A Personal Guide to The Baltic

Nicholas Hill

poland

The Baltic coast of Poland stretches from Gorki Zachodnie in the east to Swinoujscie in the west, a total of miles as the crow flies. There are eleven coastal harbours which are accessible by a crusing yacht of reasonable draught [say 1.5m or more]. I visited each of them in the summer of 2006. This site records my impressions and gives a biref description of each of them, together with some photographs.

Poland has modernised very considerably in the past few years. The Tesco on the outskirts of Gdynia would make most UK branches look like corner stores! Prices are very low by British standards [at the current rate of exchange of around 6 zloties to the pound]. Public transport is usually good, and again, by British standards, incredibly cheap. Ryanair run a daily flight from Stanstead to Gdansk.

Polish is not easy for the English speaker to grasp, nor is the pronunciation of words obvious. Polish employs accents in various ways to modify letters and their sounds. English is spoken by quite a few people, but there is a distinct generation gap. Younger Poles tend to be much more proficient. German is also widely understood.

Sailing, in the sense of cruising, has not yet taken off widely. A good deal of sailing is done on inland lakes or in estuaries. However, with an influx of visiting yachts from other countries, mainly Germany and Sweden, facilities are being upgraded. All but one or two of the eleven harbours covered here have some sort of pontoon mooring. However, as there are no tides in the Baltic, it is just as easy to tie up along a quayside, providing you are well fendered. You will also see large tyres covering the concrete to add to the fendering.

Many harbours, such as this one in Hel, have been fitted with these pontoons [courtesy of EU money]. You get a slot to yourself, so you can tie on both sides, relieving your fenders of pressure.

A perfectly good alternative is a quayside like this one at Kolobjwec. The one drawback is that you tend to bring dirt and concrete fragments on board.

Many of the harbours are fishing towns, but are having to diversify as a result of the decline in fishinig. This has liberated more quayside and made the authorities more aware of the need to encourage visiting yachts.

Mooring is also cheap by UK standards [particularly the South Coast!]. Ustka was free, but elsewhere around 36zl [£6] was the average. You may have to pay an extra 1.5zl to use the facilities, and often they are guarded by a lady who will waylay you and demand payment.

The entire coast is lowlying, with sandy beaches and forest behind. There are very few hazards in the way of shallows or rocks, although the inoland waters are very much shallower, and care has to be taken. Many harbours have an offlying safewater mark, a mille or so offshore, lying on the leading line. These can be very helpful, and make excellent waypoints.

Almost all the harbours are built on rivers, and one of the problems can be swell entering the harbour - the moorings tend not be very far inland. The harbour entrances tend to be through a fairly narrow space between pair of breakwaters.

Leba harbour entrance

Most of the towns are holiday resorts, not particularly sophisticated. The food is adequate, but again, do not go looking for upmarket restaurants. The holidaymakers often regard visiting yachts as another attraction, and you may find people walking down the pontoon and standing by your boat to be photographed [or even climbing on board]. The harbours usually have someone available [kown as the bosman] 24 hours a day, even in the quietest of towns. The fisherman tend to be more friendly and helpful than those in the UK.

It was certainly a worthwhile experience. On the other hand, I was collecting a boat from Gdansk, so was there already. It is a long journey from the UK by sea!

All photographs copyright CNH/COH. Please ask if you wish to use them and please acknowledge the source.