Lady Hamilton 2019

HEL TO KALININGRAD

Day 23 Tuesday, 11^th June 2019

We had a violent storm last night which woke us up at 1.30 am with thunder and lightning over our heads, heavy rain and even hail.  A real storm with strong winds, straining our mooring lines and causing frapping in the rigging. 

Border Patrol came round at 6 am but he didn’t stamp our passports although he looked at them AGAIN!  We left at 7.30 am, putting up the main in Hel harbour and stowed the fenders.  It was very bumpy for two hours and Campbell, I had 3 ginger biscuits!  Crossed the shipping lanes AGAIN and put up the genoa and motor sailed, with the wind on the nose.

Hailed by a Russian on Ch 16, says go to Ch 17 asks us for the co-ordinates of where we are, which the skipper gives him.  I can see 4 military vessels from the cockpit – but they turn out to be fishing boats.  So disappointing!

We call Baltijsk Border Control on Ch 74 and he allows to proceed through the narrow opening into the port.

We go to Pier 81 for Border Control Customs and Immigration.  It’s very hot indeed and not a breath of wind.  We’re down below and the customs and immigration guys are in the cockpit (5 of them)!  We had to fill in forms – crew lists (which we’d already prepared and had to do them again), our Russian visa numbers, our names and where we were born, passport numbers,  etc. etc.  Then the border guard comes back on board and photographs the insides of all the lockers!  The whole thing takes an hour 3.30 – 4.30 pm.

When we leave we see many naval ships as Kaliningrad is Russia’s ice-free port (St Petersburg gets iced up during the long winter months).  The Kaliningrad Canal is industrial on one side and a bird sanctuary on the other.  Actually the Canal skirts round the edge of the huge Vistula Lagoon.

 

Eventually arrive at our destination – Yachtport Haydekrug at Vzmore village after 2.45 hours.    We are signalled to a berth by a man on ‘Mon Desir’  – no Sergey (our agent on the ground) in sight! I think he’s still in Lithuania.  The man on ‘Mon Desir’ invites us to a meal in the plastic marquee on the other side.

It’s still extremely hot and we have showers on board before going round the harbour, full of old boats, trip hazards and gates. 

When we arrive at the marquee there’s a table of about 10 people, mostly couples, who are all eating their home-cooked food.   It’s the evening before Independence Day – a holiday in Russia.  A place is made for us at the table and we’re invited to eat and drink.  Malcolm’s given vodka and I’m given Rose wine – much clinking of glasses ensues.  The food is delicious – pork, chicken kebabs, salad, a chicken pie made by one of the ladies, a large smoked fish, strawberries, more fruit and chocolates, then coffee and tea ( from a samovar).

We’re toasted because it’s our golden wedding next year.  They ask how old we are and seem impressed – they’re younger than us, probably in their forties and fifties, although my friend on my left has two young grandchildren which she shows me on her phone.   One man tells us in English that he’s sailed from here , up the Skagerak, to Norway and then to Scotland, been through the Caledonian Canal to the Scottish islands, been to Ireland and Wales, then joined the Arc and went to the Caribbean!  Quite an intrepid sailor!

We make our farewells at about 11.30 pm and a man accompanies us all the way back to the boat with his torch – to avoid the trip hazards, including anchors with ropes from fishing boats.

GDANSK TO KALININGRAD or TO HEL AND BACK (50 miles)

Day 22   Monday 10^th June, 2019

Woken by alarm at 5 am and leave at 6 am.  We have to phone the bridge before we cast off to get it raised.  The Marina girl gave us a phone number as well as VHF 15.

Takes an hour from the marina to the open sea.  Lots of ships but no Susana S!

 

We put up the sails and the wind is supposed to be from the SE but it’s very fluky and ends up on the nose.  After that we have to negotiate more firing ranges – Areas 1a and 1b, just after the two major shipping channels leading to Gdansk.

Polish Border Control contacts us 5 miles from the Russian Border and informs the skipper that we need to go to Hel (in the opposite direction) for border control check-in, as we were heading for Russia.  The skipper informs him that we’re British and EU citizens (but only just!).  We’re now 3.5 miles from the Russian Border – so near but so far away!

