The Mazuri Lakes (1)

Just came back from a 6 day sailing trip on the Mazuri Lakes in the North Eastern part of Poland, and very excited about blogging it, hence you are now reading it. We set off on Friday night taking an offer by one of the organisers to drive us there for 55zl pp. As it turns out the trains are much more comfortable, cheaper and faster than the slightly rusty automobile that we were couped up in for 10 hours from dusk till dawn. We arrived in Gzitsko which is the main port of departure and had to hang out for a few hours waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. In that time I took the opportunity to buy fishing gear, eat, drink and have a laugh with Sandy, Tomek (Sandy's BF) and Mark (who comes up with the most funny sho0t me through the brains lines).

At the appointed time, we (I and Mark) were pleasently surprised with very comely blond Polish girls who posses bright smiles and most importantly, they know how to sail and what to do in case I start drowning. As soon as we cast off, I quickly established my clumsiness by releasing a rope that droped the horizontal beam attached to the mast. Luckily, no one was under it or they would have had a very short trip. Lesson learnt, don't mess with the ropes.



We started off with 5 boats with approximately 5-6 ppl in each. Our boat had 4 burly barrel chested men, of whom 3 had hairless chests and 1 with a gut full of beer. The other two were slim blond girls with legs that strech half a mile, and walking endurance to fit. They did all our shopping, often having to walk several kms just to get to the nearest shop, while the boys cooked and cleaned the boat. Ahhh... life is good, sometimes I wonder why I have such luck to float aimlessly (so it seems to me) for 6 days with nothing but clear blue skys surronded by lakes that perfectly mirror the landscape.

Anyways, on the first night one of the boats had a problem with their motor so our group was split up and we ended up with one other boat, while the other 3 were stuck out in the open until midnight before they could get to a dock (as they were trying to help each other). There wasn't much sailing as most of the time the wind was still and the sun burns with intensity. Thinking that I quite invincible with my dark skin, I refused to put on the appropriate amount of sun block and was sorry to have my back burned. Where on another boat a girl was so completely lobstercated that she decided to go home early as she couldn't even sleep at night with her burns.

During the day we were taught knowledge on the basic knots essential to every sailors skill sets. By night fall of the second day, we meet up with the other boats and i was able to demostrate the sizable knowledge I had garnered during the day by helping the other boats dock. I looked like I knew exactly what I was doing... my specialty. Quite happy with myself, I went about hewing pine trees for our bonfire that night. Strangely, this somehow impressed the girls as I was hauling back my prize. A 12 foot long 50 kg pine still in its youth cut down by a chauvinistic showoff for the primary purpose of keeping the mossies away and grilling a sausage. Such as it is common in life.