Baltic Cruise summer 2009

By Peter Paternotte, skipper/owner Vancouver 34c ‘Gateway’

I left for the Baltic the 14th of June after extensive preparations that even included a professional mariner’s communication course.

The plan was for a three months round trip, visiting some Danish isles, Sweden (SE)mainland and the Stockholm Archipelago, the Aland isles, the Finland Archipelago and Helsinki, Russia/St Petersburg, Estonia, Latvia, Gotland and of course passing through the North-East Sea Canal (or Kiel Canal) in Germany twice. This all went more or less as planned and proved to be a very interesting and enjoyable voyage. The logistics were somewhat complicated due to a variety of crew changes, in itself pleasurable as I saw all three my children and spouse Arga was on board for 3,5 weeks. Also several friends joined as crew members and for the last leg from South Sweden to Enkhuizen my brother in law Jan van der Flier joined Gateway. This was of particular importance as we plan to sail together to the West Indies and back in 2010-2011, a one year round trip requiring a lot of planning and preparation.

The first couple of weeks, from Enkhuizen to Kalmar (between E-Sweden mainland and the isle of Oland) I had a friend – Jan van Ree - as crewmember and short of a spell of strong wind when sailing across the German Bight towards the Elbe river we had good weather.

The transit (using the engine) of the Kiel Canal (about 55 nautical miles from Brunsbuttel on the Elbe side to Kiel/Holtenau on the other side) went smoothly and is always interesting because of the shipping, the canal bridges and other civil engineering features. The canal

was built around the turn of the 19th and 20th century to facilitate the movements of the German navy between the Baltic (East Sea) and the North Sea. It was expanded to accommodate larger ships already early in the 20th century but nowadays is mainly used for midsize container feeder ships and bulk carriers plus a steady stream of yachts both ways, glad to be able to avoid the Skagerrak/Kattegat route around Jutland (we did it once, quite a trip).

Flying ferry under railway bridge at Rendsburg, Kiel canal

From Kiel we sailed to Gedser in Denmark and from there on to the Swedish south coast (Simrishamn), followed by a crossing of the Hano bay towards Karlskrona, Swedens only icefree naval port, post Cold War accessible for yachts. An interesting city with a splendid Maritime Museum, specializing in shipbuilding history and restoration of figureheads.

Karlskrona Maritime Museum, figurehead gallery

Having explored some of the islands of the small (skerries) archipelago around the city we sailed on to Kalmar, a fairly big commercial place halfway the Kalmar Sund between the Swedish mainland and Oland. Kalmar is also a historic city and the Kalmar castle well worth a visit. The one time union of Norway, Sweden and Denmark under one monarch (the socalled Kalmar Union), in) was concluded in the late 14th century in this place. Sweden’s Coat of Arms still symbolizes the union of the Three Crowns (Trekronor).

Kalmar was a good place to stop, replenish stores, do the laundry and change crew as there is a full service guest harbor and a small commuter airport connecting with Stockholm.

Kalmar guest harbour, stern buoy moorings (Gateway is 1st

yacht on the left)

From Kalmar to Stockholm Eveline joined me, a special father-daughter trip we both enjoyed very much, notwithstanding the fact that the first day we had a 25 knot following wind requiring cruising before the wind, causing a very unpleasant swinging motion; she was rather seasick.

From Figeholm to Loftehammer, not seasick any more!

In the Stockholm skerries archipelago – a wonderful sailing area requiring mostly eyeball navigation and forgetting of GPS – we met with friends in Nynashamn and were briefed about the approach to Stockholm. Following up on their guidance we had a pleasant trip to Stockholm through the skerries, the last part via a narrow old smugglers shortcut (the Baggenstaket) into the harbour area of the city.

The Baggenstaket, shortcut into Stockholm harbour

In Stockholm we berthed in the Wasa marina, next to the Wasa museum and the Tivoli amusement park with its frightening rollercoasters.

Wasahammen, different views!

Eveline flew back home to husband and kids (she was on special leave both from work and home – her husband promised to look after house and kids for these weeks). I collected son Thijs from the Arlanda airport a couple of hours later. He was entertained by me in Stockholm, ranging from the latest Harry Potter movie to a daytrip on a 100 year old Baltic trading schooner (the Vega), now restored and operated by a very nice four generation family crew who gave us a great time sailing through the skerries with this 200 ton vessel (www.stockholmadventures.se).

