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.

Fishing 2

Just another fishing day by the Mother River (Emajõgi). Quick snaps on my way to Tartu bus station, 1 April 2014. Vahur Afanasjev