estonia

Leaving the Norwegian coast in July 1945, the Estonia encountered a rough storm in the North Sea that pushed the boat into a hazardous minefield. After dodging naval mines for three days, the crew spotted a Norwegian fishing boat using drift nets, indicating they were no longer in danger, and they sailed to Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. Foreign ships were forbidden to land, but the Estonia’s crew was permitted to go ashore with an escort to buy provisions and charts. On July 27, high winds forced the Estonia to seek shelter in Aberdeen. Bernhard Veskimeister, who would go on to captain the Ly, which sailed to South Africa in 1948, left the group and traveled to London. From Aberdeen, the Estonia sailed through the Caledonian Canal to the west coast of Scotland. 

Mihkel Kõvamees kept a log: 

In Aberdeen, it is apparent that during the war people’s clothes have gotten a lot worse. There is not much to look at in the shops—they are empty. But in the evenings, taverns and bars are even more crowded than in the old days, with people drinking beer and chatting.”

The Estonia’s outboard engine stopped working in the Irish Sea and in the port of Newlyn, the crew repaired the outboard motor and prepared for the next leg across the Bay of Biscay, “Where,” Kõvamees wrote, “all the winds and currents of the world meet and where there are always surprises in store for sailors.”

On September 13, he reported that the weather suddenly turned tropical. One morning, the group spotted what looked like a barrel in the ocean, but it turned out to be a turtle trying to climb on top of a round iron object. Captain Valter wanted to catch the animal and make turtle soup but then realized the object might be an old mine. “We left the turtle to wrestle on and we were all sorry,” Kõvamees wrote.

On September 20, the Estonia reached Funchal, Madeira’s largest port, where they were surrounded by merchants in boats who wanted to barter Portuguese goods for clothing, which was scarce.