MV Dirona travel digest for Saimaa Lakes 2019

Position: 60°9.46'N, 25°2.77'E

We'd planned to exit the Helsinki area heading east through the Hevossalmi Bridge. According to the Finnish Transportation Agency web site and our cruising guide, the bridge opens every 30 minutes 24 hours a day. But we arrived at 5:20am to an updated sign indicating it was only open 7:30am to 11pm. Fortunately we hadn't gone too far out of our way.

Position: 60°7.51'N, 25°4.48'E

A large Finnish Coast Guard vessel was anchored off as we exited the Helsinki area.

Position: 60°10.93'N, 25°35.58'E

Passing the dredge Ursus about three hours out of Helsinki.

Position: 60°14.63'N, 25°53.67'E

Every cable ferry we've seen so far in Finland has been of similar design and painted bright yellow. This is the one between Sunintie and Timon.

Position: 60°14.81'N, 25°54.41'E

We've often heard that Navionics charts are more accurate than CMAP. As we travel the world, we've seen places where that is true and many places where it isn't. But in most cases they seem pretty close to the same. What's interesting is the Navionics charts "feel" better in that they often show more detail and, in extreme cases, the CMAP charts show gray ("unknown") whereas the Navionics charts shows depth contours. It seems like the CMAP charts are very conservative when they lack data and the Navionics charts makes estimate. The net result is the Navionics charts often look and feel more accurate even though they appear to be drawing from the same base chart data.

Here's an example where CMAP shows little detail (see screenshot) but indicates that it's save to pass. The Navionics charts, pictured, show great detail but indicate the passage has less than 6ft of water. We need 6 ft 7 inches and had plenty of water—the least depth we saw was 26ft. The Navionics estimate wasn't close in this case. Having seen these "bugs" from both chart manufacturers, we often consult both when detail is important.

Position: 60°21.35'N, 27°1.47'E

We are going to spend much of June in the Saimaa Lakes area of Finland, near the border with Russia. The lakes area accessible via the Saimaa Canal that is partly in Russia and partly in Finland and we need to pass through Russia to reach the canal. We don't need Russian visas for a transit voyage with no Russian port stops, but we do need a lot of paperwork.

We'll clear out of Finland and the EU, then pass through Russia to the first lock in the Saimaa Canal. There we will clear through Russian customs and continue into the Saimaa Canal until we near the border with Finland. At that point, we'll pass through Russian Passport Control to exit the country, then we'll clear back into Finland once we cross the border.

We need customs paperwork for each country, multiple copies of a crew list, plus paperwork to re-import Spitfire into the EU. We've been in and out of the EU many time since arriving in Kinsale, Ireland two years ago, but this is will be the first time Spitfire has left the EU.

Position: 60°27.17'N, 27°41.87'E

Nearing Santio, near the border with Russia, where we'll clear out from Finland. Not surprisingly, a Finnish watchtower was prominent on the island as we approached.

Position: 60°27.42'N, 27°43.30'E

On the dock at Santio, waiting for the Finnish Coast Guard to arrive to clear us out. The big yellow sign on shore reads "Passport control and customs clearance for yachts and pleasure craft" and beside it are an EU and a Finnish flag. We're at both the Finnish and the EU border.

It used to be possible to clear out the evening before and overnight on the dock at Santio to get an early start, but the rules have changed so that boats must leave once they are cleared out. So we anchored a few miles away and planned an 8am arrival. We still needed to notify the Coast Guard at least an hour before we arrived, so called at 7am and their central dispatch would notify the Santio Island crew to head over once they arrived at work.

Position: 60°27.42'N, 27°43.30'E

The Coast Guard arriving shortly after 8am to clear us through. They inspected our ship's papers and passports, including Spitfire's, and stamped our customs declaration, James' passport and five signed copies of the crew list. They were courteous and efficient and we were underway by 8:30am.

Position: 60°27.10'N, 27°42.63'E

Lowering our Finnish flag as we prepare to depart Finland.

Position: 60°26.98'N, 27°42.54'E

Raising our quarantine flag and a Russian courtesy flag prior to entering Russia.

Position: 60°26.66'N, 27°42.60'E

Crossing the border into Russia. As part of the lease agreement between Finland and Russia to allow voyages through Russia to and from the Saimaa Canal, no photography is allowed in the border zone between the two Finnish borders, and cameras are required to be in their cases and stowed below decks.

Position: 60°26.75'N, 28°1.94'E

We're well into Russia now.

Position: 60°26.82'N, 28°3.03'E

Since we're back in Russia, we decided to use our Megafon SIM card that we purchased on our recent trip to St. Petersburg. Even now, there's lots left in that 40gig we purchased for just over €4.

Position: 60°26.92'N, 28°4.93'E

Whenever we cross a country border, we get a text message from Vodafone informing us how roaming will work there. The EU "Roam Like at Home" rules means we don't pay roaming charges within the EU and that's normally what the Vodafone text says. But in Russia we'd pay a whopping €6,150 per gig in roaming charges—comparable to BGAN satellite data and ten times higher than we pay for our KVH V7hts satellite data.

Position: 60°36.57'N, 28°32.65'E

While in open water we didn't feel particularly like we were in Russia, but it became a lot more "real" as we entered the channel towards the city of Vyborg where at least a dozen Russian Coast Guard vessels were moored. Bummer that we couldn't take any photos.

Position: 60°48.55'N, 28°44.24'E

Russian Customs clearance and control is at our first landing in the country, right before Brusnitchnoe Lock. The process was smooth and efficient—we handed the officer the requisite paperwork, it passed muster, and we could drop our quarantine flag and enter the lock.

Position: 60°54.43'N, 28°36.88'E

We passed through five locks and cleared out of Russia at the Palli Lock. There they inspected and stamped our passports and two copies of the crew list. And, as expected, they also inspected the boat.

The Russian Border check definitely lived up to it's reputation. Absolutely every cabinet, floor board, or inspection way needed to be opened for them to see inside. Pictures were taken of most and, even with two Russian inspectors, that level of detail took some time.

It was, by far, the most detailed inspection we have seen in all of our travels around the world. Australia and New Zealand were careful, but this brought the inspection process to entirely new level. The entire inspection process was completed inside the lock, so the lock is unavailable for use during the time we're being inspected.

Position: 60°57.66'N, 28°33.25'E

At the dock in Nuijamaa, just across the Finnish border, ready to clear back into Finland.

Position: 60°57.68'N, 28°33.11'E

The Finnish Border Guard arrived shortly after we did, having been notified of our arrival by the Palli lockmaster. They inspected our paperwork and passports, briefly inspected the boat, and cleared us through. James ended up with four stamps in his US passport for the day: one on exiting Santio, two at the Russian Boder check as we exited the country, and a fourth as we returned back to Finland at Nuijamaa.

Position: 60°57.68'N, 28°33.11'E

It was past 6pm by the time we cleared through, so with permission from the Finnish Border Guard, we overnighted on the clearance dock. We're glad to have gone on the inside as several large boats went past throwing a substantial wake.

Position: 60°57.68'N, 28°33.11'E

We've been to a lot of places over the years and seen many countries, but taking Dirona through Russia was never on our list of expected or planned trips. When we learned about Finland's massive Lake Saimaa region, however, we had to go.

1,700 sq mile (4,400 sq km) Lake Saimaa is the largest lake in Finland and the fourth largest in Europe. The lake has nearly 6,000 islands and is connected to more large lakes via natural waterways and historic man-made canals and to the Baltic Sea via the Saimaa Canal. The area is incredibly beautiful and well-worth visiting. But, to get to the region, one has to leave the Baltic Sea and sail through Russia. In many ways, that makes the trip more complex. But, on the other hand, it also makes it more exciting.

The administrative overhead of the trip is reduced by Russia not requiring visitors to obtain visas in order to pass through to the lake, but all the other formalities are still required. We checked out of Finland at Santio, cleared into Russia at Brusnitchnoe Lock in the Saimaa Canal, and then had a detailed Russian Border inspection at Palli Lock before leaving Russia and then clearing back into Finland again at Nuijamaa.

It made for a big day, but it was exciting. We have three more locks to pass through in the Finland portion of the Saimaa Canal tomorrow morning and then we'll spend the next few weeks in the Lake Saimaa region.

Position: 60°57.82'N, 28°32.86'E

Now that we've exited the Russian border zone, we're finally able to take some pictures of the scenic run through the Saimaa Canal.

Position: 61°0.43'N, 28°27.98'E

James at the helm as we pass through the Kansola road bridge along the Saimaa Canal. All the locks and bridges opened for us without request as we neared. The only time we had to radio was at the first lock, Brusnitchnoe, to let them know we were ready to proceed after clearing Russian Customs.

Position: 61°2.26'N, 28°24.27'E

Entering the Soskua Lock, that will bring us to 187ft (57.1m) above sea level. When we reached Nuijamaa after the first five locks in the Russian part of the canal, we'd reached 160ft (48.8m) above sea level.

Position: 61°2.39'N, 28°24.03'E

Water upwelling into the Soskua Lock. The lockmasters are efficient and each transit typically took about 20 minutes from entry to exit.

Position: 61°3.15'N, 28°22.44'E

The Saimaa Canal was built between 1845 and 1856 while Finland was a Duchy in the Russian Empire. This carving in the rock names, in Finnish and Russian, the two Russian Emperors who funded the canal construction during their reign, Nikolai I and Aleksander II.

Position: 61°3.46'N, 28°20.71'E

This is an interesting vehicle used to load/unload coal and to manage the stock pile. It's a Mantsinen 80 and, like all Mantsinen material handlers, has a cab on a hydraulically-controlled arm rather than directly mounted to the vehicle. Having the cab free to move up and down ensures the operator always has good visual access even with an extremely long reach shovel arm. We estimate the reach of this materials handler at right around 25m so it can work over a very large area.

Position: 61°3.60'N, 28°19.37'E

The day-cruise boat Carelia exiting Mustola lock. The vessel does visa-free cruises to Vyborg, Russia similar to the St. Petersburg trip we took, and will even arrange transit to St. Petersburg from Vyborg as part of the visa-free trip.

