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Baltics Sail Aways


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I love sail ins/aways and was fortunate to see an amazing one in Venice last year. I was curious how the Baltics would be for this as I enjoy taking photos as we head into/out of port. I am on the NCL Breakaway July 4 leaving Copenhagen visiting Warnemunde, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Nynashamn/Stockholm. Are there any major sights to be seen during sail in/out of these ports such as bridges, cityscapes, points of interest, etc? I know some of these ports are in industrial areas so there isn't alot to be seen other than other boats.

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If your Stockholm port is in the city (Stadsgarten or Frihamnen) the approx. 90 (?) minute sail in / out through the archipelago of islands is one of the best in the world. :) You sail so close to the islands you feel you can reach out & touch the trees. If your port is Nyneshamn it's on the coast - about an hour from Stockholm by road or rail, and no sail-in.:(

 

For St Petersburg, about 45 (?) minutes from the port you sail thro gates in the causeway across the Bay of Finland, which links Russia with Finland. That's right alongside the former Baltic Fleet base of the Russian navy at Kronshtadt (various spellings) on the island of Kotlin. Fortifications old & new, and a number of scrapped vessels including submarines.

The sailors based on the island played a major part in the Russian revolution, well worth asking google or Wiki about it's fascinating role and the siege of the island, which eventually fell when attacked over ice which linked it to the mainland (the causeway - a flood defence measure - is much more recent). Survivors fled over the ice to Finland. Fascinating stuff.

https://goo.gl/maps/CMYDpzLG8sN2

 

JB :)

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If your Stockholm port is in the city (Stadsgarten or Frihamnen) the approx. 90 (?) minute sail in / out through the archipelago of islands is one of the best in the world. :) You sail so close to the islands you feel you can reach out & touch the trees. If your port is Nyneshamn it's on the coast - about an hour from Stockholm by road or rail, and no sail-in.:(

 

For St Petersburg, about 45 (?) minutes from the port you sail thro gates in the causeway across the Bay of Finland, which links Russia with Finland. That's right alongside the former Baltic Fleet base of the Russian navy at Kronshtadt (various spellings) on the island of Kotlin. Fortifications old & new, and a number of scrapped vessels including submarines.

The sailors based on the island played a major part in the Russian revolution, well worth asking google or Wiki about it's fascinating role and the siege of the island, which eventually fell when attacked over ice which linked it to the mainland (the causeway - a flood defence measure - is much more recent). Survivors fled over the ice to Finland. Fascinating stuff.

https://goo.gl/maps/CMYDpzLG8sN2

 

JB :)

 

John Bull, thanks for the information! I will be sure to Google this and keep an eye out on our trip! :)

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If your Stockholm port is in the city (Stadsgarten or Frihamnen) the approx. 90 (?) minute sail in / out through the archipelago of islands is one of the best in the world. :) You sail so close to the islands you feel you can reach out & touch the trees. If your port is Nyneshamn it's on the coast - about an hour from Stockholm by road or rail, and no sail-in.:(

 

JB :)

 

The sail in is more like 5-6 hours but as you say NCL Breakaway usually berths in Nynäshamn.

 

AIDAMar have an ETA at 09.30 in Stockholm tomorrow but will pick up the pilot at 04.15 at Tjärven

which is the entry to the northern fairway into Stockholm.

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Unfortunately, as you dock in Nynashamn for Stockholm you don’t get the scenic sail in/out there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

How do you find out where your ship is going to dock for Stockholm? We are on the brilliance coming in on Aug 28th

 

Thanks

Leigh

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The sail in is more like 5-6 hours but as you say NCL Breakaway usually berths in Nynäshamn.

 

AIDAMar have an ETA at 09.30 in Stockholm tomorrow but will pick up the pilot at 04.15 at Tjärven

which is the entry to the northern fairway into Stockholm.

 

How do you find out when your ship is picking up a pilot? One of my kids and I are likely to want to be up for this journey. We'll be on MSC if that matters.

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How do you find out when your ship is picking up a pilot? One of my kids and I are likely to want to be up for this journey. We'll be on MSC if that matters.