Schooner Vega, Thijs in yellow shirt

Of course we also saw the WASA itself – a ‘must see’ - and visited the adjacent Titanic museum (many emigrants who lost their life in the disaster were Swedish). We had a good time together.

Wasa and Wasa Museum

When Thijs flew back I only had to wait an hour or so to kiss Arga after a 4 week separation and I managed to show her Stockholm in 1,5 day, now eager to sail again. The complication was that (youngest) son Jan was coming out in a few days and we had to find a solution to pick him up at a place he could reach by train, bus or ferry from Stockholm airport. We succeeded in sailing to the most unlikely place possible where a 100 year old very narrow shipping canal with trees on both sides led for miles inland very close to a station (Akersberga) of the light rail area system. We had to trust the people who told us that the depth was 1.8 meter in the middle and that we could turn the yacht near the end of the canal.

Jetty at the wider end of the Akersbergacanal, 200 meter from the railway station;room to turn!

It worked out well and Jan was collected from the station 200 meters from the jetty. We worked our way back out and sailed from there on in two days to the Åland archipelago. The Åland isles are a semi-autonomous part of Finland, Swedish speaking but with Euro currency. They have their own parliament and government, Finland being represented by a Governor. The history behind this is quite interesting and in a way a reflection of the ages long power struggle between Sweden and Russia. After the first world war, when Russia fell apart , the League of Nations decided that the former Russian possessions Finland and the Åland isles would become an independent state. The Åland people wanted a reunification with Sweden

but the outcome was the current situation, apparently nowadays satisfactory to all parties involved.

We participated in an international rally (ICCY) and saw a lot of the main island (capital Mariehamn), socializing with yachtsmen and -women from 8 different nationalities.

Approaching Mariehamn West harbour with the Pommern 4-mast tall ship and the ICCY rally fleet in festive attire

Jan flew back after two days and after the rally Arga and I sailed to Helsinki via the Finnish skerries, a wonderful experience, partly a repetition of our Swedish experiences but in Finland the skerries cover such a vast expanse that you get the feeling that it goes on forever.

Sailing through the Finnish archipelago Exploring Helsinki

After three days winding our way through this beautiful area we saw the Helsinki skyline and were hosted by the Helsingfors (Helsinki) Yacht Club, one of their flag officers having offered us free berthing and also care of our yacht when away to St Petersburg. This city we visited with a befriended couple - Marius and Baldine van den Bosch - arriving by plane (he was going to sail with me back to Kiel) and we travelled by train (7 hrs) to St Petersburg. The international yachting community had recommended a superb guide – Vladimir Ivankiv - who showed us everything we wanted to see and arranged everything we needed to arrange.

St Petersburg is a wonderful city – there is so much to be seen. Let me say that the Hermitage is to my mind overwhelming, Czars that did not only collect beautiful paintings but also collected collections. I never saw so many Rembrandts in one day, let alone all the other great artists having their masterpieces here on display.

When back in Helsinki we visited Suomenlinna, the beautiful old fortress island defending the harbour and now a Unesco heritage area.

View of Helsinki from Suomenlinna and Tallin ferry when crossing the Gulf of Finland

Two days later the ladies flew back and the same day we crossed the Gulf of Finland towards Tallin, the Estonian capital. The old part is well preserved and notwithstanding the multitudes of tourists ferried in and out a very nice place to walk around, sit on a terrace and read about the history of this 13th century Hanseatic city.

Tallin, skyline and the Peppersack Inn

We stayed in the Olympic marina, built for the summer games in 1980 when the Estonians beat the Russians for the sailing venue. The harbour retains still something of the Olympic glory but is partly in bad shape, it is just too big and expensive and half the size would nowadays be more than enough. Luckily we were again hosted by a well respected local yacht club, another flag officer acquaintance made during the Mariehamn rally.

Tallin-Pirita Olympic Harbour, Kalev Yacht Club

We left for Riga after two days. The last evening two men approached me and asked if I wanted to sell the yacht, it was exactly what they were looking for. They turned out to be a 70+ year old businessman in good shape and his assistant who wanted a different yacht from his current 1984 Polish ‘plastic’ and said that money (cash!) was no problem at all; ‘mention your price’. I politely declined the offer explaining that it took me years to get my yacht in the condition I wanted and that I was not prepared to repeat that process, not even for the amount that would buy me a new one with all the modifications (ready at best mid 2010, only built on order). After that we had a nice chat about boats and sailing.

