It is said that adventure is what you make of things.

It is said that adventure is what you make of things. Some people can make a solo trek across the Kalahari, and have nothing to report other than 'There is a lot of sand'. Today we made adventure from a day that should have been Boring.

Today was Laundry Day.

Ok, no big deal, except there is no laundromat in Mariehamn. Or so we thought. Some deep research turned up one in the guest marina of the yacht club - and a quick phone call confirmed that it is open to all comers. That said, there is a gotcha. You have to book. By writing your name in a book in the laundry. Fortunately, it has been quiet for them the last couple of days, so we were able to nab a couple of machines for a few hours. Including the rarest of things - driers! Score!

Now the yacht club does have a name that abbreviates to an acronym that is, to an english-speaking ear, rather amusing, but I'll leave it to Alicia Smith​ to make all those gags. :)

So what could possibly happen?

I'm glad you asked!

First up, the yacht club is right next to the museum ship Pommern - one of the last full rigged cargo vessels around. Sadly she is shut for restoration work, but we got to see the outside, which revealed some interesting things. Firstly she is a rivetted plate tall ship - not exactly common. Secondly, there is her loading line - Survery registry SL (instead of, for example, the more common LR), and load lines for F(resh) and W(inter) A(tlantic) - not the usual WNA (the N is for North). Very odd.

Then there were the other people - a lady from the yacht Catalina II recommended we visit Kökar, one of the other island groups inside Åland. Some research later, and we might well be going! Go on - look it up - it is an amazing place, even by the local standards!

And we saw a couple of Dutch boats come in, each with a family on board. These were a pair of Lemsteraak - wide, shallow draft boats, with larboards (leeboards to some), and strange curved gaffs. They were quite a sight! As was one father teaching a young child how to unicycle. On a jetty. Sadly I don't have pics.

We also checked out the restaurant at the club, which was able to feed both of us rather well. Bottomless coffee, starter salad, and GF roll included! For about AUD21 each. Yum, and Score!

The big ferries provided some more entertainment as they came in - it is always a dramatic sight, and then there was the black RIB with a Finnish flag that rendevouzed with a very low-flying Puma-type helicopter. Normally I'd say it was a military exercise, except that this autonomous region is fully demilitarized by international treaty. They call themselves 'The Islands of Peace' for a reason. And Finnish flags on official craft are very rare here. More mysteries.

So, little adventures it is true, but then, it was only Laundry Day.