Month: June 2018

Thursday 7 June

Skipper joined Mate on deck at 0300, to take his watch. It was already daylight and as the wind was building, Mate helped him set the first reef in the mainsail before retiring. At 0500 the motion was unpleasant, with a quartering sea creating a corkscrew effect through my hull with every wave, so Mate got up again to take the helm while Skipper took in the second reef. We passed another uncharted yellow buoy, flanked by marker buoys – top secret or temporary? Certainly a hazard waiting to trip up the unwary, especially on a tiring night passage.

By 0700 the wind had veered to the West and was still F5, maintaining the uncomfortable swell on the port beam, so Mate gave up trying to sleep below and returned to the cockpit, where she napped between bouts of seasickness for a couple of hours.

At 1415 it was decided that we were far enough North to have cleared most of the prohibited sea area dictated by Kaliningrad, as commercial vessels were clearly crossing it well South of us, as could be seen on the AIS display on the chart plotter, so we turned East five miles short of the Northern extremity line, shook out the reefs in the mainsail and ran downwind, with the waves more squarely behind us, and the motion much more comfortable. Of course, the wind now began to ease as well.

Mate got some quality rest between 1700-1900, and then enjoyed last night’s leftovers of a small portion of prawn linguine, before taking the 2000-2300 watch so Skipper could enjoy the night sky tonight. The wind dropped to a variable F1-2 before filling from the SSE F3-4, allowing me to sail faster than I needed, as we didn’t want to arrive before full daylight for safer entry into an unfamiliar port. Mate decided to enjoy the sailing, and worry later about our arrival, depending on conditions prevailing by that time. At 2130 she changed course by 20˚ to clear the path of a large passenger ferry that was heading out from our destination. Another spectacular sunset.

Wednesday 6 June

Once again, Skipper washed and watered, while Mate set off on a bit of a wild goose chase, taking in a little more of modern Gdansk en route, but ending up disillusioned after finding herself in TKMaxx “never in the UK” and then a Polish supermarket not yet sampled – Biedronka has a cute ladybird logo, but otherwise: you have been warned.

We said our farewells to Desiré and Gdansk, and set off in time for the 1730 opening of the bascule bridge just downriver of the marina. Once again we dipped the ensign at Westerplatte and cleared out of the port. We set the mainsail and genoa once we had sea room between the two TSS channels that converge into Gdansk, but in a light wind variable between SE and SW, we furled the genoa and ran downwind under just the mainsail at around 3.5 knots, as the swell eased a little.

Mate stood the overnight watch, enjoying a beautiful sunset at around 2115, and keeping an eye on the occasional shipping. Around midnight some cloud from the still light Northern sky spread to obscure some of the stars, but it was never completely dark. She observed a cargo vessel change course to clear our path and pass ahead of us, and then gybed the mainsail and set the staysail for a port tack.

At 0115 she radioed a ship coming up from astern, to check they were aware of us ahead of them, and would clear us safely. A huge orange waning half moon rose from the Eastern horizon just before 0200 as we surfed Northwards.

Tuesday 5 June

For some reason, my crew seemed slow to get going this morning, and just as they were beginning to think about heading off for the planned day’s trip, my new friend Desiré arrived in the marina with her Dutch crew and gorgeous sea-dog. They came over for afternoon tea and a catch-up, before my two finally got on their bikes to visit the European Solidarity Centre at the Lenin Shipyards, the site of events that led to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

This location was high on Mate’s list of ‘attractions’, as she (and Skipper) have vivid memories of watching news reports of this period of huge upheaval in European modern history, at home with family in their teenage years. It proved to be a fascinating afternoon, a superb museum and a moving memorial – highly recommended. There are many other sites of interest in this attractive city, which is a great destination for a long weekend or city break.

The evening was rounded off most convivially by the company of our new Dutch friends for supper of Duck Rendang curry and fresh fruit salad. Of course, they thought I was gorgeous.

Monday 4 June

Having watched over the weekend with growing unease the continuous procession of vessels of all shapes and sizes tying up to the fuel berth, the crew was relieved when Monday morning began quiet and clear. Even having sold over 20,000 litres of diesel in the last few days, they still had enough left for my tanks to be filled. At least Skipper could be confident it won’t have lain dormant at the pump, harbouring contaminants that will affect Trevver’s smooth operation.

We enjoyed an easy reach under genoa past the attractive city of Sopot, a spa town and, back in the day, favoured playground of the German Reich. As we entered Nowy Port at the mouth of the Wisła River, we dipped our ensign while passing the monument to the Defenders of Westerplatte, where the first shots of the Second World War were fired by a German battleship. It was then a long motor following the river and the Kanals Portowy and Kaszubski, through dusty, dirty and smelly shipyards and past semi-derelict wharves. Eventually we reached the Motława River into the heart of the old city of Gdansk, where we slipped into a marina berth between Granary Island and the 5* boutique Hotel Gdansk.

