The Volga-Baltic canal facilitates boat travel from St Petersburg on the Baltic across Russia to Astrakhan on the Black Sea. We departed St Petersburg on the Neva River and entered Lake Ladoga. After traversing Lake Ladoga, we exited on the Svir River which flows from the Onega Lake. The Volga-Baltic canal links Lake Onega to the Kovzna River, White Lake, the Upper and Lower Sheksna Rivers, and thence into the Rybinsk reservoir on the Volga River. We are then lifted into the Uglich reservoir and into Moscow via the Moskva River and Moscow Canal. The Volga River flows downstream from the Rybinsk reservoir to the Caspian Sea. There are eighteen locks along the route which raise and one that lowers the ship for a total net gain of 162m above sea level. The first lock began
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