Gateway’s track in the Central/Eastern part of the Baltic

The first leg to Riga went to a place called Haapsalu, a small peninsula in the Moon Sound between the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga. The transit itself was fun as it was like navigating through the skerries but this time all the rocks were submerged. The Estonians have done a great job in making these waters navigable with excellent leading signs and lights and they also produce excellent charts (3 folios). We had another stopover in a place called Virtsu, a mere ferry station where the yacht pontoon was part of the concrete ferry quay, open to the NW and we had a rough night as the wind piped up from the NW!

Virtsu, yacht pontoon, a cakewalk place with NW6!

From Virtsu we had a great sail with a running Bf 5/6 to the beautiful isle of Ruhnu, in the middle of the gulf of Riga, about 50 NM North of Riga. This island with its 63 inhabitants has a strange history but the current Estonian population tries to move forward and even

successfully applied for European funding to renovate their only harbour, nowadays a comfortable minimarina with good facilities including WiFi.

Ruhnu harbour (officially Rhingsu harbour) at nightfall Ruhnu beaches, old watchtowers around the coast

We spent a day exploring the isle by folding bike, next to the wonderful beaches and vegetation also seeing several rusty old watch towers and remnants of barracks, grim remains of the Cold War.

A day later we sailed to Riga, again with a strong but favourable wind, pushing the yacht with doublereefed main, staysail and partly furled Yankee I almost to its hullspeed of 7.5 knots. We covered the 60 miles towards the upriver Riga yacht centre Andrejosta (7 miles from the hbr entrance) in about 9 hours, a record so far. Riga, Latvia´s capital with its beautiful historic centre is again a melting pot of Baltic history, too much to go into here but worthwhile to explore and understand.

Riga, the Black Heads corporate house, Townhall Square

As the weather forecast for the next day was not ideal we stayed on for another day and visited the Central Market, a fascinating enormous and permanent fair of all kinds of foodstuff, clothes/shoes etc. housed in 5 former Zeppelin hangars built by the German Imperial army in 1917 during the WW-I occupation. It made us realize what a dramatic past the Baltic states experienced: since the early 17th century part of the onetime Baltic superpower Sweden, taken over by Imperial Russia when they beat the Swedes in the beginning of the 18th century during the so called Northern Wars , briefly occupied by the Germans in WW-I, gaining independence after the Russian revolution in 1918, (re)occupied by the Sovjet Union after the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 that preceded the outbreak of WW-II and finally set free in 1991 shortly after the Sovjet Union fell apart. The intended Russification of Latvia produced a mixed population with 40% being of Russian origin, clearly a difficult situation to handle.

Central Market Riga

From Riga we sailed for Roja on the NW side of the Riga Gulf, a suitable starting point for our

crossing towards Sweden/Gotland as we decided, having seen the detailed Windfinder

(www.windfinder.com) forecasts, that we should take advantage of the Easterly winds

predicted for the next couple of days. The trip to Roja, some 55 NM, was uneventful as the

wind veered and died away, forcing us to motorsail part of the distance. The Roja yacht

pontoon in the small fishery harbour was OK, but facilities were not. The most significant

event was that we were interrogated by (EU) border control police (polite and dressed in a

crisp and freshly ironed uniform) about our last and next port-of-call.

From Roja the next day we had to use the engine for lack of wind halfway through Irben

Strait (connecting the Gulf of Riga with the Baltic Sea proper). As forecasted the Easterly

wind picked up, albeit not from the SE but from the E, so we had to cruise before the wind to

avoid the worst of the rolling impact of the following waves that were gradually increasing

due to the longer distance from the shore and the increasing wind strength, going up to Bf 6.

We used the Yankee II for most of the night but in the early hours of the morning we

changed towards double reefed mainsail and staysail as a wind shift to the S was imminent

and a further shift to the West not to be excluded, so we needed to be able to maneuver

freely to enter the Farosund between Gotland and Faro. Just before dawn we encountered

two big ships that showed up on the AIS as serious collision risks, so we fired a white flare to

alert the first (Dutch) ship and used the signal lamp (using Morse ‘SAIL’) to warn off the

other, both successful as they changed course timely. We even had VHF contact with the

Dutch ship that somewhat defiantly claimed to have seen us on his radar and being in

preparation of a course change to honor our right-of-way…….too close for comfort in our

opinion.

