2011_05_27 - Tallinn

27th May
    Departure day! Rex, Dan and I hiked to a supermarket for last minute provisions, while Alan stayed behind to get the latest wind forecasts, and also to try and pay for our stay at the marina. A 13:00 slot with the customs to extricate ourselves from the country meant we had to leave the marina by 11:00. However, we still hadn't identified who we would have to pay the marina fees to.
    Time was running out, and Alan spent about an hour trying to explain to the clubhouse that we needed to be away by 11:00, and thus we needed to make payments immediately. He went around an endless loop with the guys in the clubhouse who in turn nattered away in Russian amongst themselves before responding to Alan with, "Later". Poor Alan reiterated our need to leave imminently. Eventually a girl was pulled in who spoke a little English, and the penny dropped, leading to debates about how much we should be charged. Once a figure was agreed, Alan tried to pay by card, but they had no terminal to accept it. In the end, they frog-marched Alan to an ATM machine and the problem was resolved.
    We said our farewells to Dan who had really enjoyed himself. He stayed behind at the marina to photograph us as we departed. We glided out across the water under a glorious blue sky, and I was quite moved as we waved to each other before our vessel disappeared behind a sea of masts.
    We motored across to the customs point, passing fishermen in rowing boats, slowly pulling their nets in, seemingly suspended in space and time.

High Speed St Petersburg River Ferry

    Vladimir met us at the customs point, and his influence lead to a quick turnaround. We were thus free to leave St Petersburg, but we still had to advise the coastguard as we passed Kronstadt. No doubt radars would track our journey all the way out of Russian territory. We shared tea with Vladimir and had a pleasant discussion of what we had been up to. On being asked what activities his other clients got up to, some were content to spend all their time in shopping centres or tourist entertainments, while one chap from Chile spent all of his three days on the back of his large boat and never set foot on land! We thanked Vladimir profusely for his help, and bade him farewell. He was a genuine, good, warm and friendly fellow.
    The leg out to Kronstadt was under motor, and there we had a chance to see the new swing bridge being built there. This was an enormous feat of engineering, the part that swung out resembled half a ship and clearly floated. It was attached at its pivotal point by an enormous ball and socket mechanism.
    Right on cue, as soon as we passed the swing bridge we received a call from the Russian coastguard, who had been tracking our every movement since leaving customs. The girl checked we were sailing to Tallinn and then said "Goodbye" - how sweet. Vladimir had assured us that they would continue to track us until we were well clear of Russian waters.
    Once past Kronstadt, we set the sails and lazily drifted between two large anchorage areas full of tankers. Meanwhile, Dan sent me a text telling me that he had successfully negotiated his way out of the country and had now landed at Heathrow. The extra documentation he had acquired in order to leave the country had not been inspected at all.

28th May
    I took the early 3 - 6am watch, usually a wonderful display of pinks and blues as the sun rose, but this morning it was a cold metallic introduction to the day with showers. We kept our vessel 200 - 400 m outside the shipping lane to avoid the packs of commercial traffic whizzing by. Alan had observed that the large ships never seemed to alter speed in order to avoid other vessels, they just altered course slightly. They also tended to move in packs.
    On my midday watch, the boat was enveloped in thick fog, a real pea-souper. I had one minor scare when a ship, that I was tracking on radar and AIS, decided to change course in order to enter a different set of shipping lanes, and there was a strong possibility of a collision. Fortunately he had spotted us on radar, and altered course to pass behind us, giving a long single blast of his horn to advise us of his intentions.
    Another huge vessel slowly appeared out of the mist, accompanied by a group of auxiliary vessels. Judging by the monstrous crane on its stern and the multiple hawsers disappearing into the cold icy depths, it must have been on a salvage operation.
    We ploughed on through lumpy seas and heavy hail storms.

29th May
    I was up at the crack of dawn, but the glowing red sun was hidden by a bank of clouds to the east. Alan advised that the water tank was almost dry. He tried the contents of one of the three spare water containers we had stowed near the bow, but the taste was noticeably plastic flavoured. We only had eight more hours to go before reaching Tallinn.

