45 years ago, Arto Kulmala lived for 47 days like the main character of a boy's book.
At the boat fair, there is a wonderful piece of the past on display at the Sipoo-based Marino's booth.
It is a fiberglass outboard boat with a windshield, one that was used in the 1970s to drive to island cottages or towed water skiers.
The vein does not shine. It is very used. 45 years ago it crossed the Atlantic.
The starting point was the familiar Dakar from the desert corals. The idea was to hit French Guiana, but we ended up 800 km north in British Guiana, which was not surprising, as mostly we didn't know where we were.
The most intriguing thing is the amateurishness of the performance. Today, we would prepare with scientific precision and the boat would be covered in advertisements from Audi, Red Bull, and Volvo.
A small sticker is visible on the side window. It echoes from Karelia. It is probably because young men have been slapping stickers on their vehicles since the beginning of time.
Although the Marino Mustang is a pure motorboat, the Psycopaatti mainly progressed across the Atlantic using sails. Image: Pete Aarre-Ahtio
Outboard motor in Atlantille
In the spring-summer of 1970, a slightly longer trip was made, an adventure, to use the words of the old boy books.
Included were swim trunks, diving goggles, fins, t-shirts, sweaters for the night, construction helmets as sun hats, a rolling machine, pipe tobacco, and of course snacks.
What made the 20-year-old young man leave for the Atlantic with an outboard motor?
– No, I just went to Turku and Seppo asked if I wanted to come along, Arto Kulmala, 66, says in a quiet voice.
No, I just went to visit Turku and Seppo asked if I wanted to come along.
– Mother's opinion was that the idea was not good.
You can't get even the slightest bragging from the corner child. He gives all the honor and praise to his travel companion.
Seven years older Seppo Muraja is no longer here to tell the tale. Those who have read Tintin remember Captain Haddock and the terrible storms of the Bay of Biscay. One such storm became Muraja's fate in March 1974. He was on a motorboat traveling around the world, alone. His companion had dropped out in France.
– Originally Seppo asked me to join, and I promised, but I had a change of heart and said in good time that I wouldn't go. The Atlantic is still fine, but no longer the Pacific Ocean.
Food from cargo ships
If one can stand to look at the same face through the calm and storms of the Atlantic and still ask a friend for another trip, one can say that the journey was successful.
– I don't regret it at all. No complaints. There was plenty to talk about and Seppo liked to sing. I even gained a little weight.
Kulmala and Muraja filmed their adventure on a narrow film until the boat capsized. Screenshot from the film.
Muraja acquired a boat named Psycopaatiksi from Marino. There was a larger model in the collection, but he preferred the seaworthiness of the 4.3-meter Mustang. A 36 hp Archimedes was added to the back, offshore.
– He maksoivat sen, muutenhan sen olisi voinut varastaa, naurahtaa Marinon Ben Fagerström.
– It was agreed that if they return it, they will get a similar new one. It stayed with us and we dug it out when we started making the Mustang retro.
The new Mustang differs slightly from the Psychopath.
– In the middle of the Atlantic, it got quite long and Seppo came up with the idea to make a window to see the fish and dolphins. We piled weight on one side when the hole was cut. We got the glass from a side window. A lot of screws and plastic padding.
Muraja was a builder and inventor. In practice, the journey was made by sail, as there was only 125 liters of fuel. The engine was used to catch up with cargo ships, from which food was scrounged. From one Brazilian vessel, a porn magazine was thrown in as a side dish.
The Norwegians were not allowed to return to the waters
When the boys matured, they were lifted onto a Norwegian cargo ship. The boat was raised onto the deck and the bottom was cleaned of mussels. The problem was that a responsible captain would not have wanted to let them back.
– Seppo got angry.
Construction helmets served the purpose of sun protection.
The mother was able to continue and the route that had flowed south had been repaired closer to the planned one. A great trial lay ahead.
– All the allotments felt like the size of an apartment building, the rudder did not respond, we climbed on top of one and went around. Panic set in. We swam next to the boat and Seppo pulled me up.
The equipment tank/sleeping compartment built in the middle of the boat began to fill with water due to a breathing gap, and sinking was threatened.
There was a pigeon suffering from a shipwreck in the Komerossa, which had once landed at night and fallen asleep on the sail's cable and had rolled into a heap.
– We detached the engine, dropped it with a rope as a weight, and went to the same side to heave.
We detached the engine, dropped it with a rope as a weight, and went to the same side to heave.
The fish turned and the pike was saved in the air pocket. It was able to continue its journey, meaning it was not eaten, like the shark caught with a line and the small fish caught with a harpoon.
– Off it went, I don't know in which direction, as it was not known where we are.
A fierce ball cake was obtained, but it was left uneaten.
The gas stove was saved in the fall, but the utensils and loose items went to the bottom.
Home consular transport
The engine no longer worked after the tank was filled with light petroleum obtained from a Norwegian ship. We came ashore by sail.
– There were people waiting, some small village where we got to spend the night.
The piano arrived at the Finnish consulate, and the journey home began: consular transport and hitchhiking. The latter was familiar.
– Once we hitchhiked back and forth to Hammerfest to fish with Seppo during the summer vacation. Even then it was hard to get a ride as a pair of boys.
Not all ships stopped at Atlantis either.
– They did not see us.
He has never had his own boat in Kulmala. Today he is a family man, a retired construction worker who sometimes goes fishing with his friends' boat.