About 5 NM off the Farosund entrance between the Isles of Gotland and Fårö the wind

indeed veered through 180 degrees in about 30 minutes and was suddenly dead against, at

the same time weakening considerably, causing a strange effect with the now pretty big

following waves. We took a reef out and shortly after that even had to fire up the engine to

enter safely as the wind was vanishing almost completely. The Farosund in the early morning

hours was a quiet place. After a few miles we entered the Farosund Marina, clearly in

holiday mood as everything was closed and we the only visitor.

Gateway in Farosund Marina (‘the best of the three’ acc. to R.Vleut)

We managed to get the harbour master on the phone and gain access to the service

building, spending the rest of the day with relaxing, shopping and sleeping for a few hours

followed by a 3 km stroll along the Sund to a superb restaurant, part of a hotel build on and

in the remains of an old fortress (Fastnung Farosund) where we were enjoying the nice food,

beautiful scenery and excellent wine of this special and remote place (also a fivestar

management retreat).

The next day we had a leisurely sail to Visby along the beautiful Gotland North coast in sunny

weather and a comfortable SW3/4.

Approaching Visby from the North, sailing along the Gotland coast

Upon arrival in Visby it was clear the Swedish holiday season was over as we were berthed in

an almost empty guest harbour conveniently located near the town center. The city itself is

another example of beautiful architecture dating back to the heighdays of the Hanseatic

League. Of particular interest were the numerous churches, ranging from preserved ruins to

beautiful Lutheran cathedral-like houses of worship.

Visby hbr street into town

Taking advantage of the good weather we sailed the next day to Byxelkrok on the north tip

of the Isle of Oland, a famous stopover place for vacationers sailing to the Stockholm

archipelago or going home via the Kalmar Sund. Again, the season was clearly over and we

had to make a phone call to obtain some diesel fuel whilst there was only one restaurant

running with a reduced menu.

From Byxelkrok and still enjoying good weather and wind from the SE, allowing for an almost

direct course towards Kalmar, we left early the following day and saw the mysterious Isle Bla

Jungfrun from the west, a UFO shaped nature reserve halfway between the Swedish

mainland and Oland.

Bla Jungfrun, the mystery isle in the Kalmar Sund

We arrived in Kalmar halfway the afternoon with plenty of time to revisit the town center

and do some shopping, followed by a pizza dinner on a nice terrace and closing off with a

walk to the Kalmar Castle. The next day we sailed for Kristianopel, a place recommended by

friends at the SW-end of the Kalmar sound. This is a small pensinsula once upon a time an

important fortress in the days of the Danish occupation of Skane and Blekinge, the

southernmost parts of Sweden. The fortress changed hands several times but was finally

taken by the Swedes in the mid 17th century and almost completely demolished, only one

stone wall indicating that things were different in the past. A beautiful church also reminds

of the former days. The atmosphere of the place with its nice little cottages and abundance

of flowers is very English.

Kristianopel, very English and very traditional

The next day (27.08.09) in beautiful though almost windless weather we sailed for

Simrishamn under engine, passing outside the skerries and close to the Utklippan lighthouse.

The trip was uneventful but for a Swedish submarine that decided to surface close to us

around 12.25 and cross our bows just 50 meters ahead. Clearly the submariners had seen us

through their periscopes and decided to have their fun with us. We saw no-one on the

bridge, only the periscopes and radar antenna moved, whilst the starting diesels produced a

lot of smoke.

Swedish sub on its way to Karlskrona and having fun with yachts

We arrived at Simrishamn in the dark, having been there before making things easy and also

the fact that the guest pontoons offered plenty of room facilitated a speedy tying up and

closedown.

As the weather forecast for the next couple of days was not very promising with respect to

wind strength and direction we decided to change the plan a little bit and arrange for a crew

change in Simrishamn instead of Kiel. This worked out well as my brother in law drove down

to Simrishamn via the Fehmarn/Puttgarden ferry whilst Marius drove the car back to

Holland, using the night ferry from Trelleborg to Travemunde. In between we took part in

the Herring Day celebrations in Simrishamn, on a local scale quite an event at the end of the

summer season. This included a visit to a fish processing plant, tasting 21 varieties of spiced

herring dishes, being shown around on a Coast Guard vessel and a Lifeboat and visiting a

replica 15th century Kogge merchant ship.

