Finland from Lappo to Turku (Åbo) and back – summer 2024

🧭 Factsheet

Route: From Lappo to Turku (Åbo) and back
Time period: 20 to 31 July 2024
Logged: 81 nautical miles
Harbour days: 4
Anchorage days: 2
Highlight: Trip to Helsinki

📍 Our route & legs

Leg 1: Lappo → Iniö

We sail across the Skiftet (Finnish: Kihti), a strait between Brändö and Kumlinge on the western side and Kustavi, Iniö and Houtskär in the east. It forms the natural border between the autonomous region of Åland and Finland. Our first Finnish harbour is Bruddalsviken on the island of Iniö. Hardly have we tied up when a big festival starts in the harbour, including a regatta with small traditional wooden sailing boats. We could watch directly from the cockpit and then join in the celebrations for a bit.

Leg 2: Iniö → Pähkinäinen

Glorious summer weather but absolutely no wind left. Zero. So we motor on towards Turku and tie up at Pähkinäinen. The island already belongs to Turku and consists largely of lush green hazelnut groves. It has everything you need for a perfect summer: beach, sauna (yes, Finns need that in summer too), café and the guest harbour. The somewhat grumpy lady at the kiosk spoke only a few words of English and wanted cash. But as it was only €10, we scraped together our last cash and stayed for 2 days.

Leg 3: Pähkinäinen → Turku

With a stopover in a pretty anchorage called Väärämaa, we then continued to the island of Ruissalo in the municipal area of Turku. We figured that here in the greenery the summer heat, which had by now also reached Finland, would be easier to bear than in the city harbour. Instead of €50 there, Ruissalo was even cheap at €30. The harbour belongs to the hotel complex there. Every time we wanted a shower we had to go to reception to get the key and then find the bathroom through dark corridors in the basement. Somehow annoying, but not the end of the world. A bus took you into town and back again quickly for little money. The bus stop was just a few metres away from the guest berths.

We spent a total of four days in Turku. On two days we went into the centre and explored the old town with the old castle, the cathedral and the many small alleys. We used one day to take the bus (the railway line was just being built) to Helsinki. Public transport is very cheap in Finland and we did not want to cover the long distance there and back by boat. We spent one day wandering through the wooded area on Ruissalo and sitting on the beach. Mooring the boat here was a good decision.

Leg 4: Turku → Väärämaa

After the lovely time in Turku we said goodbye to the Finnish mainland and sailed back towards Åland. Before that I headed off very early in the morning to the city centre once more and visited the weekly market. I was in my element and bought loads of fruit and vegetables.

The archipelago just outside Turku does not need to hide and is every bit as beautiful. We only found the Finnish reserve a little unusual after two years in warm-hearted Sweden and Åland. With the wind on the beam we rush out of Turku and through the archipelago. The wind is blowing strongly from the north at around 25 knots. After two hours we have had enough and turn back into the anchorage Väärämaa. We stay here for a day and celebrate Tommy’s birthday.

Leg 5: Väärämaa → Korpoström

To escape the continuing strong northerly wind, we head to the southern tip of the island of Korpo. We successfully hide from the wind, but a summer cold still manages to find us. First Tommy is sniffling, later I am too. So we will stay here a little longer and recover.