TuleTulemine. First day on the river

Next day at 830 we were already packed and paddled back across the river, to an abandoned marina next to Oiu bridge. It was here that everyone was supposed to gather. For a while nobody came and I already started to wonder, what was actually going on when aging red Golf, four dugouts on a trailer, turned to the riverside. It was Jaan who was going to be responsible for this leg of the trip. Jaan immediately remembered me - it appeared we had made our first dugouts together, in the same camp.

We laid his dugouts to the riverside and I was immediately totally jealous. Those were four most beautifully made dugouts I have seen. Symmetrical, stem and stern sharp with vicious elegance, fine smooth finish. All in all - perfect. Not to mention luxurious sheepskins that he had prepared for more convenient sitting... while I was pretty sure that grain of my own rough sitting planks will be deeply ingrained to our backsides long after this trip is over. Self-made aspen paddles were carefully polished and seemed to me thin like paper. For all their beauty, I thought, at least they won't be half as efficient as my kayak paddles.

Locals were gathering on the bridge for the show and we discussed the battle plan with Jaan. He said that water is unusually high, so we will probably have a hard day against strong current. After the lunch we would reach an especially nasty Västriku watermill, blown up during the war, where boats have to be lugged around or through the rapids.

Next to arrive in a white van was Viktor, who, as I later found out, was the logistical backbone of all the event. Van was filled to the roof with bags of our fellow travellers, strange insignia and seemingly endless reserve of soft drinks and beer. Out of that mess came two nice T-shirts that were to be our uniform for the trip.

All of a sudden Turm was there. Marina filled with people in red T-shirts. Short ceremony of handing over the fire, songs, speeches, forming of the teams. And then off we went.

First half of the day confirmed everything that Jaan had told. Water was high, current was strong and as we were still on the lowlands surrounding the big lake, river meandered endlessly between the reeds. As if this was not enough, strong gusts of wind blew against us and constant change of rain and blazing sun made the choice of clothing a real PITA. Question of balance was soon forgotten - we were just way too busy paddling to worry about keeling over. I soon developed a clever tactics of avoiding the main stream as much as possible and creeping along the edge of the reeds where current was weaker. Others, with the obvious exception of Jaan, seemed to have less or no experience with small boats and had hard time keeping straight course. Well, at least they had more raw power than our team. And they were learning fast. Soon everyone was creeping along the reeds.

Kärma bridge, as we learned, was bridge to nowhere. There was one farm across the river and behind them just forests and wetlands. Farmer had brought a kitchen table for our lunch, this was put in the middle of the bridge and soon everyone learned that all hopes of losing weight during that trip should be buried deep and forgotten.

Second half of the day was to be divided into two parts. First would take us through Västriku rapids to Rebaste bridge (more food) and finish would be in Tänassilma, with major village party and all. Lauri was pretty much exhausted and we decided that he will give his place to Leelo, member of the choir organizing this whole trip, until Rebaste bridge.

It was soon clear that Leelo was admirably competent with paddle, having been kayaking and canoeing since Soviet times. And she was absolutely committed to paddling for all the money. What I kept to myself was that with all my 187 cm and seemingly solid build I only weigh 65k and slightly nose-heavy Tarred Lightning proved about as maneuverable as Titanic. Extra speed made all the obstacles only approach much faster. Still, extra power was badly needed, as from now on we started to encounter places where all the current ran into narrow channels. Reed-creeping tactics proved totally useless here. Don't ask me how the others with their canoe paddles coped, as even with kayak paddles and both of us with Leelo working like obsessed it was a sweaty job.

Rapids proved easier than expected. Much of the old dam was underwater and stream came through the 4-meter hole in the middle. Drop was not too big and most of us managed to paddle successfully through. Jaan had told that behind the rapids there is a farmhouse where we can take a short break. Reaching it we found a table waiting for us, covered with candies, barbecue and beer cans. They took from us fire for their Solstice party bonfire and short break soon became a longish one.

The rest of the trip was quite uneventful. Current was now less strong, instead came wind. We had another meal on Rebaste bridge and Lauri came back to boat - to a quickly improvised middle seat. This meant that I had to forget paddling and dedicated only to helming the boat, no matter how my much inner macho hated this. By the time we reached Tänassilma, both Leelo an me were pretty much exhausted.

Tänassilma was expecting us. As soon as first habitation started to show on the banks we encountered people waiting for us, waving and shouting greetings. We waved and shout back. In the village itself masses had gathered - of course, by local measure. We walked up the bank, surrounded by people. Lighting the fire, some speeches, then our song - describing the path of the fire that was to grow longer with every day (the song I mean, it took 20 minutes in Tänassilma).

It all ended in a tiny kitchen. There were about ten of us, mostly men, standing, for there was no room for sitting. Out of nowhere appeared two guitars and a flute and then we sang like there was no tomorrow. Bottles went around and night was already receding outside when I finally got to my sleeping bag. Lauri slept and even our loudest songs had not waken him. What a day.