TuleTulemine. Pärnu.

Final day. It started with a rain. There was not going to be a long paddling - we were already almost in Pärnu. There would have to be a major ceremony, where we hand the fire over to Ruhnu Karu - yet another historic shiptype resurrected, namely a small cargo boat of Ruhnu Swedes. Ruhnu Karu would then take the fire to Tallinn by sea. We needed to time our arrival to the minute, so our first target would be Pärnu rowing club, some half a kilometer from the bridge where the final ceremony would take place. A bit of an extra thrill was provided by the fact that somehow nobody seemed to know what we are supposed to do on that final ceremony. For sometime there was even talk that dugouts will be left out of the ceremony as rivermouth had been quite rough last night. Keeled-over dugouts straight before TV cameras and many spectators would not be exactly the Grande Finale we wanted.

So we set out, hoping for better weather and leaving Turm with its crew doing their basic galley slave drills - big Honda outboard had been ruled out this time and everyone would have to row for real. Which, as I had already heard from those who had tried, is not simple at all. Under Pärnu new bridge there was bunch of friends singing and waving with beer bottles. As rain was getting stronger and there was no sign of Turm yet, we took a break there, spent mostly singing. When Turm finally showed up, nobody bothered to leave anymore. Finally Andres decided to chase Turm and we followed them. Others came reluctantly behind.

Next hours we spent sleeping, eating, chatting, cleaning boats and, yes, you guessed it, singing. Everyone had been worrying and wondering how Lauri can take such a long trip. Well, he proved to be quite unharmed, putting kilometers behind him on a rowing ergometer. By the time we left he would have been easily back in Sindi, at least. As usual everyone had been worrying about wrong person. I had forgotten belt bag yesterday. Now I had forgot my backpack to Reiu that I got back, fortunately, and this list would grow before the day ended. My absent-mindedness was taking epic dimensions.

Just before we started to leave, my wife arrived. At least I did not have to "lend" cigarettes from others for a while. She then hastily departed again, to have at least some chance to fight for a viewing place on the bridge or riverbank. As soon as we got going Jaan discovered that there was one boat with 100% noobs on the river now. He got somewhat agitated so we were quite lucky to be still half a kilometer away from the bridge. Fortunately we still had some minutes, and quickest crash course in paddling I have ever seen, followed. Hell of a successful, too. As we started early we were soon forced to stop, so we gathered all the boats side by side and performed an improvised dugout-ballet, turning this big boat-raft around one way and the other. As my wife later said, it had actually looked quite impressive.Our last instructions were to meet Ruhnu Karu on the other side of the bridge and then circle around it. Finally big clock on Port Artur department store showed that it's time and we attempted to form a single file. There was quite a mess under the bridge, but later pictures show quite civilized circle emerging around Ruhnu Karu. Little later Turm joined us, then boarded Ruhnu Karu. There were some fireworks in the river and somehow I discovered that my wet feet got always a light electric shock about a second before they fired. At least it kept me alert. Then Dance Festival fire also arrived from Kihnu island. Kihnlased came on their fishing boats and started to circle as well, only in the opposite direction. Judging by their speed-demon driving style it had been cold on the sea. Huge black thundercloud that had been hanging threateningly somewhere near Reiu for half an hour now spewed few lightnings and then produced a beautiful rainbow over the bridge. Quite obviously old gods were happy. For a moment we all gathered to the ships and then it was all over. We paddled to the marina and dragged dugouts to an embankment.

Only now I learned that Lauri had somehow managed to skip all the meals of the day and had been paddling all the ceremony with bad stomach pain. That extinguished all my hopes to spend an evening in Pärnu with my new friends. Now it was back home, fast. Last adventure was taking a bit of fire to us as well - strong demand from Lauri. Embankment was windy and somehow we managed to extinguish the fire that was still in our storm lantern. Fortunately there was a "copy" in Ruhnu Karu. Last hugs and back to home we went.

Girls with fire

Tuletulemine. From Hiieaasa to Reiu.

Morning lessons in Hiieaasa.

