Yachting

Estonia is practically an island - Baltic sea in North and West, Lake Peipsi in East. During Soviet occupation the sea was inaccessible to most of people. You had to get a permit to go to island Saaremaa or Hiiumaa, and even there it wasn't about yachting or boating a bit - only fishing boats allowed, boarder guards everywhere. (Don't ever bullshit me about equal and happy life in Soviet Union, I get agitated...).

Ok, after 1991 the sea is for people again. Thanks to European Union you can head out from Tallinn in your yacht and sail to Sweden and back, without any paperwork. By the way, Estonia still is pretty uptight with boating, too much paperwork, regular inspections etc on larger boats and yachts, so many Estonians register their vessel in Sweden, Denmark or Malta.

And finally, to come to what I really wanted to speak about: what is more beautiful than a yacht? It's a wooden yacht. Toomas bought this supreme vessel last year, has been repairing it with care. Now is only needs a new engine for manoeuvring in harbour. Made in Sweden in 1964. Enjoy and envy!

Photos by Vahur, 25 May 2014 Tallinn Lennusadam (old Seaplane Harbour).

Lodi

Lodi is a type of sailing barge used a lot on the Mother River (Emajõgi), Lake Peipsi (all the way to Pskov and Novgorod in Russia) and other Estonian waters. Lodi (plural: lodjad) has been documented in Hanseatic Tartu town and Emajõgi since 14th century.
See some old footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e-tzBV-oD8
Soviet occupation put a full stop to many fields of economic and human activity, so last lodi was seen in 1950ies... Until around 2004-2005 a group of activists built a brand new lodi. Nowadays it's used for tourism and nature sighting, not for transportation of goods, but still the ancient ship building tradition is kept alive. Currently the Lodjakoda activists are building a larger two-mast lodi in Tartu.
Photo by Vahur Afanasjev 30 March 2014
Trivia:
There used to be a huge beautiful bathing house (the wooden structure was heavily damaged in WWII and the later rebuild was destroyed in 1970ies) on the river by the the Lodjakoda site.
Even though we love CCR, their song "Lodi" talks about a city in the United States of America.

Karakatitsa

If  lake Peipsi (not to be confused with Pepsi) is covered with ice (seen already melting and piling on the photos) but you still feel you want to go fishing, you need a karakatitsa.

There's Russia on the other shore. And the April ice can move big stones and pull up trees on its way. Just like the ice in "Ice Age" animated film.

Karakatitsa is a rebuilt car, something like a monster truck, only it's not a heavy show off job, but rather a light and practical vehicle. The point is, it has to stay float, even if the ice breaks. Internal tires of airplanes are most commonly used to the wheel - and sometimes upgraded for better grip, as seen on the photos.

Photos, by the way, are taken in April 2009, in Nina village (The Nose village) in Eastern / South-Eastern part of Estonia).

Armenian style 3

I think they still worked. Incredible.

Photo by Vahur Afanasjev. Jermuk. 23. October 2011

Innovation

Behind the beautiful dancer in a Muhu skirt stands a portable ATM.

Photo by Mare Sabolotny. 1st of July at Tallinn Song festival grounds.

Industrial Cemetery

Photo by Mare Sabolotny, May 2011 in Paldiski

Happy Birthday, Estonia

Google search graphics Estonian Style.

North-Frog

Estonian artist Erki Evestus & his monsterbike Põhja Konn (North Frog, beast from Estonian mythology). Photo by Aapo Ilves, 27. 06. 2009. near Viljandi.

How to use free pastry?

Aapo Ilves 2009

European Business Style

"Goodbye and dziękuję!" Eurostyle.
Photo by Mare Sabolotny in Northern Poland, August 2009

Estonski Volvo

Tartu, 2009

Estonian Conspiracy Style

"So this is why I invited you to Rotterdam. We got a brilliant idea to use this huge machine to replace the Estonian prime minister."

Scandalous couple Inno and Irja were captured yesterday in a Dutch port inspecting heavy machinery and having suspicious talk with an unknown person. They sure had something dark in mind.

Photo by paparazzi, Rotterdam, 19 September 2009

Opening a Bottle of Wine

Those fancy foreign wines are a lot more annoying than good Estonian wines with screwable corks.

Photo by Laura Kaljuveer. 19th of August in Brussels, Belgium.

Human-Dolls

No puppets, no sculptures - just real walking-talking-dancing human dolls. Do you understand the system? Photo by Aapo Ilves. Mooste, South-Estonia, 22. 08. 09.

Modern Technology

It's a sink. Even in the forest people want to be civilized and wash.
Photo by Tuuli Teppo. Dirhami, 02.08.2009

Pre-Viking, Viking, Post-Viking

Dugout boat or single-log canoe (haabjas), viking ship Turm & some modern white trash. Photo by Aapo Ilves. 08. 08. 09. Käsmu, festival Viru Folk.

The Finno-Ugric one-log boat or haabjas in Estonian is probably the world’s oldest boat type and the forefather of modern plank boat. Haabjas was used as a fishing and a transport vessel already during the stone age.

Wisdom Of The Vikings

Wisdom of the vikings - you hold a tiller & tiller houlds your beer. Photo by Aapo Ilves. 08. 08. 09. Käsmu, festival Viru Folk, viking ship Turm.

WP: White book, white car, white writer

Estonian writer Olavi Ruitlane with his brand new book "The Woman" (or "A Woman" or maybe even "Women") on the dashboard. Photo by Vahur Afanasjev (Kass Ting), 2 August 2009, Võõpsu.

Bench-Tower 2

Bench-tower is back, higher than ever! Photo by Aapo Ilves, 15. 07. 2009. Räpina, South Estonia.

Butt-Shaped Lamp-Globe

Somewhere in South-Estonia. Photo by Aapo Ilves, 07. 07. 2009.
Also see this nice lake @ Estonian Style or @ Google maps