02-May-2002 -- For us seamen of a refrigerated cargo ship Saint Petersburg (from 1920 until 1991 called Leningrad) is something like our "home port". Russia imports gigantic quantities of foodstuffs, and so with a reefer ship you cannot avoid Saint Petersburg, we do call it regularly two to three times a year.

Saint Petersburg is not a port situated directly on the sea, but it is located on several islands in a delta, at the Eastern end of a shallow bight, the Nevskaya Guba (literally "Lip of Neva River"). The port is connected to the Gulf of Finland by a dredged channel, the Sankt-Peterburgskiy Morskoy Kanal (Saint Petersburg Sea Channel).

From the open sea to Saint Petersburg navigation takes about 1.5 hrs until Kronshtadt on Kotlin-Island with its beautiful cathedral. Kronshtadt is an important and heavily fortified navy base, too. From there it is another one and a half hour until you enter the Port.

"L E N I N G R A D" say the huge letters in Cyrillic script at the entrance of the port.

After a navigation of 24 days and 8,200 nautical miles (15,200 km) nonstop from Argentina finally

BACK AT OUR SECOND HOME!

After 25 years frequent calls to this town I know it so well, I could quit my sea-service immediately and become a tourist guide there. I already started to exercise:

English version, and continuing narrative, below.

Давайте познакомимся с Санкт-Петербургом!

Мы находимся на берегу реки Невы, на Дворцовой набережной. Посмотрите! На маленьком острове стоит Петропавловская крепость. Здесь Пётр Первый основал Санкт-Петербург. В крепости расположено самое высокое здание города – Петропавловский собор. Отсюда, от Кировского моста, хорошо видна Стрелка Васильевского острова. Васильевский остров – самый большой в дельте Невы. Перед вами знаменитый архитектурый ансамбль Стрелки: Биржа, Ростральные колонны, башни Кунсткамеры и Таможни.

Справа от нас бывшая царская резиденция – Зимний дворец. Сейчас в здании дворца расположен всемирно известный музей “Эрмитаж”.

Невский проспект – главная улица Санкт-Петербурга, центр культурной и общественной жизни города. Он начинается у Адмиралтейства, недалеко от Невы, и кончается на площади Александра Невского, тоже у Невы. Здесь расположены дворцы, музеи, храмы, театры, Публичная библиотека, магазины, рестораны, кинотеатры. Здесь же находится знаменитый Казанский собор. Одно из самых красивых мест Сапнкт-Петербурга – площадь Искусств. Прямо перед нами Русский музей, слева – Малый театр оперы и балета. А тут театр Музыкальной комедии и Филармония. В центре площади, в сквере, стоит памятник Пушкину.

English Translation:

Let's get acquainted with Saint Petersburg!

We are at the shore of the Neva River, at the Castle's Quay. Look! On the small Island over there is the Peter & Paul's Fort. Here Tsar Peter I. has founded Saint-Petersburg. In the Fort itself is located the highest building of the Town - Peter & Paul's Cathedral. From here, from the Kirovsk-Bridge, we can see very well the Eastern tip of the Basilius-Island, the largest island in the delta of the Neva River. In front of you is the world famous architectural collection of the Strelky (Eastern Tip): The Stock Exchange, the Rostral-Columns, the Tower of the "Kunstkamera" (Chamber of Arts) and the Customs House.

At the right hand of it there is the former Tsar's Residence - the Winter Palace. Nowadays in the building of the Winter Palace there is accomodated the world famous Museum of Arts, the "Ermitage".

"Nevsky Prospekt" - the Main Street of Saint Petersburg, is the center of the cultural and public life of the Town. It begins at the Admiralty Building, close by to the Neva River, and ends at the Alexander-Nevsky-Square, as well at the Neva River. Here we find castles, museums, churches, temples, theatres, the public library, shops, restaurants and cinemas. And here we see as well the Kazan Cathedral, and soon we will see the most beautiful place of Saint Petersburg, the "Palace of the Coast" (Ploshad Iskust). Right ahead of us is the Russian Theatre, and left the Little Opera and Ballet Theatre. In this theatre are shown musical comedies and philharmony. In the centre of the Square, in the green area, there is the Monument of Alexander Pushkin, one of the most famous Russian poets.

Back to the narrative...

Well, this was a brief description of Old Saint Petersburg. I could submit hundreds of pictures from this beautiful area, but unfortunately this is contrary to the confluence rules.

To a foreigner's question not knowing Russia which is the most recommendable town there to visit, the answer will be clearly: "Saint Petersburg". It was and is a jewel. Compared with Saint Petersburg Moscow is just only a big village. Here is united all the culture the former Tsars have collected and patronized.

In today's morning I had to do some office jobs in our local Shipping Agency in downtown. After having completed them I did not want to return on board the ship so urgently, and I strolled down the Nevski Prospekt, in order to see what's going on there. I had a look to the Mikhailovskiy Garden with the beautiful Sobor na Kroviy ("Cathedral on the Blood"), so named due to a former Tsar has been killed on this place, and in honor of his blood a cathedral has been built there.

But of more importance is the fact that about 13 km WNW of St. Petersburg there is the small village of Lisiy Nos ("The Fox's Nose"). And this point I decided to visit.

Soon I found a taxi and we went West on the Nevski Prospekt to the Dvortsoviy Most ("Palace Bridge") over the Bolshaya Neva ("Great Neva River"), passed Vasilevskiy Island, crossed the Birzhevoy Most ("Stock Exchange Bridge") over the Malaya Neva ("Small Neva River"), bent around the Artillery Museum to the Kamenostrovskiy Prospekt, crossed the Kamenovstrovskiy Bridge over the Malaya Nevka ("Small Little Neva River"), and finally we crossed the last bridge, the Ushakovskiy Most, over the Bolshaya Nevka ("Great Little Neva River"), reaching the mainland. Along the Bolshava Nevka we went in the Primorskiy Prospekt and the Primorski Chaussee (Road M-18) towards West, passed the modern suburb of Lakhta and the small village of Olgino.

Finally we entered Lisiy Nos. It is a small village with the typical Russian wooden houses.

The driver parked a few meters from the beach.

The days from 1st of May until 12th of May are full with Russian holidays, and many families go for a picknick on the beach.

I knew 60N/30E to be an offshore confluence, only a few hundred meters from the shore. The water there around is shallow (only a 30 to 90 cm / 1 to 3 ft), but still far too cold in May to go into (3 to 5 °C / 37 to 41°F). So I proceeded along the beach with my GPS, until I was about 515 meters off in the NNW and could clearly see the point.

I enclose the view to the West, and the view to the North shows some waterfront properties, including a dog which surprisingly did not bite me! :-)

A word to the use of GPS in Russia:
I have been contacted by several persons and asked about the legal situation in Russia regarding this problem. I am sorry, I really don't know it, as I am not a tourist and due to my position and connections I am not subject to regulations being probably applicable for normal travellers. Probably there is not a law or regulation at all, and I think it always depends of the situation. At such a point as the above described, you can basically do what you want. It is neither a military zone, nor is it of any interest for the authorities.