First thing I noticed after our landing in Hiieaasa was a ruin of an old watermill just about 50 meters below our landing place. Nothing big, small drop, plenty of stones and small standing wave. Oh boy, our fresh crews will have an interesting morning, I thought. And I was right. Rapids proved fun, high-sitting Tarred Lightning plowed through the waves without taking in a single drop of water and we did a proud face-about to watch others coming and give Aasa directions. Aasa was clumsy and sitting deeper, they managed to knock one stone, but came through nicely. Some smaller boats were in trouble, though. Pigilind, mate of my Tarred Lightning (both were made during the same course) and our smallest haabjas with two big boys paddling was barely above water even in normal conditions. Now, coming through waves she gave decisively up, took in lots of water and sank.

Pigilind. Big boys in a small boat.

Another smaller boat did the same and both had to be dragged into a low water to pour the water out. When we continued, I heard Ain roar that one beer is swimming to my left, in reeds. I got the beer.

Interesting ride continued. There were stones in the river almost everywhere, as well as watermill ruins and I was constantly busy looking for stones and warning Ain who, sitting in the stern of Aasa, was in turn giving orders to Aivar in the back. Well, if you look for something hard enough, you will find it. We found our stones on the Virula watermill before Tori. Couple of boats went in front of us and passed successfully, though bumping stones. These places were immediately out - where others had bumps, Aasa might get stuck badly. I tried standing in the boat to get clearer picture of the rapids, but we had strong tailwind that immediately started to turn me around and I did not want to get in to this mess side or tail first. Right side just under the bank seemed clearest, even though there were also nice waves, time for deciding was short so I sat down, we gathered nice positive speed and in we went. Bang. Stones. And not just stones, but I had managed to sandwitch us nicely between two underwater stones. I knew others would be coming down any seconds so I decided to sit there and deal with Aasa first. Here I had a nice overview of the rapids and it seemed to me that on my left there might be an opening, so I turned and waved Aasa desperately to this direction. They were also coming with nice speed. Bang. Stones. Aasa hit a stone, turned to right and all of this half a ton of a boat and people ran almost perpendicularly into my left board, full tilt. Crack of the wood was terrible. For a second I really thought I had lost a boat. Quick incpection did not show any damage, though. Good girl, well done. But Aasa was sitting tight with all of its crew and strong current pushing it against stones hidden under water. Not good. One of the big haabjas of Jaan tried to pass us from the right and hit us as well. I noticed that the rest of the gang was also planning to come. We would have to go into water fast to get Aasa moving and I really did not want a sharp stern of some next haabjas up my ass while doing this so I gesticulated wildly that they would move back and wait until we get clear. I do hope that noise of the water drowned my words. If not, I apologize to everybody who heard them, adrenalin was high. They did not heed my warnings, though. Instead, Pigilind and one more haabjas attempted to get through few meters to our left, found stones, keeled over and now the river was full of stuck and sunk boats, people and things. Nice. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did, fine little safe catastrophy as it was. Now saving Aasa was a priority we decided so I jumped in with Ain. Aasa was not too badly stuck and I discovered that we could move it quite easily. But there were more stones below so in the end boys from Pigilind came to our help. We got Aasa swimming. Biggest problem was now getting back to my boat - water was in places up to balls and I could barely move against strong current, but somehow I managed and got us going as well.

Black Hawk Down.

From now on rapids disappeared and river became wide. Soon we reached Tori where lots of people were waiting for us. There were songs, speeches, devils, absolutely delicious nettle soup and the only two visible toilets far away, across the wide river. In a blazing sun everyone had been drinking a lot and for a while we all practiced telekinesis together. I can confirm now, it does not and will never work. Period. Would it be possible, it would have worked there and then.

Tori. Once one of the biggest caves in Estonia, this place is called Tori Hell. Devil himself has come to meet us.

Next leg from Tori to Sindi dam was tough again. We were lucky. In a place where western winds prevail we had strong wind from North-East, or perfect tailwind. Unfortunately it was so strong that at least I had serious problems keeping straight course once again. Just a little after Tori there was a magnificent attraction. Big birch growing on a high riverbank had a big branch above the river and a strong and long rope tied up. I have seen such before, but never so high. Some of us went immediately for jumping and Lauri decided he wanted to try as well. He got his wish, but this delay put us into a chase mode - rest of the group was long gone. This was hard work. We found that group was spreading again, with some swimming, some hoisting their shirts on paddles and doing some stone-age sailing.