Then a Border Control boat comes out to us from Hel and escorts us all the way back to Hel – FOR 3.5 HOURS!!  This is a small fishing port and holiday resort at the end of the Hel Peninsula sticking out from Wladyslowo, the largest fishing port in Poland, which we left last Thursday.    

Four Polish Border Guards get in a dinghy from the Patrol Boat and enter the harbour of Hel.  They talk to a land Border Guard, wearing army type fatigues, on the quay and he drives round to the marina.  We moor against a timber-clad wall, our lines taken by the marine Border Guards.

We have to show our passports, and all our papers, including Malcolm’s Certificate of Competence, our address in Whitby etc. etc.  Everything is written down in duplicate and we face a fine of 200 Polish Schlotti (£40), We’ve tried to spend all our Polish currency in Gdansk – and I have to go to the ATM with the land Border Guard in his car as they don’t do cards.  The ATM charges 7.5% for the privilege!

We get a receipt – by now three of the Border Guards are on our boat as it’s easier to write screeds and screeds in the cockpit! 

We can’t find anything about needing to get clearance from the Border Guards in Schengen areas to go to a country outside the Schengen area.  Nothing in the Pilot Book nor in other material from the Cruising Association.  The Marina girl in Gdansk did say we could get the Coastguards to give us help to enter Kaliningrad but I said we had a man there, Sergey, who would give Border Control at Baltysk all our details.  I was so wrong!

Staying in Hel tonight as it’s too late to go back to Kaliningrad, as you can’t do the long sea canal at night.  We’re both exhausted and the land Border Guard is coming round at 5.30 am to stamp our passports!  Hels Bells!!

GDANSK

Days 19 – 21    Friday, Saturday, Sunday 7^th, 8^th, 9^th June 2019

We love Stare Miasto, the old city, of Gdansk!  This is why they decided to reconstruct the old town.

The buildings are very beautifully restored.    This is Artus Court, which used to be an old merchants’ meeting place and became the seat of the grain exchange.  Neptune’s Fountain in front of Artus’ Court – a popular photo spot.  Apparently the famous Gdansk vodka, Goldwasser, flows once a year in the fountain!

We go to the Museum in the Town Hall, with a tall tower on the top, which we climb up – 300 steps later!  It was really worth it, looking over the old town in all directions and St.Mary’s Church. 

The pictures below show the devastation of the city during WW11.

 

I love the work of this impressionist artist, Ernst Kolbe,  (1876 – 1945).  The artist’s development towards a more expressive style of painting was halted in 1933 due to the National Socialist takeover of power and the ‘cultural policy’ under which novel styles, including expressionism, cubism and surrealism, were deemed degenerate forms of art.

This is the medieval Crane Gate, with two wheels inside turned by men to operate the lifting mechanism. It was used to load and unload goods from ships.  And another view across the river from the Marina.  It’s the symbol of Gdansk.

 

On Saturday we hire a car and travel out of the city to Museum Stutthof, near the coast east of Gdansk.  This was a concentration camp run by the SS.  It was a very sobering and moving experience.  The monument to the dead is a huge commemoration.  The tower is surrounded by barbed wire and there would be no escape from the camp.

 

After that we went to Malbork, recommended by the Cruising Association on ‘Captain’s Mate’, the app we have to tell us what’s to see in all the ports.  It’s an amazingly huge castle – apparently the biggest in the world!    It was originally constructed by the Teutonic Knights, a German Catholic religious order of crusaders. Cross a pedestrian bridge to get to the castle then a squall arrived and with it rain.

 

We scurry back to the car and go to a supermarket nearby.  We stock up on provisions for Kaliningrad and buy fuel as well on the way home.  That’s the benefit of having a car!  Normally we have to take rucksacks and lug all the shopping back to the boat.  This time we can park very near the boat and Malcolm takes up the trolley to load up the fuel cans.    

On Sunday, we cross the pedestrian bridge which is open when we arrive

and  then we go to the Museum of WW11 which tells the story of Poland’s part in the war as well as the global picture.   Another magnificent museum showing all aspects of the war from many angles.