Approaching Tallinn

We motored into Tallinn and moored in the only marina available to us, Pirita Marina. Shortly after mooring I walked to the end of one of the piers, and part of the way across I was attacked by swooping terns insisting on pecking my head to the point where they drew blood. They must have been protecting their nearby nesting area, and they were making an excellent job of it. The marina was part of an integrated complex, with camping, hostels, hotels, cafes, restaurants, sports facilities and shops. The yacht club served excellent food, of which we partook later, and the waitresses spoke impeccable English. Outside the cosy restaurant a gale was blowing with torrents of rain to match. The damp weather was affecting Rex; he now had a sore throat and the sniffles.

30th May

St Olav's Church

House in Pirita

The morning was cold, windy and wet, and Alan's washing that he hung out the night before was soaking. Arrangements were set in place to rig temporary washing lines in the wheelhouse, and soon the boat looked like a Chinese laundry.
Once the washing was taken care of, we took a bus for the 5km journey into Tallinn city. Residing in the Gulf of Finland, Tallinn is the capital of Estonia. With its web of winding cobblestone streets, which developed in the 11th to 15th centuries, it is one of the most completely preserved medieval cities in Europe; a precious city on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Once a medieval Hanseatic town, it became a pawn in the geopolitical games of its big neighbours, passing into Swedish hands in 1561 and then to Russia under Peter the Great in 1710. By World War I, Estonia briefly gained independence. The country was eventually occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, only to be conquered by Nazi Germany (1941-44) and then retaken by the Soviets. In World War II, the city was quite extensively bombed by the Soviets, yet despite this the medieval town remains through careful restoration. The Soviet Union undertook a program of massive Slavic migration, and just over 40% of Tallinn's current inhabitants are Slavic (compared to an average of 28% for the entire country). On Aug 20, 1991, Estonia declared independence and Tallinn became its capital once again. Tallinn today contains lots of influence from those days, but still manages to retain an Estonian soul and identity. This is not a huge capital, the population of Tallinn is just over 400,000, but it has it all; a very rich cultural and pleasant atmosphere.

Defence Towers

Wilfarditagine Torn

    The bus route skirted a sweeping bay, Tallinna Laht, probably an excellent walk if the weather had been kind. Soon we were travelling through the streets of a very modern looking city. The modern sprawl was largely built in typical concrete Soviet style, now joined with glass-and-steel cubes celebrating the post-Soviet economic boom. We alighted just outside the old part of the city and strolled up Vana Viru to enter through the old city walls. Work on the town's defences first began in 1265, but the current outline of the wall dated back to the 14th century.
    We walked down cobbled streets with scarcely any traffic to concern ourselves with, and made our way past St Olav's Church. This 13th century church was the tallest building in the world between 1549-1625. But the 159m spire was also an effective lightening rod, and had been hit repeatably, completely burning down the structure three times.
    Our route took us down to the maritime museum next to Fat Margaret's Tower, only to find it closed. A plaque outside honoured the British sailors who helped Estonia reach its independence in the early 20th century.

Old City Town Hall

Since we were near the Town wall here, we followed it, taking in some of the defence towers, and gradually swung round to the Town Hall Square. On the way we came across groups of street performers playing music, or dancing, or just creating fun. The square was bedecked with a large stage, stalls and papier mach� statues, obviously getting geared up to events later in the day. Numerous banners indicated it was the Tallinn Flower Festival.

St Catherine's Passage

Muurivahe

The square had been the hub of the Old Town for the last eight centuries. It was surrounded by elaborate merchant houses, with numerous cafes and restaurants extending their tables out onto the perimeter of the square. It had served as a market and meeting place, and had been the site of at least one execution (resulting from a dispute over a bad omelet). The latter fact was used to wind up our resident omelet specialist, Rex.

