Our visit to Poland is coming to its end. We will be leaving in the evening – a night crossing to Bornholm, Denmark. We spend a relaxed and sunny last day in Ustka. We have grown to like the place a lot: good food, great beaches, cafés. The extra day because of the wind gave us a chance to get to know the town even better and eat even more Polish food. The harbour master sends his greetings to Stockholm on the VHF.  So: Scandinavia here we come!

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Good thing we were warned. Today the surge makes it impossible to leave the harbour, even the large tourist ships do not move. We will spend another night here. The beach is pretty empty and the few people that are there turn their beach chairs away from the wind. We rent two cycles and explore the environments, eat the best fish and chips for a very, very long time and delight in seasonal fruit.

Scenic as it is to be moored in the centre of Ustka we are advised/invited by the marina to move into shelter there – the forecast for the following days is bad, the swell is going to make it “very inconvenient” for us to stay where we are.

We are directed to lie as the third boat alongside two fishing boats. It makes disembarking a bit tricky but it is fun to talk to the fishermen. We take advantage of the (as it is) nice weather and have a swim in the see, tea in a nice tea shop and some nice walks.

Ustka agrees with us from the start. We are directed to moor in the middle of town outside the marina (mostly fishing boats) as the weather is great and there are no swells to bother us. We take our first walk to get to know the place, have a great dinner and are looking forward to spending a full day on the beach tomorrow.

We arrived yesterday evening in pouring rain. Contacted, as usual, the Kapitanat before entering the harbour and, after that, the Bosmanat to be guided to a mooring place. Really bad weather was forecast with strong winds and several boats had already entered the marina. An older man at the Bosmanat was not sure that there would be space for us. Which pissed me off, to put it mildly. To my question (in Polish) whether he thought it was appropriate that we should be bouncing in the Baltic sea in the storm he replied that the marina was “after all not made of rubber and could not expand indefinitely”. I told him that we were approaching, after all the Kapitanat gave us permission to enter, and would ring again in 10 min. Next time I spoke to the Bosmanat a younger and polite guy welcomed us to the marina and promised to be on the jetty to point to the mooring place. Having moored we did not leave the boat that evening. It was pouring down and cold and we stayed in the warmth of the boat.

On the following morning, totally calm now, we payed at the Bosmanat (they were now extremely polite) and took a long walk through Leba. It  is an odd place in some strange ways, a mix of beautiful beaches, dirty remnants of the Communist era, a Tivoli and fishing boats and again fishing boats. Fresh fish for sale everywhere, freshly smoked fish of all kinds and descriptions – very tasty. We have the oddest brunch of the year and head back to the boat. It is time to sail on.

Having rounded the peninsula of Hel we hoist the spinnaker and have a delightful voyage for a few hours. I was fearing that it would be boring as the Polish coast is a never-ending stretch of sand, but it offers a lot of variation and is surprisingly beautiful.

We arrive at the super modern marina having been in touch with Bosmanatet and told where to moor. Sopot is very popular with the Poles and we melt into the crowd. We eat well and have a long walk along the beach, enjoy the sun and have an intention of watching a film in the open, as there is a film festival going on, but realise that we would probably fall asleep and return to the boat.

Time to leave. Is is a lovely city to visit. We will be back. By Ryanair one can get here for a cheap fare, and we will again. We refuel and give “Kapitanatet” a goodbye wave. A ferry from Sweden approaches as we leave.

The marina is situated by the recently permanently installed Gdansk eye. It is a horrendous construction but it seems that few cities resist the temptation to have one. We have “done” Gdansk on previous occasions but have not seen it from above before. Now is the time.

After a few hours sleep my next shift awards me with a splendid sunrise. We’re approaching Gdansk at about 11am. 28 hours after leaving Kalmar, Sweden.

We get the permission from “Kapitanatet” to enter the city after which we call “Bosmanatet” and get an OK to enter the marina. They will wait on the jetty and point where to moor. But first a winding tour through the shipyard. We feel very small in the context. We arrive at destination and are nicely received by the staff from the marina. We are in the heart of the Old town of Gdansk. That calls for celebration!