Tarred Lightning on Sindi dam.

Portage in Sindi.

We caught Aasa just before Sindi, where big concrete dam blocks the way. Factory that used it is now gone but dam remains. We already knew that portage place would be on the right side but portaging Aasa did not sound like a pleasant task so we went to recon if it would be possible to swim it through fish stairs using ropes. Here I discovered that I had left my belt bag - pipe, documents, bank card - to an unnamed jetty when I changed my clothes just half an hour before. Dammit. To add an insult to injury, as I climbed to high dam, strong gust of wind took my trusty old wide-brimmed hat and carried it straight into main current just below the dam. Gone. Me? Without my pipe and hat?! As Jaan helpfully remarked - totally pointless man...

Progress. Haabjas, Soviet river expeditions workhorse Taimen and modern kayak side by side.

Anyway, fish stairs proved a dead end, portage, even though difficult, went fast, without any damages and soon we were having a quick lunch in a trout farm, single business still making use of the dam. There was still a long way to Reiu where we would meet again with viking boat Turm. We now had an escort again, kayakers from Pärnu. Our arrival to Reiu was actually quite a sight - twelve dugouts of all sizes + about as much kayaks gathered into a rather tight pack but we were still filling the river. To avoid looking like an attacking iroquois war party we sang to Reiu people a our travel song.

Iroquois war party.

Next bad news we got from Viktor - beer reserves were out. All we had was some sweet cider and hangover next morning made me think of the morning in Tänassilma as a rather pleasant one. As if this was not enough, most of us decided to go to concert in Pärnu - on Turm! Lauri said firm No! to this idea, which meant that I would have to stay in Reiu as well. Our lodging was in a different place and my son - even more absent-minded than myself - would probably miss the bus or something. So there were just a few of us sitting in front of Paikuse Youth Center until late night, talking, singing and sipping cider. Ouch. Tomorrow would be the last day and melancholy was settling in.

Tuletulemine. From Karuskose to Hiieaasa

I had been in Karuskose about a month before and discovered a real monster-dugout in a dugout shed. Back then I wondered if this beast can ever swim. It appeared that it was to be brought out today for its maiden trip. It took ten of us to carry it to the river. But then it seemed to behave in a very civilized manner. Ain sat into stem as a true gray-bearded skipper, Aivar was in stern as helmsman and six paddlers sat into the boat side by side. Altogether 8. Soomaa legends talk about haabjas that was able to carry 13. I do guess, Aasa (thats how the big boat was christened, after the daughter of Aivar) could take 13 people of lighter kind, too. So possibly we have the biggest-ever haabjas here. I cannot really imagine much bigger haabjas, or the aspen it would require for making.

Ain ordered a speed test and Aasa showed some serious power. It also proved stable and relatively maneuverable, though, of course, not comparably with lesser boats. But it was sitting more deep and that was a cause for some worry - we would soon encounter some rapids and nobody had a clue how Aasa would tolerate stones.

But first we had a stop at Meiekose bridge. We had reached from Viljandi county to Pärnu county and this was a cause for a ceremony, with som big shots attending. Rapids before the bridge were easier than a month before, when I had been sitting on a stone right here with a canoe. Now water was higher and stones were nowhere to be seen. We were now through the emptiest part of Soomaa and 7 km downstream from Karuskose we reached Riisa village. Ain was in party mood and was greeting everyone on the banks loudly. Everyone was greeting us back equally loudly. Except for few easy rapids day was eventless and easy. By the time we reached Saarisoo - home of Ain and Aivar, and also a place where I had made my Tarred Lightning 11 years ago - we had 17km of quite easy paddling behind. Here we had lunch and as we were once again ahead of our schedule nearly everyone went to sleep. Previous hard day was still in our bones.

We went only some 3 kilometers to Viira suspension bridge, but there were more rapids now and It started to look like I got a job for myself. First encounters with stones had created small cracks in thick boards of Aasa (luckily no leaks yet) and Ain asked me to do some scouting. I was more maneuverable with my paddles and had some basic river-reading skills, so I took a position ahead of Aasa and became their early-warning-system and pathfinder. Everything went smooth, paddling became a lot more fun.

