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Baltic Cruise 2007 - part 1
Baltic cruise 2 :Gdansk to Riga Smøgen to Marstrand and Kallø Knipplan Kallø Knipplan to Anholt 22nd. May Anholt island was perhaps at its best with plenty of space in the harbour, only a couple of German boats, one Swedish, one Swiss, one other Norwegian and some Danish vessels. Rhododendron, hawthorn, lilac, laburnum, rosa rugosa and many others trees and bushes were in full bloom, lambs played around in the fields with some of the largest sheep we've ever seen. A walk round the island including a visit to Anholt Kro, then dinner with the captain's cured salmon as main course followed by fantastic music (clarinett and accordian) from the neighbouring Swedish boat made the day! No internet connection possible. Anholt to Ballen, Samsø 23rd. May
Potato salad: cut the potatoes into cubes and boil in water with 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar and a little salt until almost ready. Pour off the water, add some dried oregano or basilikum or fresh herbs, black pepper and enough majones to coat the potatoes. Mix well and add salt if necessary. Langeland to Kiel 25th. May
We had 2 days in Kiel in warm but windy and rather wet weather. Saw the start of the regatta of the year Kiel to Eckørnførde. Visited some museums and met the crew of a Latvian boat, EVIJA, on its maiden journey from S. France to Riga. New sailing crew member Ingvald Godal joined us on 26th.May. We paid 28 Euro for two nights in the Dünsternbrook marina. We visited the maritime museum and found a Hansa kog at the nearby quay. One of the The German coastguard ships was in harbour and we had the "privilege" of meetinfg them several times later. Top of page: Baltic cruise Kiel to Riga Kiel to Heiligenhafen 27th. May Heiligenhafen to Wismar 28th. May Wismar to Warnemünde 29th May Thunder showers and heavy winds against kept us from leaving early. The shallow sea was pretty rough, particularily at depths under 5 m. No sailing today either, 42 mn to Warnemünde, 54 11 N / 12 05 E. We saw a copy of the Hansa Kogg out at sea with tourists on board. All three of us are thriving on this relaxed way of life. The book NV Havnelods tlle us that there areinternet possibilities at Warnemünde - I certainly hope so! Internet communication was far too slow so we didn't manage to update. But we did enjoy our stay at this luxuriuos marina - the largest and newest in the Baltic - and the owner is a Norwegian! Nothing was lacking - an enormous hotel with shops and bars and restaurants and a colossal spa and gym., playground for kids, congress area too- probably being used for the G8 congress at the beginning of June. Traffic in the sea area around is forbidden from 3-9 th June (terrorists?). Moorings for 800 boats. We left in winds of 9-12 sek/m. and had a fantastic sail from 10 am to 5 pm when we had to resort to motoring. Had fun kreeping up to a Dutch boat, comparing his distance from us using radar on the chart plotter. It was an exciting sail, particularily the last part south towards to
There were plenty of cafes, restaurants and shops of all sorts including bakeries but not an ordinary grocer. I noticed many lovely old pharmacies still in use both here and in other towns, as oppose to Norway, where most pharmacies are modern, rather sterile looking and alike. The supermarket was too far away to spend time going to, when there were many more interesting things to see and do. The marina was in the center of the town, and of high standard, costing 18 euro per night, 7 euro extra for 24 hours good internet connection. Ingvald is exploring the theory that Olav Trygvadson was murdered here in the eastery sound of Stralsund by the plot of the Danish and Swedish kings. He had been in Poland and was on his way back home after collecting the belongings of his new Russian wife. We discussed the viking period of Rügen with the curator at Stralsund museum. The old maps of Rügen has many norse names and a large gold treasure was found here believed to come from the norse kings, Harald Blåtann. Stralsund to Peenemünde 1st. June We stayed for 2 nights then left early for Peenemunde , Krøslin 54 07,3N / 13 45,4 E. The good sunny weather continued as we sailed to Peenemünde 30 nm, with a brief stop at the German war museum where V1 and V2 rockets were designed and produced. We had our first encounter with the German naval authorities, reprimanding us