White, blue, and red comes in different contexts, and
this one along with the name on the trailboard does give pause.
Glenn Raymo took these photos in Poughkeepsie Sunday, and they were my introduction to an ambitious sailing project. The best I can tell this project began in Petrozavodsk, a city on the western shore of Lake Onega, in northwest Russia, a few hundred miles east of access to the Baltic at St. Petersburg. Lake Onega is connected to both the Baltic and the Arctic Ocean via the White Sea Canal. As a person who fancies himself somewhat well-versed in canals, I was ignorant of the White Sea Canal until now: mostly hand-dug by prisoners of the USSR in the 1930s
Pilgrim is a lodya, a traditional sailing vessel of this area. Along with the koch, the lodya is an ancient Rusian polar exploration vessel.
If you follow along on the “news” link, you see their step-by-step voyage from Russia. Exactly two years ago, eg, they had just crossed the Bay of Biscay! News articles go all the way back to 2006.
To my friends along the Erie Canal, once the waterway is open, keep your eyes peeled.
Many thanks to Glenn Raymo for this catch. Previous posts with attribution to him can be seen here.
It reminds me of all the memorable vessels that have transited the Erie Canal: Bounty*, Draken Harold Fairhair, Pinta, Sequoia**, Hokule’a, Ra, When and If, Amarah Zee, the future Oliver Hazard Perry, Lois McClure . . . I have no doubt left some out.
*I have photos but I’ve not posted them on tugster. **One of the planned but not realized posted is a review of Capt. Giles M. Kelly‘s book; any volunteer to write a review? You’ll get a free book.
And to the crew of Pilgrim, попутный ветер, друзья мои I hope I spelled that right.
tugster: a waterblog 
4 comments
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July 13, 2020 at 11:35 am
Lee Rust
It’s nice to discover these kinds of activities in other countries, especially places like Russia, where we generally only hear about the ‘bad’ things. It’ll be a job to get the masts and rigging down to transit the Canal, but in the grand scope of their voyage, probably not that big a deal.
July 13, 2020 at 2:48 pm
tugster
Thx, Lee. I agree with your first sentence. It calls to mind a 1941 documentary I watched recently made by three US journalists who took a 1941 Plymouth from DC to Panama and then to southern Chile. What was remarkable to me was the positive and respectful comments they made about folks along the way.
Here’s a link to read first to get the big picture: https://geo-mexico.com/?p=13322
A book was produced https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23754110-adventure-south
but, to our detriment, we are so far from those attitudes today.
July 13, 2020 at 3:06 pm
CAL FOWX
Glenn has taken many beautiful pictures of nautical vessels on the mighty Hudson. I’m very thankful for both of you for sharing your hobby!
Sent from my iPhone
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July 13, 2020 at 11:50 pm
Lee Rust
Many thanks for the link to that documentary. I watched both parts… all the way to Tierra Del Fuego! Never before have I seen such a quick and evocative tour of the geography and cultures of Central and South America.
The way we Americans see ourselves in relation to other peoples has certainly changed in the past 80 years. This presentation reflects the cultural attitudes of the pre-WW2 period, before the ugliness of post-war geopolitics and other destructive distortions like the international drug trade.
Seen from our present perspective, the casual depiction of old-style banana republics actually seems rather quaint. Another thing that’s hard to ignore is the very different narrative speech patterns of those long gone times.
There was a similar expedition in the early ’60’s that featured the Chevrolet Corvair as the hero vehicle, but they only got as far as Panama’s Darien Gap: https://thecitypaperbogota.com/travel/pacific-travel-guide/the-lost-corvair/1429 . That ’41 Plymouth was one tough buggy.