59 59N 29 53E

 

Successfully checked in at Kronshtadt, this morning we phoned the yacht club that gave us our invitation to Russia, they were great and told us exactly what to do, informed the authorities of our impending arrival and when we checked in we found out they had even sorted out a berth for us. Had to wait about an hour for the authorities and you are not allowed off the boat so we even tied up from the deck, not being sure how strict the regs are enforced. Once they arrived it was all straight forward and made easier because we had checked in in Norway. They gave us very precise instructions in English on how to proceed into St Petersburg itself and we are on route right now. We have contacted the tour guide that we pre booked and confirmed Wed and Thursday to explore the city with them, they are picking us up at 7am! Our daughter recommended them from last year when they did a cruise to St P and organised a tour away from the cruise boat folk that proved a very good move and a lot cheaper, so cant wait. Have not been so excited about shore leave since we got to Caribbean last year.

 

Last day at sea was pretty uneventful, light southerly winds and we ended up motoring the last 15 miles or so. There is a fairly narrow gap in the dam system to the south of Kotlin island that all sea traffic has to pass through and picking our time to go through amongst all the big stuff was an interesting exercise!