Captain of the Yacht Peter I

Sailing Neva river

Are you still thinking that the streets of Russian cities are full of dancing bears with balalaikas, and the men drink vodka, sitting under the Christmas trees? Well you are almost right.

To see the proof with your own eyes make sure to visit the most northerly in the world regatta “Adventure Race 80 degrees”. A real Russian safari is waiting for you: polar bears and rough sailors, ancient villages and churches of the Russian North, ice and land, that have almost never been touched by human hands. But most importantly – the extreme race in the highest latitudes.

You’ve probably heard about the record-breaking voyage of the Russian yacht “Peter I”. In 2010 she sailed around the North Pole during a single navigation without wintering and the help of an icebreaker. In 2011, the yacht crew organized an international environmental regatta “Adventure Race 80 degrees”.

Thanks to this regatta foreign yacht for the first time without problems were able to get into the internal waters of Russia.

They followed two very interesting routes: cruise in company from St. Petersburg to Arkhangelsk and Arctic race from Archangelsk to the Franz Josef Land and Murmansk.

The cultural capital of Russia – St. Petersburg became the first port of the regatta. Most of the participants gathered there on July,1st, the day before the start. The next day, July 2, the regatta was officially launched by its organizers – Daniel Gavrilov – Captain of the Regatta’s flagship yacht “Peter I” and Elena Solovyeva – Chief mate.

They spoke of the bureaucratic difficulties and other obstacles they faced. That included many months of obtaining permits for the yachts to sail in the inland waters of Russia, and arranging moorages along the route of the race. But nothing stopped them from gathering a fleet of eight boats from five countries: Britain, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland and Russia.

Russian inland waters

Fleet of the regatta

About the Regatta & the Russian Arctic

Elena Solovyeva, director of the regatta “Adventure Race 80 dg”:
- Difficulties were mainly of an organizational nature – all kinds of agreements and documents to obtain permits for foreigners. To get the permission for four foreign yachts to sail in the inland waters we eventually had to get Putin’s signature on one of the documents. The very idea of the race came to mind only six months ago, so we had to work at extreme speeds. But we had a very good team, which easily coped with everything.

Michael Smith, the captain of an English yacht “Willywaw”:
- For a few years we have been unsuccessfully trying to get the permission for the boat to pass the inland waterways of Russia. This year, at last, we were able to do this- thanks to the regatta «Adventure race». Next time will invite other English yachts.

Kizhi

Sailing race

Regatta. Step by step

The starting time was chosen so the bouts will pass along the Neva River under the drawn bridges. On the night of July 4, three boats set off on cruise in company route of the regatta. The first stop was at the estuary of the Neva River, where there the medieval fortress Oreshek is situated. Participants rested, went on an excursion and continued the cruise.

The next step was sailing on the largest European freshwater Lake Ladoga. After that the boats went to the Svir River, and then to Lake Onega, where they examined the main attractions of these places – petroglyphs (ancient rock paintings) in the eastern part of the lake and the island of Kizhi.

The island is famous for the landmark of Russian wooden architecture – Kizhi churchyard. In 1993, it was included in UNESCO World Heritage List. The part of the route in the White Sea-Baltic Canal became memorable for the participants because of both its interesting navigation, and history. This channel of 227 km in length with 19 locks, was built in less than a year, while world-famous shorter canals needed many more years to construct. In the White Sea yachts visited Solovki Islands, where the crews got acquainted with the history of the Solovki monastery and the Gulag Archipelago, and met with “Onega regatta.”

White Sea Baltic Canal

Solovetsky monastery

Solovetsky islands

Participants of the AR 80 DG

After the yachts crossed the sea and sailed on the River Dvina they were warmly welcomed in the city of Arkhangelsk. There, on July 16 the closing ceremony of the first part of the regatta and participants awarding took place.

On July 19, a second part of the Arctic race began. Yacht “Peter I» (Russia) and «Lena» (Finland) started from the Buoy of Arkhangelsk. They passed 950 miles in autonomous navigation to the Franz Josef Land, where they made a stop for five days.

It should be said that for such a voyage the yachts were well prepared: «Lena» had repeatedly sailed to Spitsbergen, and “Peter I» had completed the Arctic circumnavigation. The vessels were equipped with life rafts of unlimited navigation area; buoys, double navigation system, satellite communication, and the crew members had dry suits with them.

Boats were lucky – there wasn’t a lot of ice on the way. At 23:08 Moscow time, July 25 the yacht “Peter I” from Saint-Petersburg, after going around Cape Flora, crossed the declared 80th parallel of north latitude at 80 ° 0’0 .00 “N 50 ° 4’44 .71? E.

The crew had some time to enjoy the beauty of nature, icebergs and gigantic glaciers, wild animals – all of this is a small part of what can be seen in the Arctic.

Sailors managed to visit the island of Champa, which is famous for its perfectly round stones, Hayes Island, with the most northerly post office in Russia. They also got to go to the polar stations on the island Hooker, where the second expedition of Georgy Sedov was wintering in 1913, 1914; the places of wintering of an outstanding Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen’s expedition; on the island of Jackson, the famous Cape Flora, where virtually all of the arctic expeditions, that explored the Franz Josef Land had been based. Crews conducted environmental campaign to draw public attention to the problem of pollution in the Arctic where empty fuel barrels had been scattered for decades. Yachts finished in Murmansk August 9, 2011

This year, “Rusarc” is organizing a second regatta “Adventure Race 80 dg – 2012.” The cruise in company route will be added with the islands of Konevets and Valaam in Lake Ladoga. Race time will altered a little – it will start June 23 and end August 4, 2012.

So if you’ve always wanted to visit Russia and see what it is like with your own eyes, you still have some time to join the regatta as a crew member or a tourist. All the details can be found here: en.rusarc.ru.

Captain and chief mate

Yachts Peter I and Lena near Franz Josef Land

Peter I near Franz Josef Land

Interesting meeting

Vladimir Potapov during his snowmobile expedition in the Arctic zone of Yakutia, Siberia, Russia. Early November 2011.

More about 2011 Arctic Snowmobile Expedition to Laptev Sea in Yakutia, Siberia / Russia.

Reindeer sledding journey in the world's coldest inhabited valley of Oymyakon in Yakutia, Siberia, Russia

More about The world’s coldest reindeer sledding in Oymyakon.

A Russian boat RUS in Clyde River, Nunavut. Photo by CBC.ca

Adventure enthusiasts from the Russian city of Ivanovo were reported to be the first sailers, who have crossed the Polar Circle on an air-inflated trimaran. It happened on Aug. 5th, 2011. Last Satuday, their boat called “Rus” have already made it to the Clyde River in Nunavut, Canada.

When Canadians saw their strange-looking 7.6-metre trimaran, they called it as a homemade boat “made out of bamboo, rope and duct tape.”

Here is what CBC.ca wrote:

“Absolutely fascinating. I’ve never seen the likes of it in my life,” said Constable Rolland Lavoie, who’s with the RCMP in Clyde River. “I would expect that a trip of this sort to be on a huge cruise boat, something huge, but this is something out of Gilligan’s Island, for crying out loud. Very Interesting.”

Ok. Who are these Russian sailers?

They are 6 travellers from Russia’s Western city of Ivanovo (mostly known as the city of Russian brides). Their mission is to study the geography and people of the North during their around-the-world Trans-Arctic historical-geographical sailing expedition “The Path of Orion.”

Their way to the Canadian Nunavut was a long journey. They started expedition in the early May from the city of Ples on the Volga River. They reached St Petersburg by the river waterway, then crossed Baltic and Norwegian seas, made it through the Northern Atlantic to Iceland and Greenland. Finally, arrived in Nunavut, Canada.

Now they are travelling through Canada’s Northwest Passage and expect to arrive in Cambridge Bay around Sept. 5. After that their route goes to Alaska and Chukotka, back to Russia.

The Path of Orion Expedition is dedicated to the 140th Ivanovo City Anniversary.

Brave Russians!

Follow them on the Path of Orion expedition wesbite.

I’ve heard about the Adventure Race 80dg Ecological Sailing Regatta before, but I didn’t expect that the Finish yacht “Lena”, one of regatta participants, will continue traversing along the Russian Arctic heading to… guess where… right… to the Lena Delta and Tiksi. In other words, Finish sailers will reach my area called the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Moreover, they plan to go upstream and make it to Yakutsk, where I live! Cool!

