots of stuff.

Our starting point was at Mansoniemi Camping.

Highway 3.

The morning was calm and cloudy.

First stop at Ikaalinen (for lunch).

A powernap.

Happy faces.

No passing here.

Kyröskoski was totally closed - one of us had to take a taxi back to our original starting point to get the car. (No the taxi wouldn't take our kayaks).

Kyröskoski power plant.

New start after a 5 km car ride.

First days reward.

Under a rain shelter.

After the rain the rainbow appared.

And sunset.

New day - new possibilities.

A traffic counter.

Very heavy rain.

Passing the powerplant on land.

Restart.

On Lake Kulovesi (been here before in 2009).

Our camp for the second night.

Melo power plant.

+20 meters.

Nokian Kylpylähotelli (Nokia spa).

Coffee break on the pier.

All vessels are on their way home, including the 5o5.

Tampere.

Via Francigena, stage 2/3, April 2011

2011-04-22T18:24:00.012+03:00

Centuries old Via Francigena was calling us once again. We continued our journey from Fiorenzuola in Emilia-Romagna and ended this leg in Siena, Tuscany. There were very few pilgrims, during three weeks we only encountered four others walking this route.

The weather was on our side the whole way, blue skies and sunshine for the 375 kilometers, 15 walking days plus a couple of days as tourists in Lucca and Siena. This part was also kind of a gastronomic journey as it took us through the region of Parma and Chianti.

The last leg of the pilgrimage is planned for October 2011 and it will take us to Rome. They say all roads lead to Rome but we managed to get lost a couple of times. We didn't mind it as we took in the sights and scenery. We also took a couple of pictures as seen here below.

Map of stage two, I wasn't able to embed an interactive map.

From Bologna by train to Fioronzuola.

A german 'pilger' outside the parrocchia.

Studying the route in Castelnuovo Fogliani.

Chiesa di San Francesco in Fidenza.

Italian countryside outside Fidenza.

River Taro.

Fornovo di Taro.

Remains from roman time.

A new design on the milemarkers.

Heiligen schrein.

Water for pilgrims.

Two pilgrims resting in Terenzo.

The photographer.

Berceto in sight.

Municipio di Berceto.

Ostello del Pellegrino in Berceto.

Passo della Cisa, alt. 1041 m.

Looking in to Toscana.

Convento Cappuccini in Pontremoli.

Last sight of Pontremoli.

A very good restaurant in Barbarasco.

Fiume Magra.

I think our clothes were much better to walk in.

A strange porthole up in the mountains!!

Fog in the valleys.

Bibola.

A supermercado on wheels. Vecchietto.

Endstation.

Olle e Jean-Luis D.

Small town (Ponzano Superiore) and they are always on the top of a hill.

This time a commercial albergo in Avenza.

Marble everywhere, we are near Massa - Carrara.

Heavy marble blocks.

But Pellegrinis are strong.

Massa - marble everywhere.

The first sight of the Mediterranian and Ligurian Sea.

Roofs in Capanne.

Pleasant to walk on the riverside.

Artist at work.

Casa Diocesana La Rocca in Pietrasantra.

No hurry any more.

From Montemagno looking north.

Fiume Serchio.

Entering the medieval city Lucca via Porta San Donato.

Lucca, the city of 'Torres'.

Giacomo Puccini sitting (the museum behind was closed due to renovations).

Time for a beer in the Piazza Anfiteatro in Lucca.

Arrivederci Lucca, Porta Elisa.

Flowermarket in Altopascio.

A medieval road.

Sheep.

Important places?

Roma is our goal now.

Looking for help finding a 'dormir'.

Morning coffee and a croissant.

The church in Pancole.

With a manger in the basement.

Gimignano.

Lilacs in full bloom.

Poppy-flowers.

Monteriggioni - used partly for making the film Gladiator.

Drum exercise in the backyard for the medieval week in Monteriggioni.

Pilgrim dinner.

La Chiocciola in Villa.

Entering Siena - Porta Camollia.

Tourist resting on Il Campo.

Duomo.

Duomo interior.

Nice paintjob!

Via Francigena, stage 1/3, October 2010

2010-10-12T13:37:00.012+03:00

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.

Hospice du Gran San Bernard is also a monastery and was founded in 1049.

Col de Gran San Bernardo - the first sunbeams in the morning.

Here begins a new adventure, altitude 2.473 m

Entering Italy.

St Bernard watching people passing by.

Nazional SS27 climbing on the hillsides.

There are many paths in the Alps, our Via is nr 103.

High mountains - large shadows.

Napoleon with his army came to Italy throuh this pass in 1800.

Quite steep.

Fiume Artanavas.

A pittoresque village.

'Ruska' in northern Italy.

Lot of cows in Aosta valley.