At Viira bridge we had another break where everyone prepared for festive entry to Hiieaasa - ancient holy grove, now party place of Jõesuu village. Fire-babe and fire-guy changed into nice national costumes, rest of us laid around, Lauri found bunch of local kids to chat and had fun on a high suspension bridge.

Finally we paddled final three kilometers to Hiieaasa. Many people had gathered, there was fire ceremony, theater and Kinobuss was showing old documentaries about Song Festival. We had short sauna but soon drove off to school where we had a dinner and lodging in a dorm. Sauna was exceptional and i was hoping to back there and then get to bed - I was really feeling that those long days were now squeezing me empty.

That was not to be, this time. All of a sudden appeared Liisa, blond angel responsible for getting our blog and pictures up for a national newspaper on a daily basis and asked if anyone knows where Aivar lives. Aivar and Ain had left already and it was pretty obvious they would be sleeping. But now Liisa need pictures Aivar had taken during the day. Incautiously I told i had been there 11 years ago and next I discovered my self in her car, driving back to Saarisoo. Bye sauna and early sleep. We found that Aivar was as happy to help as I was. Lovely smile is a terrible weapon... And when I finally crawled to my room Liisa was still picking and uploading pictures in a living room.

From Tohvri to Karuskose

Andres had recon'ed a riverside and came back with news that river at Tohvri is essentially impassable without some serious saw action. This left us only one option. All the dugouts had to be carried about a 100 meters across the moonscape that once was bottom of the artificial lake, up the steep slope, to the trailer and to the bridge about a kilometer downstream. So this is what we did after breakfast. It took us quite a bit of time and effort and when we got going we were already good 1,5 hours behind the schedule. And river did not get any easier, at least for a while. In some places it was so narrow and meandering so tightly that bigger boats had trouble cornering. Trees where everywhere. As our forward team tried to saw us through all of the group was waiting and thus stayed together.

There was zero inhabitation on the riverbanks as we were now reaching Soomaa - lowlands where rivers flowing from Sakala heights slow down and create biggest swamps in Estonia. This is also home of Estonian dugouts as annual floods and numerous rivers made such a boat an essential tool for everyone and this is how that ancient boat type survived well until the end of the 20th century. There would not be much of an inhabitation this day - except for 3-4 farmhouses here and there.

In about 3 kilometres we reached a place where Raudna and Kõpu rivers meet. We now had more water and bigger river. OK, 4-meter stream becoming a 6 meter stream does not sound like much, but it was still some progress. This also meant less obstacles, but sun now shone relentlessly and in some places we had to go against pretty strong wind. River was also slowing down, even though in some places the current was still quite good. We had a lunch at Poldi having paddled little more than 12 kilometres. Group had spread out again and only as the last boats arrived we heard that we now had losses, even if temporary. Two ladies had got a sunstroke and we had to abandon one of canoes. Another lady saved herself from said fate right there, missing the step while coming out of the boat and earning herself a pre-lunch swim. Smart move.

We still had 13 km to go until Kuusekäära bridge, where our good cook promised some food and refreshments, and then 5,5 km more until Karuskose, nice farmhouse where Aivar has a headquarter of his dugout and canoeing operations. These numbers did not create any enthusiasm. From now on obstacles were few, river slow and everyone was doing hard work at ones own pace. One attempt was made to gather us together but in the end everyone laid their hopes on Jaan coming behind and helping everyone out and so we struggled on as deadline was becoming more and more of a problem. There would be lots of people waiting for us in Karuskose and being hours late would not be a good plan.

When we finally got to Kuusekäära bridge sun was low, my back was aching (there is no back support whatsoever in a dugout), my arse was in fire, my feet were wet and burned because the boat was still leaking from some places and the enthusiasm was totally gone. I laid down and rested. Even ruhi (still older boat type compared to our 'haabjas') that was going to join us here for a test ride could not arouse any interest. All I understood was that for some reason there will be no food here. I heard some others talking about leaving. It was obvious for all of us that last boats will come with huge delay and we still had our duty to Karuskose people who were waiting for the party. So Aivar, Andres and Hannes decided to leave without delay, ruhi went with them. I guess I laid there 10 minutes or so, then finally decided that better horrible end than endless horror and decided to follow suit.