A City Gate

A gentle amble brought us to St Catherine's Passage, the most picturesque of Old Town's lanes. The passage was a narrow walkway along the back of what used to be St Catherine's Church. It was the home to the St Catherine's Guild, a collection of craft workshops where artists used traditional methods to create and sell glassware, hats and quilts.

Toompea Castle

By now, Alan, who had picked up Rex's sore throat, was beginning to wilt, and all he wanted to do was head back to the boat under his own steam and rest up. Rex and I bundled him into a taxi and off he went, no doubt sorry to leave the city but glad to be returning to a place of refuge. Rex was also suffering, with his nose running like a tap, but he wanted to carry on exploring.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

We headed via the Town Hall Square to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a classic onion-domed 19th-century Russian Orthodox church, whose ornate interior resembled the Sepensky Cathedral in Helsinki. Interestingly, here the windows behind the alter were stained glass.

Kiek-in-de-Kok Tower

    Opposite the cathedral was Toompea Castle. Perched on a limestone cliff and towering over the rest of the city, the Toompea Castle had always been the seat of power in Estonia. Ever since the German Knights of the Sword first built a fortress here in 1227, every foreign empire that ruled the country used the castle as its base. Today it was home to Estonia's parliament.
    Dropping back down to the Town Hall Square again, we passed the Kiek-in-de-Kok, "peek-into-the-kitchen", Cannon Tower. It got its name from its location overlooking the town, so tower guards could "peek" into the windows of the houses in lower Tallinn. Kiek-in-de-Kok housed the Tallinn medieval museum. As we dropped back into the cobbled streets, hoards of fun runners were passing us in the now stiffling heat, no doubt raising funs for good causes.
    The cafes in the square beckoned us, so we sat in the sunshine and enjoyed a coffee and people watched - that was all we could do since we couldn't understand a word they spoke. The folk in the square, a mixture of local and tourists, were all laid back and full of bon homie. This was a charming old town, full of vigour and young life, with the youth providing all the entertainment on the stage.
    Exhausted, we made our way back to the boat and had an excellent meal at a restaurant at the complex. It was Rex's last night with us as he was returning to his wife and normality the following morning.

31st May

Pirita Convent

Tallinna Laht

It was a gorgeous sunny morning, quite warm with a hint of a breeze from the south; no good for sailing. Despite his heavy cold, Rex had risen early to pack his bags and stowing things away on board that he could collect later in the UK.
We all shared fond farewells over breakfast; more like uppercut banter really, and I escorted Rex to his taxi and waved him off. He would be missed on the boat; a stout hearted, easy going soul, always with a smile on his face and full of banter. He acted as a gel for us all.

Modern Tallinn

Tall Hermann's Tower

    Alan was suffering badly from Rex's cold that he had caught, and was clearly out of it for the day. He just wanted to spend the day in his bunk, and hopefully have some reserve left for a meal out tonight.
    He excused me for continuing to explore Tallinn, and I made my way across the Pirita River which runs into the marina, and over the way to the Pirita Convent Ruin Park. Pirita derives its name from the Swedish name Birgitta, which is the origin of the anglisised form Bridget. St. Bridget's Convent was founded there at the beginning of the 15th century and operated for about 150 years. In January 1575, the Russian army destroyed the convent and took the nuns prisoner. Two years later, they returned for more thorough devastation. After that the ruins were temporarily used as a refuge and a neighbourhood quarry. Not until 400 years later, in 1980, was the Ruins Park of the medieval monastery opened, and in 2001, the new Pirita Convent was consecrated.
    Since it was such a lovely day, I hiked all the way into town along the beautiful sweeping Tallinna Laht with its sandy beaches, busy with walkers, joggers, cyclists and skaters. I entered the new town purely to buy a new phone, my existing one being almost useless by now. Texts were getting garbled and one message even ended up at the wrong number.
    Once semi-up-to-date with technology, I headed up to the Toompea Castle again to get a view from the old battlements angle, and take in the Tall Hermann's Tower. At 48m, the "pikk hermann" was the tallest defensive tower on the Tallinn city wall.

Baltic Trip - Tallinn 27th - 31st May: