Three days of chilled-out sailing behind us. Compared to part one, this was an easy trip: few victims of sea-sickness, a beautiful quiet night on the Polish peninsula, watching films projected on the sail, buying flounder straight from the fishing boat at seven in the morning, a short glimpse of summertime idyll on white sandy Baltic sea beaches. Our stop in Hel was not quite a stop in Hell but the summertime resort’s fairgrounds, cheap music, cheap souvenirs, and masses of people comes quite close… unless anyone is interested in buying stuffed animal seals in various shapes or sizes, staying on the boat on this rainy night was a good bet.

On a sunny Thursday afternoon, the Lovis takes down its sails, revs up the motor, and enters the waterway into Kaliningrad. Soon after, the Russian pilot boat arrives. Adrenaline is high. What awaits us – how many hours of passport checking, how many days of monitoring equipment stored in all hidden corners of the boat – the much-talked-about Russian authorities! - nobody knows. A small, smiling, happy man jumps off the pilot boat and onto the Lovis to “guide our way”. Wary eyes are watching him during the handshake with our captain. Surprise surprise: the man not only speaks numerous languages, but also proceeds to talk and talk for four hours (for that is how long it takes us to get to the Kaliningrad harbour on the waterway) until we get to customs. The bus crew stands behind the fence, waving to greet us. The passport and visa check proceed quite quickly, surprisingly, and the customs officer looks on while our crew takes silly pictures in his green hat. There are rumours that this not quite unfriendly customs team was appointed especially for us. Was this a Lovis-special welcome to Russia, or just luck?

Strange, surreal new world of the enclave Kaliningrad. The industrial harbour where the Lovis anchors never sleeps but seems dead nevertheless. Behind the lonely Lovis, the only human ship for miles around, is the customs house where we are supposed to show our passport to enter and leave the ship. Time for bed.