July 31, 2007 -- Yesterday's sail from Klaipeda to Gydnia, Poland was the wildest ride yet. At times, we were sailing through 35 knot winds, with Big Sky pounding into waves that peaked about 5 meters high and her bow lifting 10-15 feet in the air before banging on the waves. Twice, I had to go out on the deck to secure the lines (ropes). Con had to concede that if one of us was tossed over, it better be me, as Con could collect me faster than I'd collect him. The starboard bow line had gone overboard and was dragging in the water. The danger is that it could drag and get into the propeller. Wearing my Gill storm suit and life jacket, I left the cockpit, keeping my knees bent and carefully moved forward, one hand on the rail, and other on the pilot house handles. Seven steps remained where I'd have just one arm on the rail with nothing else to hold. Big Sky was lifting high with a very large wave just as I reached the line. With a loud "bash!" it came down on the wave, causing the sea to rush over the bow and under my feet. I held tight. When Big Sky started to lift again, I quickly pulled in the line and waited for the bash again. It pounded down, the sea rushing past my feet. Big Sky was lifting the third time, as I tied the lines onto the cleat, and turned to make my way back to the cockpit, completely soaked. The next challenge was changing my clothes while Big Sky was pounding the waves. We settled inside, secure in our pilot house. We took two hour shifts through the night, watching the wind and for other ships. Not much activity, just two other ships, one really close, the other at a distance. As dawn was breaking, the wind was just right, so Con went out and set some sail. Not long after, we were nearing 9.5 knots so Con went back out to reef the sails, as that's a bit too much heeling -- not as comfortable inside. This turned out to be a major task against the wind. He turned Big Sky into the wind to free the pressure on the sail and as expected, it was flapping madly. The jib was reefed on the port side, but the starboard lines had tangled wildly around the jib line and would have to be freed. This time, I put on the harness and hooked myself to the rail and went out on the heeling side, with the water rushing past my feet just a foot below. I managed to unravel the mess and the next challenge was climbing back into the cockpit with the wind pushing me so hard. The harness lines are a double clip system, so when I unclipped to move to a new location, the second clip was in place. All safe, just sounds and looks scary. We were 17 hours on the sea, arriving in Gydnia by 2 p.m. that afternoon. Having not eaten since our departure, we had a bowl of soup and a sandwich and slept for a few hours. When we woke, we were still hungry and set out by bike in the pouring rain to eat authentic Polish food at a restaurant. Today, we'll visit the train station to see about rail tickets to Warsaw and Berlin.
July 29, 2007 -- The Festival of the Sea continued today in Klaipeda. The theme in the Baltics seems to have been beer and beautiful women with very short skirts.
Most of the people in the Baltics are caucasion. We've seen one black woman (from the USA), and maybe two oriental (and they were probably tourists too). Obesity is rare. Unfortunately, alcohol has played a bad role in this society and it's not unusual to see people staggering down the street with beer in their hands (young and old).
The winds are just right for our departure tonight for Poland. This will be our longest sail yet, 140 nautical miles. Con and I will take shifts throughout the day and night and we hope to arrive around 8 p.m. tomorrow. It's a long passage, because we have to cross the Russian border south of us (and we do not have permission to stop there) then make our way west to Poland.

July 28, 2007 -- We suspected a rough sea as we neared the Liepaja protective breakwater. Just 50 meters from the exit, and the large rolling waves were already mounting. They were crashing into the outside breakwater and soaring at least 20 meters high. We safely exited and Con let the main up to reef it close for stability, then let out the jib, which sent our speed to about 7 knots on a very close haul. The wind was registering 30 knots. That's the most we've had yet. This was not a day for the fair-weather sailor.

After about an hour, the waves were breaking starboard and some making their way into our cockpit. A few even broke on top of our dodger! Con tucked himself comfortably under the dodger in the cockpit, I took a position laying on the pilot house cushions, and with Big Sky on autopilot, letting her do all the work. Nearly eight hours later, we tied to the Klaipeda inner harbour dock, having traveled 51.2 nautical miles. Con was called four times on the VHF to confirm the name of our vessel and our location. It's good to know the Coast Guard is always there. We heard a "Man Overboard" message, not a nice time to be in the sea. They got him out. Tough sailing day. (Don't fret though, we're very very safe on Big Sky, as it's a large vessel and Con is an expert captain.)

The annual Klaipeda Festival of the Sea is on, with bands playing right outside our bow. We need to wash the salt out of our hair and go check it out.

See video.

July 27, 2007 -- Albertine left this morning after great longs hugs. It was a special time for the three of us to experience this unique part of the world, where time seems to have stood still during the Soviet occupation, and a place where tourists really haven't discovered -- yet. (Other than the major centres like Riga and Tallinn.)

The Estonians and Latvians are wonderful people, set to the task of restoring their once beautiful countries. The young women are gorgeous, with long legs, long hair, slim bodies. It was not unusual for us to walk up to a church built in the 1300's and see it without the influence of touristy things. We could explore areas that we believe would have normally been closed off to the public.