Me in front of the Philharmonic Baltic Concert Hall:

Then we stroll through the Old City on our way back to the boat.  We have icecreams (mine is Walnut and Date flavoured, Malcolm’s Coffee), buy a little Polish jug and try to spend our remaining Polish currency in the very small supermarket on the quayside.  We miss the Regatta Prize-giving ceremony at 4pm but last night they were dancing to a live band when we got back from our French restaurant.  Only to remind us of our two years in France!  The food was so yummy! 

Our friendly marina girl attended to all our needs – including the car hire – and she was also running the Regatta as well!  It’s been a real pleasure to be in the heart of the old city of Gdansk, here at the City Marina.   They’ve been very welcoming and helpful.  Tomorrow Kaliningrad and our first taste of Russia!

 

 

 

 

 

 

WLADYSLOWO TO GANDSK (51 miles)

Day 18  Thursday, 6^th June 2019

Set off at 7.15 am as we have to go round the firing range no.11 as it’s closed today, rather than scoot along the Hel Peninsula, which sticks out from our port southeastwards into the Gulf of Gdansk.  This adds another 15 miles to our trip. 

We’re motor-sailing today as we tried to sail close-hauled first thing but the wind died away and was on the nose.  Fishing boats ahead of us, just outside the firing range, and a big container ship (‘Frederik’) going to our waypoint.  Hailed on Channel 16 by the Polish Border Control saying Area 11 is closed today – and we’re in it!  The skipper tells them we’re avoiding a collision with a big ship and we’ve cut the corner of Area 11 and will get back on track shortly.  There’s absolutely no activity to be seen in Area 11 at all – but they’re watching us.

Then ‘Frederik’ hails us on Ch 16 and says go to Ch 6.  The Captain says he’s turning to starboard, across our path, and wishes us ‘Happy Sailing!’  We turn as well, down the side of Area 11.  We are in depths of 90 m – twice as deep as the North Sea!

More fishing boats just off the Hel Peninsula.  It’s taken us 6.5 hours to get round Area 11!  Added another 15 miles to our journey – that’s another 3 hours.

This SAR vessel is going to get another yacht that went into the A11 area.  We’ve heard Border Control calling him on Ch 16 several times but he must have his radio switched off!

We dip our ensign as we pass the Westerplatte monument at the entrance, commemorating all Poles who died in WW11.  It is famous for the Battle of Westerplatte which was the first clash between Polish and German forces during the invasion of Poland and thus the first battle of the European theatre of WW11.

This castle is near the entrance and a pirate ship sails out to sea.

We’re completely amazed by all the huge ships and wharves in Gdansk as we go down the river.  I photograph one called ‘Susana S’ for our daughter-in-law, Susannah Stuart. 

Gdansk is situated at the mouth of the Wisla River, the largest river in Poland.  At a strategic location on the Amber Road, the city has long been fortified trading settlement.  It was a stronghold of the Teutonic Knights, and later a formidable member of the Hanseatic League.  Prussian influence is still seen in the old waterfront buildings, especially the Crane Gate, constructed in 1440, the largest goods lift of the 15^th Century.  The Old City (Stare Miasto) has been carefully restored since WW11 when 80% of the city was destroyed by Russian bombing raids. 

The local shipyards were the birthplace of Solidarity, the union movement, which eventually forced the Russians to negotiate in 1989.  I can remember seeing Lech Walesa on TV in the ‘80s.  He co-founded and headed Solidarity, the Soviet bloc’s  first independent trade and union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and became President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.   Another force was Polish Pope John Paul 11.

Get to the new pedestrian bridge at 5.45 pm, and wait until 6 pm for it to be opened.  I think it stays open for half an hour.  There are other boats waiting too.  The Marina Gdansk is directly opposite the Crane Gate.   A friendly marina girl guides us to our place but tells us that the Regatta is happening tomorrow and over the weekend so we can’t stay longer than one night.  I persuade her to let us stay 3 nights when I’m in the office – I say we’re very old and have come a long way!  She says it’ll be very noisy in the marina.  I agree but we’re not going anywhere soon.

Eat on board and watch the final episode of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ – it’s all open for another series! 

I’ll sign off now as we have a few days in Gdansk (3 more nights) and we’re going to show you the highlights of our visit.  So no blog until Sunday, 9^th June. 

