What a crackin day! Woke up in my hammock staring up at a perfectly clear blue sky, then lifted my head slightly to look out onto the serene waters of lake Makiselka, with the birdsong occasionally punctuated by a distant woodpecker doing what they are famous for. So relaxed after the chance to unwind yesterday with a spot of swimming by the camp. It's 8am and there's already quite a bit of heat in the sun, so it's on with the factor 50, as the factor 30 didn't quite cut the mustard yesterday.


Todays leg is a bit longer than yesterdays, though nothing like the long hauls of the previous 2 days. We made terrific time after setting out, travelling down Makiselka onto Valivesi then Rauhajarvi and north about halfway up Paalahti before turning off onto Lasankosken kanava. We stopped and ate lunch after passing under a bridge, to give up energy for the portage we knew lay a short distance ahead. It was just as well, as several trips back &forth were needed to ferry all the boats and gear the 400 odd meters along the shore before getting back in the water.
Then we were onwards towards lake Puula. Except a one of our boats encountered a spot of bother on a rock, so we had our first swimmers of the trip. No major damage done though, and after rescuing crew, boat and gear. We were once more underway, minus 1 of our 3 water purification pumps, which had escaped unnoticed in the commotion. Conditions on Puula were windy with plenty of chop, which made the last section of todays journey a bit more challenging. I think everyone was glad to reach camp this evening at Likoniemi.