We ate authentic Baltic foods, shopped in their local markets, and visited their unrestored sites to be able to see and feel the contrasts of yesterday's Baltics, the Soviet period, and today.

Con and I are spending the day charting our next few weeks where we'll connect with Lindsey September 1st. We anticipate a series of longer sailing days, and perhaps a few train trips to take us into Warsaw and Berlin and a few inland locations.

July 25, 2007 -- What a way to take Albertine on her last sail with Big Sky, reaching an average of 7.1 with speeds reaching 9.2 knots on our sail to Liepaja. We had a steady beam reach with 22-25 knot winds cutting our sailing time almost in half. This was our best sail yet, in terms of sustained speed. If the sun had shone, it would have been perfect! The docking was perfect, the harbour facilities superb.

Our observation on Latvia is that they're forgiving people with respect to the Soviet occupation. Having just achieved their independence -- again -- they quickly secured their position with the European Union to have a western identity, moving them further from the Russian sphere of influence. Con spoke with the Harbour Master in Ventspils, a 30-year old entrepreneur who shared an intimate conversation of the subject. In his opinion, the current situation is not correctly reported in the media and that there is no animosity between the remaining Russians and the Latvians. The change to independence has resulted in many positives for the country and its people with the only negative remaining from that period, the corruption.

One can clearly distinguish between the old Latvian architect and the colourless, dull Russian concrete four-walls and a roof styled buildings. Many of which are former factories and are today empty.

Today, they have many national parks and two blue-flag beaches (which is a high standard of cleanliness). We've watched families visiting the forests to pick berries and mushrooms. Many homes have well kept gardens with flowers and vegetables.

Latvia and Estonia in our opinion look and feel very authentic, without a lot of western influence and tourism. In the small towns, we were able to have a nice meal with appetizers and wine and the three of us spending less than CND$50.

July 24, 2007 -- First thing this morning, the diver arrived to see what's locked our anchor to the sea bottom.


Video freeing Big Sky's Anchor

Once repaired, we headed to the marketplace.
See video.
July 23, 2007 -- We just sat down for supper when we heard the bump. Big Sky's bow hit the dock, all 26 tons of her, as she thrusted forward with the gale storm that's promising 26 knot winds tonight.

We immediately took our stations, Albertine at the bow lines, me at the stern anchor and Con at the wheel. Albertine untied, as the crowd of onlookers gathered. There were sympathetic concerns on their faces as no one wished to untie at this point of the storm. Con slowly backed up, as I pushed the anchor "up" button -- it stopped. Stuck! Con and I switched places as he tried to trick the electric button into lifting that heavy anchor. Meanwhile, Big Sky was in the centre of the harbour as I danced with the forward, reverse, bow thruster "left," bow thruster "right," trying to encourage the anchor to lift. The Harbour Master called to us "there's an old anchor in the harbour, you're stuck on it!" Con said, "take her back to the dock." I turned Big Sky around aiming for the dock on an angle to accommodate the strong wind. Very very carefully I moved her forward using the bow thruster to keep her from bashing the boats to our left and right. Boat owners from each side were standing guard to protect their boats. If they only knew, if Big Sky was coming at them, there was nothing they could do. Albertine and Con threw the lines to the eight or so men waiting to help. The storm was persistently trying to make fools of us, but thank God Big Sky responded to the bow thruster and forward/reverse motions I gave her; she made me look like a pro! The Border Guards applauded from their ship just behind and to my starboard, then applause from the people on the dock. Once secure, I walked forward to see how I did and one of the men called out to me "Good job Skipper!" I told Con that he may not be able to stand my ego for the next little while. A diver from another boat told Con he'd go down and check it because "we're sea brothers." Thank God Con didn't volunteer for THAT job. (See the feature photo from Tallinn.)
See the short video on the storm.

July 22, 2007 -- Yesterday, the three of us took a break from touring to enjoy the sun and scrubbed Big Sky. Later, Albertine and Con wrestled with the jib to get it down and do a few repairs.


The Latvians grooms carry their brides across the bridge. Big Sky was moored right under the bridge. We could hear people saying "Canada!" and calling out English words of "welcome" to us. So many people think that we've just sailed across from Canada.

Today, we set sail to Ventspils, a major oil terminal and one of the richest town located on the west side of Latvia. As we arrived, the Harbour Master called out "use your anchor" to which Con and I both caught ourselves wishing that we'd tried that stern anchor in advance. I took the wheel, Con pulled the clip from the stern anchor and let it drop at a precise spot, and I motored Big Sky bow to the dock. Albertine tossed the lines, all the while wondering when Con would come forward to deal with the "anchors."(Big Sky has two at the bow and one at the stern.) We're well tied up, as a Gale Force with 35-40 knots of wind is coming. We'll remain in Ventspils until it passes.

Click on video for a view of Roja.

The Soviets had built up Ventspils as an industrial centre, and the Soviet's oil and gas industry gave it the wealth it enjoys today. The pipelines have dried up, as a result of the bad relations between Russians and Latvians, putting the little town's future into jeopardy. However, the industry's wealth is seen in the manicured parks, tidy streets and renovated buildings.