 

Judging from Desdichado62's post, for Stockholm you'd better get them out of bed about half an hour before you put them to bed :D

 

Probably better to watch as the pilot is taken off the ship, and at a port which doesn't involve such a long sail-in / sail-out. Perhaps Tallinn or Helsinki

 

When you leave a port, your ship will be shadowed by the pilot boat. Once captain and pilot are confident that the captain no longer needs the pilot (in most ports that's no more than about 15 minutes), the pilot boat will come up alongside the ship and the pilot will make the sometimes-perilous transfer from a door just above the waterline in the ship's side to the pilot boat (I've never yet seen one end up in the briney ;)) and the boat will peel off to return the pilot to port or to another ship.

It's difficult to tell which side the pilot will disembark, so keep your eyes on his boat & when it moves in head for open deck on that side. You'll need to lean out over the rail, so hang on tight to the kids.

 

Give the pilot a thankyou wave, most will wave back. :cool:

 

JB :)

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Judging from Desdichado62's post, for Stockholm you'd better get them out of bed about half an hour before you put them to bed :D

 

Probably better to watch as the pilot is taken off the ship, and at a port which doesn't involve such a long sail-in / sail-out. Perhaps Tallinn or Helsinki

:)

 

I have one child who is a night owl and one who is an early riser. Their ideal sleep windows truly do only overlap by an hour or two. We normally push back against both of them but I suspect travel and jet lag will interfere enough that getting up at 4am may be a regular occurrence for one of them. So, if I can watch a pilot arrive as we're entering Stockholm at least I'll have a reason to pretend is my reason for being awake.

 

Do you simply have to guess when they will arrive/depart or is there a way to know in advance?

 

Also, is there a door in the ship on both sides? Or, if we see them once will we know to look the same way each time thereafter?

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I have one child who is a night owl and one who is an early riser. Their ideal sleep windows truly do only overlap by an hour or two. We normally push back against both of them but I suspect travel and jet lag will interfere enough that getting up at 4am may be a regular occurrence for one of them. So, if I can watch a pilot arrive as we're entering Stockholm at least I'll have a reason to pretend is my reason for being awake.

 

Do you simply have to guess when they will arrive/depart or is there a way to know in advance?

 

Also, is there a door in the ship on both sides? Or, if we see them once will we know to look the same way each time thereafter?

 

The sail-in to Stockholm is a long one, and for sure the pilot will be aboard before sailing the archipelago.

I guessed at about 90 minutes before porting and got it wrong by the small matter of about 4 hours :rolleyes:, so you need a better advisor that me :o.

But, because it's a long sail-in, I suspect that the pilot boat goes out with a number of pilots and after dropping your pilot will carry on to another ship - so it'll be around for only a few minutes.

If you don't get a decent guestimate here, you can try asking an officer on the ship. Any officer with a white shirt and as many gold rings as possible on his jacket cuffs would be a good start. If you find one with four gold rings, award yourself a bonus - he's the captain.

 

I still think it'll be easier to watch the operation when leaving a port

 

Yes, there are doors both sides of the ship, normally near midship.

I've never really noticed whether the pilot boards on both sides during a cruise. I suspect that they do cos even in moderate weather the ship itself creates a side sheltered from the weather - the lee side - and that's safer for the transfer.

 

I'm now gonna wait for a seadog to lambast me for my limited knowledge and un-seamanlike phraseology.:D

Where's a Cheng or a Cap'n BJ when you need one ;)

 

JB :)

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Do you simply have to guess when they will arrive/depart or is there a way to know in advance?

 

 

It is known in advance since a pilot need to be ordered in advance in which the ship wil specify when and

from/to where they want to go. All pilot missions are listed at the website linked below.

However you can only see pilots missions 1 week forward. The Pilot will board the ship at

Tjärven lighthouse.located here.

 

https://eservices.sjofartsverket.se/lotsinfopublic/lotsning_frames.asp

 

Område = Stockholm/Svartaklubben ls or you could also enter the ships name at "farygsnamn"

in both cases click "sök" once you made your selection.

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It is known in advance since a pilot need to be ordered in advance ...All pilot missions are listed at the website linked below.

 

Thanks!

 

From the Stockholm sail in

 

enhance

 

Gorgeous!

 

(And, I don't disagree that it might be easier to watch the sail out, but, I will need something to keep my one child from waking everyone else

at 4am, so, if I can interest him in this it may work out well.)

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We just got back from a cruise that left from Copenhagen and we passed under a large bridge that the Captain said divides north and south Denmark. It was pretty modern but it was long and cool looking. We left Copenhagen around 4pm and sailed under around midnight.

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