26.06.2005   Oh loathsome blog! What for doest thou guilt me into scribbling an update? Ah well. It has been a record-breaking 16 days since my last update. Once again, a lot has happened, things both bad and, uh, not so bad. So I shall contribute to the "diarysation" of this once active blog, and vomit up the events of the past two weeks in a condensed form. Oh, and to allay some fears expressed by some people to me in person, no, I am not abandoning the Friggin Abandoned Photoblog. Or I am, but not permanently. This sort of lull in the update frequency is a common occurrence for me, so no worries.   Where to begin... For starters, I guess we should mourn the lengthening of the night, and the passing of Midsummer day. We had a good little party on Midsummer's Eve. The wind was too strong for sailing, but we did manage to motor out a few miles and land, with considerable difficulty due to the wind, on Malkasaari, where we then set up our disposable grills, and an illegal campfire (later put out at the guards insistence). We stayed at the island until 2am, and then motored home. I can't understand how on earth I managed to tie her to the pier, I do remember spending half an hour on one particular knot. Having a boat at Midsummer's Eve is simply awesome. A wonderful cozy home you can travel around in, completely independent.   Ah yes, I also have some rather sad news, as I said. Our pretty white kitty, Rosy, has perished. She fell out of the window at some point during the night, while we were sleeping, over a week ago... We took it hard. But what can you do? And now, as it felt kind of empty with "only" one cat and a dog around, we have a wonderful little ball of fur frolicking around once again! Her name is, at least for now, Tracy. I am none too crazy about that name, but my better half's imagination sort of fizzled and so far that was the best she could come up with.   As to events farther back, well, I wont go into any detail, since that detail is already sort of foggy even in my own mind. We did travel to Nauvo on Z's dad's HT (Hard Top) 40Hp motorboat, since the boat had to be transferred there for good. It was... Different. I haven't really gained any insight into why people prefer motor boating to sailing, at least why they prefer motor boating on that kind of little, noisy, kidney-smashing, jarring motorboat. They are unseaworthy, they eat way too much petrol (90 liters for our trip!), they are horribly noisy, they smell, and they completely detach you from the nature and the sea you are supposedly out there to enjoy. In other words, its a shallow little hobby. Sort of like buying a moped and driving it around the block once a week, just for laughs. On the other hand, just to temper my somewhat harsh statement, there is no better way to get from point A to point B on water than a motorboat.   Yeah. So now I am sitting at home, bored, and writing this update. Finally. The newly "elected" Iranian president has just delivered a speech, and the wind is howling outside. I certainly hope it will tone down somewhat, so that the weather will be fine and sunny on the day of my departure for Öland (and probably Gotland, weather demons willing), Sweden, for almost a month of sailing. I am a bit hesitant and still a bit unsure in myself, but the boat is very habitable, cozy, and relatively seaworthy. I am sure we'll be okay...   Okay, and then, in keeping with a time honored tradition, some links. If you think that our little jaunt to Sweden is something special, check out this list of famous small boats and their exploits. And I bet you're just gagging for an enormous collection of airplane safety cards. Oh, and this ancient (in "Internet time") tugboat photo sequence is just awesome. And here's another impressive photo sequence. This time starring an excavator. Oh, and here's an oldie (as in it's been featured here before) but goldie: a Santana 22 sailing boat capsizes in breaking waves under the Golden Gate! Awesome. The site might ask you to complete a small survey, and you should. After that click on "Boat capsizes 4/2/2005" link. After that you'll see 10 galleries of photos showing the event in minute detail! Oh, and here's a site with the story behind the pics...	Our camping spot on Midsummer's Eve. Tracy! (?) On our the way to Nauvo we saw a Swedish fast attack craft training at sea.
