Sunday 27 May
We slipped Darłowo ready for the 1000 opening of the bridge, and soon found ourselves in a dense fog. It was still sunny, as the fog was lying low over the sea, but with visibility down to a boat’s length, the radar was switched on to give us warning of oncoming hazards. Fortunately, many of the flag stakes used hereabouts to mark fishing nets are fitted with a radar reflector, which helps the alert helm avoid tangling with them.
As ever, the wind was on the nose once we had passed safely through the fog, and it became a day of long tacks towards Sweden, away in the North, and shorter tacks towards the Polish shoreline. As many sailors will attest, as you tack a boat, the wind bends, and it became progressively more frustrating trying to make a decent angle that would give us some forward progress, particularly as the wind built towards a high F6, and Skipper took the second reef in my mainsail. At least it stayed dry and bright today.
Today’s distance was meant to be a nice easy 20M; our log recorded 33, so it may come as no surprise to read that, around a couple of miles from our destination, Mate gave up the battle, called for the sails to be dropped and motored into Ustka behind a fishing boat, rolling around in the swell. She handed the helm to Skipper for the entrance, which required a deep breath, gunning the engine and going for it, as I slid inelegantly sideways over the shallows and round the corner between the breakwaters into the harbour basin.
Once in calmer water, Mate prepared me for berthing, whilst Skipper tried in vain to call the port Kapitan for permission to enter. It later transpired that we suffered more electronics damage in the thunderstorms than we had realised: we already knew our windex had been fried, but also, both our VHF radio and AIS were receiving but not transmitting, and our water temperature gauge was telling us the Baltic was a balmy 50˚C!
The bridge here was open ready for us (actually it opens for shipping for the last 40 minutes of every hour in the daytime), and we were welcomed to our indicated berth by a friendly bosman, once again against a quay wall amidst the pirate ships. Ustka felt warm and ‘seaside-y’, with attractive buildings lining the quay, many of them wharves and warehouses converted into hotels and restaurants. The facilities left a little to be desired, as is often the case in Mate’s opinion, but then they have to be good to match what I offer.