Beware witches and stroppy harbour officials!

The prevailing winds here are still south westerly and we are now heading, yes, south westerly! Our next leg was a rather uncomfortable motor sail 25 miles west to the small harbour town of Leba. It was time to explore inland Poland.

Once again we mounted our trusty steeds to head south. Having been locked away for the winter with only damp sea air to sustain them they were at first a trifle unwilling after their first outing without protest. They squeaked and groaned sufficiently over the first mile to persuade us to turn back for a little maintenance. One new pedal and a lot of oil later we sat out once again.

The land is flat and heavily forested with perhaps a quarter of it farmed by small holdings. Much as expected we passed many drab concrete houses or apartment blocks and unsmiling old leathery faces but also some old brick farms and small pretty houses.

A couple of hours riding took us to the main road to the town of Lebork where we came across a somewhat surprising sight. Parked by a fuel station at the junction was what appeared to be an old Soviet fighter jet and an old bi-plane that we guessed was from the second world war! Some enthusiast souvenir I suppose.

We stopped in Lebork for a well deserved lunch in a nice town square; gone was the drabness of 1950’s concrete, it could have been a town centre anywhere in Western Europe. We downed a two course lunch, a beer and a coffee all for the princely sum of £6! In the café a Polish lady came over to say hello surprised to see two Englishmen in this part of Poland. She now lives in Canada and had come home to visit her family. In the early ’80’s she fled to Canada to escape communism. She and her new husband in their early twenties told everyone they were going to Canada on a holiday (had the authorities found out they did not plan to return they would not have been allowed to leave). When they got to Canada they applied for citizenship and did not return until the fall of communism; not even their poor mothers knew that they did not plan to return! She gave us a little more insight into the legacy of communism. An old school chum of hers who did not get away became a ship designer with a Masters degree; he is now living on a state pension of just £7000 per annum; what must the pensions for a mere labourer be??

On our way back we passed through the most delightful village. Attractive new houses with beautifully kept gardens, the new blossoming Poland and one of the more surprising road signs that I have seen on our travels – beware of witches!

The reason became apparent a little further on…

The following day we had a 4 hour run down the cost to the small town of Ustka where we were greeted on the dockside by a very stroppy official, a man from the harbour authorities and a policeman – all we wanted was an ice cream! It seems we had broken the rules. The coast here is a national park  and for reasons that are beyond me we were supposed to keep a minimum of 2 miles off shore which we did not. After demands for an explanation ( I seemed to get away with ‘I didn’t know) which had to be given in writing, copious note taking and an examination we were allowed to go on our merry way. Oh well, I suppose they have nothing better to do!

The wind is not playing ball for the next few days with constant south westerlies so we have decided to head north west tomorrow to the Danish island of Bornholm 60 miles away.