It was interesting sailing out tonight. The deep water channel is really narrow. The port lecturer told us that this is natural. They do not need to continuously dredge it out. The current makes a narrow, deep channel, but you do need a pilot to know where it is safe to go and where it is not.
The Russians like it this way. Peter the Great 300 years ago focused first on getting the entry from the north on the sea and river in to be fortified. We saw the islands and guns as we sailed out tonight. The band stopped and the port lecturer pointed out the naval installations and the guns. The Swiss never were able to attack from these defenses hundreds of years ago, and the Germans could not penetrate this sea route in WWII. (They got in by land.)
Today the Russians are building a huge concrete rotating breakwater that they can close when a high-tide flood is coming. (Of course it has the side advantage of locking enemy subs out if they are out, or in if they are in.)
Photos:
1) Tight fit sailing out. (This looks more narrow to me than the Panama canal did.)
2) An interesting sun set. The sun seems trapped between two layers of clouds.
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