Position: 61°3.75'N, 28°18.98'E

Looking aft from our port-side tie-off point in the Mustola lock. Each lock in the Saimaa Canal has only three widely-space bollards to tie to, and we can only reach one with our boat. Half of the locks have bollards on the east side and half on the west, often alternating. The Saimaa Canal Guide for Leisure Boats list the bollard side for each lock, so we know what to expect before entering.

Position: 61°4.26'N, 28°18.24'E

James walking to the stern as we pass through the Malkia lock, the final lock in the Saimaa Canal. This time we're tied off on the starboard side.

Position: 61°4.26'N, 28°18.23'E

Some of the lock walls are finished with concrete, but several have large sections where the rock face blasted to make the passage forms the wall.

Position: 61°4.26'N, 28°18.24'E

Reaching the top of the final lock in the Saimaa Canal, Malkia, at 251ft (76.75m) above sea level.

Position: 61°4.26'N, 28°18.24'E

The gate lowering at Malkia lock. Once we've exited the lock, we'll be free to enter Saimaa Lake and cruise the region for the next 2-3 weeks.

Position: 61°4.62'N, 28°17.65'E

Cement pumps are common on high rise building construction sites. They are often used to pump cement up to forms and effectively cast the building upwards. Each floor as it hardens becomes the base for the for the forms that shape the floor above. Cement pumps add considerably to the efficiency of building construction but, of course, they can also be used to deliver cement over horizontal distances as well. Here a Cifa K42L is reaching out close to the end of it's amazing 37.8m horizontal reach. That's a lot of weight being delivered out over 30m.

Position: 61°6.93'N, 28°8.76'E

It's not often, when running a half-mile from shore, that you have to divert to avoid running over a deer. Apparently, word is going around that the grass is excellent on the neighbouring island. :)

Position: 61°7.10'N, 28°7.36'E

We use a Nikon Forestry Pro Laser Rangefinder to measure bridge clearance. The device is easy to use and incredibly accurate. Well before we were committed to passing under a 34ft (10.5m) bridge, the gauge measured the clearance accurately. The bridges in the Baltic are well-marked, but we've found several places in the world where they're not marked at all and the gauge comes in quite handy.

Position: 61°7.13'N, 28°6.76'E

Passing under the 34ft (10.5m) bridge between the islands of Kuivaketvele and Kuivisaari. The Saimaa Lakes region is full of complex waterways winding between the myriad islands, many with fixed bridges. Several times, while studying the charts to plan a route, we found ourselves needing to plot a different route due to a low fixed bridge we couldn't clear.

Position: 61°5.90'N, 28°3.25'E

We initially were planning to anchor off Asinsaari, but a cable sign chased us off. The cable didn't show on any of our charts, and we couldn't see a sign for the other end, so had no idea where the cable ran.

Normally when you see a cable sign, you just need to match it up with the partner on the other side, but in this particular example there only is one sign, so it's not safe to anchor in the area, not knowing where the cable runs. We saw several one-sided cable signs like this in the Saimaa Lakes.

Position: 61°5.51'N, 28°3.92'E

Ilkka Mononen has a cabin near our anchorage and came over to chat. He said ours is the first US-flagged boat he's seen here in 48 years.

Position: 61°5.50'N, 28°3.93'E

Ilkka Mononen sent us this photo he took of us while we were washing the boat. (If you're reading this Ilkka, it was great to meet you and thank you for the picture. We tried several times to respond to your email, but saimaantukipalvelut.fi rejected them all as spam.)

Position: 61°5.50'N, 28°3.93'E

The view to islets off our lake anchorage northwest of Lappeenranta. We've had a busy past week, with the trip to St. Petersburg and the passage through Russia and the Saimaa Canal, so we wanted to find a nice anchorage to chill and catch up a bit. This one fit the bill perfectly.

Position: 61°5.50'N, 28°3.93'E

We didn't just chill and catch up, we also spent a good chunk of time chasing down a generator overheat issue. Here we have out one of our Really Useful Boxes full of small Northern Lights spares for a new temperature sender and gasket (at upper right) for the generator.

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Position: 61°5.50'N, 28°3.93'E

The washing machine was making a horrible racket as it spun, and we were concerned that it was developing a mechanical issue. On investigation we got two pieces of good news: 1) the washing machine was fine and 2) we found the extenstion that was missing after working on the generator.

Position: 61°5.49'N, 28°3.92'E

It's strange or at least a bit unusual that when in a wonderful all-nature surroundings, we actualy don't mind the industrial facility in the distance. In fact, it kind of looks good in the evening light.

Position: 61°5.49'N, 28°3.92'E

Golden light over the anchorage just past 9pm. The sun hardly sets now.

Position: 61°5.49'N, 28°3.90'E

You know summer has arrive in Finland when people are out paddling shirtless.

Position: 61°5.49'N, 28°3.92'E

At anchor in the islands northwest of Lappeenranta.

Position: 61°5.52'N, 28°3.92'E

Our "new" tender now has 100 hours. That wound on in a hurry since last April.

Position: 61°5.41'N, 28°3.37'E

The Saimaa Lake scenery looks fabulous in today's wonderfully clear and calm weather.

Position: 61°4.55'N, 28°0.51'E

Thousands of summer homes are in the Saimaa Lakes region, ranging from quite small and simple to large complexes like this one. But every one seems to have its own sauna, a hugely popular practice in Finland.

Position: 61°2.57'N, 28°1.85'E

Looking back through the bridge carrying the road Vanha Mikkelintie to the picturesque channel we just came through in the tender.

Position: 61°2.27'N, 28°2.08'E

A picturesque brick building standing above a small lake likely is the ruins of some past industry in the area.

Position: 61°12.58'N, 27°57.49'E

We'd planned a big tour by tender, but could see several bridges on the chart with no clearance information, so weren't sure we could pass through. We cleared the first, under the road Savilahdentie, no problem.

Position: 61°11.17'N, 28°7.06'E

The final bridge to clear was under the road Suur-Saimaantie wasn't a problem in the tender.

Position: 61°4.28'N, 28°11.19'E

Sailing dinghies off Lappeenranta as we approached in the tender.

Position: 61°4.12'N, 28°11.27'E

A steady stream of boats were being launched at Lappeenranta. The summer season is getting underway.

Position: 61°3.78'N, 28°11.23'E

Two tour boats moored in the harbour at Lappeenranta. The boat on the right is the Carelia that exited the Mustola lock in the Saimaa Canal heading in the opposite direction before we entered.

Position: 61°3.71'N, 28°11.23'E

Our tender moored at a guest float in downtown Lappeenranta.

Position: 61°3.74'N, 28°11.22'E

Lappeenranta has several waterfront cafes and restaurants, with many more inshore. We settled on the deck at the Prinsessa Armaada, a 1902 steamship that once carried logs to St. Petersburg. We had a good meal and loved the view to the inner harbour.

Position: 61°3.74'N, 28°11.23'E

Handsome black-headed gull hoping for a handout.

Position: 61°3.75'N, 28°11.19'E

Map of Lappeenranta and the surrounding area. The north end of Saimaa Canal is on the right, and Dirona is anchored near the top left.

Position: 61°4.12'N, 28°11.06'E

Lappeenranta is known for its Hiekkalinna (sandcastle) sculptures, where artist from across Finland and internationally gather each summer to carve a giant themed sandcastle.

Position: 61°4.03'N, 28°11.02'E

Lappeenranta was founded in 1649 and the Swedish built a fortress in the hill above in the early 18th-century. The Russians continued building and expanding the fortress when the area came under their rule a few decades later. This map shows the fortress and the inner harbour behind. We had lunch in the corner of the harbour at top right.

Position: 61°4.02'N, 28°11.14'E

Looking north beyond some of the old Linnoitus fortress to the Lappeenranta harbour.

Position: 61°3.90'N, 28°11.02'E

The Orthodox Church in Linnoitus was completed in 1785, making it the oldest church in Finland.

Position: 61°3.84'N, 28°11.08'E

View southeast to the Lappeenranta Inner Harbour from the fortress Linnoitus. The Prinsessa Armaada, where we had lunch, is rightmost in the corner.

Position: 61°3.57'N, 28°11.89'E

We could see the Lappeenranta water tower from a long distance away, so walked up in case it had a viewing platform. But the structure is not open to the public.

Position: 61°3.72'N, 28°11.92'E

Large sports field near the Lappeenranta water tower.

Position: 61°4.07'N, 28°10.10'E

We couldn't decide the purpose of this single tower standing a distance from shore. We were tempted to climb the ladder to the top, but it's getting close to the end of day.

Position: 61°5.51'N, 28°3.93'E

We have two large bulk gasoline containers that we use to fill five smaller containers, and the tender. On this approach, we only need to take the bulk fuel containers out every second fueling. Because the bulk fueling containers are gravity drained, we pick them up with the crane.

Position: 61°5.51'N, 28°3.93'E

When we put the tender away, we wash off the motor and we have put a hose quick-connect in the tender flush line so it's quick to just plug in a hose, flush the engine with freshwater, and then easily disconnect it again.

Position: 61°7.15'N, 28°6.43'E

Passing under the 34ft (10.5m) bridge between the islands of Kuivaketvele and Kuivisaari. We had plenty of room for our 29ft (9m) air draft, but it looks quite close.

Position: 61°4.58'N, 28°13.88'E

Log mill and pulp and paper plant just outside Lappeenranta. The satellite imagery shows how extensive the facility is.

Position: 61°4.64'N, 28°14.26'E

We loved how this machine could pick up an entire truckload of logs in one "bite".

Position: 61°7.66'N, 28°17.73'E

An unusual place to see a phone booth, lake-side below two cabins with nothing much of anything else around.

Position: 61°7.34'N, 28°18.07'E

Forestry is a major industry in the Saimaa Lakes region. We saw several log-carrying barges and processing industries ashore.

Position: 61°9.82'N, 28°23.17'E

The Russian-flagged cargo vessel Ante underway in Lake Saimaa.

Position: 61°19.51'N, 28°21.04'E

Passing through the Kutveleen Kanava (Kutvele Canal), the southernmost of four canals that make up Suvorov's war channels, named after the Russian general who oversaw their construction (we saw a monument to Suvorov in St. Petersburg). Built in the late 18th-century as part of a Russian fortification system for southeast Finland, they are the oldest canals in Finland. The other three canals today either have no water or are too shallow for most boat traffic, but the Kutveleen Kanava was renewed and widened twice in the 20th century to allow larger ship traffic.

Position: 61°27.07'N, 28°10.38'E

Cable ferry just west of Kutveleen Kanava.

Position: 61°31.20'N, 28°10.55'E

We anchored at Suuri-Metiainen and ran the tender around to Puumala. Here we are approaching the Puumalansalmi Bridge that we'll pass under tomorrow in Dirona. The tower at the left end of the bridge has an elevator up to the bridge deck level and a further two floors up to a cafe in the top.

Position: 61°31.19'N, 28°10.70'E

Our tender tied off to a small dock just below the Puumalansalmi Bridge. Norppa means ringed seal, an endangered species unique to the Saimaa Lakes region.

Position: 61°31.14'N, 28°10.57'E

We took the elevator at right up to the bridge deck for great view of the area. This is looking northeast to Puumala.

Position: 61°31.49'N, 28°10.61'E

The light-filled interior of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Puumala. The first church that stood here was built in the 14th century, but was destroyed when Russia invaded Finland in 1712. The parish eventually raised the funds to complete a new one in 1751, and within forty years it too was destroyed during the Russo-Swedish war. The current church has fared better, and has stood since 1823.

Position: 61°31.36'N, 28°10.66'E

Pingviini (Penguin) brand ice cream vendors are common in Finland and Jennifer couldn't walk past another without trying one. The delicious product is made from Finnish milk and cream.

Position: 61°31.43'N, 28°10.26'E

Pilot boat at Puumala.

Position: 61°30.31'N, 28°8.69'E

We'd noticed a park sign on Suuri-Metiainen as we arrived, so landed to investigate after we returned to the anchorage from Puumala.

Position: 61°30.30'N, 28°8.67'E

The park on Suuri-Metiainen was a small shelter designed for those arriving by boat.

Position: 61°30.46'N, 28°8.63'E

View to our anchorage from a bluff on Suuri-Metiainen.

Position: 61°30.43'N, 28°8.55'E

James and Spitfire enjoying the late evening sun from the cockpit.

Position: 61°31.48'N, 28°9.95'E

Approaching the Puumalansalmi Bridge that we'd walked across yesterday.

Position: 61°31.41'N, 28°10.07'E

The current in the lakes is surprisingly strong right now with spring melt-off still swelling the rivers that feed the lakes.

Position: 61°45.04'N, 28°19.10'E

Sheer bluff reflecting in still waters. The Saimaa Lake scenery is spectacular, especially on such a clear and calm day.

Position: 61°44.75'N, 28°21.35'E

Passing under the second of several bridges we'll encounter today

Position: 61°44.13'N, 28°30.13'E

Our charts showed only the cable ferry at Vekaransalmi, but no bridge. The new bridge is under construction, and parts of the waterway are blocked below, but there was still plenty of room for us to pass.

Position: 61°44.34'N, 28°30.05'E

Beautiful lake Vankalaisenselka just beyond the new bridge.

Position: 61°47.04'N, 28°37.64'E

Lighthouse on the small island of Tuohiluoto in the Saimaa Lakes.

Position: 61°48.69'N, 28°38.19'E

The Netherlands-flagged general cargo ship Panta Rhei en route to Amsterdam. It seems to make regular runs between Finland and the Netherlands.

Position: 61°49.23'N, 28°37.02'E

Spitfire on watch as a flock of swallows repeatedly swoop and swarm the boat while we're underway.

Position: 61°49.09'N, 28°43.65'E

The Koivukanta-Haaporannanlahti cable ferry. The Saimaa Lakes region has literally thousands of islands, many of which are connected by ferry.

Position: 61°49.27'N, 28°50.99'E

The Varisluoto to our east as we turn north towards Savonlinna in a scene that almost looks like a painting.

Position: 61°49.55'N, 28°51.42'E

Log barge passing us heading south. Timber once accounted for 90% of all Finnish exports and logging still is a major industry in the Saimaa Lakes region.

Position: 61°49.75'N, 28°51.65'E

Outside Helsinki, we've not seen many pleasure craft underway so far in Finland. But we expect that will change soon as the short northern summer arrives.

Position: 61°51.69'N, 28°53.51'E

The 15-century fortress Olavinlinna at Savonlinna was built by the Swedes when they controlled Finland. We'll be spending some time on Savonlinna on our return trip south and will tour the fortress then.

Position: 61°51.84'N, 28°54.17'E

The currents are so strong in the narrow channel around Olavinlinna that the water doesn't freeze in the winter, protecting the castle from an over-ice enemy siege. This also makes for an exciting run past by boat.

Position: 61°51.97'N, 28°54.17'E

We called earlier this morning to arrange a noon opening of the 7.5m Kyronsalmi railway bridge. And right on time, the bridge swung open for us to pass. The bridge is operated remotely, so we didn't see anyone on-site.

Position: 61°52.11'N, 28°54.37'E

Our air draft is 9.2m, so we have plenty of space to pass under the 10.3m Kyronsalmi road bridge and don't need it opened.

Position: 61°52.93'N, 28°50.41'E

All our charts show a fixed 4.4m railway bridge across Laitatsalmi, but we couldn't see one as we passed by to the south. We'd miss our noon opening of the railway bridge if we stopped to investigate, so we checked it out once through. And indeed the bridge has been removed. We can easily clear the 13.2m fixed road bridge, so we won't need an opening when we return south.

Position: 62°6.18'N, 28°32.78'E

At anchor in beautiful Linnansaari National Park.

Position: 62°6.11'N, 28°31.12'E

The water temperature is 64°F (17.8°C) and we're starting to see people swimming.

Position: 62°5.87'N, 28°31.39'E

Wonderfully calm conditions looking south in Linnansaari National Park while out on a tender tour.

Position: 62°6.22'N, 28°32.79'E

The view from our anchorage at Linnansaari National Park in Finland's Saimaa Lakes region. It's 8pm and the sun hardly sets now.

Position: 62°6.23'N, 28°32.78'E

Jennifer and Spitfire having a morning drink on deck. Jennifer has a coffee and Spitfire likes to drink water that collects on deck overnight.

Position: 62°6.23'N, 28°32.78'E

The water, the boat and pretty much every surface has been coated in yellow pollen for the past few days.

Position: 62°6.86'N, 28°28.39'E

The tender tied off to the small dock at the north end of Linnansaari to walk the trail there.

Position: 62°6.97'N, 28°28.33'E

Great view west from Linnavuori Rock scenic lookout in Linnansaari National Park.

Position: 62°6.58'N, 28°36.36'E

At the entrance to Oravi Canal. We're in the tender today, but will pass through in Dirona tomorrow.

Position: 62°6.70'N, 28°36.41'E

The Oravi Canal was built in 1861 and this section of wall could easily be that old.

Position: 62°6.89'N, 28°36.35'E

We had lunch on the deck at Restaurant Ruukinranta overlooking the Oravi canal. Our tender is tied off rightmost in the picture, farthest from shore.

Position: 62°5.89'N, 28°39.71'E

The Haponlahti Canal was completed in 1960 to provide a wider alternative to the nearby the Oravi Canal. When we ran the tender through, we spotted a dock that looked reasonably heavily used. We stopped to have a look and found a staircase up to the road for a great view from the bridge over the canal. This is looking north, with our tender just visible tied off to the dock on the right.

Position: 62°6.87'N, 28°19.54'E

The Saimaa Lakes region is full of thousands of islands and complex waterways that make for great exploration in the tender.

Position: 62°7.18'N, 28°18.70'E

We stopped in to check out the extensive property of Resort Jarvisydan. This is one of several beautiful houseboats moored on their new-looking docks.

Position: 62°7.27'N, 28°19.06'E

Walking the trails through the forest behind Resort Jarvisydan.

Position: 62°7.17'N, 28°18.82'E

Resort Jarvisydan is huge. This is their "Sauna World", a large, multi-floored sauna.

Position: 62°7.16'N, 28°18.79'E

Looking across the pool at Resort Jarvisydan to their docks.

Position: 62°7.25'N, 28°18.70'E

Enjoying a glass of wine on the terrace at Resort Jarvisydan. The resort has been in existence since the 17th century and the current owner is the 11th generation of Heiskanen family to run the business. It's quite an impressive facility.

Position: 62°6.26'N, 28°26.66'E

Running back to Dirona at 31 kts. We're sure loving the "new" tender.

Position: 62°6.24'N, 28°32.80'E

The temperature has shot up to a surprising 86.4°F (30°C) today (top center). It's hard to believe that only a month ago we had snow on the deck.

Position: 62°6.24'N, 28°32.78'E

Spitfire likes the heat, but he's not super-energetic. He barely made it from the cockpit to the pilot house door before taking a long break. His tail is covered in blotches of yellow pollen from the deck.

Position: 62°6.24'N, 28°32.79'E

While enjoying a breeze on the flybridge we heard a great rustling ashore as a herd of sheep arrived on the point.

Position: 62°6.23'N, 28°32.79'E

A beautiful calm morning as we get underway shortly before 5am from the anchorage at Linnansaari National Park.

Position: 62°6.60'N, 28°36.37'E

Entering Oravi Canal, that we passed through in the tender yesterday. The canal dates from 1861.

Position: 62°6.66'N, 28°36.39'E

Looking behind us as we pass through Oravi Canal.

Position: 62°6.79'N, 28°36.43'E

The village of Oravi aglow in the morning sun. We had lunch yesterday at Restaurant Ruukinranta, at the center of the picture.

Position: 62°7.37'N, 28°37.12'E

The maze of buoys we just passed through north of Oravi.

Position: 62°11.96'N, 28°36.23'E

Wonderful lake reflections on this calm and sunny morning. It's a great day to be out cruising.

Position: 62°18.17'N, 28°39.15'E

Passing under the 10.5m Vaaluvirran Bridge.

Position: 62°19.55'N, 28°45.22'E

The Pilpankoski rapids just off the main channel as we near the Pilppa Canal with the first of four locks that we'll be passing through today.

Position: 62°19.56'N, 28°45.63'E

The locks on this route are all self-service, with instructions in Finnish and English. A flashing orange light indicates self-service is in effect. So you pull the rope to request an opening. The light changes to solid orange to indicate the locking process has begun, which could take up to 30 minutes. When the light goes green, we can enter the lock. And when the light within the lock goes green, we can exit.

Position: 62°19.56'N, 28°45.63'E

Jennifer pulling the rope to request that the locking process begin. The light immediately changed from flashing to solid orange.

Position: 62°19.56'N, 28°45.62'E

Waiting to enter the lock at Pilppa Canal. We got a green light within five minutes of pulling the rope.

Position: 62°19.60'N, 28°45.73'E

Locking through the Pilppa Canal. Completed in 1903, it is the southernmost on the famed Heinavesi route in the Saimaa Lakes, one of 27 "National Landscapes of Finland" selected for their great symbolic value and cultural or historical significance.

The lift is only 0.4-0.9m, so the duration from pulling the rope to exiting the lock was barely 20 minutes. The lock is 7.5m wide, 36m long and has a clearance depth of 2.1m, giving us 2.5m to spare with our 5m beam but barely enough room to float with our draw of just under 2.1m.

Position: 62°21.16'N, 28°44.87'E

Chainsaw-carved wooden bears are very popular in the Saimaa Lakes region.

Position: 62°21.41'N, 28°44.23'E

Reflection in still waters in a channel north of Pilppa Canal.

Position: 62°21.59'N, 28°44.00'E

Swans getting airborne ahead of us.

Position: 62°21.91'N, 28°43.53'E

The current was quite strong in this narrow and winding section of the canal. We were only making 3.4 knots at 1300RPM when we'd normally do 6.5 kts at that RPM.

Position: 62°23.18'N, 28°42.39'E

Pulling the cord to request passage through the single-lane Vaarakoski canal. The canal is 790ft (240m) long with a bend, making opposing traffic unable to see each other. At one point traffic was directed from a tower above the canal, but now it is controlled through lights using a similar self-serve scheme as the locks.

Position: 62°23.19'N, 28°42.47'E

Passing through the Vaarakoski Canal, completed in 1905 as part of the Heinavesi route.

Position: 62°23.77'N, 28°42.94'E

Pulling the rope to request an opening of the lock on the Vihovuonne Canal.

Position: 62°23.78'N, 28°42.95'E

The lock gates began to open within a minute of our pulling the rope.

Position: 62°23.80'N, 28°43.01'E

It sure doesn't look like we have 2.5m to spare in the Vihovuonne Canal lock.

Position: 62°23.69'N, 28°44.48'E

The Kerma rapids near Kerma canal and lock.

Position: 62°23.61'N, 28°45.01'E

The maximum air draft for a boat to pass through the Heinavesi route is 9.5m, and this is the bridge that sets that restriction. With our 9.14m air draft, we had several feet to spare.

Position: 62°23.58'N, 28°45.36'E

Approaching the lock through the Kerma Canal.

Position: 62°23.63'N, 28°45.45'E

So far we'd just had a single rope to pull to request an opening, but the Kerma Canal had two ropes. If your vessel has an air draft of less than 4.4m, you pull the blue rope and the road bridge doesn't open. If you pull the orange rope, the bridge opens with the lock gates.

Because the sign is in Finnish and we weren't sure which rope does what, we guessed that the blue one requests a bridge opening and the orange one requests a lock opening, so we pulled both. Sadly, if you pull the blue one and then the orange one, the "punishment" is the locks will go through a full cycle without the bridge opening. You get to watch an empty lock going through a full cycle which gives ample time to figure out the two-rope model. And, locals who happened to be in the area explained it to us as well. We now pull the correct rope :-).

Position: 62°23.63'N, 28°45.44'E

The road bridge over the Kerma Canal finally opening for us to enter the lock after we pulled just the orange rope.

Position: 62°23.67'N, 28°45.50'E

There are no tie off points in the locks but instead ropes hanging down from above. The ropes are big and easy to handle and the normal way to manage these is to grab a rope fore and aft and let out rope on the way down and pull in rope on the way up. For heavier boats like ours, we just tied off the rope to a cleat and let the boat move down the lock wall to take up the slack as the water rises. On the way down, we tied the rope off allowing sufficient slack to descend fully. Overall, the self-service locks work remarkably well across the board and the entire process is fairly easy.

Position: 62°23.67'N, 28°45.50'E

Dirona staring the rise of about a meter in the Kerma Canal lock.

Position: 62°30.64'N, 28°38.77'E

Approaching the final canal of the day, Karvio, with the Karvio Rapids on the left.

Position: 62°30.88'N, 28°38.49'E

The gate closing behind us once we're inside the lock.

Position: 62°30.88'N, 28°38.49'E

Looking to the Karvio Rapids from the lock. They are a popular fishing spot and several fishers were there when we passed through.

Position: 62°31.19'N, 28°37.95'E

The channel just above the Karvio Canal is tight with the added bonus of strong current. We literally had to push the buoys out of the way in order to pass.

Position: 62°32.63'N, 28°37.13'E

At anchor near the Varistaipale Canal after a long, but most enjoyable day.

Position: 62°32.63'N, 28°38.09'E

Work boat Alli with a load of buoys on board near the Varistaipale Canal.

Position: 62°32.73'N, 28°38.37'E

The Varistaipale Canal has a drop height of 48ft (14.5 m) and four locks, the most of any Finnish canal. It's also part of the Heinavesi route—we'll be heading up tomorrow in the tender.

Position: 62°32.69'N, 28°38.33'E

Today we'll be making a 15-mile run in the tender through the Varistaipale and Taivallahti canals to visit the monastery at Valamo. The maximum draft for vessels to pass through is 1.8m, too shallow for Dirona's 2.1m draft, so we decided it take the tender instead.

We only saw less than Dirona's draft once in the trip, in one of the locks, and probably could have brought Dirona. But the tender ended up being more of an adventure and, when crossing the long lakes, 32 kts is a nice speed.

As with the canals we passed through in Dirona yesterday, these are part of the Heinavesi route and are similarly self-service. Here Jennifer is pulling the rope to request an opening.

Position: 62°32.76'N, 28°38.38'E

James running the tender into the first lock in the Varistaipale canal.

Position: 62°32.76'N, 28°38.38'E

With the tender, we didn't bother tying off to the side-ropes and instead just held on as the water level rose.

Position: 62°32.76'N, 28°38.37'E

The Varistaipale Canal has a drop height of 48ft (14.5 m) and four locks, the most of any Finnish canal. This is looking from the bottom to the top, with James and the tender just visible through the top of the gate to the first lock.

Position: 62°32.78'N, 28°38.38'E

Water gushing into the basin as we ride up through the second lock in the Varistaipale Canal.

Position: 62°32.79'N, 28°38.39'E

The gates opening to enter the third lock in the Varistaipale Canal. When the light in front of the control tower at top right goes green, we can proceed.

Position: 62°32.80'N, 28°38.39'E

We read only 5.28ft (1.6m) along the side of the third lock in the Varistaipale Canal, so Dirona would have been resting on the bottom here.

Position: 62°32.80'N, 28°38.38'E

The water really flows hard into these locks on ascent, filling the air with mist. We learned to prefer the back of the lock where the turbulence and mist was reduced.

Position: 62°32.80'N, 28°38.38'E

Entry to the Varistaipale canal locks is self-service, but the locks are managed from the control tower. Jennifer went up to verify the hours of the canal and the lock master invited her in for a look.

The four screens show the locks and their levels for the four-lock Varistaipale canal (leftmost) and the two-lock Taivallahti canal that we'll pass through next.

Position: 62°32.80'N, 28°38.38'E

Looking down the Varistaipale canal locks from the control tower with James and the tender rising up in the third basin.

Position: 62°32.80'N, 28°38.38'E

The control tower at the Varistaipale canal also monitors the other four Heinavesi route locks we passed through yesterday. Those are completely self-service though, and don't require interaction from the lock master.

Position: 62°32.80'N, 28°38.38'E

We were far from the smallest boat passing through the Varistaipale canal lock today—this canoe was on the way up.

Position: 62°32.82'N, 28°38.40'E

Waiting for a green light to exit the top lock in the Varistaipale canal. We were glad to have brought the tender up—it was super-exciting to pass through the locks in a small boat and get such a different perspective.

Position: 62°32.92'N, 28°38.35'E

Entering the portion of the Varistaipale Canal above the locks on a warm and sunny day. We're now another 48ft (14.5m) above sea level, for a total of 299ft (91.25m) including the Saimaa Canal.

Position: 62°33.37'N, 28°38.74'E

Passing through the Valikanava between the Varistaipale and Taivallahti canals.

Position: 62°33.76'N, 28°40.14'E

Approaching the two-lock Taivallahti Canal.

Position: 62°33.76'N, 28°40.14'E

Pulling the rope to request a locking cycle.

Position: 62°33.78'N, 28°40.20'E

The gates opened within two minutes of our pulling the rope and we got a green light to enter the first lock.

Position: 62°33.78'N, 28°40.21'E

The gate closing behind us in the Taivallahti Canal.

Position: 62°33.81'N, 28°40.30'E

Exiting the second lock to pass through the Taivallahti Canal. We're now another 20ft (6m) above sea level, for a total of 319 ft (97.25m).

Position: 62°34.40'N, 28°44.36'E

Another advantage of making the 15-mile run Valamo by tender is that we can easily do it in a day trip running at 30 kts much of the way.

