TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

The night sail went without incident, Steve was on watch until 2.30am with Hollie and I in the cockpit in our sleeping bags. I then did the 2.30-6.30 slot which was fine not much wind so a motor sail past Kalingingrad! Steve then did the next 4 hours and got soaked and I then did the last couple of hours into the bay of Gdansk.

We arrived in the Centre of Gdansk at 2pm Lithuanian time, 1pm local time (yippee gained an hour!) after motoring along the Kanal Portowy and Wislar River for 4 miles to the marina. We went past the ship yards which were the start of the Solidarity movement in the late 1970s. Also went past the monument where Polish people battled for something like 9 hours when the Germans invaded on September 1st 1939….and the beginning of WWII.

We moored up in the marina which is right in the centre of the city, sorted the boat out and then wandered into the City along what they call the Royal Route…....wow!  The place has been rebuilt after the bashing it got during the war and the buildings are stunning. We’ve never seen such a row of beautiful Merchants houses (better than Amsterdam) along the Long Market. Theres also Renaissance gates and as well as the Renaissance buildings.  The fountain of Neptune was also pretty cool too but we had nothing to sacrifice to him today…..Hollies last dummy went overboard to Neptune when she was 4 (we did it just like Ellen MacArthur sacrifices something when she goes around the World!)

Also walked down St Marys street, with its narrow cobbled street lined with old houses, jewellery workshops and galleries…....amber of course! Apparently Gdansk is the old Amber capital of the world!

Had a couple of cafe stops to ensure the bodies could be refuelled after the long sail and then wandered back to the boat for a well earned sleep.

Tomorrow its the maritime museum and more atmosphere!!!!! Marvellous!

Also had some texts from our sailing pals stuck down in St Malo…..The Rebels and Sandstorm are holed up there with rain and 50-60mph winds expected soon…....ouch, fingers crossed for them.