Dear readers,

"Can you still go there?". I've been hearing this question more and more frequently for three years, in emails to the editorial team, at trade fairs and on the jetty. Even this year, although the sailing season only started a few weeks ago. It always refers to the same area: our Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea, the sea in our midst, one of the most peaceful retreats, even on the water, so vast that one thing can be found in any case: Peace and quiet. The Great Baltic Sea Tour is one of the most beautiful things you can imagine for a long summer of sailing. Start and finish: right on your own doorstep.

The Baltic, the Bothnian Bay - it is precisely the more remote sea areas that trigger a longing in many skippers. Mooring on your own keel at the buoy in Törehamn, at the northernmost point of the Baltic Sea. No problem! The only decisive factor: enough time.

That's how it is, isn't it?

Apparently not so much any more. In the meantime, an uneasy feeling is giving most sailors with such sailing plans pause. Some change their routes, others reduce their destinations. Their considerations have a serious background: Russia's attack on Ukraine in violation of international law is also making waves on the mirror-smooth surface of the remote Baltic Sea.

Suddenly, time is no longer the only factor in the long-planned long journey. But also safety: "Can you still go there?"

In any case, there is no end to the news that unsettles us - and is intended to unsettle us: Reports of GPS spoofing, for example, i.e. the disruption of satellite signals that are important for navigation. The destruction of undersea cables, the use of spy drones, freighters and tankers of the so-called shadow fleet that are dangerous to the environment because they are often in a wretched state.

The countermeasures are correspondingly extensive, from increased traffic monitoring by NATO naval forces, of which even the recreational shipping industry has already been asked to help, to the plan to use high offshore wind turbines as radar sites. The BALTOPS 2025 naval manoeuvre with over 50 naval units from 17 member states of the western alliance has just ended. The starting point was Rostock-Warnemünde for the first time. Now many of the ships are guests at the Kiel Week.

If you look at the The Danish Navy is currently testing sail drones in Køge Bugt for surveillance tasks.the difference between leisure time and the turn of the century becomes even more blurred. If the unmanned, fully autonomous 30-foot USVs (unmanned surface vessels) were white instead of grey, they could be mistaken for an exotic performance cruiser from a distance with their high mainsail and flat hull.

In any case, demonstrations of maritime strength cannot be overlooked. No wonder, as they are intended to impress the other side. At the same time, it must be assumed that the situation is only likely to ease sustainably once Russian aggression comes to an end.

Fortunately, the Baltic Sea is still a very wide sea, at least by European standards. I still remember a visit to Örö in the Turku archipelago during a cruise a few years ago. Unassuming at first glance, the interior of the small island harboured a surprising military secret.

In 1912, when Finland still belonged to Russia, a coastal battery was built there in the most innocent of surroundings. It was equipped with the same heavy guns that the Tsar had installed in his battleships at the time. The cannons had an effect far out into the Gulf of Finland and were intended to protect St Petersburg from enemy attacks by sea.

After independence, the Finns took over the gun emplacement and operated it until 2004, but now as a warning against the Soviet fleet. In 2015, Örö was finally demilitarised, the gun barrels weighing several tonnes were turned into museum pieces and the island became a nature reserve. A small paradise that had found its way back to peace.

So there is hope; today's situation is not the first of its kind. Sometimes it helps to put things in a wider context in order to be able to assess a current threat appropriately, regardless of whether it is perceived as general or personal.

So, can you still go there?

Ultimately, every skipper and every crew member must find the answer to this question for themselves. It is not an easy time. What causes deep concern for one person may be a necessary step for another, an acceptable risk.

I myself am looking forward to my Baltic cruise this year, in July to be precise: from Kalmar along the Swedish east coast through the Stockholm archipelago to the royal metropolis. We're hoping for good weather and will keep our eyes peeled. And hopefully find a peaceful spot or two. The festive mood of the Swedes shortly after midsummer is legendary.

Maybe we'll see you on the road!

Christian Tiedt

YACHT editor

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