Like so much of what we’ve seen elsewhere of Poland, huge regeneration projects are under construction, and so it is with multiple apartment blocks on Granary Island: a dusty, noisy building site from early morning until teatime. A walk into town to find some of the highlights of the guidebook left us by our friendly local lady revealed Dutch Renaissance architecture similar to that we enjoyed in Amsterdam…except this was destroyed during WWII and has been rebuilt. Somehow it feels a little like walking through a cardboard cut-out film set of Holland’s capital city, but is nonetheless attractive. We followed a recommendation in the guide for a delicious alfresco supper of tapas at Patio Español.

Sunday 3 June

Curiously, Mate’s recovery seemed to stem from clearing four loads of laundry for very few Euros, so it was another day of Yorkshire bunting decorating my decks. Meanwhile, Skipper washed me down and filled my water tanks – it is believed the last batch of water taken on, even filtered at source, may have contributed to mild ‘unhappy tummy syndrome’ on board.

In the cooler evening, they stretched their legs with a stroll to a kiosk nearby for what seems to be a local speciality, a very tall soft ice cream of chocolate and vanilla swirled together. This was enjoyed on the city beach, where Mate decided it was just too over-used to be an attractive place to paddle, and they meandered instead among street entertainers and musicians along shady tree-lined boulevards.

Gdynia is a very young city: it was granted city rights on 10 February 1926, having been built by workers from all over Poland (before they emigrated to the UK) in the five preceding years. It offers numerous examples of Art Deco and Modernist architecture, as well as buildings from the Socialist era of post-war Europe and a rash of new builds in the modern post-communist Poland. It has a wide central avenue, reminiscent of Barcelona’s Las Ramblas, that leads down to the yacht harbour and aquarium, and is laid out with attractive planting and interesting sculptures.

Saturday 2 June

…today had good parts and bad. The crew had a very interesting chat with a lady who’d first said hello in Hel, and spotted me again here in Gdynia. She is a tour guide in Gdansk, having trained as an engineer and architect, native Polish and fluent in English, and described a childhood under Communist rule and the position of modern Poland in Europe. It was a rare and fascinating opportunity to really understand aspects of a country we are visiting, and she had many recommendations of what not to miss seeing in the nearby area.

Unfortunately all this talk led to the crew finding a very late lunch in one of the harbourside restaurants, prior to a provisioning run. Even more unfortunately, Mate made a poor choice of a tuna salad, which she deemed almost inedible, although Skipper tucked into his barbecued pork steak and potato wedges with some enthusiasm.

They then cycled into the well-stocked indoor market and chilled hall fish market, returning laden with fresh produce. By now Mate’s headache had developed into a full-blown migraine, and she retired into the shaded and relatively cool forecabin. Inevitably the festival was still in full swing, and it was another night of gig into the early hours.

Friday 1 June

The crew pottered about in a leisurely way, finally deciding they were ready to slip my lines and head out into the Gulf of Gdansk. Whilst calling harbour control for permission to leave Hel behind, a large rib charged heedlessly across my bows, apparently intent on giving its passengers a last thrill before returning them to land. I bounced inelegantly across their wake, but soon settled into a more ladylike glide under genoa across to Gdynia. It was hot under the afternoon sun, and so calm Mate sat on my spacious back step to trail her feet in the cool water of my wake.

Skipper turned me neatly into the harbour mouth, but as we rounded the breakwater it was a bit of a shock to be confronted with dozens of people in the sea (in a buoyed-off area), right next to the fairway. Later we were to see a rescue rib charge out of the harbour mouth with its blue light flashing, only to come straight back in again to reprimand a group of lads who had decided it would be good sport to jump off the end of the inland breakwater, right into the path of incoming yachts.

We found ourselves in the middle of a large regatta of dinghies, with apparently simultaneous racing of Optimists, Lasers and 420s, being skirted crazily by jet skis and motorboats – peaceful it was not. We had to wait alongside a large motorboat for its guests to finish lunch drinks and say goodbye, whereupon the skipper released the lines and motored off somewhere else. Eventually we were secured to the quay wall to enjoy the entertainment.

Inside the sheltered harbour it was very hot, close and stormy, so the bimini was opened out for shade. The crew opted to wander into town where they found a lovely non-traditional supper at Pasta Miasta, with a great vibe reminiscent of Jamie’s Italian in the early days. There were a few feeble spots of rain, but the weather didn’t break, which was a shame as it may have drowned out the gig just off the harbour that continued pouring out the worst racket imaginable until 0100 Saturday morning.