Position: 62°33.82'N, 28°47.18'E

Our tender tied off at the Valamo Monastery dock alongside a tour boat that also made the trip up through the locks earlier today.

Position: 62°33.81'N, 28°47.43'E

Lunch on the terrace at the Valamo Monastery cafe.

Position: 62°33.77'N, 28°47.41'E

The monastic community was founded in the 14th century in an area that fell to the Soviets during the 1939-1940 Winter War. The monks hurriedly evacuated to the current location and re-established the community here.

Position: 62°33.77'N, 28°47.42'E

The spectacular iconostasis inside the Valamo Monastery church.

Position: 62°33.80'N, 28°47.44'E

The Valamo Monastery has a large gift shop selling a variety of religious items and also their home-made berry wine. We had some with our lunch and it was quite tasty.

Position: 62°34.23'N, 28°38.31'E

On our return from the Valamo Monastery, we were hoping to visit the nearby Lintula Convent. But the bridge show on our charts turned out to be a dam with the next lake about thirty feet below.

Position: 62°34.23'N, 28°38.31'E

As we were looking over the dam, we saw a small box strung under the bridge and guessed it might be a geocache.

Position: 62°34.22'N, 28°38.32'E

The geocache contents included a log book inside the cannister at left and a description in Finnish. The cache is a bit difficult to find, and in order to get to it you have to be silly enough to put your boat up against the spillway that presumably could open at any time. We passed the test. :)

Position: 62°33.82'N, 28°40.31'E

Lots of traffic at the top of the Taivallahti locks as we head back down. That canoe we saw earlier is on the left—they weren't in any kind of a rush and had stopped for a swim.

Position: 62°33.80'N, 28°40.25'E

For the first time in any of the Heinavesi route locks, we passed through with another boat.

Position: 62°33.72'N, 28°39.25'E

The boat we passed through the locks with was surprisingly fast. We were just barely able to keep up running flat out at just over 30 knots.

Position: 62°32.78'N, 28°38.38'E

We've never been in a lock with opposing traffic entering from the next basin.

Position: 62°34.14'N, 28°34.30'E

We tried running up Sahanlanti to reach reach the Lintula Convent from the west, but a boulder-strewn channel stopped our progress. The scenery was beautiful along the way though, with some very nice summer homes.

Position: 62°34.09'N, 28°33.08'E

The Saimaa Lakes scenery is impressive, especially in such clear and calm weather.

Position: 62°34.69'N, 28°29.64'E

Spitfire enjoying the morning sun and lake scenery underway.

Position: 62°35.41'N, 28°27.48'E

The 1904 steamship Leppavirta is one of several historic steamships offering passenger cruises on the Saimaa Lakes region.

Position: 62°46.07'N, 28°0.33'E

Passing under the highway 536 bridge.

Position: 62°48.07'N, 27°56.41'E

The water still is thick with pollen.

Position: 62°53.60'N, 27°42.70'E

Approaching Kuopio, the most northerly destination of our cruise through the Saimaa Lakes region. With a population of only 120,000, Kuopio suprisingly is Finland's ninth-largest city.

Position: 62°53.68'N, 27°41.77'E

Moored for a couple of nights at the Maljalahti marina in Kuopio. The red buoys are to maximize space in the marina—during the busy season boats typically moor bow to the dock with the stern end tied to the pylons, similar to med-mooring. Dirona is too big and heavy for that, so we needed to work our way between the buoys in order to side-tie along the dock. Because we're effectively using three of their end-tie slips, we were charged for all three. But it's still a reasonable price and Dirona is more secure that way. When we left a couple of days later, the dock behind us was empty, so we could just back straight out.

Position: 62°53.54'N, 27°41.41'E

You can tell we are close to Russia—the non-Finnish menu at Sampo is in English and Russian.

Position: 62°53.54'N, 27°41.43'E

Vendace, or whitefish, is extremely popular in the Saimaa Lakes Region and Sampo is one of the best places to try it. We had a delicious lunch, both having their specialty of "Fried Vendace a la Sampo".

Position: 62°53.51'N, 27°40.95'E

Neoclassical Kuopio Cathedral, built of stone, was completed in 1815.

Position: 62°53.52'N, 27°40.73'E

Kuopio's classic Finnish indoor market Kauppa Halli has been beautifully restored, but isn't open on Sundays, so we couldn't see inside.

Position: 62°53.58'N, 27°40.63'E

Kuopio City Hall dates from the late nineteenth-century.

Position: 62°53.62'N, 27°40.62'E

Muuntamo No 149 by Tulay Schakir on the City Hall property was commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kuopio Energy, who gave it to the town. Muuntamo means "sub station" in Finnish and the name reflects the station that once stood at this location. The work reflects the light that electricity produced.

Position: 62°53.92'N, 27°40.69'E

A branch of the US office supplies retailer Staples way out here in Kuopio seemed incongruous. But it shouldn't be, they do business all over the world.

Position: 62°54.29'N, 27°40.25'E

Walking through a spruce forest on our way to the Puijo Tower.

Position: 62°54.56'N, 27°39.32'E

The 360° views from the top of Puijo Tower are spectacular. This is looking north across the lakes.

Position: 62°54.56'N, 27°39.32'E

Dirona at Maljalahti marina in Kuopio, viewed from Puijo Tower.

Position: 62°54.56'N, 27°39.32'E

Looking down to the Puijo Ski Jumping Hills from the Puijo Tower. The largest two most prominent are the K-120 on the right and the K-90. The K-120 is used for for World Cup events.

Position: 62°54.56'N, 27°39.33'E

Inside the Puijo Tower are fabulous photographs taken from and off the tower and surrounding area. We (well, Jennifer) are quite interested in returning to Finland in the winter and this was quite enticing.

Position: 62°54.53'N, 27°39.15'E

We climbed up to the top of the K-65 ski jump and it's amazing how steep it is at the top. Here we are looking out across the top where the skiers get aligned with the hill and then release to shoot down to the jumping point.

Position: 62°54.53'N, 27°39.15'E

To get a perspective of what it's like to stand at the top of the mid-sized ski jumping hill and get ready to let go, I stood at the top of the track. Here you can see two runs for skiers. The one on the right is a special design for warmer situations. This track is a low friction plastic with water running down when in use to further reduce the friction.

Position: 62°54.51'N, 27°38.88'E

Here we're standing in the run off area of the large K-120 ski jump at Puijo. World Cup ski jumpers land on the steep slope directly in front of us. As big as this jump is, the largest in the world is a K-200 jump where the record jumping distance was just a bit more than a quarter kilometer when we last checked. To the right of the large K-120 is the K-90, and next over is the K-65 we climbed earlier. Rightmost is a much smaller K-28.

Position: 62°54.27'N, 27°39.65'E

The iconic Fiat 500 was produced from 1957 to 1975 in a single generation. Through this era, they sold 3,893,294 units. This car is powered by a 500cc 2 cylinder engine producing 13 hp. Few cars enjoyed such a long production run and nearly 4 million is an impressive sales result even by today's standards. This particular car is in excellent condition with no rust and a good coat of purple on all exposed metal inside and out.

Position: 62°54.14'N, 27°39.89'E

We could see this large sports field from the Puijo Tower and stopped in to check it out on our way back to town. It was a Pesapallo field, a fast-paced ball-batting game very popular in Finland.

Pesapallo is similar to baseball but with several key differences. One is that the ball must bounce within the playing field after it is hit, so a high hit beyond the field that would be a home run in American baseball would be a foul in Pesapallo. Thus the playing field is much smaller than a baseball field.

Position: 62°53.97'N, 27°39.83'E

Memorial unveiled in 1989 on the 50th anniversary of the Winter War, when Russia invaded Finland.

Position: 62°53.92'N, 27°39.93'E

RIISA, the Orthodox Church Museum of Finland, has an excellent collection depicting Orthodox history in Finland. The museum isn't open on Sunday, so we couldn't visit on our way past.

Position: 62°53.59'N, 27°40.30'E

The sculpture KEKO by Pauno Pohjola was installed outside the Kuopio City Tax Office in 2014.

Position: 62°53.50'N, 27°40.62'E

Oksapoika is one of seven sculptures Kuopio commissioned Pekka Kauhanen to create for their new pedestrian mall. The sculptures are inspired by the woodland legends of local mythology.

Position: 62°53.56'N, 27°40.52'E

Resting our tired feet with a drink on the patio at Pancho Villa.

Position: 62°53.51'N, 27°40.85'E

Several bars and restaurants with large outdoor terraces line Kauppakatu, Kuopio's main street.

Position: 62°53.52'N, 27°41.82'E

Dinner on the patio at Wanha Satama with an excellent New England IPA from Kuopio brewery Fat Lizard.

Position: 62°53.68'N, 27°41.77'E

Enjoying the evening on the back deck from our berth at Maljalahti in Kuopio.

Position: 62°53.68'N, 27°41.76'E

It's been so warm recently that we switched from our heavier quilt to a lighter one. We haven't had the lighter one out since the east coast of the US in 2016—the weather just hasn't been very warm. But with the temperature in the 80s during the day, we're too warm at night.

We keep the quilt and other spare bedding in large Space Saver Vacuum Storage Bags. The bags don't hold their seal forever, but they do allow us to get the package small enough to stow away in a small space under the guest stateroom berth. Then the weight of the mattress will keep them reasonably flat.

Position: 62°53.68'N, 27°41.77'E

Longtime blog readers Paivi and Markku Kankaala live on Bothnian Bay in Lapland, part of northern Finland. They keep a boat at Savonlinna in the Saimaa Lakes region and caught up with us in Kuopio while out cruising. We very much enjoyed meeting them both and had a great time with them over lunch in town. In fact, we had such a good time over lunch we had dinner with them as well that night at Isa Camillo.

Position: 62°53.68'N, 27°41.77'E

Paivi and Markku are very interested in Nordhavns, but currently have a 60ft Sunseeker they received in exchange on a business deal. We've not been on a Sunseeker before—the interior is light-filled and spacious, and the whole layout was quite appealing.

