MiniCat expedition to the national park Linnansaari, Finland
This is a wonderful story of a group of friends from the Czech Republic who went this summer with their 4 MiniCats for an expedition on the lake Saimaa, national park Linnansaari, Finland.
“Apart from a four-hour break for sleep, we are basically driving non-stop from the Czech Republic. We arrive in Tallinn, where our ferry to Helsinki leaves at 6:30 PM
It is raining like crazy when we arrive in Helsinki and perhaps in all of Finland. But as if someone was holding a protective hand over us, just as we arrive at the agreed parking lot and place to spend the night, the rain stops. We set up our tents and go to sleep.
4. 8. 2025
We wake up to a sunny morning. There is not a trace of yesterday’s storm. There are plenty of mushrooms, cranberries, and blueberries in the forest around us.
We pack our tents and head further north. We buy the necessary equipment in the supermarket on the way and in 3 hours, around noon we arrive at the agreed place on the shore of Lake Saimaa. We have 4 MiniCats with us. We start unpacking. It does not take that long to assemble one Minicat. But when you have 4, it can be quite a task.
Michal inflates the first float and while he packs all the necessary things into waterproof bags, I try to inflate the second one myself. Emma, our two-year-old, of course must help me. Fortunately, she gives up after ten compressions, so the rest of the work is up to me. After the first five minutes, I take off my sweatshirt. After the second 5 minutes, I change into shorts and a short T-shirt and start counting the individual compressions and pauses between them. It’s hard work that pays off after a while.
Fortunately, other participants arrive at the agreed place, so everyone inflates and assembles their own boats under Michal’s guidance. I pack other “important things” that we obviously cannot do without.
At half past seven in the evening, we have the car in Savonlinna (our final destination), all the catamarans are hung with all sorts of ropes and the expedition nets are overflowing with bags with equipment. We can set sail!
We board the boats. Michal and Emma are the last to set off. Saimaa greets us with a short shower, after which a beautiful rainbow appears.
Emma is obviously a born sailor, because after about a minute on the boat she lets herself be lulled by the regular rocking and falls asleep wrapped in her raincoat. I like mountains. I am not a sailor, so the principles of sailing mean nothing to me. Fortunately, I have captain Michal on the boat, so I do not have to worry about anything at all.
About an hour later we arrive at the island of Harronsaari. Right on time. Two drunken Finns are just leaving the local campsite, and we now have the island and the local campsite to ourselves. The sun is still high in the sky, and when the boat hits the shore, Emma wakes up.
Someone is setting up tents, someone is lighting the fire, someone is going fishing, someone is lowering the sails and unpacking the boats, and someone is picking blueberries and mushrooms. Everyone is excited that it’s not raining and that we are finally in the wilderness.
5. 8. 2025
We get up late. We are not in a hurry. The children are splashing around in the water, Michal goes fishing and after a while he catches a nice pike. He shows it to the children right away and we agree with the others that we will not set off on the next voyage until after lunch. After all, a freshly grilled pike can change all plans quite quickly. When Michal brings another one in half an hour, it is decided. We do not set off for the next stage until after a wonderful lunch at half past one in the afternoon.
We are passing through some showers there, so I am glad for the raincoat, in which Emma is already all snuggled up and asleep. We have a great wind and I am surprised how quickly the fully loaded (I would say overloaded) MiniCats can sail. In just two hours we arrive at the island of Paavalinsaari. Here too we are completely alone.
After the morning’s fishing success, everyone is properly motivated to go fishing. The boys immediately get lost with their fishing gear, and the rest of us traditionally set up tents, build a fire, and make sure that our non-swimmers do not overestimate their swimming abilities.
After a while, Honza comes up with a capital piece: a 70 cm long pike(!), and so we start to wonder if all the food we are bringing with us might be a bit unnecessary. We are preparing pancake batter in the sink, the pike is slowly grilled in foil, the potatoes are beautifully sliced on a metal grid, and the blueberries are already picked. “I’m definitely not going to lose weight here,” I think to myself as I eat the best pancake of my life.
6. 8. 2025
Today the captain has given the order. It is 11:00 am and everyone is ready to set sail. We have had a hearty breakfast; the children have had a great swim and there are more blueberries in the cup. Emma traditionally falls asleep after the first five minutes of sailing. And I am slowly realizing that there is no point in making a clear sailing plan at all. Today we have the same number of miles ahead of us as yesterday. However, compared to yesterday, today’s trip does not take us 2 hours, but 4.5 to 5.5 hours (depending on how we sail). The wind has changed. Instead of blowing at our backs, we now have a pure headwind.
And then we are on the island of Pieni-Lappi at around 15:30.
7. 8. 2025
We regularly check the news from the Czech Republic, where it is currently raining and the temperatures are around 15 degrees. Here on Lake Saimaa, it is probably the warmest day of the entire trip.There is almost no wind cruise on the way from Pieni-Lappi to Linnansaari Island, so we fight for every breath. Emma is traditionally sleeping.
We meet some people on Linnansaari Island. Most of them are day trippers who have arrived here by public transport from Oravi.