The cave "Je Te Salue".

Mighty sceneries in the valley.

No hurry - admire the sceneries.

Roofs made of stone.

Aosta seen from the hillslope.

Leaving Aosta behind us in the morning.

Rue Roma beneath (nazional SS26).

The shepherd was knitting.

Aosta seen from the southeast.

Aosta valley is a very strategic place, hence the many fortresses.

The air was hazy in the mornings.

October - time to harvest grapes.

An old abandoned village.

Down to the river at least 100 m.

Montjovet castle and the pass.

Dora Baltea.

Wine press.

Modern stone houses.

Time for a break in Arnad.

The medieval bridge of Echallod.

The castle of Bard.

Strada Reale dei Vini Torinesi.

Ponte Romano.

We are now in Piemonte (at the foot of the mountains).

Via Francigena sign.

All roads lead to Rome (Omnes viae Romam perducunt, in Latin).

No moving parts.

Attenti cani!

The town and the castle are from the middle ages.

In this small church we listened to music, afterwards we got candy as reward from the organist.

The castle in Ivrea.

The manmade rapids outside of the Ivrea Canoa Club.

Parents bring their children to school. Note the flags.

The clubhouse of the Canoa Club.

Belltower of Santo Stefano (a benedictine abbey was founded here in 1044 and demolished in the mid 16th century).

Now the large cultivated fields begin.

Ciesa de San Pietro (11th century).

Another wine press.

Church interior.

The door to our home this night.

Road sign.

A living traffic light.

You can find anything...

...in this marketplace.

Canale Cavour.

Vercelli on the horizon.

Our 'hotel' in Vercelli.

Our albergo in the policestation.

The fastest tractor in Italy.

No tarffic on our Via.

Yet another Road sign.

The first pizzas on our Via.

The first and last rainy day.

Fiume Ticino with Duomo di Pavia in the background.

The result of yesterdays rain.

A peculiar contraption.

It's been a cold night.

A beautiful and peaceful 'cemitario'.

No dogs but geese.

Pellegrinos resting.

Not a cloud.

Due pellegrini e mayor Pier Luigi Cappelletti in Orio Litta.

Note the handles.

We are not in China.

Municipio in Piacenza.

Via Roma and R & R.

Our Ostello, Ciesa San Pietro.

This part of Italy is full of small rivers.

Everything but roads are "privata" in Italy.

Churchtowers act as lighthouses in Piemonte.

Torrente Arda not flooded this time of the year.

Our first part of Via Francigena ended here.

Huittinen - Pori kayak trip, June 2010

2010-06-21T18:43:00.016+03:00

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.

Start from Vasa at 8 o´clock.

Kayak packing in Huittinen.

Ready for river Loimijoki.

Church in Huittinen.

Fertile landscape.

Highway 12.

What is beyond the river wall?

Now on river Kokemäenjoki.

Small white horses on the river.

Tofieldia palustris.

Coffeebreak at...

...Mantan jokikahvila.

First night at Hummasaari.

What a mess!

Good morning!

Kolsi powerplant.

A 500 meter walk with the kayaks.

Saint Henry (see our trip from september 2008).

Time for a...

...lunch in Kokemäki.

Second night in Nakkila.

Quay with outbord motor.

Quay on wheels.

Ruskila rapids.

On the outskirts of Pori.

Pori in sight.

Our goal Kirjurinluoto, Pori.

Riksgränsen, May 2010

2010-05-19T22:26:00.081+03:00

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.

On our way to Norddalsfjället.

On top of the world.

And a view from below.

No border security here.

Readying to scale the mountain.

Scaling mountains is a lot of work,
so we just skied down this ravine instead.

There we found these berries and an unidentified turd
that had survived the harsh winter.

On the second day fog and clouds engulfed the entire mountain.

So we decided to take in the local nature instead.

Melting snow produces a lot of water.

We thought this day was going to be the same as yesterday,
foggy and cloudy.

But halfway up the mountain the clouds parted and
this is what awaited us.

We drove back the same day, which took about 11 hours.
Pictured above is Lapporten or "the port of Lapland".

View Larger Map

I haven't figured out yet if it's possible to link a map of the geotagged
images that are on picasa, but here's the general Riksgränsen area.
To see the pictures' exact position visit Picasaweb where the
photos are hosted.

Pikanto FIN-XX, Winter 2010

2010-02-28T20:19:00.059+02:00

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!

February 18th

Side view.

Pikanto, deck view.

One picture, 24 words.

Backstay attachments as far astern as possible.

Looking forward inside the hull.

Viewing astern inside the hull.

Sheet turning block in the bow.

Sheet turning block from the inside and close-up.

Turning block for the jib sheet.

February 20th

The push-pull rudder-post. A block for a rubber band can be

attached to one of the holes.