Position: 62°53.68'N, 27°41.76'E

Snowmobiling is very popular here in the winter when the lakes freeze over. We see all kinds of markers that look a bit like navigation marks, but actually are delineating snowmobile tracks.

Position: 62°53.52'N, 27°41.12'E

With Markku and Paivi Kankaala at Isa Camillo in Kuopio—an exceptional meal in great company.

Position: 62°51.09'N, 27°43.51'E

The Puijo Tower and adjacent ski jumps prominent above Kuopio as we look back heading south.

Position: 62°40.44'N, 27°40.46'E

Entering the Kolikon Kaivanto, part of the deepwater route between Savonlinna and Kuopio built between 1969-1972 a few years after the Saimaa Canal was re-opened.

Position: 62°33.00'N, 27°45.54'E

Spitfire enjoying another day of lake cruising.

Position: 62°32.90'N, 27°46.10'E

Approaching the Leppavirta Konnus Canal, one of two locks we'll pass through today en route to Savonlinna. The canal was completed in the early 1970s as part of the new deepwater route between Savonlinna and Kuopio. Unlike the Heinavesi Route canals, these canals on this route are are not self-service with a pull-cord. Rather they are similar to the Saimaa Canal locks and opened as we approached.

Position: 62°32.91'N, 27°46.12'E

Looking across the old lock adjacent to the Leppavirta Konnus Canal, completed sometime in the 1840s when Finland was part of Russia.

Position: 62°32.90'N, 27°46.27'E

The canals on the deepwater route are designed for large commercial boats and barges, so have bollards to secure a boat to rather than just the lines strung along the sides as on the older Heinavesi Route canals. The drop height is only 0.6m, so we don't have to tend the line much.

Position: 62°18.27'N, 27°54.70'E

The bridge up for us to enter the modern Taipale Canal. A canal originally was built here in the 1830s then replaced in the late 1860s. The current canal was built in the 1960s as part of the new deepwater route between Savonlinna and Kuopio. An operator in the control tower visible manages canal and the Leppavirta Konnus Canal we passed through earlier today.

Position: 62°18.20'N, 27°54.61'E

The drop height in the Taipale Canal is 17 feet (5.4m), much more than any other canal we've passed through within the Saimaa Lakes. But it brings us back to the same lake level as before we passed through the four locks along the Heinavesi route a few days ago. With a fixed bollard above, the drop was large enough that we were reaching the limit of our 50ft line, doubled back to the boat, so we released it and re-secured to a bollard along the wall.

Position: 62°13.15'N, 28°8.24'E

Arto Juvonen sent us this picture he took from his lakeside cabin deck of Dirona at the north end of Linnansaari National Park. In the background are the Leppavirta windmills, about 10 miles away.

Position: 61°52.89'N, 28°50.22'E

Entering the channel Laitatsalmi en route to Savonlinna. En our way north we'd passed east of town, alongside the castle, through the railway bridge. But we noticed that the fixed 1.4m bridge showing on our charts across Laitatsalmi had been removed. So we could pass south this way without needing the railway bridge opened for us.

Position: 61°51.70'N, 28°52.05'E

The 1905 steamship S/S Punkaharju underway off Savonlinna. We'd been introduced by Paivi and Markku Kankaala to the owner if VIP Cruise, Janne Leinonen, and had been conversing with him via email for the past few days. And by chance, he was captaining the S/S Punkaharju as we entered Savonlinna Harbour. He gave us a classic steamship welcome toot and a quick call on the VHF radio to say hello.

Position: 61°51.90'N, 28°53.07'E

Approaching our berth along the Savonlinna waterfront between the S/S Savonlinna, left, and the M/S Puijo.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

Paivi and Markku Kankaala keep their boat here in Savonlinna and offered us the use of their berth while they were out cruising. It's a great location right downtown.

Position: 61°52.04'N, 28°53.14'E

Enjoying a pint of the craft beer from the local Savonlinna brewery, Waahto, at their waterfront bistro.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

The S/S Punkaharju arriving back into port behind the S/S Savonlinna after a 90-minute cruise of the area. Dirona is moored in front of the S/S Savonlinna, just out of the picture on the left.

Position: 61°52.02'N, 28°53.15'E

Janne Leinonen owns and operates VIP Cruise with the largest fleet of classic steamships in Finland, including the 1904 S/S Savonlinna, the 1919 S/S Paul Wahl and the 1905 S/S Punkaharju.

Position: 61°52.04'N, 28°53.19'E

A good meal on the terrace at Majakka overlooking the harbour.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

After his final cruise of the day, Janne Leinonen stopped by for a visit on Dirona. Janne is a former professional hockey player with wide-ranging interests and experiences. We had a great time with Janne talking hockey, boating and travelling.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

We're always curious about how things work so watched with interest as a garbage truck arrived to empty the large street-side receptacle. Like many European garbage bins, this one is huge and mostly below grade.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

In high plankton areas like North America's Pacific Northwest, having to change the water maker prefilter once a day is not uncommon. This can get tedious, so we ordered a simple solution. In front of the standard 5-micron pleated paper filter, we have a media filter.

A media filter is essentially a large vessel full of carefully-selected sand. This approach is the most common approach used in swimming pool filtration and is very effective. We can run the water maker full time for 2 to 4 weeks until the filter begins to show signs of needing to be cleaned.

On ours pressure gauges on the inlet and the outlet allow us to check the pressure loss across the filter. Towards the end of a month of operation, it'll need a clean and that's pretty simple. Rotate the inlet and outlet valves and turn on the media filter booster pump to backflush the filter.

In the picture, the backflush is just beginning and the water has some color. After a couple of minutes, it clears and the process is done. Restore the valves and it's ready to return to use. Using the media filter we can change the prefilter only once a year even when in heavy use.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

Janne Leinonen arranged for a truck to fuel us in Savonlinna. After making other deliveries, the truck didn't have quite enough to fill our tanks. We took on 1360 gallons (5148 liters), about 90 gallons less than full, and likely will top up the tanks when we get gasoline.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

Today we toured the VIP Cruise steamships SS Savonlinna and SS Punkaharju and went out on a 90-minute cruise of the area with the SS Punkaharju. The video of the cruise, including the steamship's mechanical systems and layout, is at https://youtu.be/akk8H8xqpwM and we'll blog more of the details.

Position: 61°51.99'N, 28°53.21'E

View to Dirona moored at Savonlinna from the deck of the SS Savonlinna.

Position: 61°51.85'N, 28°53.91'E

Janne Leinonen's wife Leena Pietarinen works for Olavinlinna castle and took us on a private after-hours tour.

The Swedish began building Olavinlinna castle in 1475 to strengthen their eastern border with Russia. The castle is situated on an island surrounding by narrow, channels with current so strong that the water doesn't freeze in the winter, protecting the castle from an over-ice enemy siege.

The Swedes held the castle through several battles and control swapped multiple times between Sweden and Russia in the 1800s before finally landing in Russian control until Finnish Independence. Olavinlinna has been restored several times and now is one of Finland's most popular tourist attractions.

Position: 61°51.83'N, 28°53.99'E

You can see how thick the castle walls are from the windows on either side above the entry.

Position: 61°51.84'N, 28°54.08'E

In 1912, Finnish opera singer Aino Ackte directed the first of five opera festivals in Olavinlinna castle. The festivals were a success, but were discontinued due to World War I and the Finnish Civil War.

A small opera performance staged in the castle in 1967 began the resurrection of the event, and today the Savonllinna Opera Festival draws 60,000 attendees annually with a quarter from abroad. The opera takes place in July and the museum has been setting up the stage for weeks, with rehearsals starting this evening.

Position: 61°51.83'N, 28°54.06'E

Olavinlinna castle used to have five towers, but only three have survived. This base is all that remains of one of the original five.

Position: 61°51.82'N, 28°54.00'E

View to the waterway from inside Olavinlinna castle.

Position: 61°51.88'N, 28°53.75'E

We finished the day with a good meal in great company at Restaurant Sarastro near Olavinlinna castle. With us are Jyri Koponen (left), who captained the SS Punkaharju on our cruise today, and Janne Leinonen who owns VIP Cruise.

Position: 61°51.98'N, 28°53.18'E

VIP Cruise's three historic steamships moored along the harbour as we depart Savonlinna. From left to right is the 1919 S/S Paul Wahl, the 1905 S/S Punkaharju and the 1904 S/S Savonlinna.

Position: 61°51.98'N, 28°53.18'E

In the height of the summer, the M/S Puijo runs a similar route to the one we've just completed, making the loop from Savonlinna up through the Heinavesi route to Kuopio and back south along the western deepwater channel.

Position: 61°45.81'N, 29°11.45'E

Jennifer pulling the cord for the self-service Virtasalmi Bridge on our way to Punkaharju. Janne Leinonen, owner of VIP Cruise, runs a cruise following a similar route and has an app that will open the bridge. He said he could open it for us from anywhere in the world, just not at 5am. :)

Position: 61°45.82'N, 29°11.45'E

The Virtasalmi Bridge opened within a couple of minutes of our request.

Position: 61°46.32'N, 29°12.29'E

We just reached 10,500 hours on our John Deere 6068AFM75 main engine. The hours are winding on and it's still running perfectly.

Position: 61°47.51'N, 29°17.98'E

The local newspaper Ito-Savo interviewed us while we were in Savonlinna and the story went up online today. The article is locked for subscribers only—we're hoping to get a PDF version to post.

Update 06/28/2019: Blog reader Pekka Pylvas sent us a PDF of the article that we've posted here. Thanks Pekka!

Position: 61°47.84'N, 29°18.21'E

We took the bikes to shore in the tender to cycle along Punkaharju Ridge, another one of 27 "National Landscapes of Finland" selected for their great symbolic value and cultural or historical significance.

Position: 61°47.88'N, 29°18.58'E

The Punkaharju Ridge is a centuries-old travel route, and the Russians built a road along it in the 1700s to connect the castles at Savonlinna and Vyborg (in Russia near the Saimaa Canal Baltic entrance). Most of that road has since been paved, but here we are riding on a small preserved section of the original road near our anchorage.