Lauri had been taking it easy for most of the day, even if he did a good job whenever we had problem with wind or in any other hard place. Now I needed him for full five and a half kilometres and so I told him. And he duly paddled. In fact he did most of the job from Kuusekäära to Karuskose. In a kilometer or so we caught ruhi. This is essentially a big treetrunk, carved empty, it looked unstable and painfully slow. I was quite happy about my so much more modern boat. Still, did not have time to ponder about technological progress in stone age, rather I was worried how they would handle some obstacles that we soon faced and which required pretty good limbo skills again.

Banks were full of beaver traces, there were many fallen trees, but especially after we reached a place were Lemmjõgi and Raudna joined the river was so wide that even the biggest trees did not pose much of a problem. Soon after we got a first taste of days to come - Suuremurru rapids was nothing dangerous, as high water level covered stones and essentially we had couple of hundred metres joyride. And right after that we got a glimpse of boats ahead. No way! We were gaining them! This gave us both a good purpose and those last two kilometers we worked with renewed strength. We lined up with them just as we reached Karuskose meadows.

Crowd was waiting. Soon a big fire was burning, there was music, dance. Sobriety test was replaced by brand-new suspension bridge that required some serious skill to use and local people had loads of fun. Most of our traveling band was tired, sunburnt and Margo had had a blackout in the very end, so we were not in a party mood. Those who tried usual "singing through the night" routine were soon attacked by gazillion mosquitoes. I do not know how this inequal fight ended as I was fast asleep and suggested that Lauri do the same. No convincing needed.

From Viljandi to Tohvri

I had told Aivar and Jaan that I want someone with experience into my boat. Well, they had promptly forgot it and friendly guy who was finally forcefully separated from his wife and appointed to my boat looked at my feathered paddle (you know, blades at a different angle) and wondered how it is possible to use it. Ouch. Still, they were able to leave my sight without keeling over and I decided that worrying makes it only worse. There will be plenty of experienced people around to help them if something happens.

I sat into red Golf and drove out. Just after some 300 meters there was metal bang and motor sound told me I had lost silencer. Look under the car told me it had broken in the middle. Front half of the pipe was trailing on the road, back end was still holdig up somehow. I went back to hotel and got some wire and an empty beercan. Quick McGyver fix and I was moving again, but it was clear my fix would be only temporary - we were heading for Bad Road Territory now. It was Sunday so no workshop would be open. But then again, my brother-in-law Mati is expert welder and they also have a garage where I could do a better fix if he is not at home.

So the next stop was my in-laws house in Viljandi. Mati was not at home and his mobile was out. Those girls... Garage door was blocked by his huge and shiny chopper and it took a while till we together with my mother-in-law managed to maneuver this chromed wonder to a safe place without doing any damage. And then I was repairing the car with my mother-in-law - me under the car, she handling me tools and stuff. Finally the silencer and exhaust pipe were fixed with lots of tin and wire wrapped around them. I was pretty sure it won't fall off for at least few days - and I proved correct. Even though the Golf did sound now like the abovementioned chopper, my fix worked till the end of our adventure!

Quick visit to the drugstore (people on the street recognizing my shirt and waving) and I was on the way. I found Tohvri easily and called Viktor to pick me up. We had plenty of time so we decided to meet our travellers on a big highway bridge. We went there and found two ladies already waiting. They told that dugouts had just left Heimtali some 4 km upstream as crow flies. That would translate into some 7-8 km of actual paddling, so we had an hour of waiting. Finally they came, one by one. I was immediately worried as it was now clear that faster boats were not even attempting to wait for the others. In fact, during this short distance gap between first and last boat already grew to 45 minutes. Fortunately my boy was coming nicely in the middle and his partner had clearly come to grips with the tricks of a feathered paddle. Viktor had gathered some wild strawberries on the straw and I managed to threw them to the boat in a big plastic bottle.

We now drove to Sõpruse bridge where lots of people were already waiting. Our red T-shirts made us immediately a center of attention. Locals were very friendly and also warned us that river is heavily blocked downstream, even though number of teams have been trying to clean the path. Problem is, the upper reaches of Raudna river are very-very narrow, low-water during summer and there is no tourist canoeing here. Therefore normally nobody clears the river like it is done further downstream. Organizers had been doing hard work to make the stream somehow passable and last teams had been on the river just a day before - losing a chainsaw and lots of other equipment after they encountered some oaktrees in the river. But rains had passed and water level was declining fast. So nobody actually knew what we would see on the river.

