Good downwind sailing from Tallinn to Russia
with anti gybe, precision steering from Christopher.
We negotiated the narrow traffic separation
scheme into Russian waters in thick fog passing ships and cruise liners closer
that we would normally due to the width of the channel.
A little tussle with customs, 5 ¼ hours,
sniffer dogs, 5 custom officers and some of our beer saw us safely through the
immigration and customs process! A long story to be told over a glass of wine
(or beer!).
On this trip rather than arriving everywhere
in the middle of the night as on previous trips, we are setting a pattern of
arriving in 30+ knots of wind. St
Petersburg lived up to this; which actually turned out to be to our advantage
as we were given a berth on the super yacht pontoons. The boys were pleased as we are in sight of
the 2018 Football World Cup Stadium.
We have enjoyed four very full and busy days
exploring St Petersburg and the surrounding areas – one night we ended up in a
remote bus depot unexpectedly, followed by a long walk back to Shenanigan.
On our first day, we met up with our friends
Phill and Jane, visited The Church on Spilled Blood, and had a very good
evening meal all together.
Next morning we were treated to a reception
in the Hermitage theatre followed by a private tour of the museum before it opened to
the public – World Cruising Club you excelled yourself! Words cannot express the magnificence and
grandeur of this stunningly beautiful palace – a moment in life where breath
was truly taken away. We finished the
day with a vodka tasting session in the Vodka Museum. This included a guided tour of the museum
explaining the significance of vodka in Russian history, and vodka tasting.
Brian was not keen on the Russian canapés that came with the vodka shots!
On Saturday morning we went to Peterhof, Summer
Palace and gardens, with it’s 147 fountains.
Security here was tight and we even had to wear shoe protectors,
unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the palace. Another incredible breath taking moment.
A quick dash back to the marina so that Brian
and I could change for an evening at the ballet with Jane at the new Marinsky
Theatre to watch Le Corsaire performed by the Kirov Ballet. While we were at the ballet, Phill treated
Christopher and Timmy to an evening at a Russian bar off the beaten track for
supper and to sample some of the 30 beers available on tap. The ballet was
absolutely amazing and afterwards we joined Phill and the boys for a small
sample of the beers (I had cider!) and a bite to eat. I think we got to bed sometime after 3am –
not good with a skippers’ briefing at 9am the next morning.
We made the briefing a little bleary eyed and
then headed into town again. We visited
the St Peter and Paul fortress and tombs of old Tsars. Today was a public
holiday – Navy Day – which brought out huge numbers of people to the
streets. Russian Naval vessels
congregated in the River Neva and the streets were full of sailors, past and
present, in their Naval uniforms along with the public waving flags and
acknowledging the Naval service. The
atmosphere conveyed the proudness of a nation and was quite moving.
Our plans are to leave here tomorrow morning
(27th July) to sail to Haapasaari Island, Finland (95nm) before going
on to Helsinki; where once again we will meet up with Phill and Jane who are
travelling to Helsinki via train on Tuesday.