Estonia Rocks

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 sea is also very shallow, and filled with rocky deposits from melting glaciers. Without really detailed navigation charts, it would be impossible to travel safely. In fact, we have been thinking that it must only be since GPS accuracy has been available on boats that the average leisure sailor like ourselves would contemplate such a trip.

(It’s the ones you can’t see you have to watch!)

So the harbour developments are possibly only viable because navigation is now easier. We think we could quite possibly be the first Irish yachties to visit these new Estonian harbours. Every harbour we have visited has told us we are the first Irish boat they have seen. But maybe they say that to all the Paddies, haha.

But it is still not all plain sailing, and the shallower bits, entering and leaving harbours require a lot of planning.

Today we are in Kardla on Hiiumaa Island, and have caught up with German friends Wolfgang and Jeannette on Orion 3, a sturdy Hallberg Rassy 31.

When we left Kuressaare, they took a course closer to the shore than we did, as they are a smaller boat with a shallower keel. But they hit an uncharted rock while sailing at 5 knots speed, and were very concerned they had damaged the boat badly. They said they were able to stand on the rock, it was so near the water surface.

Kuli, the harbour master in Kõiguste arranged for their boat to be hauled out, surveyed and repaired here in Kardla, and when we met them again it was obviously good news as they had smiles to greet us. Their long keel was indeed quite deeply gouged, but they had no structural damage, and expect to be repaired and sailing again by the weekend.