ARC Baltic - Time to leave Tallinn
by World Cruising Club 26 Jul 2019 22:08 UTC
2019 ARC Baltic - Town Museum © World Cruising
It's been an educational stopover in Tallinn for ARC Baltic crews with visits to the Seaplane Harbour (Estonian Maritime Museum) with a great array of exhibits to see including ships, and even a submarine that you could walk around and explore. A yellow submarine adventure around the world in four minutes! But that's not all to do in this amazing and varied city; the hop on hop off buses can whizz you around really easily to the many attractions and the pick up from the marina is perfect.
The crew dinner on Monday night at Maikrahv restaurant in old town was great night, with a huge variety of Estonian dishes served in a buffet-banquet style, by traditionally dressed young men and women. Quite a feat to serve 70 people all at once and not a single complaint was heard. Chicken, local pate roasted pork with slightly cheesy roast potatoes, pickled fish and so many gherkins you just couldn't eat them all. A variety of vegetarian dishes, rice and salads and not to mention the delicious breads also emerged from the kitchen. All followed by a wild berry cake and incredible lime sorbet. An excellent feast all round!
Wednesday 24th July, a beautiful sunny day, saw the fleet all waiting on the dockside for their check out of Europe in preparation for their entry into Russia on Friday. Many of the crews were sad to be starting the process to wave goodbye to Estonia.
After awaiting the border police and customs officer, the process started with the skipper of each yacht having to present his crew in person with all passports and ships papers. "What happens if I don't clear out and just turn up in Russia?" asked one of the skippers. Quite a simple answer really - "You won't get into Russia to see the ballet or the opera!" The process went smoothly in the end with the formalities completed, and the ARC Baltic yachts all set to sail onwards to St. Petersburg - they will get so see the world famous arts after all!
The fleet will depart during this evening and early tomorrow morning in order to arrive at a pre-determined time in Krondstadt to clear into Russia. With strict rules enforced on alcohol, many of the crews have been trying, very hard, to finish or at least reduce the amount in their ships supplies over the previous days, so the relaxed departure has been appreciated.
The weather is set to be mainly westerly winds for the first part of trip and light 5-10knts until it dies out and returns from the east at about the same strength. Luckily diesel is cheap in Russia.
Once all the clearances are done the yellow shirt team will jump on a train for a seven hour ride to St Petersburg, hopefully uneventful, and get ready to welcome our fleet on Friday afternoon. Our helpful agent Vladimir will be on hand to ensure a smooth process and share with ARC Baltic crews the great experience of visiting Russia. You can follow the fleet on their way via the tracker at www.worldcruising.com/arc_baltic/eventfleetviewer.aspx