10.06.2005   By now, I guess, I've gotten used to this slow, lazy pace of summer updating. No longer do I stare in disbelief on the date of the latest blog entry, shocked that I've been neglecting it for a week. Nah. I think its all the summer's fault. Come winter I'll be back, cocooned at home, posting my inconsequential whines with daily regularity.   Nonetheless, interesting things keep on happening, and with far greater frequency. It's just that only about 50% ends up written about. Which is sad, I guess, since that lost 50% ends up lost in the depths of my mind, never to be dredged up to the surface again. But hey, remember my bit of drunken blogging that yielded results? As in the search for Mr. Alex Gronsky, my childhood friend? Well, the bugger actually came over on the 6th, and stayed on till the 8th! We've caught up on the past 5 years of our lives, and I've gotta admit that his looks much more interesting than mine. Although, were our places suddenly switched, I am sure I would turn his into a semblance of mine and vice versa. In any case, it was a blast. I was rather strapped for cash, I must say, so Alex ended up on the paying end quite a few times, which was a bit embarrassing. We didn't go partying or anything like that, owing to being pretty tired in the evenings, plus me being broke, and I just wasn't in the mood... There was also the whole issue of girlfriend, plus work in the mornings (which I ended up skipping for 2 days anyway).   We did, however, do an epic bit of sailing. Epic for two reasons. First, this was the first time that Mr. Z wasn't present to guide and correct me, so navigation, maneuvering and a host of other things rested squarely on my shoulders. Alex did turn out to be an excellent sail trimmer, owing to his past of racing sailing dinghies, and he did teach me a thing or three. The second thing that made our sail so "epic" was the sheer distance covered and time taken. My longest sail on this boat so far. We covered about 25 miles, went out as far as Länsitoukki, anchored there and explored the marvelous little island, bringing the time at sea to a grand total of 8 hours. 2 of them anchored.   All this was awesome, for more reasons than one. First thing, Alex and me fell pray to the sailing bug at about the same age, around 7. So it was rather, I don't know, special somehow to be on your own boat with an old friend with whom you've started dreaming of sailing. Sort of a "dream came true" thing. Hard to put into words. So yeah, a perfect sail. Good wind, great weather... Brisk and frisky, in other words. Plus plenty of navigational challenge.   After we squeezed Luthien (yes, I think I'll use that instead of Blowfish. She's just too pretty to be a Blowfish) in her berth, leaving, as always, some blue top-sides paint on the mooring poles, I spend about half an hour with a knot-book in my hand, learning to tie bowlines and hitches. I'm just lucky there was no-one to observe  and laugh at me fumbling on the pier. I've passed the knot challenge with honor, but then a horrible thing happened... The main halyard, a rope with which the main sail is lifted, said "Twang!", as it unraveled itself from a shitty knot I've made, and slipped into the fucking mast. And that's bad. You have to climb the mast, or, preferably, utilize a mast crane. Which is what I'll try to achieve tomorrow, with Bonuses help, Jeebus willing.   That's that. I shall now spend "quality time" with my PMS'ing girlfriend, and later I might have to teach my dad the ways of the net. Shudder. I just hope that horrible quantities of free or semi-free beer await me in the evening. Although that's highly unlikely. So hey, now it's time to give away free links! Here's an Illustrated Dictionary for the Sexually Incoherent. I must say, such a writhing mass of good advice & information is always welcome! Oh, and check out the Vagina Institute if you want some further info. And on a completely different line, here's a cute, nostalgic flash music video. Watch, and listen, the JCB Song! But that's it, padre just called, I'll have to go fix his web now, and teach him how to use it. Crap!	Länsitoukki. Deserves a visit! Ah, Summer!