Position: 61°47.67'N, 29°18.56'E

A memorial to Johan Ludvig Runeberg, a national poet of Finland, at the highest point on the Punkaharju Ridge. It's only 25 meters above sea level, so as ridges go Punkaharju is not very high. :)

Position: 61°47.51'N, 29°18.78'E

View to the Pususilta Bridge from Runeberg's Hill. This 1983 pedestrian bridge replaces one built in the 1930s to allow better access between two local hotels. Tourism has long been an important industry in the area.

Position: 61°47.18'N, 29°18.09'E

Crossing the Potkusalmi Bridge for a view to our anchorage.

Position: 61°47.19'N, 29°18.18'E

Looking north along Potkusalmi from the Potkusalmi Bridge. Dirona is just visible at anchor in the distance (click image for a larger view).

Position: 61°46.82'N, 29°19.52'E

Cycling along the scenic Punkaharju Ridge to the town of Punkaharju. We really enjoyed the ride, and traffic was quite light due to a nearby bypass highway.

Position: 61°45.47'N, 29°23.29'E

Although some Radio Shack stores still operate in the US, the company twice filed for bankruptcy and we haven't seen one for a long time. So we were surprised to see a RadioSahko in Punkaharju.

Position: 61°45.37'N, 29°23.47'E

We had a very good lunch on the patio at Pub Hutikka in Punkaharju.

Position: 61°46.58'N, 29°20.21'E

Jennifer enjoying another delicious Pingviini (Penguin) brand ice cream.

Position: 61°46.55'N, 29°20.33'E

The Salpa Line was a fortification line along Finland's eastern border extending 745-mile (1,200km) from the Baltic Sea north to the Barents Sea. The line was built in the early 1940s to protect Finland against another possible Soviet attack, following the the 1940 Soviet invasion of Finland and the ensuing Winter War. Fortifications included 800 dugouts, 1,250 machine gun firing points, 80 miles (130 km) of dugout barriers, 220 miles (350 km) of battle and transport trenches and 140 miles (225 km) of stone tank barriers.

Most were filled in or removed after the war, but some have been renovated and preserved, including this one along the Punkaharju Ridge.

Position: 61°47.46'N, 29°18.43'E

Rather than return along the paved road the whole way, we took a trail through the woods back where it branched of near the north end of the Punkaharju Ridge.

Position: 61°47.66'N, 29°18.36'E

It's unusual to find a streetlight along a woodland trail. Much of the trail here is lit, probably for cross-country skiing during the winter when daylight hours are limited.

Position: 61°47.70'N, 29°18.47'E

Crossing a small pedestrian bridge along the trail. We had an excellent ride and the scenery was fabulous.

Position: 61°48.06'N, 29°18.42'E

The Hotel Punkaharju was built in the 1890s to support increased tourism in the area and today is a high-end resort that in 2017 hosted a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Finland. After our hot ride, we relaxed with a glass of wine and plenty of water, on their deck overlooking the woods.

Position: 61°47.51'N, 29°17.98'E

It's time to change the primary fuel filters on our John Deere main engine. These two on-engine filters are a 10 micron and 2 micron. They are rather expensive at $140 a pair and changing them requires the main engine be shut down. So we instead run a less-than-usual configuration where we have 2-micron filter elements in the off-engine RACOR 900 fuel filter.

The way our fuel system is set up, all fuel first passes through a 25-micron transfer filter and then through 2-micron primary fuel filter. The on-engine filters are really just there for a final clean and, in case there is a problem in a filter up stream. But we expect the fuel that arrives at the engine to be clean. As a consequence, these filters aren't expected to block for years, but they still need to be changed periodically since fuel and fuel impurities can cause elements to deteriorate over time.

The way the system ends up working is the 25-micron transfer filter is a RACOR FBO-10 and it has so much capacity that it will effectively never plug and just gets changed on timed intervals. There is a pressure sensor to detect it plugging up, but it's never happened even when running on questionable fuel.

The on-engine filters are much the same where they just get changed at timed intervals. Again, they have alarms on low pressure likely caused by them plugging but this two has never happened. The primary RACOR 900s do all the work and they get changed as often as 200 hours and, when the fuel is really excellent, might not plug up in 1,500 hours. The RACOR 900s are easy to change and can be serviced without shutting down the main engine.

Position: 61°47.51'N, 29°17.98'E

We have a water-in-fuel sensor, but once a year we drain off the bottom of the primary transfer filter to check for any water build up. The way our system is set up, any water anywhere in the fuel system will end up here. We have seen water here twice in our 9 1/2 years and over 10,500 hours of use.

When the boat as brand new, we found a half-cup in the original fuel load. One other time we found a quarter inch of water. Other than that, we've never seen any water even filling in some very out of the way places in the South Pacific.

In our previous boat we once took on fuel at an out-of-the way fishing lodge in Northern BC and ended up with several gallons of water. From that experience, we learned that if the water is drained off the RACORs frequently, even gallons of water can be managed without engine operating issues. We just ran through it draining water every 5 to 10 minutes. We have never used any form of fuel emulsifiers or additives in any of our boats so, any water in the system should be visible and easy to find.

We're surprised that water in fuel has been such an unusual event for us given the places we have fueled. Here James is holding what he's drained off at the bottom of the transfer filter and holding it to the light to look for any evidence of water.

Position: 61°47.51'N, 29°17.98'E

We found yet another "spare cat" while getting out the main engine fuel filters.

Position: 61°47.93'N, 29°18.61'E

Walking the Punkaharju Ridge trail near the Hotel Punkaharju en route to to visit the Lusto Forestry museum.

Position: 61°47.86'N, 29°18.83'E

Crossing the Pususilta Bridge that we took a photo of yesterday from Runeberg's Hill.

Position: 61°47.86'N, 29°19.32'E

As we neared the Lusto museum shortly before their 10am opening, the parking lot was packed and people were out directing cars for where to park up and down the street. We'd were a little surprised that the museum was that popular, but it turned out we'd arrived for the Forest Culture Days. The biennial event celebrates the historic and present forestry industry in the Saimaa Lakes region and attracts over 6,000 people. We even saw a tour bus from Russia

We had a great time walking through the displays and watching some of the competitions. Pictured are several competitors in the chainsaw competitions where in a timed event they saw the end off a log and the cut is measured for precision. The event reminded us of All Sooke Days, a logging sports event held in British Columbia, Canada from 1934-2002 that included chainsaw competitions as well as other more unusual sports as the caber toss and log rolling.

Position: 61°47.94'N, 29°19.26'E

We spent much of the morning at Lusto, the Finnish national forestry museum. The museum covers forestry techniques in the country throughout the centuries with excellent descriptive displays. This is looking across the "Time of the Machines" display that covers the mechanization of forestry. The chainsaw tower in the foreground includes 120 different models of chainsaws, all individually identified.

Position: 61°47.94'N, 29°19.33'E

A great photo in the Lusto forestry museum of logs being transported through the Saimaa Lakes via canal.

Position: 61°48.03'N, 29°19.33'E

Cow sculpture outside Lusto Station where we're waiting for a train to Imatra.

Position: 61°48.04'N, 29°19.32'E

The Lusto train station has been turned into an art gallery of sorts, with beautiful metal sculptures throughout the grounds.

Position: 61°48.00'N, 29°19.35'E

This tiny church near the Lusto train station.

Position: 61°48.03'N, 29°19.34'E

A happy Jennifer with our train arriving in the background from Savonlinna.

Position: 61°48.04'N, 29°19.34'E

On board the train south to Imatra via Parikkala. The people sitting on the opposite side of the carriage said they'd seen us in the newspaper that morning.

Position: 61°33.52'N, 29°30.16'E

We transferred trains at Parikkala for Imatra. This is the tiny, single-car train we just arrived on.

Position: 61°33.54'N, 29°30.16'E

The train from Parikkala Imatra has a double-decker car with reservable single seats facing the windows for fabulous views. It was a great experience and the 40-minute ride was over much too quickly.

Position: 61°11.86'N, 28°46.89'E

Strong current along the Vuoksi River at Imatra.

Position: 61°10.93'N, 28°47.51'E

The main reason we'd come to Imatra was to view the rapids show that evening. But this weekend an International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) motorcycle racing event, Imatramojo, was being held in town. So we came early to take in some of the racing. Here some of the competitors are leaving the track for the paddock area after qualifying.

Position: 61°10.38'N, 28°47.23'E

Before we went to our seats, we walked through the paddock area where the bikes were either being worked on or on display. These are the open suberbikes of Perttu Juntunen (#78) Topi Komujarvi (#19), and Marko Sinkkonen (#33) open Suberbike. JRH: Add something?

Position: 61°10.20'N, 28°47.16'E

Sidecar motorcycle races was one of the four classes of events at Imatranajo. As the motorcycles came into the corner opposite our seats during qualifying, the passengers leaned way out to stabilize the bike. It looked a little crazy with the passengers only inches above the pavement.

Position: 61°10.20'N, 28°47.15'E

The leaders in the IRRC SSP (International Road Racing Supersport) race heading towards our seats into the Lyseo Turn. Eventual race-winner Matthieu Lagrive (#45) is behind third-place finisher Sami Penna (#28) and in front of fourth-place finisher Anssi Koski (#51). Sixth-pace finisher Ilja Calijouw (#14) is at far left.

Position: 61°10.20'N, 28°47.16'E

Riders on the track in the IGCP (International Classic Grand Prix) race. The series includes bikes manufactured from 1974-1984 that have previously competed in the MotoGP World Championship.

Position: 61°10.20'N, 28°47.16'E

Steady rain had been falling by the time the IRRC SSB (International Road Racing Superbike) race got underway. Several bikes slid off the track in the slick conditions and Swiss rider Mathias Gnagi died following a crash that stopped the race on lap six.

