Finnish Sauna

old finnish saying...
Jos ei viina, terva tai sauna auta, tauti on kuolemaksi." ("If booze, tar, or the sauna won't help, the illness is fatal.)


The oldest known saunas were pits dug in a slope in the ground and primarily used as dwellings in winter. The sauna featured a fireplace where stones were heated to a high temperature. Water was thrown over the hot stones to produce steam and to give a sensation of increased heat. This would raise the apparent temperature so high that people could take off their clothes. The first Finnish saunas are what nowadays are called savusaunas, or smoke saunas. These differed from present-day saunas in that they were heated by heating a pile of rocks called kiuas by burning large amounts of wood about 6 to 8 hours, and then letting the smoke out before enjoying the löyly, or sauna heat. A properly heated "savusauna" gives heat up to 12 hours. These are still used in present-day Finland by some enthusiasts, but usually only on special occasions such as Christmas, New Year's, Easter, and juhannus (Midsummer).
taken from...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauna

Lehmisaari to Palvanemi

Another cold start, although at least it was bright. A breakfast of hot porridge laced with honey makes for a good start to the day. On the water, and as we paddle out of the cove the white horses out on the lake become visible. As we make our way round the headland the bite of the easterly wind hits us, carrying with it a siberian chill. Glad for all our layers of clothes, it's head down and plough on, hugging the coastline to keep out of the worst of the chop. Once we made it past the bridge the wind dropped off and the chop went with it. We thought about stopping for lunch, but decided to make the most of the conditions since our bellies were still full, so it was follow the buoy's around the headlands and hook in behind the island to Palvanemi where we had a late lunch before setting up camp for the night. It almost feels strange to be setting up camp so early in the day, having become accustomed to paddling for most of the day. Spells of snow punctuated by glorious sunshine kept things interesting, and eventually the wind died down enough that i hung my hammock in the woodshed and stretched out there for the night.

Laajalahti to Kankariluoto then Lehmisaari

It was a cold, cold start to the day, as we headed north-east to meet up with Tomas and Lorcan who had spent the night on Soisalo.


It was a fair slog almost directly into the wind, so it was head down and plough on through the biting wind. It was all worth it in the end, as we finally got to try a Finnish sauna.

 A wonderful way to get the circulation going again. It's funny how much warmer the lake seems afterwards. 8 degree's in the water, air temp, 5 degrees C, inside the sauna was too hot for the thermometer. After gettin changed, it was into Timo's cabin for lunch, all 14 of us. Grateful for the warmth while we ate for a a change, before heading on to Kankariluoto.

When we arrived we realised that due to the high water levels in the lake we could camp on one island and have a campfire, but any visit to the toilet would have meant getting into a canoe to paddle the 40 meters to the toilet, or braving a walk across a narrow causeway in frigid water. The general consensus was no bloody way, since it was early in the day & we were still fresh from the sauna, we opted to venture onwards to Lehmisaari.

It didn't take long to get tents up, once we found enough space between the trees! The group was in high spirits for the evening, and after dinner we helped John celebrate his 21st birthday by throwing him a surprise party.
 There were balloons, cake and candles, so all the essential ingredients were there. Oh, and we had a few drinks as well.

Definately the latest night we've had, even though almost everyone was in their tents by around midnight.
 
As usual, pics and maybe even videos to follow once i get home.