for cutting a corner into the fairway and going in front of their vessel. The marina at Krøslin was relatively new and had moorings for many local boats and visiting yachts. The small village had a bakery and a "supermarket" selling next to nothing, Our supplies for dinner ingredients were getting low, but we had a great meal of fenalår again with potato salad and scrambled egg. No internet here, 18 euro per night. No other foreign boats in the harbour but many Germans preparing for a regatta the following day. Sculptures in Stralsund With rain and dull weather and wind up to gale force from NE out at sea, we were glad to be sailing inland chanels. We started early to get through the Wolgast bridge at 7;45. Wolgast was a small cosy looking town which would probably have been a better place to stay in than Krøslin. We motored at full speed to try to reach the next bridge by 9;35 when it opened for 15 min. but realised we would be 5-10 min. late so called up the traffic control to hear if there was any possibility to keep the bridge open for us. Reply: "No chance! You have to be in the right place at the right time!" We anchored up and waited for 2 hours with flat fields and farms all around but no piers to let us get ashore. The border control police came aboard asking for papers with identification, destination, nationality, number of passengers and birth dates, motored off and came back with the paper duly stamped and dated. On leaving Swinoujscie at 6am we called up the port control with no reply so we motored towards the harbour mouth only to hear to sirens followed by 2 green signal rockets. What did that mean? OK or not? Still no reply on VHF so we went back to the nasty concrete pier to be reprimanded again for not eacting to the siren, however they let us go once they saw that there still were 3 aboard. We had an uneventful motor trip, 50nm to Kolobrzeg 54 11 N / 15 33E, arriving early enough to wander in the picturesque city with rivers, fountains and parks among both old and newer buildings and to enjoy dinner at an openair cafe. The main season still hasn't started here, not all facilities are open. We were pleasantly surprised by the town - and sunshine again. Next stop is Leba 54 46 N / 17 33 E, 85 nm along the coast with few harbours. The weather is fine and we're well on the way. We arrived after almost 12 hours at sea motoring parallel with the hundreds of miles of sand and dunes, and were met by a very friendly harbourmaster who talked good English. Leba was the nicest marina we've been to so far; new, very well organised, just by the sandy beach and with trees and flowers all around. Good restaurant too. Several German sailing boats and one British one in the harbour were also on their way N. to Tallin. Very slow internet connection there. Another early start on Wednesday, Gdansk 54 21N / 18 39E being our next port. Religious parade 7th July It took us 9 hours to get to Gdansk 72 nm in good weather with some sailing. Crossing the bay from Hel to Gdansk was time consuming and the sea was choppy. (George W. Bush is coming to Gdansk tomorrow and has meeting with the Polish president in HEL ! ). The marina is in the center of the old town, an hours motoring up river from the harour entry, past dock after dock. The Polish girl at the port control was very friendly and wished us a happy time in Gdansk. Gdansk is a fantastic town, most of the buildings having been built up in their orignal shape and style after the bombing during the 2nd. World War. We've been walking around learning more about the city. There was a big religous parade on 7th., one of the most important days for the Catholics, and all the shops and museums were closed unfortunately. We met many interesting folk, including Jeff an Australian who has been sailing for about 30 years, all over the world. He has kept his boat in Gdansk for 2 winters - very cheap and secure he said. We admire the Polish people for their ability to rebuild the old town, to achieve a higher standard of living and by their obvious pride of being independant and free. They are environmentally conscious and have garbage systems better than in Norway. Old town gate, Gdansk
We left Gdansk and Poland for a longer sail to Klaipeda, keeping well clear of the Russian enclave Kaliningrad. Gdansk to Riga Riga to Tallin, Helsinki, Åland and Stockholm Stockholm to Gothenberg | |||||||||||
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