 

 

 

 

 

LEBA TO WLADYSLOWO (34 miles)

Day 17   Wednesday, 5^th June 2019

Set off at 8 am , waved off by our next-door neighbours.  They were very friendly!

This is a photo of the cutter-suction dredger outside the harbour.

We seem to be the only yacht in the Baltic until this small strange Polish yacht, another single-hander,  came past with a bike on the deck.

We sailed close-hauled for 3 hours, with the wind in the SE from 8.30 to 11.30 am and then the wind, now from the E, headed us, so we had to put the engine on.  We then had to put a reef in the main at 1 pm as the wind wound up and then the wind dropped so the skipper took it out again. 

Phoned the harbour -master is Wladyswowo to reserve us a place as it’s Poland’s largest fishing port, landing 25 – 35,000 tons of fish annually but there are only 12 berths for yachts.  

Sand dunes and a lighthouse on the way to Wladyswowo.

The headland before turning south is Poland’s northernmost extremity. 

Arrived at 3 pm to find a the port very busy with fishing boats coming and going to land their catch.

We didn’t walk into town – about a km away – but bought icecreams, like Magnums, in a small shop which also had bread rolls for our sandwiches tomorrow.  The tower, which we mistook for a church, looks very Soviet era.

We had showers and went to the only restaurant on the fish quay – very popular with the Germans we met in Leba.  The couple on a beautiful wooden yacht (which reminds us of Meriva) have a 7 month baby girl, called Maria, on board.  The Germans (on 3 boats) are all going to Klaipedia, the only port in Lithuania.  But we’re going to Gdansk and then Kaliningrad!

LEBA

Day 16  Tuesday, 4^th June 2019

Laundry this morning and posting 2 blogs – I was really tired last night.  

Malcolm is warming up the Navtex so he can download the weather forecast in Kaliningrad as he doesn’t think there’ll be any wifi in the “marina”.  The skipper also goes in search of fuel, carrying 2 x 5 litre cans.  The Bosman said it was 100 m but it’s more like 1000 m – in the town where the fishing boats dock.

I meet a fellow Brit with a red ensign and arrange to meet for a drink in the evening. 

We ate our  lunch – open sandwiches – in the cockpit.  After lunch we go back into town – Malcolm shows me the way!  We meet the German couple on the next boat to ours in the marina.  They’ve had ice creams which sounds like a really good idea.  I have pistachio and caramel and M has cassis and brandy snap.

Then we wend our way down the main street with lots of pizzerias, cafes and tacky tourist shops.  Suddenly I recognise our mugs that we bought in Karlskrona at the museum – they’re only £2 here and I’m sure we paid at least 5x that in Sweden.  The white ones on the top layer with anchors on.

We make our way towards the fishing boats and see a couple of fishermen sorting out their nets.  One of them speaks English and tells us that the nets are 20 metres deep so we won’t damage them, as they’re resting on the bottom with small floats on the top edge.  He tells us that they catch flounders in the net. 

We find a smoked fish shop nearby and buy smoked halibut to have for our tea.  It’s quite expensive but we have two huge portions, costing £6. 

Other sites in Leba:  The church, the locks on the bridge, old fishermen’s cottages and a pirate ship.

We discover at the church, that Leba was in Germany for 600 years until the Russians came in 1945 and then it became Poland.  The Germans left but have been invited back to celebrate mass with the Polish community.

Eventually – after asking for directions, but nobody could speak English – we came upon a young man in a Guest House who spoke very good English and directed us where to cross the railway track down a small unmade road.  Eventually find the supermarket, called Polo, and buy fresh supplies.

When we get back to the marina we meet Rob and his son, Noah, who’s 5 in July.  Rob was born in South Africa and his wife is Polish and they have lived in Warsaw for just over a year.  They keep their boat here in Leba having brought it over from the UK last year.

‘Kernow’ was a pilot boat built in 1962 in Lowestoft – the only one of its kind.  Rob’s a boat builder by trade and has completely rebuilt it above the water line.  It used to go out of Falmouth but the pilot got crushed between the pilot boat and a larger vessel and the boat was sold.  Rob found it, rotting away, and restored it.