Meanwhile, enjoy photographs of Franz Josef Land Archipelago, Russian Arctic, brought by RusArc’s Petr I yacht crew.

By the way, before you proceed watching Arctic photographs, here is a short description of AR 80dg.

The 2011 International Ecological Sailing Regatta “Adventure Race 80 dg” (“AR 80dg”) is officially completed. It was organized by the Russian company “RUSARC ltd” (http://en.rusarc.ru/) and lasted from July 03 till August 09 within the Russian Federation.

The race consisted of two parts. The 1st one was Arkhangelsk – St Petersburg (through inner river waterways), the 2nd went on the Arctic route St Petersburg – Franz-Josef Land (with paying visit to the old meteo station “Tikhaya Bay”) – Murmansk.

In the first lap, there were sailing boats from Russia, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, England. In the second, two only. They are the Russian yacht “Petr I” and the Finish Lena.

So now we expect to see the Finish guys in Yakutia (Russia). I will try to follow the Finish yacht, though I didn’t found their official website with sailing updates. Meanwhile, you might wish to learn more about my land at AskYakutia.com and eYakutia.com.

Photographs from RUSARC ltd’s Expedition Blog that is done in Russian and English languages.

The 2011 Uummannaq Polar Institute Summer Expedition. To the North of Greenland.

Aaaaa, it’s my big honour to be one of Ole Jorgen Hammeken‘s many friends. He is the most recognizable Greenlandic man, who attracts the world’s attention to Greenland, its people and climate issues.

It were him and his wonderful wife, who run together Uummannaq Children’s Home in the settlement called Uummannaq.

It was them, who host Galya Morrell and Joel Spiegelman‘s Uummannaq Music project.

Certainly, they are those people, who share Uummannaq Polar Institute‘s vision, i.e. to conserve Greenland’s local culture and promote educational programs for young Inuit people.

UPI was founded in 2007 by Ann Andreasen and was inaugurated in 2008 by HSH the Prince Albert II of Monaco, Jean Malaurie, a distinguished French ethnographer, and by Arthur Chilingarov, polar explorer and Vice-President of the Russian Parliament.

Among other UPI’s programs is an hour and a half movie called Inuk (I wrote much about this amazing movie on this blog under the tag Inuk). The film which won the coveted Haskell Wexler Award for Cinematography at the Woodstock Film Festival during October 2010, is directed by Mike Magidson and the screenplay is co-written by him and Jean-Michel Huctin. More at http://blog.inuk-film.com/

Currently I’ve got two good news about UPI:

1. It launched its own facebook page called Uummannaq Polar Institute. Enjoy and support the authentic way of the Greenlandic life with UPI.

By the way, UPI online page is http://uummannaqmusic.com/upi/

2. UPI doesn’t have break even in summer. As you know, life never stops boiling in Uummannaq! UPI fb page’s last status says:

As soon as Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II and her husband H.R.H. Prince Henrik of Denmark departed from Uummannaq, a new expedition has left to the North. Ole Jorgen Hammeken along with Jaakuaraq, Aalibarti, Hivshu and children from UCH are heading to Qaanaaq in 4 small boats…

So far they reached the southernmost settlement in Avannersuaq (Thule district) : Savissivik. Tomorrow the crew will head to Qaanaaq, or maybe even further – to Greenland’s northernmost settlement : Siorapaluk.

Uummannaq Polar Institute is worth to follow!

Feel to share the info on Uummannaq Polar Institute

Four Polish students, including my friend, Maciej Besta, completed the 1st Polish hiking (trekking) expedition up to Mount Narodnaya, the highest peak of Russia’s Ural Mountains (1,894 metres /6,214 ft), in winter 2011.

Closer to the peak, the temperature was minus 40 degrees Celcius.

Further, see 45 cold winter photographs taken by Maciej Besta and the text written by Luba Suslyakova, who runs the blog AskUral.com. Maciej Besta is our common friend.

Last summer, by the way, Maciej hiked across Chersky Range in Yakutia. And it’s him in the cold photo of Deant du Geant Glacier. He is a member of a Polish Travel Club.

