Arsthbt

19-Jun-2007 -- It was our fourth attempt to visit this confluence point – previous attempts had failed because of high winds. This confluence point roughly between Hiiumaa Island and Vormsi Island is quite tricky – it’s approximately four to ten feet deep around the point and only two-three feet on the way there, so instead of a yacht we had to use a motorboat (Buster) to get there.

As the point is also open to the sea winds, white horses are frequent visitors there making the ride bumpy and wet. During previous three attempts the wind had been blowing 7–10 m/s and it was cloudy. This time the weather forecast was promising (wind speed 3 to 5 m/s), so we decided to give it a try.

Our five-member group started from Tallinn at 5 AM local time to catch the 6:30 AM ferry from Rohukyla in the mainland to Heltermaa in Hiiumaa Island. We had our Buster-boat on the trailer and storm-clothes in the car as it promised northern winds. After 90 minutes long ferry-trip we drove to Suuresadama port and at 8:45 we were ready to start chasing the confluence point.

Everything went ok except for the moment when the motor crashed after 2 km journey and we were facing the possibility of cancelling our attempt. The wave height was about 1 meter and getting there by rowing looked like a bad joke. But this time luck (or were we simply keeping our heads cool) was on our side – the motor started to work again and we headed toward the confluence point. Because of the wind and waves, catching the exact confluence point was like lighting a candle in the wind, but our best attempt was 59°00.000’N ja 23°00.024’E and we were satisfied with the result – mission accomplished. It was 10:13 AM. The hunt for the confluence point turned out to be easier than we had expected except for the “joke” with the motor.

11 AM we were back in Suuresadama and then we headed to the Orjaku port to say farewell to yacht Martha, who started her around the world journey five days later June 24th.