Day 76 – We have kindly been invited to the Norwegian Consul General to celebrate the day – 16 May

Day 76. 16th of May. No paddling. Maintenance, preparations etc and sightseeing in St Petersburg.

After a quick breakfast we started the day at the Yacht club looking over the boats. The rapakivi granite had taken its toll, but nothing that could not be fixed by gel coat paste. We got help from Sergey, geologist, gold digger, gold Smith and boat builder. 10 years our senior and going strong. Good to see.

After the boats had gotten necessary attention, we were picked up by Vladimir, who took us to buy the necessary map atlases for the interior waterways. Without Vladimir we would not even have found the relevant office, much less been able to navigate the red tape.

We went back to the hotel and discussed rapids, overnight places and locks with Vladimir. Conclusion: We shall try to avoid locks with more than about 5 meters lift. Too much turbulence for our comfort.

The evening was spent walking round central St Petersburg. An international metropolis, with a Russian slant of course. But still, it’s a dynamic international city, in many ways more like say Stockholm than (semi deserted) Vyborg.

Tomorrow is Norway’s constitution day. We have kindly been invited to the Norwegian Consul General to celebrate the day. With resupply of wardrobe from Oslo and some minimal tending of beards etc, we hope to be good to go.