2003It was a great success to have Aura on the ship yard over the winter. Instead of having nervous breakdown because of this tent we used to have. We were able to do much more to boat itself. The spring of 2003 was extremely cold and we did an all time record of family Peltonen and Aura: the yacht was in the sea as late as 3rd of June. I got congratulations from my father about this.... season on the other hands started quite nicely, we did really a lots of weekly evening sailing and we also did father & daughter sailing during July. It was really a nice way to spend some time with my daughters, sailing and mother/wife was away so it was nice and easy... In August it was already time for the office and holidays were overl, but we invested time a bit in the race of ”Viaporin Tuoppi” (the Stoup of Viapori) which is wooden sailboat competition around Helsinki. We were successful in the race and the evening was even better. We were four OR class boats side by side at the evening and it was great opportunity to get to known other teams and boats. Definitely we'll do the same next year. We got Aura up at the shipyard on the 10th of October and we did only the routine maintenance for key parts, engine, toilet, etc. No special maintenance was planned for the next winter, just regular things such as varnishing items that we were able to take home from the boat.(written by Hannu Peltonen, slightly edited and condensed by Mikael Aminoff)
2004
During the winter of 2003-2004 we got the most peaceful time ever with Aura. We started with just regular spring activities, lacquer some parts and painting the sides white and the bottom black. Aura got damaged a little in the back during the winter at the shipyard and they fixed that so it was not a problem. We got Aura in the sea on 17th of May and the mast was up the next day. In June the weather was probably something that nobody will forget. We did not sail very much during June. In early July we got few evenings with somewhat better weather and we were wishing for the best when holidays started on July 17th. Olli visited my summer house once and also took my family back to Helsinki. Winds were quite interesting during that trip, Olli was tacking to east and winds changed totally during the day and we also were tacking back.
(written by Hannu Peltonen, slightly edited and condensed by Mikael Aminoff)