Before 1989 eastern parts of the Baltic were not accessible to pleasure boats and the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were terra incognita. We visited Estonia and Latvia in 1995 (more pictures from the summer cruise) and passed through the Bay of Riga and inside the two large islands of Sarema and Hiiuma and hence on towards Finland. It was a fantastic experience to realize that at several places we were the first Danish boat to visit in 'modern' time. Everybody we met were fabulously kind. We made an account of the journey to The Nicholson 32 Association: 'Tracing Racundra' for which we were later awarded 'The Hamble Cup'
Just arrived to Ventspils in Latvia and drying out after a nights crossing from Gotland |
Nicely restored Jugend (Art Nuveau) houses in Ventspils |
On the island of Saarema olden post mills are still a normal sight in the landscape |
Still in 1995 provisions with any kinds of foodstuff, except for the most basic ones, were scarce and also infrastructure etc were in decay |
The square in Kuresaare with the 16th century weigh house in the background. Compared to most other places we visited the town was very well kept |
The old 'Russian Inn' at Muhu island. Untouched by time and exactly as the picture in Ransomes book |
View over Haapsalu a former popular Russian summer destination but now in strong decay |
The fantastic old village at Koguva on Muhu. It's like visiting an open air museum but people are actually living and working there |
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