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I left the shore at four a.m.
I rowed along the right-hand side shore in a breezy headwind.
I headed to Björnkobben islands, but I didn't find them.
After a time, I turned downwind to reach the opposite shore.
From then on, I followed it to reach the tip of that peninsula.
Sometimes I stopped to fish.
Then I started to look for the islet where I had left the buoy.
I rested there for a good while because I had to look for it for a long time.
It took many hours to finally find it.
It was calm, -
so I couldn't hear the waves crashing.
I can't hear them from afar anyway. I have to stop rowing and try to listen.
- Do you have the time onboard? - No, I don't.
You have been at sea for 14 hours now.
How do you count the time?
I heard Taalintehdas ironworks' whistle at noon, but I didn't hear the second whistle.
Maybe the wind didn't carry it all the way.
Time flies.
- Do you have anything to eat and drink? - No, I don't.
I never take food or drink with me.
It must be difficult without anything for so long.
Time flies here when you are having fun.
No hunger or thirst.
Today's been too cloudy even for tanning.
Actually, it's been quite cool. I had to zip up my coat.
How do you navigate?
I found the islet by chance today.
How do you know where home is?
I check my compass for due north from the tip of the peninsula.
That's home.
Can you show it?
I have it here.
The simplest thing.
Where's home now?
I'll let it settle first.
It's that way.
Friends gave me this chart.
The pins mark rocks and reefs.
Islands are marked with tape.
I leave the shore here.
I follow it to the first reef.
This is the second one.
There are many of them and islands about.
Björnkobben islands and the reefs around them.
This is the bigger Björnkobben.
The islet behind it is a good fishing hole.
It's easier to move behind the islands if the wind blows from the mainland.
If the wind blows from the east or southeast, -
I'll take the sheltered shore from here -
all the way to the tip of the Sirnäs peninsula.
During the summer months Venninen fishes passionately.
He's about to turn 90.
He lost his sight in two accidents. He's been totally blind half his life.
At first, Venninen dared to go only 10 ft away from the shore.
Now after years of training, he rows miles away out to sea.
I'm just nodding if the fish don't bite.
It takes hours to find a better spot.
If I don't hear forest birds, -
I have to depend on other sounds and a compass -
to estimate where the home shore is.
Fear is not unknown to me.
You have other ways to obtain a bearing in addition to a compass.
I use a radio if and when I find a suitable station.
I have to know my starting point first.
Then I can navigate with a radio.
That's no good.
A Russian station is usually better.
There.
What next?
I check my compass for due north, -
choose my direction, -
and then position the radio in the dead air sector.
I know I'm on course if the radio stays silent.
It's easier to stay on course if it's calm.
The wind will make it more difficult.
I just wait for hitting the shore if there's no wind.
That's how I get home.
I'm able to check the depth with a sonar.
The sensor would go into the water if it weren't too shallow.
The alarm tells me I'm close to the bottom.
When does it start to beep?
At a certain depth when I come closer to the shore.
It stays silent when it's deep, -
but starts to beep when I'm close to a shore or a reef.
When Venninen finds a place to fish, he anchors a signal buoy.
That way, he can find the place again.