A final season in the Baltic
Timeline posts
There are two marinas in Hanko, the port at the tip of mainland Finland, and an essential stop before heading out to the Åland Island archipelago. We chose the island marina, set on rolling granite rock, with wild flowers growing in the cracks, and wooden walkways to the sauna. It was very nice indeed. A […]
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It was pouring with rain as we met Hope and Howard off the evening train in Helsinki, and not the best welcome for two sailors coming from the climate in Sicily. But by morning, the skies had cleared, and our destination of the small harbour of Lahteela to the west made for a good sail, […]
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The plan had included a visit to St Petersburg ever since Karen found out it wasn’t easy….. But all up the coast from Denmark through Sweden and Estonia to Helsinki, various sailors we met shared their stories of all the ways it could all go horribly wrong. So we wimped out and bought train tickets […]
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After four days island-hopping along the Finnish coast reacquainting ourselves with the joys of ‘love hut’ dry toilets, we were all in serious need of a long hot shower as we reached Helsinki. These huts on Kaunissaari are actually quite upmarket. The previous days heading west had provided some exhilarating sailing, beating in 20-25 knots, […]
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Well ahoy there sailors!! I am your guest blogger for today… Ian and I joined Karen and William on their Baltic adventure last Sunday and we’ve been having fun in the sun… and rain..😱 Finland is an awesome place and exploring the islands has been lovely. The sunsets have been incredible – and it never […]
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We’ve been in Finland for about a week, and we have crew! Ian and Mary joined us in Porvoo, Finland’s second oldest town, and at one time an important port. It is full of pretty painted wooden houses, lined along a peaceful river. Lots of tourists visit on day trips from Helsinki, some by bus […]
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Before arriving in Tallinn, we contacted a young sailmaker, Oleg, who was happy to repair the torn stack pack. It’s not that difficult to remove it once the mainsail is well tied up with a pile of sail ties, but the key thing is to hold on tight to the lazy-jack lines that hold it […]
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So, Melodrama made her way into the Port Ops zone of the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn. It’s a beautiful, UNESCO protected medieval city, and one of the big destinations for cruise ships. Combined with the commercial tankers, cargo, and container ships coming and going, it made for very busy waters, closely policed by harbour […]
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Three days in Kardla, with a strong easterly gale, dramatic lightning and thunder, and torrential rain – what’s not to like! The young harbour master and his staff were very disappointed that they had no Irish flag for our visit, and insisted that we must come back on our way home, and they would definitely […]
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There is a local history museum in Kuressaare Castle, which shows the islands of Estonia emerging from the sea over only the last 10,000 years or so at the end of the ice age. A mere instant in geological time! The new land is therefore low-lying and very flat – great for cycling! But the […]
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So it was, with trepidation, that we made our way into Estonian waters, expecting at any moment to be boarded by officialdom, and marched off to the county court to pay our Ensign fine. The contrast could not be more extreme. Our first call was Kuressaare, where the harbour master had hoisted a huge Irish […]
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This story began weeks ago in Sweden, but it’s time to go public. We were in Ystad harbour one morning, when a yacht flying the ‘red duster’ standard UK red ensign was leaving port. ‘Ahoy!’ he cried sociably, ‘What’s your yacht club?’ ‘Fahan, Donegal in Ireland’ we replied, sociably. ‘Well’ he said, not so sociably, […]
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