Finland's stories 10: Two boat stories.
In this last Finland story, two more boat experiences. In the spring of 1995, the IASJ Daily board, of which I was the chairman, was invited to Finland by Erik Moselholm, the Host School Coordinator of the 1996 IASJ Jazz Meeting. This meeting was to be named ‘The Baltic Jazz Cruise’. A meeting in the former Soviet states was hard to imagine. Participants transported on a boat was even harder to think of. Erik Moseholm insisted that the IASJ leadership had to ‘test’ the boat. It turned out to be a ‘beer’ boat. The three members of the IASJ Daily Board were in a separate room upstairs on the boat talking business. The beer drinking, testing, and buying passengers downstairs in the various bars. The boat left at 9 o’clock in the morning and the beer drinking began immediately.
A beautiful view of the Finland coastline was promised. We passed the first island and a thick fog came in. The visibility went down to zero. In the Russian territorial waters, the captain had many difficulties contacting the boat of the Russian customs. Finally, the Russian customs came on board, signed the papers proving the boat had been abroad and that no taxes had to be paid on the beer, once back in Finland.
Furthermore, the landing of the boat in the Helsinki harbour, with no visibility at all, went perfect. The IASJ Daily Board was impressed, the test was passed. In 1996, the IASJ Jazz Meeting took place on a boat sailing the Baltic See.
Decades later, I was invited again on a boat sailing around Helsinki. The trip was in the evening while we were having dinner. No fog and no beer this time, but a breathtaking sunset, mesmerizing islands, excellent food, and a great ambience.
If you stay a day longer in Helsinki after the IASJ Jazz Meeting, or maybe on your day off, consider a boat trip around Helsinki. Make sure that the battery of your camera is well charged.
Wouter Turkenburg
info@iasj.com
