Greetings from Klaipeda!
Do you know what not to do? Take out all the mattresses and blankets out on the deck cause its so hot and the probability of rain is merely 10% in the weather forecast. And then go out after all the tourist attractions for the whole day.
You might get a reminder about the realities of life. You might be eating a well deserved stake after a whole day of cycling when the threatening dark clouds are gathering on the sky. In a few minutes hell is loose. Lightnings are flashing through the sky and the heaviest rain shower ever is pouring on a poor tourist.
In this case Jussi was left paying as I was running for the boat with thunder blasting around me. We were about a kilometer away, so even if I ran like Usain Bolt, everything we use for sleeping was soaking wet. I kept repeating “Faraday cage, Faraday cage!”, as I was trying to get the doors open with lightnings striking over my head.
Well, now we are making an experiment weather mattresses dry in the dryer at the laundry room.
From Gdansk To Klaipeda
Two days ago we arrived here in Klaipeda. Our sail from Gdansk took us around 24 hours. It looked as though we’d have a pretty direct head wind, but the wind was just enough from the side so that we didn’t have to tack our way up.
We sailed well. We had number 2 reef on the main from the get go, because of the wind predicted. And not too much was out from the genua either. It was a pretty hard wind, but after the experiences of coming down here, I wasn’t scared at all.
For some reason we didn’t get the windvane working right. In the morning the wind was from 10-14 m/s and the waves were big, but no different from the weather we had arriving here. Anyways we weren’t able to get it right, so we steered by hand all day.
As the wind weakened at night it was easier to test the windvane again. Disappointingly it didn’t keep it’s course and the main jibed as I was on watch. Jussi thought the wind was stopped blowing for a while as the wind changed it’s direction, which made it loose the course. What ever the reason our beloved friend Simppa ie. Simrad tiller pilot got his turn on the tiller.
The Beauty Of The Curonian Spit
From the activities in Klaipeda I must mention cycling at The Curonian Spit. A ferry goes over at least twice an hour near the marina. Wow! How beautiful it was! How didn’t I even know about it’s beauty?!
The Curonian Spit has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since the year 2000. The narrow sand-dyne spit is 100 km long and at it’s narrowest only 400 meters wide. Half of it belongs to Russia. The nature was beautiful. Pure white sand beaches as far as the eye can see, and more. Nice pine forests with cycling routes on the inside.
Also yesterday we had some thunder storms, but they were anticipated. Still, we were as wet as it gets, so visiting the Sea museum had to wait till next time.
Otherwise Klaipeda’s old town is small and charming. When you go further out the buildings are getting more Soviet touch on them. Also the cycling routes are not necessarily the best. So if you don’t have many days to spend, we’d spend more of it at the Curonian Spit.
Now we’re waiting for our gear to dry so we can continue our journey.
Kaisu
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