Haapasaari

We sailed two days eastwards from Tallinn in bright but cold conditions. The air temperature was just 1-2°C and the water -0.2°C. We saw no ice but a balaclava was essential head wear! In both stop-over ports we were the first boat of the season and facilities such as water not yet available. There is an old song from British Empire days “Mad dogs and Englishmen out in the midday sun!” We wonder what  variation would be appropriate here?

From Kiiuvista we sailed 60nm north east across the Gulf of Finland to the Finnish island of Haapasaari to position ourselves for departure to Russia. We had to sail in a long arc to avoid entering Russian waters prematurely. The boundary is not marked out at sea and has been in contention until recently.

Haapasaari is actually an archipelago with a main island. We tucked into the tiny harbour with an extremely narrow entrance between the rocks. The harbour is surrounded by Finnish holiday homes (For NZ readers ‘Batches’). There are no roads or cars and just a few paths passable by a quad bike which carries stores unloaded from the free ferry which connects to the main land two hours away. The islands are mainly of flat smooth rocks, which make a good base for a house or a slipway for launching boats.

We are only six weeks from mid-summer, which is a very important holiday in Finland.  The days are long and we go to bed in the light. Yet we struggle to keep the batteries charged by the solar panels as the sun is so weak. Tony suspects ice in the stratosphere is deflecting the sun and hence keeping things cold. We have just heard Liz is off on a river cruise in Spain and Portugal and rather envy her the warmth!

Haapasaari has a border post at which we can clear out of the EU and have the ship’s papers stamped ready for inspection by Russian border control. We have notified our friendly Russian agent Vladimir of our plans so he can forewarn the Russian Coastguard of our approach.  St Petersburg – here we come!

love, Ynskje & Tony