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We have abandoned Blue Dove in Priozersk, on the western shore of Lake Ladoga. All locked up and bereft of life, she looks lonely and forlorn. I know how she feels. I wonder when we…
Category Archives: 53 – Russia
Valaam
On the far north of Lake Ladoga lies Valaam Island, home to one of the holiest of Russian Orthodox monasteries. A rich collection of churches, sketes and shrines dating from the 14th century dot the…
Priozersk
Since St Petersburg we have encountered just 2 yachts. Both of them small Russian boats with modest outboards. It is quite extraordinary that such wonderful cruising grounds are so empty of yachts. So Priozersk came…
Konovets monastery
Talk about contrasts! We had not expected to find such a delightful anchorage last night and wondered how the monastery island of Konovets, our next destination and one of the goals of our Ladoga cruise, could…
Dalyokaya Bukhta
On the western side of Lake Ladoga, Dalyokaya Bukhta (60 deg 34.33N/30 deg 40.88E) is a peaceful, forested bay, guarded by two spectacular cardinal marks. The water was glassy and the bay deserted but for…
Out onto the lake at last
Such a relief to leave the Neva headwaters at Schlisselburg, out into Lake Ladoga. Schlisselburg itself has almost nothing to offer cruising yachts but we found the cosy little retreat recommended to us by our…
It couldn’t end better
Sometimes a day could not end better. After that long trip up from St Petersburg we have anchored off the densely forested shore in 5 m of water, Blue Dove held steady by a 1…
Towards Ladoga
The 30 mile trip from St Petersburg to the source of the Neva River at Lake Ladoga is a slow one, with a relentless contrary current, varying between 2 and 4.5 knots. We anchored half…
Neva River
Our journey upriver through St Petersburg was spectacular. We had rafted alongside a huge river barge and took on our pilot at 2 am. Blue Dove, the only yacht, joined a procession of commercial behemoths…
Apostol Andrei
We first met Russian yacht Apostol Andrei at Barentsburg (Svalbard) in 2012. A surprise and a delight to come across Nikolai Litau and his robust ice breaker yacht again here in SPB. Such a contrast…
Sojourn in Moscow
We caught up with old friends. I walked the town while Miss Perfect did her special Moscow things. The weather is balmy and our windows are wide open. Our neighbour, a conservatoire flautist, is practising…
River Yacht Club
The River Yacht Club in St Petersburg, housed in an ugly soviet brutalist building, used to offer snug berths inside its huge stone moles. Now the yacht harbour is closed to foreign yachts, which now…
Russia at last
A long, hot and windless trip from Tallinn finally, finally brought Blue Dove to St Petersburg. En route we stripped off for much needed douches in the Gulf of Finland. Sailing through the barrage into…