Rob’s retired at the moment and his wife, Gosha, is working for a global American company which demands much of her time, as they have offices in Singapore and California!

We have a very pleasant evening with them and eventually drag ourselves away to eat our smoked halibut, with potatoes and bobby beans.  And watch Episode 8 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’  – we’re both really hooked now!

 

 

 

DARLOWO TO LEBA (53 miles)

Day 15 Monday, 3rd June 2019

We got woken by the alarm at 6 am to get the 7am bridge.  This fishing boat is also heading for the bridge!

I spent 3 hours on my berth in the forecabin before lunch as for some reason I didn’t get to sleep until 3 am and we went to bed quite early. It’s probably reading ‘Becoming’ to the end and Michelle Obama being upset over Trump being the next President and now he’s in the UK on a 3 day state visit!

Strong southerly winds from 12 – 23 knots enabled us to average 6 knots on our 53 mile journey along the Polish coast. These sand dunes are in a National Park which extends out to sea and we have to keep clear.

There’s a military vessel patrolling us!

Today we’re back on the skipper’s programme – after our starter motor problem in Stralsund (and previously the water pump in Fehmarn). We’ve achieved 300 miles from Fehmarn in 2 weeks.

This hotel on the beach used to be a casino.

It’s been quite hot today so we had showers and a meal in the hotel restaurant, sitting outside. The marina facilities are part of the hotel. We struck up a conversation with a German couple who were going to St. Petersburg, sailing on their own boat, like ‘Bob in the Baltic’ by Griff Rhys Jones, which I read last year. They’re missing out Kaliningrad as you can only get a 2 entry visa which lasts for 30 days – too short a time for us sailors. They’re going from our next port, Wladyslawowo, to Klaipedia in Lithuania, and going to wait for the right wind to enable them to sail.

DARLOWO

Day 14, Sunday 2^nd June 2019

Walked down the riverside the main town – many exercise machines on the quayside, which has obviously had EU funding thrown at it. 

This warehouse reminds us of Stralsund and the other one of the fishermen.

We go straight to the Castle of King Erik the Pomeranian.  

The old king was accompanied by a beautiful young servant-maid, Cecilia, who was the love of his life.  Shrouded in mystery, the history of the great love of King Erik, reaching his seventies, and Cecilia became an inspiration for artists and poets. 

I think this one is of pirate ships.

We were amazed by all the engravings of the old harbours we visited last year: Vordingborg, Elsinore, Malmo, Kalmar and Visby on the island of Gotland.  And one of Stralsund – in the middle on the left.

The Polish army is being marched round the castle – hope they take it all in.  And we’ve just escaped from an army of schoolchildren, who arrive just after we’ve left.

 

Lots of interesting exhibits – furniture and clothes from many periods.  I love this one of the bathing costumes.

Afterwards we have healthy salads for lunch in the café opposite the castle. 

We go through the main square and there’s an exhibition of photos of what’s been achieved by EU funding.  This is only one of the many: the marina then and now.

This is the only surviving city gate: the residue of the city fortifications that surrounded the city with a 1500 m long wall.  It has a lovely bakery inside so we buy bread rolls, bread and pastries for our afternoon tea.  I think Polish families might eat special desserts on Sunday as there are many on display with meringue, jelly and cream – unfortunately we can’t carry them in our rucksacks back to the boat!

We’re only doing one church today and that’s got to be St. Gertrude’s – guardian of the sailors and travellers.   It’s built by King Erik to commemorate his pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  A very long journey in those days!  The church is in the plan of a hexagon with 12-sided bypass in Scandinavian-style Gothic.

There are five balconies decorated with paintings funded by the shoemakers of Darlowo.

There was a flood in 1497, caused by a tsunami waves called the Bear Sea, under the hill where the chapel stands.  The waves threw ships and the priest and the mayor vowed that from now on there would be a penance-pleading procession every year.  The tradition of the procession was revived in 1991 and currently takes place in September.  Lovely painted ceilings below.

Walked back through the square past the Fishermen’s memorial and the Town Hall, and past St. Mary’s Church, which I’m quite keen to go in but Malcolm says we agreed to do only one church today.  He’s right – we can’t overdose on churches. 

