Onwards and eastwards

Crew have arrived.  Good to see the girls from last year and their friend Fran whom they brought with them.  They also brought the rain, which is not so welcome, and ENORMOUS bags laden with heavens knows what.  They claim they are so heavy because of the Cadbury's Dairy Milk they have brought out fo me but the clinks of glass bottles gave the game away. They took me out for a belated birthday celebration dinner on 14th.  Most appreciated, even if two of them nodded off during dinner.  My sparkling company at work again!  Or their 5.00am start.

Strong winds are forecast for Saturday so we have decided to sit tight and leave on Sunday.  I spent Saturday on a fruitless search for a new power supply for the ipod docking station but I got to see a lot of Helsinki on crowded trams and buses.  Found a Thai festival in progress and was amused by really bored looking Thai girls giving '5 minute mini massages' for 2 Euros. I saved my money - I had my birthday treat yesterday!

Headed 30 NM east to Porvoo on Sunday.  Porvoo dates from the 14th century it seems.  The futuristic road bridges weren't that old I'm sure but part of the old town was pleasant enough, well as pleasant as it could be in the torrential rain.  I sheltered in a bar that served what must have been the weakest coffee on the planet.  Made Starbucks almost drinkable.  Yes,that bad!

A small natural harbour was our next port of call.  Idyllic, an almost fully enclosed bay in an island with a few dry closet toilets, barbeque areas and not much else.  Apart from trees, noisy birds and utter solitude.  The 'sunset' was spectacular although it hardly set at all this far north (60 degrees N) at this time of year.  Not a breath of wind in marked contrast to the 30 knots we had across the deck just as we arrived at the mouth of the harbour a few hours ago.  

We are now just 35NM from Haappasaari which is the last border checking out post from Finland.  From there we have a 95NM non-stop leg to Kronstadt which is the border post for checking into St Petersburg another 19NM further on.  We'll leave on Thursday afternoon, sail through the night and arrive (hopefully) around midday Friday.  Well that's the plan. We can't stop (Russian coast patrols make sure of that) and we have to stick religously to the shipping lanes.  It's a spell in a gulag for any boat contravening these regulations according to Vladimir, our man in St P who is waiting in Kronstadt to help with the porcessing of reams of paperwork each skipper has to provide.  And the border guards are new to the job this year and are applying the regulations zealously.  Could be fun!