Then they came, again one by one, only gaps between boat were even bigger. Some had keeled over on obstacles, everyone had had a hard time hauling boats over the trees or doing "limbo" - worming under the trees. My boat had done fine, Lauri was dry, tired and happy, his partner was wet (it is easier to go to water sometimes, rather that try to stay dry at any cost), tired and happy. But in private conversations with "chiefs" I was rather clear what I thought about such spreading-out. Jaan was doing hard work being last himself and helping the weakest. But an hour or more between the first and last is not just rude. It is plain dangerous and if I had my say on this it was not going to continue. After yet another uber-delicious lunch we were on the way again.

It was tough going. No problem of spreading out anymore. Every few hundred metres (and sometimes less) there was some obstacle, either forcing us to "limbo" or drag the boats over. Aivar and his friend were in front with two boats, sawing and hacking while the rest of us waited, Jaan also came in from behind and helped them. I would have wanted to be there, but was forced to just sit and watch. We were at least an hour late to Tohvri, were lots of people were againg greeting us, this time including a Norwegian tourist group. No doubt, we were rather special attraction. Here in Tohvri we were supposed to have Jaanipidu, solstice party and I expected it to be rather special experience.

It was not to be - the only major disappointment during this trip. Tohvri appeared to be classical "bombhole" - ex-single-company-town destined to die out after the factory ceased to exist. We carried the fire to the party place and there was some singing, but there seemed to be no band for dancing and dominating the place were local men who obviously had been "conditioning" for the event since the morning at least. Therefore we decided that staying there could be unhealthy and possibly dangerous. We would rather have our own party. So we went back to a house where we would stay overnight, had sauna, dinner and then we obviously sang again. Sometime after midnight we gathered a small group to bring our fire back from the village party and - oh blasphemy - there was nobody there. Solstice party in the village that ends by midnight, honestly, this I saw first time in my life. The good news of the day was that my ankle was doing way better than I had hoped.

Portage to Viljandi

Next morning we woke early and went together with Jaan to see what the river looks like on the small footbridge near Vana-Võidu. Sight was encouraging, it might be passable. But we still reached a sad conclusion - even if we make it to the lake by 1700, we will be muddy, ugly and tired and that would be definite no-no for Viljandi ceremony. Next time.

Now we went back to our boats and everybody was trying to guess whether there will be enough helpers to carry one or more boats 7 km to Viljandi. Just in case it was decided that only one boat will be carried and the rest will come on the trailer of Jaan. Only now we recognized that the only boat that was designed to be fire-carrier was brand-new, not fully dried and therefore the heaviest of all. Bad luck. Jaan had cut some healthy stakes from the forest, we put those under the boat and then we went. Rest of the gang, old, young, women, men came behind, big torch went in front of us. On the other side of Ärma river valley (boy, was that an ascent!) a sponsor had brought a pile of round sticks, these were for another test. Namely, of old, in such situations boats were dragged on rollers. Would it work now?

It did. Just great. Soon a conveyor belt formed - on the right side walked people carrying rollers to the front of the boat, on the roadside they came back hunting for the first available roller. In the middle of this walked Jaan, dragging the boat by a rope, Mati was on the back, keeping it straight. This new method meant that everyone could help and there were small kids running with rollers, as well as old ladies.

We made a longer break by Viiralti oak. In our enthusiasm we even carried the boat 100 metres across the meadow to the oak, where local tourist farm provided home-made bread, butter and mead.

All in all we passed this 7 kilometres in a brisk walking speed and finished quite fresh and in time. After a lunch on a high bank of the lake, with a gorgeous view on the town below we brought other other boats. There is virtually no place where one could rive near the lake with trailer, so we actually went to water in Viljandi and paddled back to the place where we had left the fire-carrier.

We were actually lucky - even though we had plenty of time we dragged fireboat to the lake and soon we heard Jaan swearing in the reeds. One peg in the bottom of the boat was lost with the portage and he had a little fountain in the boat. Simple boat - simple solution. Five minutes of knifework and were were seaworthy again.

