SMOOTH ROADS
Comparing our forecast to a map of Poland, we decided to start at the Western border of Poland, not far from Germany, near the town of Miedzyzdroje. With only 4 days of wind predicted, we would quickly wind our way along the coast, with our last sailing spots planned in picturesque Tricity (or ‘Trojmiasto’ in Polish), Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot.
We didn’t expect much quality from the roads in Poland, but our first impressions were a pleasant surprise; crossing the border from Germany to Poland, it felt like we ‘d escaped the bumpy German highway not living up to its name, onto a wide, smooth, 4-lane ‘Polish Autobahn’. We made good time moving in on a small town named Wolin, where the swaying trees kept us on the edge of our seats and glued to our map to find our first sailing destination. Exploring new windsurfing territory can be like a two-edged sword. There’s potential to find some amazing places where you’ve never sailed before, but precious windy time can be wasted searching for the right launch. We drove through Wolin following signs for ‘plaza’ – meaning beach in Polish – and minutes later we were within view of the water, but through some farmers fields, without any obvious beach access. Our search lead us on a bumpy track requiring the car’s 4 x 4 features and some difficult navigating, frustratingly leaving us with nothing but wasted time and dying wind. We finally found an unopened campground, which we ran inside only to watch the last of the gusts ripple the water. A fruitless start to the trip followed by a quick check at the week’s deteriorating forecast, really sunk our spirits.