08-13 Day 34 (The Baltic Sea & The Ferry)

Mileage

The portion of the trip that takes place on the Baltic Sea is a little bit more than 800 miles in length. But, I’m only logging the miles that I put in on the bike, so I’m showing that I did not put on any miles today.

Morning has broken…

It’s 8:00 AM, and I’m sitting in the cafeteria of the Princess Lady ferry, traveling to Helsinki, Finland. The ship is in the middle of the Baltic Sea, and it is surreal to be sitting here, drinking my morning coffee, looking out as the ocean waves go by, ticking along at almost 25 knots, we’re really making the miles.

I did not sleep well last night, and I blame Robert and Si for buying me two large beers, and forcing me to drink them. OK, maybe it wasn’t their fault, but I need someone to blame, right?

Breakfast

I desperately need a cup of coffee, so I buy a cup of coffee at the cafeteria for 4 euros, but quickly learn that Brunch will be served at 9:30, only 45 minutes from now. I’m bothered that although I’ve purchased the meal package, I must still pay for coffee, but I’m desperate, and will do anything for a cup of coffee. So, with 4 euros lifted from my pocket, I start writing this post.

At 9:30 (Finish time), I make my way to the restaurant, where I’m the first person to arrive. I find my reserved table, and place the laptop down, and look at the food that they have laid out. Frankly, they’ve put out a buffet that is nothing short of amazing. Perhaps its not quite Vegas buffet levels, but it’s pretty good for a ferry ship.

Internet access

I had hoped to be able to buy a package that allowed me to connect to the Internet, for the entirety of the trip. But, sadly, that does not seem to be the case. From within my cabin, the WiFi is so weak, that I cannot get my PC to connect. Using the iPad, I’m able to get it to connect, but by doing so, I’m offered Internet access for 1 hour for 7 euros, 4 hours for 20 euros, and 12 hours for 35 euros. Wow, holy hijack Batman, that’s pretty pricey indeed. But, at 2:00 AM, it did not make sense to deal with the Internet, so here I sit, at 10:30 AM, needing to figure out this Internet Access thing…

2 hours later, I’ve figured it out, and have a solution. Because I’m a Finnlines club member, I’m able to get 12 hours of Internet “for only 25 Euros”, so I jump at the chance, and start my day’s work.

Real-time tracking

I’ve enabled tracking on my Delorme Inreach transponder, so you should be able to see me, in the middle of the Baltic Sea, with real-time tracking, but I’m not able to confirm this, until I get Internet access. So, I might want to buy an hours worth of bandwidth later this AM, and then spend time pushing the content once I’m further along in this 800 mile journey.

Now that I’ve got Internet access, I attempt to use the Real-time tracking, only to discover that, somehow, the Internet access that I’ve purchased is restricting access to some content, and I’m able to get to my tracking site, but it never finishes loading, and I can’t tell if its working. So, I’ll have to check this again, once I get to Estonia.

A view from level 12

The Scientologists have a religion with many, many different levels of achievement, and at the top level, you’re presented with enlightenment. Now, I’m not a believer in all of that, but there is a similarity here.

Deck level 12 is an open-air deck, with a heliport, and beautiful views in all directions. So, I walked out onto the deck, and did a quick video report. Oh, and I think I answered the question of why it takes so much more time, after the cars are onboard, to finish loading the ship.

Looking at the video, it’s easy to see how it could take a long time to load all of the refrigerated trucks that are on the aft-deck, visible behind and below me, when standing on the helipad.

Info about the ship

I feel a little like a kid in a candy store. This ship has a sauna and whirlpool, which I can’t resist. I spent 45 minutes in the sauna, and about 15 in the whirlpool, and I’m ready for a nap, but I’ve got work to do.

What is a ferry?

Well, ferries are like cruise ships, but they don’t usually have any of the glamor, but ferries taht are used for long crossings, are in many ways, designed to act just like cruise ships for their passengers.

This ship is well equipped with amenities, and things to to. But, I’m most interested in getting some dinner when 6:30 rolls around, and then calling it an early night.

After last nights horrible sleep, I need to be fit and aware for tomorrow’s adventures.

So, what will tomorrow bring?

Tomorrow I’ll arrive in Helsinki at 9:00 AM. I’ve done a bit of route planning, and it seems that the other ferry terminal is only 5 miles away, but it’s expected to take 25 minutes to get there. So, I’ll leave one ferry, only to arrive at another 30 minutes later. The ferry to Tallinn, Estonia leaves at 1:30 PM, so I’ll have time to get to the terminal, grab lunch, and get on the ferry for what should be a simple crossing.

Arriving in Estonia, I’ve got a choice to make. If I can get to Estonia efficiently, I’ll try to get to the hotel, check in, drop off my bags, and head to the Motorcycle dealer, to drop teh bike off with them, so that the bike will be cool to the touch when they begin work on Thursday. But, it’s not clear if I’ll have enough time to get this done, so my plan B is to check in to the hotel, and then get to the dealer bright and early on Thursday.