July 20, 2007 -- We arrived at Roja for dinner after a 12 hour motor/sail from Riga. It's a commercial fishing harbour at the mouth of the Roja River.

Albertine and Barb; Fishing Harbour

Video of our tour of Riga

Albertine flies home next week from Riga, but since we're moving beyond Riga, we explored bus, train and what-the-heck how about a flight. Con found a flight from Leipaja to Riga for LAT$1 and bought it on the spot. (That's CND$2!)

Video: Albertine's Arrival

July 19, 2007 -- Latvia quite possibly has the most beautiful young women and they let you know about it with the way they dress. They wear really see-through tops, the shortest skirts or shorts I've ever seen and their legs go up to their arm pits! Interestingly, they all look like Paris Hilton -- the influence of television and magazines we suppose. By contrast, some of the older woman who lived through the Soviet occupation look rather worn out. See the Photo Albums.


Generally the people speak English and are very friendly. Tourism is just lifting off in Latvia and Riga will be a very popular destination very soon. The costs are twice what we've paid in Estonia, but are close to par for Euro1.50€. One Lat (one Latvian currency) is worth CND$2. Last night, we attended an Organ Concert at the Dome Church below. Huge sound generated by one man. Below a beautiful Lativan building with a Soviet constructed concrete building built to its side and on the roof.

July 17, 2007 -- We left the island last night at 6:00 pm for an overnight sail to Riga, Latvia. Con, Albertine and I each did a rotation of two-hour shifts which worked out so well. We had a favourable breeze for the first half of the trip, and motored the rest. It was a smooth crossing, with almost no other vessels, with the exception of a Swedish boat that crossed behind me very closely in the night. The nights are beautiful here, as the setting sun leaves a full peach-tangerine skyline in the west. At some point, during my night shift, a bright lime-green star fell into the sea to the east. Such a simple thing left me with such joy. Our life-pace has slowed down and we're enjoying so much the world has to offer. Albertine, Con and I are setting out to tour Riga.

Big Sky's name was only on the stern until tonight, when we carefully put letters on Big Sky's upper front deck. We searched online for boat letters and to our surprise the best price and product was from Saskatchewan!

July 15, 2007 -- We rented a car today (I think it was the Harbour Master's friends car). Saaremaa Island is so understated. See video. Our first stop was the Kaali Meteorite Craters. We moved on to the Kaarma Church, where swallows were waiting for their parents to feed them at the front door of the church.


See the photo album called Saaremaa Island. Tomorrow, we'll tour the other half of the island.

July 14, 2007 -- Last night, we motored 100.6 nautical miles to the Estonia Island of Saaremaa.
Con motoring last night; Albertine taking down the flag as soon as we arrived (11:30 p.m.)

This morning, we untied and moved to a spot closer to the castle. Our journey took us over marsh land, where they'd warned that it was really shallow in parts. Big Sky's depth is 2.2 meters.


Entering the murky waters, Con, Albertine and I held our breath watching the meter, as the sea gulls lined up on the rocks 6 meters to our right and left.
The marina is well worth the trench Big Sky made through the opening to get here. We toured the Kuressaare Castle, the only entirely preserved medieval stone castle in all of the Baltics with a beautiful moat surrounding it.


On the tall slope overlooking the moat we watched a mother swallow feeding her babies. Con got very close to the baby.



July 13, 2007 -- This morning, we left our tight slip at Lehtma, Estonia where yesterday we'd blown in on a 27 knot wind to a tricky tie up. Big Sky kept bashing the boat beside us, and while Con used the bow thruster, to keep her in place, Albertine and I quickly tied all our bumpers to that side of the boat. For added affect, our stern line got caught under our hanging anchor creating another difficult situation which we overcame. Con pulled a spring line on our starboard side to the dock and we settled in for dinner. A few moments later, another boat came at a quick clip running over our spring line. Having let that line and our bow line go, you can imagine that we had a bit of fun trying to settle her back at the dock. About 11 p.m., Albertine and I were cozy in the pilot house watching "Ray" when to our amazement, a 16 meter wide yacht attempted to squeeze into about a 1/2 foot space to our right, exactly where the boat earlier that evening successfully attempted to squeeze in! See the brown boat on the left of the photo below. I quickly juggled bumpers and once the boats settled, we all fit. At the time, Con was off touring; not much but a bit of logging on the island.



In the morning, I backed Big Sky up out of our skinny slip and motored in reverse until I could swing her around in the small space. The marina dwellers watched with curiosity as one woman maneuvers the big boat out of the tricky space, the man tackles the stern clip and lines and the other woman manages the bow lines all the while socializing in any language necessary.

We charted our course for a small harbour that wasn't suitable, so we quickly changed our course for a further destination, arriving at midnight.

July 10, 2007-- We're watched all the time! Leaving Pirita (Tallinn's marina) the coast guard called us this morning on Channel 16 "Big Sky Big Sky Big Sky, this is the Coast Guard, turn to Channel 20." They wanted to know where we were heading.