We walked about 5 miles today.  Had home-cooked dinner outside in the cockpit – first time we’ve erected the table this summer!  

KOLOBREZG TO DARLOWO (51 miles)

Day 13  Saturday, 1^st June 2019

Put the oilies away as it’s getting warmer and sunnier – about time too!  I read somewhere that today’s going to be the hottest day in the UK this year.  But we have no wind and the sea is glassy.  Reminds the skipper of going round Rattray Head, on our Round Britain voyage in 2010 – there was no wind at all and the sea was flat calm, so unlike the stormy weather we were anticipating on the east coast of Scotland.

We are currently cruising the ‘West Pomeranian Sailing Route’ until our next destination, Darlowo.  The marinas have been funded by the European Fund for Regional Development.  Poland joined the EU in 2004 and has much benefitted from the funding.  Engine on all day today, but we have got the sails out to help with the little wind from the SE to the NW, so we’re motor-sailing. 

We’re aiming for the 4 pm bridge in Darlowo.  It opens on the hour, day and night.  A two-leaf retracting bridge which slides in and out.  It’s so low that even small vessels can’t get underneath.  And it’s just for pedestrians and cyclists!

In the evening we go across the bridge and to a restaurant, Casa Nostra, where we have steamed fish and vegetables and sauerkraut salad – a very healthy meal.  Reminds the skipper of a our 5 + 2 diet!

DZIWNOW TO KOLOBREZG

Day 12  Friday, 31^st May 2019

It’s OK today to traverse the firing range on the Eastern side of Dziwnow but we can hear guns firing on the adjacent firing range to the West.  There’s a bar across the entrance and it’s suddenly 2m so we have to go to the channel.  There are quite a few flags  – but we don’t think they’re for crab or lobster pots, might be for fishing nets – mostly in pairs.  We go round one and then through another but nothing catches on our keel.  I read in the pilot book, ‘The Baltic Sea and Approaches’, that they’re fishing nets from the small fishing villages on the coast.

A grey day but not as choppy as yesterday.  Poled out the genoa. The wind was from the SW and ended up W. Sailed all the way between the two ports

We sail along the coast which I remember from an aeroplane going to Beijing in 2009 – it’s sandy and low-lying all the way from Germany to Tallinn on the south Baltic coast!  We see a hotel being constructed and the only lighthouse for miles, Niechorze Lighthouse.

We meet a Viking boat coming out of Kolobrezg and a pirate ship too.  They’re very popular along the coast – ever since King Erik, who was married to a daughter of Henry V, did piratical raids on Scandinavia.

The entrance has lots of buffers – it’s a busy port with lots of small ships moored against wharves, fishing boats and timber piled high.  The Border patrol vessel is unmanned.  There’s also a ferry to the Danish island of Bornholm where we’re hoping to go in late August.

HISTORY OF THE PIRATE SHIPS

You may remember that we went to Kalmar last year, where there was a splendid castle, and mentioned the Kalmar Union.  The instigator was Margrete of Denmark.  On her death she was succeeded by her nephew, Erik of Pomerania.  He built the first castle on the site of Elsinore (Hamlet’s castle where we went last year) in the 1420’s which he exploited to charge exorbitant tolls on the Oresund.  Erik was deposed in 1439 and made his way to the island of Gotland, where we went for the Medieval Festival last year at Visby.  Here he reverted to his Viking ways and became a pirate before returning to his native Pomerania (where we are now!). 

Go to see the lighthouse tower and find a restaurant near the pirate ship:  this is a much posher restaurant and hotel in the main tourist area.  The meal costs £25 for both: M has fish soup, we share a fish platter for 2 with chips and salad, and I have a huge slice of cake for dessert, and a small and a large beer.

This ammonite near the lighthouse reminds us of Whitby and the boat is named Joanna.

Walk back to the boat and view another episode of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (I think M is addicted) but we now know that Series 3 is planned so they’ll be no denouement at the end of Series 2.  Very disappointing!

The Harbour Master tells me that very few British yachts come to Kolobrezg – only 6 or 7 a year.  85% are German yachts with some Swedes and Finns.