Position: 61°10.03'N, 28°46.40'E

The initial reason we'd come to Imatra was to see Imatrankoski, the rapids on the Vuoksi River. They are another of the 27 Finland National Landscapes and have been a tourist attraction since 1772 when Empress Catherine II of Russia visited.

Since 1929 the rapids have been blocked by the Imatra Hydroelectric Plant, but the dam is regularly opened in July and August as a tourist attraction. Only four shows were scheduled for June, one coinciding with Imatranajo.

Position: 61°10.15'N, 28°46.47'E

The sluice opening to start the rapids show, viewed from the bridge south of the gorge.

Position: 61°10.19'N, 28°46.39'E

Looking along the Imatrankoski rapids from the bridge across the gorge.

Position: 61°10.23'N, 28°46.48'E

The rapids are really running now as we take in the view north of the gorge.

Position: 61°11.76'N, 28°46.59'E

A train of logs passing Imatra station as we wait for our train back to Dirona.

Position: 61°45.23'N, 29°23.45'E

The lakes aglow in a golden sunset at 10pm, viewed from our train to Lusto.

Position: 61°39.11'N, 29°6.78'E

A proliferation of leading lights where the channel Riutonselka narrows. Leading lights constist of markers mounted visually one above the other. A boat is on the correct course when the marks line up.

Position: 61°40.99'N, 29°3.99'E

Old cable ferry in the narrows of the channel Riutonselka.

Position: 61°41.17'N, 29°3.80'E

It's breeding season and we're seeing lots of cygnets, goslings and ducklings.

Position: 61°44.66'N, 28°56.10'E

We annually change the gasoline in all of our small gas engines, including the crash pump and the 2.3HP Honda outboard.

Position: 61°44.65'N, 28°56.09'E

The Tender is due for it's annual oil change. James pumps the old oil out through the dip stick tube, changes the filter, and then pours new oil in through the fill tube.

Position: 61°44.65'N, 28°56.09'E

Enjoying lunch on the flybridge with the temperature a balmy 77°F (25°C)

Position: 61°44.66'N, 28°55.98'E

At anchor in the Lake Pihlajavesi Nature Reserve in the Great Saimaa Lakes system.

Position: 61°45.44'N, 28°53.40'E

June 21st is Midsummer Eve, a major celebration in Finland frequently accompanied by massive bonfires. In the past few days we've seen many built up and ready to go.

Position: 61°46.65'N, 28°50.99'E

The Saimaa Ringed Seal are among the most endangered in the world, with a current population below 400 animals. They have been isolated from other Ring Seal species for nearly 10,000 years when the the land rose in the last ice age and are one of the few living freshwater seals.

Sightings are rare, but Lake Pihlajavesi is one of their primary habitats and a good place to spot one. We were lucky to see two today while out in the tender. This is our second sighting—James wasn't fast enough with the camera on the first.

Position: 61°46.77'N, 28°50.40'E

Wonderful deck perched on a cliff at Lake Pihlajavesi.

Position: 61°44.66'N, 28°56.09'E

The view east from our anchorage in Lake Pihlajavesi Nature Reserve just past 9pm.

Position: 61°44.89'N, 28°54.81'E

More beautiful lake scenery and clear calm weather as we head south towards Puumala.

Position: 61°42.45'N, 28°45.01'E

We've all been enjoying the calm and beautiful lake cruising, but Spitfire seems particularly happy here. He's out on the bow most mornings as we're underway.

Position: 61°41.73'N, 28°31.58'E

Light on the island of Lehtosaari.

Position: 61°36.39'N, 28°23.52'E

The 492ft (150m) ferry Nestori, operating just north of Puumala, is one of the biggest ferries operating within Finland with a carrying capacity of 150 tons. It's surprising that this is one of the biggest, as it doesn't look all that large, but on reflection we've not seen any larger operating locally.

Position: 61°31.31'N, 28°10.49'E

On the fuel dock at Puumala to fill up our two 29-gallon (110L) gasoline tanks. We've gone through almost all the gasoline we bought in Nynashamn back in April.

Position: 61°31.31'N, 28°10.49'E

Since we were on the dock anyway, we took on 133 gallons (503L) of diesel to top up our tanks since our truck delivery in Savonlinna only had 5,000L and we needed slightly more.

Position: 61°27.84'N, 28°4.52'E

A load of logs being transferred to a barge a few miles south of Puumala.

Position: 61°8.33'N, 28°20.66'E

Following the converted-to-pleasure craft tug Hemmpa towards Lappeenranta.

Position: 61°3.75'N, 28°11.22'E

We found a surprisingly secluded anchorage just north of Lappeenranta and ran the tender into town for lunch. We had a fun lunch on the deck of the SS Suvi-Saimaa, an old inland steamship converted to a restaurant. Behind Jennifer is the Prinsessa Armaada, where we had lunch last time we were here.

Position: 61°4.01'N, 28°11.83'E

It's summer in the lakes and the water park with its slides and diving boards is popular. We didn't see anyone there two weeks ago.

Position: 61°4.56'N, 28°14.77'E

Another bonfire ready to go for Midsummer Eve off the lumber mill. We thought it was a little crazy to have a bonfire right in front of all those logs stacked ashore, but it's on a float so presumably will be towed well away before being lit.

Position: 61°4.59'N, 28°14.78'E

We watched with interest as a man drove up in this truck, jumped in the red cab that then lifted up on hydraulics, then proceeded to rapidly transfer a massive pile of logs from shore onto his two trailers.

Position: 61°4.57'N, 28°17.64'E

We ran the tender a short distance along the Saimaa Canal for a different perspective. This is looking north from a portion of the original canal, leftover from when the canal was widened and straightened in the 1960s.

Position: 61°4.62'N, 28°17.59'E

Train passing over a railway bridge along the Saimaa Canal, with a new bridge under construction in the foreground. The train crept unusually slowly over the bridge, perhaps due to it being in poor condition and requiring replacement.

Position: 61°4.77'N, 28°17.13'E

When we'd passed these structures alongside the canal in Dirona, we'd guessed they were some kind of overflow system. But on closer inspection in the tender we realized they were large gates that could be swung into place for canal maintenance.

Position: 61°5.01'N, 28°17.61'E

A fleet of converted tugs at Kanavansuun just east of the Saimaa Canal entrance to the lakes.

Position: 61°4.34'N, 28°18.13'E

Approaching Malkia lock shortly before 6am on our outbound trip through the Saimaa Canal. We plan to pass through all eight locks, including five in Russia, and clear back into Finland this evening.

Position: 61°4.34'N, 28°18.13'E

Urho Kekkonen Puisto (park), alongside the Malkia Lock. The park was named after the eighth and longest-serving President of Finland, who served for 26 years from 1956–1982.

Position: 61°4.26'N, 28°18.24'E

Sign on the rocks showing the two dates of construction of the Malkia Lock, the initial construction in 1927-1933 and a second from 1965-1968 when the canal was widened and deepened.

Position: 61°4.26'N, 28°18.24'E

Descending while tied off the port side in the Malkia Lock.

Position: 61°4.26'N, 28°18.23'E

The doors opening in the Malkia Lock after we've descended (12.39m) from the Saimaa Lake level.

Position: 61°3.89'N, 28°18.68'E

Calm waters as we proceed south from Malkia Lock.

Position: 61°3.75'N, 28°18.98'E

The door and bridge closing prior to our 23-foot (7.26m) descent through Mustola lock.

Position: 61°3.10'N, 28°22.69'E

Shoreline reflecting in the calm Saimaa Canal waters.

Position: 61°2.49'N, 28°23.86'E

Approaching Soskua lock, the last Finnish lock on the Saimaa Canal. The other five we'll pass through today will be in Russia, where we're not permitted to take pictures.

Position: 61°2.39'N, 28°24.03'E

The walkway lifting behind us at Soskua lock.

Position: 61°0.87'N, 28°27.16'E

The Kaarnantie road bridge lifting in the distance as we approach.

Position: 60°59.43'N, 28°29.72'E

A view to the original canal, completed in 1856. The canal was widened, deepened and straightened in the 1960s.

Position: 60°57.77'N, 28°32.98'E

Finnish customs and immigration waiting for us to arrive at Nuijamaa to clear us out from Finland. The process went smoothly and we soon were underway for Russia.

Position: 60°57.53'N, 28°33.58'E

Lowering our Finnish courtesy flag as we leave Finland.

Position: 60°57.48'N, 28°33.69'E

Raising a Russian courtesy flag and a quarantine flag as we enter Russian waters.

Position: 60°54.45'N, 28°36.85'E

We cleared through the Russian immigration at Palli lock. As with our entry, the boat was searched extensively, but otherwise the process went smoothly. We now have three sets of Russian stamps in our passports, one for St. Petersburg and the other two for entering and leaving Lake Saimaa.

Position: 60°28.43'N, 28°6.74'E

James and Spitfire taking a break in the off-watch berth en route through Russia.

Position: 60°26.46'N, 27°43.42'E

Lowering our Russian courtesy flag eleven hours after raising it.

Position: 60°26.54'N, 27°43.28'E

Raising our Finnish courtesy flag and a quarantine flag prior to entering Finnish waters and clearing through.

Position: 60°27.48'N, 27°43.14'E

When we cleared out of Finland at Santio Island three weeks ago, the docks were empty. But today they were almost full—we took the last spot.

Once boats clear in or out, they have to get underway immediately. So operators sit on the dock until they're ready to clear, and the dock fills up quickly. We would rather get underway when we're ready the next morning, rather than after all these other boats have been processed starting at 8am, so we cleared in and planned to continue to a nearby anchorage.

Position: 60°27.45'N, 27°38.24'E

Glacier-deposited boulders on the island of Pieni-Pisi, aglow in the evening sun. We were ready to stop—our total travel time for the day was just over 15 hours, plus we'd transited eight locks, cleared out and in of Finland and cleared through Russia.

Position: 60°27.45'N, 27°38.24'E

Sunset at Peini-Pisi island just inside the Finnish border with Russia. We don't see many sunsets these days as we're usually in bed before then.