Slovetsky Island 13/14th July 2011
Minka of Southampton - Cruising Log
Edmund Wigan
Sun 17 Jul 2011 12:58
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Position N65 01.8 E035 41.4
Slovetsky Island Harbour
The Island is really a very special place. From a
natural point of view it is the largest one of a group of five. Although
quite small it has many lakes which are more the size we are used to in England.
The main tourist interest is the massively constructed monastery which has also
at various times served as a prison and garrison.
We moored stern to to a concrete jetty in the main
harbour. It was quite full as a cruise boat was in and about 20 yachts from
Archangel who were on a rally.
 There were several yachts from Archangel of this
design
 The other local boat of interest was this motor
boat which was due its 100 year service..
 As we had arrived at 0400 we slept until lunchtime
and then went to visit the monastery. First the layout of the
island.
 The harbour is on the East side and the dotted
lines show the approach route. This ia view of the monastery from the
harbour.
 The stone tower on the left is part of the external
fortified wall and a small chapel on the right.
  The main entrance.
 Repairs underway. Some inside shots
 This is the inside of the refectory and the chap is
our tour guide. This central pillar supports an incredibly massive brick vaulted
ceiling.
 One side of the refectory. We saw inside the
Cathedral which is quite ornate but all of this is modern as the original riches
of the monastery were either taken away or destroyed by fire in the
1920s.
  and looking up the tower. An original ceiling
painting can just be made out.
 We climbed one of the fortified towers and I took a
picture of the view
 This shows the lake which is on the opposite side
of the monastery to the sea. The lake has a water level 7mts higher than the sea
which gave the monks water power for their mill and later a source of
electricity. The difference in level was also used to create a dry dock without
the use of pumps.
Another shot of the lake.
 Looking up inside the tower to show the wooden roof
construction.
 Our guide then got a phone call to say we must get
back to the boats as a change of wind direction and gusts of 30kts+ were doing
some damage.
 We re-arranged things so that the boats lay
alongside the quay in rafts. This was done with a considerable amount of
difficulty and some minor damage..
After all that we had supper aboard the German Boat
and were joined by the two Swedes. After that we went onto Peter 1st for
pancakes and vodka. A very good night.
Today we have been to the sauna/shower and we leave
at 7.00pm this evening.
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