Kogge visit at Simrishamn, the bow and the heads

As we were now somewhat under pressure to get back we decided to skip visits to Bornhom

and the Swedish South coast and sail directly to Gedser (Falster, Denmark), about 140 NM.

We left in the early evening expecting a relatively easy windward leg towards Bornhom Strait

but this proved to be a mistake as the wind shifted dead ahead and became stronger than

we expected, so our progress to windward (VMG) slowed down and it took us almost 6

hours (covering 12 NM upwind) before we could ease the sheets and head straight for our

destination. Even then we had to change course repeatedly to avoid the constant stream of

merchant ships coming from and going to the Oresund.

Once free of the shipping lanes we had an uneventful sail to Gedser, arriving the next day in

beautiful weather around 1700 hrs, the last couple of hours under engine as the wind

disappeared completely when we closed the isle of Falster.

The weather pattern appeared to repeat itself and we decided to leave the following

evening, expecting a favourable wind shift in the course of the day. The wind shift duly

arrived, the wind strength however was only BF 2 so we needed the engine till Fehmarn, the

wind speed increasing to 15 knots when across of Puttgarden so allowing for a pleasant sail

toward Kiel where we arrived in the early hours and berthed near the Holtenau locks.

The weather – as forecasted – quickly deteriorated and we locked through around 1130 in

drizzle, following the canal till Rendsburg where we decided to enter the Obereider See and

look for a berth in the marina of the Regatta Verein. Clearly the low pressure system had

arrived so there was no point in pushing on and getting stuck in the small Brunsbuttel yacht

harbor near the locks at the other end of the canal. Rendsburg was a much more pleasant

stopover and we used the next day to walk around and visit the ‘Flying Ferry’, even crossing

the canal as passengers!

A different view, on board the Flying Ferry at Rendsburg

The weather improved as forecasted and we arrived in Cuxhaven two days later in the

afternoon. A nice dinner in the local yacht club (KSV) concluded the successful first part of

the family ‘try-out’. A good S-ly wind was promised for (later in) the next day, so we planned

to leave (the 7th of September) later in the afternoon to benefit from the strong outgoing

tide.

The still SW wind served us well till nr 1 Elbe buoy (14 NM in 1,5 hour with the tide under

us!) but refused to turn to the S though weakening to a Bf 2-3. We fired up the engine and

managed to motorsail till the Jade nr 2 buoy, the wind finally backing and becoming S,

increasing till about 15 knots, allowing for a pleasant close reach towards our next

waypoint, the Juister Riff north cardinal buoy. The conditions stayed more or less the same

till we were off Schiermonnikoog in the early morning hours when the wind died away. The

VHF weather forecast, now being in range of the Dutch Coast Guard, was not very promising

with respect to wind conditions so we decided to call it a day and enter the Westgat,

heading for Lauwersoog, locking through around 1300 hrs and berthing in the Robbegat

Marina. We dined in the Fish Restaurant opposite the marina, the cook having selected a

nice fillet of fresh cod for us, washed away with a Heineken. One way or another a good fish

dish and a cold beer taste better when having sailed through the night.

Back in Holland, approaching the Robbengat Lock, Lauwersoog

The next day, leaving 0730 hrs, we followed the standing mast route towards Leeuwarden

and took the Harinxma canal to Harlingen, arriving in the Noorderhaven around 1830 hrs.

Anje Valk, V32 owner and fellow VYA member, a Harlingen inhabitant living nearby, came

along and we had a nice chat about our future plans and her experience of last year when

sailing her new yacht back to Holland from he British Virgin Isles.

The day after we left for Stavoren, amongst others for the Captains Dinner in the Potvis, one

of our favorite dwelling places since the VYA rally in 2005 when the Tans family started their

Marina restaurant business.

The next day, a Thursday, we sailed for Durgerdam, as the plan was to leave the yacht there

because of the VYA rally the week after and Joke, Jan’s wife promised to collect us there.

The wind served us well and we arrived around 1700 hrs, a berth being already reserved in

May and waiting for us. Joke arrived within the hour and we left the yacht in the care of the

friendly and helpful harbour master around 1900, a separation after 90 days on board

(including St Petersburg visit).

Track Gateway from 14 June-11 September 2009, app 2500 Nautical Miles (Helsinki-St Petersburg by train)