Making it even sturdier.

February 21st

Supporting beams give extra strength to the fin box. The frame-timber is 0,8 mm mahogany coated on both sides with glassfiber. The result should be extra strength at minimal weight costs.

This keel will definitely not be a swingkeel.

February 24th

Mainsheet post.

No lines or sheets on deck.

February 25th

Fairlead for mainsheet and rubber band.

February 26th

The bar between the mainsheet post and keeltrunk

supports the radioplate.

February 27th

Servo tray; 3mm mahogany veneer coated on both sides with glassfiber and

epoxy glue, weight about 20 grams.

March 1st

Carbon arm on an aluminium servo horn. The servos are firmly attached.

The powerhouse Hitec HS-7950: 7.2 V » 35 kg/cm

March 3rd

Servo tray anchored even to the topsides.

March 6th

Port side of the servo tray is for batteries and receiver that will be placed in small bags.

March 7th

Eyebolt for rigging screw.

The topsides are extra reinforced down to the keeltrunk with glassfiber.

A 50 mm long oakpiece holds the screw in place.

March 10th

Headsail swivel line.

The line starts from a ball bearing swivel fastened

to a glassfiber coated piece of veneer

March 21st

The two pins are for no. 2 and 3 jib pivots

No. 3 jib pivot and foredeck secured with a

stainless steelstay to the bottom.

April 1st

Mast locking wheel

April 3rd

Foredeck patches

April 5th

Deck patches. Note that the boat has turned white (undercoat).

April 10th

A natural mast partner. The boat has been painted with International

Perfection (2-component polyurethane paint) Off White Nr 192.

July 29th

Rudder servo arrangement.

May 30th (2011)

The left screw is for bulb cant adjustment.

Winch arm system. Servo Hitec HS-7950, very strong and extremly fast.

Ready for sail.

Christening.

Happy faces.

Sailing.

She sailed well.

Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage, October 2009

2009-10-07T18:00:00.002+03:00

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

2009-08-24T16:03:00.009+03:00

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

2009-06-14T22:50:00.007+03:00

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

2009-03-29T16:18:00.005+03:00

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

2009-02-28T16:16:00.001+02:00

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

2008-11-08T16:13:00.001+02:00

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

2008-09-11T16:05:00.001+03:00

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

2008-07-27T16:03:00.002+03:00

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

2008-06-15T15:56:00.001+03:00

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

2008-05-07T15:42:00.001+03:00

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

2007-09-15T15:37:00.002+03:00

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

2007-06-20T15:34:00.002+03:00

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

IOM-ranking Wasa, June 2007

2007-06-16T23:50:00.004+03:00

Spring activities, May 2007

2007-05-21T23:39:00.001+03:00

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

Hobby activities, Winter 2007

2007-01-27T23:36:00.001+02:00

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

2006-09-12T23:18:00.001+03:00

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.

Karhunkierros in Lapland, September 2006

2006-09-08T23:22:00.001+03:00

Karhunkierros (Bear's Ring) is an 80 kilometer long hiking trail in northern Finland. It took 3 days to complete, the fall weather was really nice, although it started raining on the last day.

Detailed map Hautajärvi - Ruka.

Kebnekaise Sweden, August 2006

2006-08-28T23:21:00.001+03:00

A fall hike among the most beautiful mountainranges in Swedish and Norwegian Lapland.

Detailed map Nikkaluotka - Kebnekaise.

Detailed map of the whole trip.

Phocéa Cup, March 2006

2006-03-17T20:02:00.002+02:00

Some pictures from the Phocéa Cup 2006 in Marseilles, France. The event took place in March and was attended by IOM enthusiasts from all over the world. We didn't place as high as expected but all in all it was a fun event and You had a chance to visit many interesting places and meet lots of interesting people. The pictures of the races are courtesy of Patrick Olympie.

Hiking Kungsleden, September 2005

2005-09-01T19:53:00.001+03:00

This is the fifth and last stage of the Kungsleden hiking path. The stage is from Ammarnäs in the north to Hemavan in the south. All in all it took the two Martonen brothers four days to complete this 78 kilometer stage in difficult terrain. It was cold and windy but the beautiful and historical landscape made it all worth it.

Detailed map of stage five here.

5o5 World Championship, August 2005

2005-08-28T19:13:00.002+03:00

Some nice pictures from the 5o5 World Championship in Warnemünde, Germany.

IOM-ranking Wasa, June 2005

2005-06-15T18:47:00.004+03:00

Pictures from the Finnish IOM ranking races June 2005. The race took place off the pier at the Vaasa Yacht Club, Wasa Segelförening (WSF).

Building a Triple Crown, May 2005

2005-05-01T16:26:00.005+03:00

We built a Triple Crown IOM from scratch during the winter months of 2004-2005.