05.06.2005   I feel like I'm about to puke. And then pass out. No, I haven't been drinking, much. Just a few beers. I guess I'm just tired, or so girlie tells me. And that would be no wonder, since I've only gotten about 4 hours of sleep last night. I have been playing Sid Meier's Pirates!. Awesome game, simply awesome. I also didn't eat much at all, partly because of Pirates!, except for pigging out just now (hence the desire to lie down and die), and I spent the past 7 hours on my boat. Part of that in a torrential downpour. So I guess I have plenty of valid reasons for being tired. But why then the lurid yellow poo..? That's what I'd like to know.   Oh yes, today's sail was pretty good. Me and Z took her out for a spin around 2pm, just when it started gently pissing down from steely skies. By the way, I'm seriously thinking of changing the boat's name. Sort of again... Blowfish just doesn't fit. She's better than that. I've been thinking Tortuga, that notorious 17th century den of piracy. But I digress. We went off towards Furuholmen, a little island in the Sipoo archipelago, about 10 miles east of Helsinki as the vulture flies. Why there? Well, Z's been there once, liked it. And it was just far enough for it to be a proper day's sail. Trip there was uneventful, but once there, safely anchored, I decided to try out my new inflatable I've got from St. Petersburg, for a paltry 4500 Rur. It's a Russian inflatable, ugly but sturdy, model type Omega 2. Perfect for natural harbors where you have to anchor away from the shore. So yeah, we unpacked the boat, and started pumping. After about 20 minutes of vigorous leg action we had ourselves a perfectly hideous, but buoyant green boat. Z went in first. The whole contraption looked ridiculously unsteady. And to think that I wanted to exchange it for a smaller version! Eventually I got myself in as well, after which, with our combined body mass being in the neighborhood of 190Kg, the freeboard was reduced to a comfy 10cm. Good thing it was a pretty sheltered bay, otherwise we'd have been swamped.   The island itself is a rather ordinary picturesque affair, with cliffy shores, lots of brick barbecue "bins", a few toilets and some benches / tables / lean-to's. A good place for a picnic, for sure. Z even went for a swim, the silly git. After we completed the inflatable experiment it was time to go back, since it was already getting a bit late, and we were still supposed to make it to a store before closing time, or face some seriously disgruntled spouses. And what about the way back? Uneventful. Except for a tropical rain that caught up with us just as we reached the marina, so the mooring operations had to be preformed soaked to the bone. Which was nice.   But I think I'll hit the sack now, before I pass out from exhaustion. Before I leave, though... Yes, links. A collection of freaky bikes. And a photo guide on how to be a proper, well, tourist. And now you can make a female cyclists life very, very painful.	Beauty and the beast.
03.06.2005   Oh yeah. I've been bad. Baad bad. Ten days without an update, ten action-filled days. The past few were "bad" days, so I didn't feel like writing, of course.   If you've followed the comments you probably know that me and Mr. Z's were supposed to sail a yacht from Saaremaa, Estonia, to Helsinki. As a sort of a delivery crew. Why us? To put it bluntly, simply cos Mr. Z's brother is a... Well, let us say that he is a high-ranking employee in a boat building company, and he decided to make his little brother a nice surprise...   Now forget about the boat trip. That bit was an outright lie. I, naturally, didn't know that when Z called me and invited me for nice sail trip, Saaremaa to Helsinki. I was naturally rather excited. The bubble was only burst over a week (About) later, when the conspirators called and laid the true plan bare. You see, Mr. Z got married. In secret. He did, naturally, tell us later on. If you're wondering why he married in secret, well, as I've understood it, it has to do with him not believing in the whole "marriage thing", and didn't want all the hoopla usually associated with it. However, the legal and financial benefits provided by marriage are many. So it only makes sense in the long run.   Now, our little brotherhood got to know of his plans. And it wouldn't do. I mean, sure, get married if you want to, the logic went, but for Jeebuses sake, you can't just deprive the brotherhood of a good bachelor party! So it was decided to lure the unsuspecting Mr. Z to Tallinn, and then unleash the fury of brotherhood! You know, strippers, lots of booze, the works.   It all worked out very well. He didn't suspect a thing, I daresay. Towards the end there were some glitches, certainly, but the whole plan was just too... Big! Too convoluted, involving too many people for him to suspect anything. So it went like a charm. Some of the brotherhood arrived to Tallinn about 8 hours in advance, to take care of all the practical matters, i.e. the strippers, the drinks, the bars... You know how it goes. I had the honor to be in the landing team Alpha.   