Like all of the reservoirs, Tsimlyansk is an imposing body of water. A wonderful place to sail, if you had a mast. But if there is any breeze, motoring in shallow waters with steep chop…

From our Volgograd berth we sped 35 km down the Volga in warm sunshine with 2.5 knots of favourable current.  The beginning of the great Volga-Don Canal, marked as it is by an imposing statue…

It is no coincidence that today is the anniversary of the completion of the Gutenberg Bible. While our Volga prose is perhaps less earth-shattering and not quite complete yet, it nearly is. And the end…

Tainui is not looking her best. There is no doubt about that.  In Baltic ports like Christiansand and Kiel she would stand out a bit beside those rows upon rows of pristine Eurovision Song Contest…

            At 10 am this morning, just outside the entrance, we were chased down by a GIMS runabout with flashing blue light and siren.  GIMS is the Volga version of…

A warm, sunny and clean day. After coffee and a swim,  a warm, clean and sunny skipper also. Now for an omlette with beans.               At midnight last night…

Gerda and Dima have been with us since Nizhniy Novgorod and they are excellent companions. Maxine complains intermittently of what she calls Volga Fatigue (really, I think she is just missing her man) but is…

We tied up at a snug little marina in Samara late last night after a splendid trip down river to the Big Bend. The Volga is narrow here, with high green hills on both sides.…

Like every arrival, this one has come as a complete surprise to us. A power boat was waiting off the yacht club to guide us in, and many willing hands pulled eagerly but unpredictably on…

True, Lenin was born here, but today Tainui is the big news. Do not miss Ulyanov’sk Prime Time TV tonight. We have had film crews on board all morning and Tainui will be the talk of the…

Last night’s anchorage was a deserted wooded bay at Staraya Mayna. Unlike yesterday’s squally passage, today we have weather which is warm and calm. Maxine is having another bad hair day. Her main problem this…

This post is not about Russia, but I need to express my frustration with a crew issue. As we passed the diversion north to Bolgar, whose minarets were just visible through the rain, a fine…

The domes of the monastery shone in the dawn sunlight with a full moon and mist on the water adding needless extra theatre. At 9 we moved alongside to meet our friends from Credo, a…

Yesterday was long and tiring, with rain and squalls. The first bleak weather we have had since Belomorsk Canal. This morning I got up at 5 to watch sunrise over the monastery. Tainui is anchored…

Back from Moscow to ready the boat for the next bit, I needed to refuel. I asked Dima, working on an adjacent boat, if he could call me a taxi for the tedious jerrycan transfer…

…I mean Tainui, not Maxine. Without sentimentality I must say that Tainui has served us well indeed. As usual, she has never given me a moment’s anxiety, although she cannot say the same of me.…

Today is a day of national celebration for all mariners on Russia’s inland waterways. Maxine tells me that VHF communication in Cyrillic between commercial shipping includes fraternal greetings and expressions of goodwill. Near Kineshma we…

      Just before Kineshma we passed Plyos, famed outdoor artists’ centre. We couldn’t find anywhere to stop, so that visit will have to wait for our next Volga transit. I had a lovely…

The Volga hereabouts is lined with onion-domed churches. To me, three things stand out about them – they are striking and very beautiful structures, they suit their setting perfectly and they display unexpectedly strong Islamic…

Tainui’s berth in Yaroslavl could hardly be more central. The golden domes of the Cathedral of the Annunciation loom over her and their sonorous carillon rings loud every morning and evening. Unfortunately though, there are…

The Rybinsk waterfront is mixed commercial and high rise residential. As the city recedes behind us we begin to realise that we are really here. In Russia, on the Volga River, and only the third…

Last night Sasha turned up with a vast array of beers, home brew spirits, wines for Maxine and a sumptuous feast for 10. He brought with him a Russian orthodox priest with a long white…

We’re tied up at the tiny yacht club and all is peaceful. I don’t think a foreign yacht has ever been here. The yard manager, a genial old bloke, took our lines and chatted amiably…

I will mention this tedious business once, for completeness. All refuelling in Russia is by drum. Our 7 or 8 five gallon jerrycans are loaded into a rusty Lada taxi and we clamber in on top…

Further south we entered a region of broad sounds and lakes. Depths plummeted from their usual 5 metres to more than 12. We stopped Tainui at sunset on a vast glassy lake, to swim and try…

Leaving March Fly Canal we saw our second sail since entering Russia’s inland waters. And how exciting it was! .

At the southern end of Lake Onega we join the Volga-Balt canal system. To the west lie St Petersburg and the Baltic Sea, while on the eastern shore the Vytegra River leads to locks through White…

After a genuinely sad farewell to Konstantin and Medvezhegorsk we set out into Lake Onega. With a warm, gently lit afternoon, flat seas and a steady beam breeze we wove through the cardinal marks sipping…

After moving Tainui 4 times at the behest of the port authorities we seem finally to have found a permanent spot, rafted alongside a working tug in the outer harbour. After an acceptable omlette with…

We have arrived. As we entered the town harbour at 8 pm, little yachts sailed over to welcome us and guide us to the tiny, ramshackle yacht club. Our new Muscovite crew Pavel and Max…

We have 18 hours to go until Archangel’sk, gods willing, and should take our pilot on board for the final approach tomorrow at 2pm. The pilot is one of the many bureaucratic burdens we are…

It has been a slow, uncomfortable passage along the Kola Peninsula from Vardo. Persistent 20 knot headwinds and cold rain, with no room to tack as we are so close to Russia’s 12 mile territorial…

We are at sea – finally. We slipped out of the glassy harbour this morning, out from under the imposing bum of the Hurtigruten Finnmark, past the splendid graffiti on the waterfront storehouses and into…

Russia has to thank Holland for teaching Peter the Great about ships and the sea. My gratitude is directed to Maxine for all that she has done to make this trip possible, and to Dirk,…

One of the great delights of cruising is the occurrence of unexpected, intense friendships. While we were refuelling Tainui this morning a young Vardø couple introduced themselves and we fell into conversation. Per has been…

A languid 18 hour motor sail in bright midnight sunshine and here we are. In Vardo harbour Tainui has the only tall mast in a veritable forest of workmanlike varnished fishing boats. Cod, king crab…

Here we are in Honningsvag. Maxine, with her curious Flemish sense of humour, pronounces this “honey fuck”. This morning there was no coolant in the header tank. We have stripped off the head and the…

In 40 years of sailing Tainui has been blessed by regular crew, family and friends, who all seem to want to come back for more. Crew requirements for the Russia journey were stringent however –…

Tromso, Saturday I don’t like arriving back at Tainui after extended absence. Long, freezing winters tend to play havoc with plumbing, pumps, haberdashery and electrics despite the most meticulous winterization. I’m not sure why. This…

Spitsbergen is about as far as you can get from Australia. Wherever you go from there, you are heading home. But which way to go? Just look at a map of Norway – it just…