The sun is shining and it is hot. In the local shop, which operates as a restaurant and the reception of the campsite, we buy the last cold cans of beer and book a sauna for the evening. We unpack our things and charge our mobile phones using solar chargers.
We decide to go for a walk. On the island of Linnansaari there is an old Finnish farm, where people lived and worked until the 1930s. After a period of decline, the farm became a freely accessible open-air museum, which we go to visit.
We walk through the forest and after a while we reach the rocky western coast, where we collect blueberries and cranberries and soon our mouths are all painted blue from eating them.
In the afternoon, the island begins to depopulate. After the last boat heading to Oravi, we are almost alone in the campsite.
At 8:00 PM we go to the sauna. It is heated to dizzying temperatures. We cool off in Lake Saimaa, but the warm water does not cool us down much. But the sky full of starts above our heads is beautiful.
8. 8. 2025
Today the sun is shining and it is warm, as if we were somewhere in the south of Europe. A strong headwind is forecast for today, so we prefer to stay on the mainland and go explore the most remote parts of the island. We take a short break in a deserted campsite on the northernmost part of the island. Just in time. It is starting to drizzle. With the beautiful weather, we forgot about the rain. Fortunately, it is only a small shower. We light a fire and boil hot water for tea in an iron pot. The rain stops and we return to the campsite.
On the other side of the island, it looks as if it has not rained at all. The sun is shining and the boys feel like racing with MiniCats. Michal gives instructions and advice on how to launch the boats, but after the first race lap the enthusiasm of the participants wanes, so in the end we prefer to go fishing and picking blueberries.
We pull out a huge 70 cm pike, which we cut into pieces, put it on the grill with potatoes. It means another opulent dinner awaits us.
9. 8. 2025
The sun is shining again today. We leave the island of Linnansaari and sail to Oravi with almost no wind. On the way, we meet a local rarity – a freshwater seal.
In Oravi, we buy supplies, and thanks to fishing and gathering berries, there is no need to buy too much. We sit down at a local restaurant.
I am starting to get the feeling that the expedition to the wilderness is turning into a gastronomic adventure tourism. Michal has been talking about nothing but pizza from Oravi all week, and when they finally bring it to our table (note: the one with fox and reindeer meat), it is like being in paradise.
We sail from Oravi with full bellies and a supply of beer for at least another month.
The wind has completely died down, so we must paddle to the romantic rocky island of Loihisaaret.
10. 8. 2025
In addition to beers, we bought eggs in Oravi, so now we are making delicious fried eggs for breakfast. In the distance ahead of us we observe the floating head of a seal and we do not set off for the next island until 11:30 am.
It is windy today. But not very well. There is a headwind. We cross Lake Saimaa from left to right and slowly approach the island of Pollansaari. After three hours in the wind, I am completely frozen. We stop at a small island and take a break. I put on all the warm clothes I have with me. We make tea and try to warm up a bit.
After an hour and a half of sunbathing, we continue. The wind changes and this time it blows exactly as it should – from behind. The MiniCat begins to vibrate under the force of the wind. According to Michal’s watch, we are sailing at 10 knots per hour! The water is splashing around the catamaran and I wonder what such a crowded “boat” can possibly withstand.
The wind weakens between the islands. Calm alternates with headwind. The headwind accompanies us to our destination, a small bay on the formerly inhabited island of Pollansaari. In addition to the campsite, the island also contains the foundations of two ruined houses and the slowly decaying wreck of a sunken ship.
We arrive at 4.45 pm. After tying up the boats, unpacking and setting up our tents, we go to explore the surroundings. A short distance behind the campsite we find the first remains of a former settlement and red currant bushes. From the rocks we observe a shipwreck and a dilapidated house.
12. 8. 2025
Today the sun is shining and it is warm. We continue towards Savonlinna. After setting sail, we inspect the shipwreck and then the water is clear. After less than an hour of sailing, clouds cover the sky. We see rain in the distance and start to wonder if we can avoid the downpour. We are unlucky. The wind weakens and it starts to rain. We take a break on the island at one of the local houses and hide from the biggest downpour on the local covered veranda. We make hot tea and the children have lunch.
Michal figures out where to go next. We are beyond the national park border, so the surrounding islands are starting to be sparsely populated. Finally, we find a camping spot near Savonlinna. A covered fire pit, a woodshed and lots of blueberries and cranberries in the area. Ideal, we think to ourselves after arriving in a small bay.
13. 8. 2025
No sight of rain. The sun is shining again above our heads. We only have the last 4 miles to reach our destination, the castle in Savonlinna. We set sail as usual at 11:30 am. We sail under the bridge and soon around the beautiful Savonlinna castle. We arrive at the mainland in the meadow behind the castle. We go to collect the cars that we left behind at the start of our cruise, and by the time we return in 2.5 hours, Michal and the girls have all the MiniCats deflated and almost folded.
We put eight bags in the car and after visiting the local market with Finnish delicacies, we say goodbye to beautiful Finland.
What a wonderful trip full of fun, adventure, great food, and plenty of sailing MiniCats, truly amazing boats for expedition like ours!!!”
