Page 85 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 83
Having survived the winter on the Eastern Front Major Pri- daux and I joined a sailing trip around the archipelago of Northern Estonia.
The crew was a mix of staff from the Estonian Defence Force’s Headquarters and Enhanced Forward Presence. Also included in the crew were a physiotherapist and an American half bird Colonel. All, with the exception of the skipper, added little value when it came to sailing.
On the first leg the Kalev, and her crew, headed east across the bay of Tallinn into the Pirita harbour. Navigationally, it was straight forward, literally as our destination was visible from the boats mooring. The passage was uneventful, except for when the Tallinn to Helsinki ferry would block out the horizon and send our 40 foot yacht bobbing for a few exciting moments. On ar- rival, having executed our first ‘side on’, we enjoyed some of the Baltics best pizza and what nightlife Pirita had to offer (without breaking the force protection policy – two can rule)!
The next day we woke to a glorious March morning. The bay had only thawed the week prior so we were not expecting to be enjoying such splendid weather. Our next port of call was the Is- land of Naissaar. During Soviet occupation Naissaar, along with the rest of the Baltic coast line, was under military control, thus out of bounds to civilians. Naissaar was of particular strategic significance to the Soviet defence plan; it was a factory and stor- age facility for all sea mines that would blockade the approach to Petrograd/Leningrad/St Petersburg. At its height there were some five hundred thousand mines stored on the island. In 1994 when the Russian Navy deemed the island safe to hand back to Estonia there were still some twenty thousand live mines strewn amidst the dense conifers of this tiny island. Now during the summer the island is a tourist attraction, run by Naissaar’s five sole occupants. During the winter months the island is only ac-
cessible by helicopter or foot when the ice is thick enough, we were its first visitors in six months. We only met one of the is- landers, however I am pretty sure there was an eyelid in the stew we had for lunch, so perhaps we met all five. Needless to say we didn’t stay the night and made way for our next destination, Prangli.
We made excellent speed across the Northern Estonian coast, in 35 knots of wind and 11.5 knots of boat speed. No longer in the safety of the bay we had entered the Baltic which had turned from a pleasant glassy turquoise mirror, to the rolling brown Baltic stew synonymous with this part of the Baltic. Arriving in Prangli as the sun set, to a very warm welcome from our hosts who took us in their family Wagon, a soviet era troop carrier, to their home. Prangli has been inhabited by the same handful of families for the last 200 years. During Soviet occupation, the locals were ‘employed’ to keep the Soviet garrison entertained. Isolated and now imprisoned the islanders became a very insular community which has only changed in the last decade. We felt truly honored to be shown around Estonia’s answer to Roysten Vasey. The Prangliis were very generous hosts, serving us deli- cious local cuisine including Pranglian moonshine – a cocktail of hand sanitizer and methylated spirit, which only effected speech and vison for a short period so definitely within the FP policy. On a full stomach and underneath a spinning sky full of stars we sauntered back to the boat. Were we all ‘enjoyed’ a very brief dip in the Baltic which helped to purge the moonshine and improve motor function.
The final leg was the direct route back to Tallinn where we re- habbed the boat and returned to our digs in Tallinn, content on a fantastic weekends sailing. I encourage anyone on Operation CABRIT or just visiting Estonia to follow our footsteps, and visit this fascinating part of Europe, with an extraordinary liv- ing history.
Baltic Lancer
Lakeside Lancer
After an unfortunate set of circumstances meant that the C Squadron trip to Cyprus for adventurous training was cancelled. The Squadron planned its own adventurous training. Taking advantage of one of the best weeks of weather this sum- mer, eighteen lancers headed to the lake district for two days of walking and climbing.
Day One – A day of challenging walking, with the aim of get- ting to the top of England’s highest mountain, Scarfell Pike. The