We went off in search of an appropriate strip club, but had a meal first, where we met a very drunk, and a very colorful, character. He is a fisherman, working the North and Mid Atlantic from Spain. We had a few drinks, and a lot of talking, with me being the interpretor. I think his name was Nikolai, and he was a very tall, well-muscled, wiry sort of man with a lot of energy. He was, frankly, a bit scary, and he made it clearly known that he disapproved of my long hair... Oh yeah, and we did find the strip club. It was a place called Galaxy (here's a full list of Tallinn nightclubs), on a smallish side, near the Viru street. We paid 3000 Eek for a half an hour in our own hall, with two girls, and a liter of vodka.  Not bad, considering what it would have cost us in Finland.   So yeah, we picked poor Z up from the port, and he was immediately suspicious of our lack of sailing equipment and baggage in general... We bundled him into a cab and went off towards our hostel, where we could dump Z's stuff. We did, and then it was off to the strip club. I explained the detour by a need to deliver some cash to my fathers shady business associates. That has happened in the past, so Z wasn't surprised when that mission brought us to the doors of a strip club. We went in, and downstairs, where he was greeted by all the brotherhood! Although that wasn't the plan. The original plan called for us to take Z to our private strip hall, where he'd then be greeted by enthusiastic cheers... ah what the hell... It was a good surprise in any case. His reaction was that of general confusion... "What the hell are these guys doing here?!"   So yeah... Afterwards we assembled in the private hall, where 2 flat-chested strippers strutted their stuff and did some pretty good pole work. We, in turn, had to stuff their panties with 25 Eek notes... Oh, Z had to strip too, naturally. The girls were briefed to do so, and he was "forcefully" ejected from his clothes, aided by eager strippers. Heh... After that a few toasts were spoken and the vodka was drunk, along with a few beers each. It was time to hit the pubs.   And that's where my memory starts to get a bit blurred. you've gotta remember that we've been drinking pretty much steadily from about 3pm, so many of us had alcohol levels soaring by the time we got out of the strip joint. Mine were somewhere in the stratosphere. I found many interesting people to talk to, all of a sudden. Some ex-pat Brits and Scots, who are always more Scottish and British than their domestic counterparts. The Scott even wore a kilt, for fucks sake. Then I met the CO of a British Type 23 Frigate conspicuously moored in the harbor. And after that I don't remember much... I do recall that we switched places after a while, going to some posh(ish) club, where I picked a fight with the doorman, although I don't remember why. However, I did survive unscathed. A bit of a wonder, that. So my memory pretty much fails me after that. I don't recall anything. I reckon I've lost about 4 or 5 hours from the end of the evening... And at some point everybody lost me. We were walking towards the hostel, which was close by, me, a friend, and Z. I was too wasted even to speak, and Z wasn't at his most eloquent either. So our friend escorted us to the hostel, and that's where I decided that no, it's not time to go yet, and disappeared into the night for about an hour, according to eye witnesses. The weird thing was that I managed to come back, unaided, and even found my way into my bed. Weird... And sort of scary, cos later that day I found a note with a phone number, next to a name that sounded a bit... Masculine. Radž, as I recall. Brrr. My arse wasn't sore, so I guess sodomy is out of the question. My friends speculated that it might have been a pimp's phone number, since I looked like the target demographic. According to some evil tongues.   So yeah, with a hangover that lasted the whole day, we set sail from Tallinn, going towards Helsinki. Ah, didn't I tell you? Z's bro did arrange a little something in the end. So on we sailed, and motored part way, towards home. And I was violently sick the whole bloody way. offshore passages on a monumental hangover are no joke...   Anyway, I'm in a bit of a hurry, going out soon, so don't blame me for the lack of any kind of links... Meh. Cheerio. I'll go get a bit drunk now, I think.   Oh, fine. Here, make origami out of money, if you have too much of it. Oh,. and an awesome OS X emulation in flash. Gotta be tried to be believed. Ok, and here's a freaky keyboard car. So there it is. A bit boring, but I'll do better next time.	WTF? Penalty for getting married in secret. Tied to a tree by the penis. Cruel. Don't ask me.

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