"Beer Cruise" Klaipeda 2015

My most recent sea voyage had been the "Próchno i Rdza" (Rot & Rust) rally. Even back then we decided that after the New Year we would sail somewhere together. Our destination was Klaipeda, a city on the Baltic Sea coast in the western part of Lithuania.

The cruise set off from the Górki Zachodnie marina in Gdańsk aboard the yacht s/y Mestwin. She is the second of the J-80 type yachts built by the Gdańsk Shipyard for an expedition to the Svalbard archipelago (1970). I had sailed her sister ship, Freya, during "Próchno i Rdza".

This 1967 build, 13.55 metres long, bravely fought its way through the waves of the Gulf of Gdańsk, only to reach the open Baltic Sea a few hours later. With three sails set (Genoa, Mainsail, Mizzen), Mestwin sped along at about 6 knots. Later the winds forced us to put a second reef in the mainsail and set the working jib.

After roughly 27 hours of sailing, the coast of Lithuania came into view. On the horizon rose the high-rises and the harbour cranes of Klaipeda. We covered the final miles under the Volvo Penta MD3B engine. A pleasant surprise was meeting Polish tall ships in the port, which had arrived here for the Tall Ships Regatta 2015.

In the port we managed to tour the Kapitan Borchardt and Dar Młodzieży. Both ships made an enormous impression on us. The number of masts, the rigging and the hundreds of lines stretched across their decks.

The return cruise began on Friday afternoon. Worsening weather and storms at sea had been forecast. With our sails already reefed, we set off toward the port of Hel. Watching the changing weather, we braced ourselves for rain and strong winds. Streaks of rain were already visible on the horizon.

Late in the evening Mestwin reached Hel. Part of the crew set off home, while the rest of the team sailed the next day to Górki Zachodnie to hand the yacht back.