Viljandi rowing club boys and girls were gathering on the lake. We proceeded to marina, escorted by an armada of sport boats, including one big eight. While we did hard work paddling, they were barely touching water with oars. Also with us was rowing Viljandi boatman (legendary song figure). Here we also met Aivar - man who started all this dugout revival thing in Estonia, Ain, his father and their companions who would join us from now on. They also brought some plastic canoes to accommodate all the excited paddlers.

After the usual ceremony we had still one more task left. The one boat which Jaan had used for his breakthrough attempt was still in Vana-Võidu, somewhere by the river and had to be brought to Viljandi. We drove off, others went down the steep track to the river valley, but I still needed to change my paddling shoes. I did this, ran after the others... And then I was down on the road in pain. Ankle. Again. Right before two possibly hardest days with lots of fallen trees in the river. I limped back to the car, next hour or so I spent with leg in the cool lake water, thinking about my options. Conclusion was quite simple. I would paddle or swim or walk on my ears, but I will get to Pärnu.

Evening was beautiful and lake was like a mirror when we paddled again towards Sammuli hotel on the other end of the lake. I decided that as long as I can stay in the boat I will manage. Still, I needed a good support bandage and certain medications, so I had to skip the morning leg next day and go shopping to Viljandi. Someone had to drive the trailer of Jaan to our next stop in Tohvri so I could be useful while doing it. Viktor would pick me up from there and take me to Puiatu for lunch so I would be back on the river after that. There would be plenty of those who want my seat for half a day. Just that when other had a beer, went to sauna and then learned some kind of an Irish dance, all I could do was to sit with Aivar and Ain and look at the fun. Dammit.

Tuletulemine. From Tänassilma to Vana-Võidu

Waking was not nice. Somehow I had swapped voices with Tom Waits and even local cat was stomping so loud that my head was about to explode. Not that I had drank much, but I had mixed (old fool, you never learn!). So for I while I pondered about decapitation as possibly the best cure for my headache. Just few hours of sleep did not make it any better. Fortunately we got underway pretty soon, this time we were again only with Lauri. Company had changed somewhat. Obviously so many people wanted to participate that they had to change crews. Only us with Lauri and Jaan, being boat owners, had the priviledge of going all the way.

It was soon very clear that this day would be much easier. Current was easy, wind had quieted, and while it was mostly cloudy, there was no rain. We were ahead of schedule soon - we knew that on yet another bridge there will be yet another reception, we could not be there too early, so we found a nice high bank and made a stop. Sten went to ask if it is OK that we stay there for an hour. Landlady asked if we would like some coffee and obviously we agreed gladly. Soon we were delivered not just good strong coffee, but homemade smoked and marinated eel preserves as well!

On a Tusti bridge a choir was receiving us, together with at least half of the local population. Then we walked to the house of the choir conductor and had a lunch. Local guitar man who had been with us last night, showed up and lunch turned into an improvised concert. I was really starting to think where I am. I had come to a simple boat trip, but the more I saw all those people waiting for us and greeting us on the riverbanks everywhere, the more I saw how people reacted to us, it feeled more like some kind of a strange pilgrimage.

The rest of the day was rather eventless. We had an early finish on a Kuudeküla bridge, where among the crowd my mother-in-law had come from Viljandi to greet us. Crowd helped to haul the boats up the high banks and carry them to the nearby farm where they had to remain overnight. Mother-in-law grabbed quickly our paddles and said she will take them, so that she could be part of our trip as well.

Most of us then took a few-kilometer walk to Vana-Võidu, where we had a lodging place in the dorm of local technical school. Jaan, together with another guy went to see if it would be possible to break through to Viljandi by the river, so I drove back to Tänassilma to take his car from there to Vana-Võidu. The trick with this ancient waterway is that about 10 km between Kuudeküla bridge and Viljandi lake are not really passable - centuries worth of of Viljandi wastewaters have created an unpassable swamp there. There is still river and water moves, but going would be really difficult. Jaan returned late in the evening and was optimistic - we would do another walking recon from Vana-Võidu in the morning and then possibly try to break through with one boat, being probably first for very long time. He talked me into being his partner this time - well, he did not have to try very hard. Rest of the boats (or at least one boat with fire) would be carried 7 km along the road to the lake.

When I finally got to sleep rest of the gang was still singing in another room. Well, they could afford that. I had still almost a week to go.