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Published: July 30th 2017
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Peski Marina
1m deep and where we learnt to lift the keel! We waffed into Zeski harbour and promptly ran aground! The Kapitanat shouted instructions from the dock in Polish and German. The one thing Artur had not told us was how to raise the keel. "It must be that blue rope". So we safely made it into dock and my pulse started to soften.We had come to the Great Masurian Lakes in Poland's North East to try something different and were discovering the local sailing methods for the first time. This was part of a two week holiday from our UK jobs and I would not normally write about such a short trip. The Masurian Lakes and the relaxing sailing they offer deserve to be better known in Western Europe and there is little information to help you on the web.Obviously the area is well known in Poland and surrounding countries. Germans know the area; after all it was Prussia until Roosevelt and Stalin carved up Europe. Hitler lived in his Eastern base, Wolf's Lair, near Ketrzyn for most of the war years. No sailor in the UK I had mentioned the region to had ever heard of it. The dock master at our first port of call said there had not
Canal sailing
There is not a lot of room in some of the canals been more than ten 'English' boats ever come to Ryn. We were the first English sailors to charter a boat from Marina Nawigator (marinanawigator.pl) in there four years of operating on the lakes. There really should be more as it a relaxing and beautiful place to sail.The only reason we came is that it was recommended by a Polish friend, Katerzyna, once she knew we liked sailing. We are glad she did. First of all we thought we would Ryanair it to Warsaw until we realised it was only really accessible with a car. Instead we drove out: a straight forward two day drive allowing for the odd frustrating German roadwerk. The first night we stayed just inside Poland (its cheaper) which meant we got to our yacht base North of Mikolajki by 5 pm on Saturday.We did not want to rush things as we knew it would all be strange at first. Artur patiently gave us instructions whilst Beata translated. Basically you get a boat with a few kitchen items. No sheets, towels etc are provided so it was lucky we had everything because we were planning to camp the following week. There are no paper charts: Agnieska in
the office showed us how to download the Navionics app which was excellent. We could get the weather from windguru and radareu.cz.It is easy to explore most of the region in a single week. You can choose between town and village marinas, which have all the facilities, or just park in the reeds and tie up to a tree. For the latter you need to know how to lift the keel and the rudder, all straight forward on the boats provided once you know how! Mosi spray is useful.All marinas have some sort of restaurant or tawerna nearby if you don't want to cook yourself.To get between lakes you typically take a canal. This has bridges so a key lesson from Artur was on lowering the mast. We got better with practice; taking off the boom and sail and then lowering the mast into a purpose built slot behind the helmsman.We had rented a 'Dreamer 33', a Polish boat which gave two of us plenty of space and was easy to handle. One has to remember it is basically a floating caravan! The boat had bow thrusters which were invaluable for steering in marinas when the keel and rudder were up.Language was never really an issue. Most young people speak good English and after that you have google translate. That was particularly useful for working out all the electrical switches on the boat.Everywhere we were met with friendly faces. We had one particularly fun evening swapping stories with a Polish couple from Krakow on their first 'kid-free' holiday.We were visiting in high season in the middle of July when my Polish friends say it is crowded. This clearly is the case compared to twenty years ago. Compared to the Solent is does not feel crowded especially once you go up a less popular inlet. We tended to stop sailing by 5pm which meant there was always plenty of spots in a marina to choose from.We had very pleasant weather and light consistent winds all week. There was a morning of grey when we left Ryn and we missed any of the intense July thunderstorms that can whip up the wind and set off the flashing beacons which warn boaters of impending bad weather.The towns in the area are nothing to get excited about. They all have characterful churches and Gizicko in particular has an impressive fortress where you can walk round the ramparts and learn about its history holding off the Russian Bear. There are ample beers, vodkas and local dishes to keep you going for a week. My particular favourite was pancakes with a sweet cheese cake filling and apple fritters in Peski marina.If you get the chance then we recommend you give it a go. It presented its own unique challenges and experiences and gave a very different vibe from the standard Greek flotilla holiday.
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