Day 74. 14th of May. Yakht-Klub Dubkovaya Bukhta to Yakht-Teriojaki (Zelenogorsk). 46.2 km, 6.5 km km/hr average speed.
We had picked up breakfast in boxes in the evening and got off to an 0900 start. Again perfect conditions. The sea surface like a mirror. And this lasted the whole day. We don’t think we have ever paddled a full day in such quiet waters. And it is warm. 20 plus degrees. It might just have been the most “summery” day we will experience on this trip. So we enjoyed and took long breaks, at long last it is more comfortable on shore than in the boat.
The coast line is one long sand beach but with large boulders lying just outside the beach. This makes it precarious to navigate the kayaks near the beach, suddenly we hit rocks. For the geologists; the boulders are still rapakivi granite. Interesting rocks, but coarse and hard on the boats.
Anyway, even if today is a Monday, there were people scattered along the beach for almost all of the 46 km. Some sunbathing, some wading, very few swimming. Erling took a quick dip and joined the latter group. Refreshing.
The size and quality of the holiday houses along the beach suggest that we are moving towards a big city. Wealth will out. Just like Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm (but less so Helsinki).
We were mostly left to ourselves throughout the day, but some young guys came over at lunch and wanted to take some pictures. Very polite and enthusiastic.
One piece of really good news: Vladimir has managed to persuade the coast guard to let us drop the detour to Kronstadt and the associated 2 hour open sea crossing, and subsequent entry through the main shipping lane. Very good! It also means we plan to arrive in St. Petersburg early tomorrow evening (19-20), not Wednesday as previously planned. It’s a 45 km paddle from here.
Here is Teriyaki, a very posh place with a nice Yacht Club located (but not associated with) a Hotel&Spa, and a restaurant with white tablecloth and silverware… Not our style exactly. We asked about the price, but concluded that it was a bit too much to pay to feel like fish on land. We found an OK pizza place, and we have been allowed to sleep on the Yacht Clubs premises. Still negotiating details, and hoping to avoid pitching the tent. A quick start tomorrow will give us more time to get sorted in St Petersburg.
The Russian - Scandinavian Kayak Expedition 2018 -2022 
Ser mysigt ut 👍vi åker till Hemsedal och firar 17 maj🇳🇴🇳🇴….skönt att ni fått bra väder och träffat så mycket trevligt folk 👏kram på er !!
LikeLiked by 1 person