Luba wrote:

The expedition was launched in winter 2011 by 4 Polish explorers. It was the first Polish winter ascent of Mount Narodnaya and probably the first winter traverse of all the way from Inta railway station (a town in the Komi Republic) to Narodnaya (on foot)

Mount Narodnaya is located in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and is the highest point in European Russia outside the Caucasus.

Maciej Besta said:

“The exact distance from Inta (a town in the Komi Republic) to Narodnaya along the truck route is 150 km. When we were going to the mountains we covered part of the distance on a truck. But, when we were coming back, we were going only on foot. I did the distance in 6 days (the last day was 50 km of non-stop march), the rest of the group did it in 7 days. However, it is essential to know that the conditions on a route were pretty OK – the snow on route was hard thanks to good weather and trucks.”

Okey, let’s have the virtual tour to Mount Narodnaya with Polish fellows. Don’t miss the pic of Mount Narodnaya standing topless on the peak

On the web, especially on twitter, I see often people complaining about the cold weather and winter. In a Washington DC forum one lady asked, if there were other cold admirers, and she immediately got replies like, “Are you nuts?!”

My god, how is it possible not to love the cold? Especially when the cold weather is not extreme, mild and snowy as it is in Helsinki.

Take a look at Piero Damiani’s winter street photographs taken during this month’s holidays in Helsinki, Finland. Awesome! True wonderland to dream about!

See more snowy pictures.

Here is the list of previous posts with Piero Damiani‘s gorgeous winter pictures:

- Winter holidays in Stockholm, Sweden. Pictures by Piero Damiani;
- ColdUnited Flickr Pick: -42C in Yellowknife, Canada;
- Photos: Traveling through the winter cold – Edmonton, Canada;
- Traveling through the winter cold – Jasper, Canada;
- Traveling through the winter cold – Reykjavik, Iceland.

By the way, Piero is an active member of the Flickr community. All latest photographs might be found in his photostream.

This post is dedicated to my friends living in Helsinki. Hope you enjoyed your place and do not complain about snow and cold

A Polish climber, Maciej Besta, on Deant du Geant Glacier in December 2010. Click the photo to enlarge.

I have a Polish friend of mine, Maciej Besta, who is a climber, mountain trekker, hiker and… student. Last summer he and his friend trekked the Chersky Range in Yakutia, Siberia/Russia. A great fellow, who loves expeditions at the unknown, less explored or off-beaten places.

In December of 2010, he was trekking across Deant du Geant Glacier. Take a look at the above picture. Great, isn’t it? Looks extremely cold and like a great challenge. My god, wish to do the same one day!

Just in a couple of month, Maciej completed the hiking expedition to Mount Narodnaya, the highest peak of the Ural Mountains, Russia.

I have a friend in Australia. His name is Piero Damiani and he is a big fan of cold weather. Every winter (in northern hemisphere) he spends holidays in cold regions. Last times he was travelling across Canada and North-Western Europe.

Here is the list of previous posts with Piero Damiani‘s gorgeous winter pictures:

- ColdUnited Flickr Pick: -42C in Yellowknife, Canada;
- Photos: Traveling through the winter cold – Edmonton, Canada;
- Traveling through the winter cold – Jasper, Canada;
- Traveling through the winter cold – Reykjavik, Iceland.

By the way, Piero is an active member of the Flickr community. All latest photographs might be found in his photostream.

This winter he is exploring Scandinavia, a beautiful land of magic, but mild European winter. The first stop, if I am correct, was Stockholm, Sweden. You know, it’s hard to follow him, as he is a fast traveller.

Further, please, find his pictures of winter holidays in Stockholm, Sweden taken on January 4-5, 2011. Awesome, aren’t they?

The next post with Piero’s photographs will be dedicated to Helsinki, Finland. Stay tuned!

Moscow is celebrating New Year and Orthodox Christmas now. How does the major Russian city look in winter? It is festive, snowy and… Well, you’d better look at Olga Boiko’s splendid photographs of the magic Russian winter.

If you’ve got questions about Moscow to Ogla Boiko, feel free to contact her via the website AskMoscow.com.

By the way, Olga is a private city tour guide in Moscow. Very knowlegable and reliable. She knows almost everything about her homecity!