Sailing through Russia: from the Arctic to the Black Sea. Плавание по России: от Арктики до Черного моря

The Russian Federation has decided to allow foreign vessels access to its inland waterways as of May 2012. These brief notes should be regarded as no more than an introduction to the inland route from the White Sea to the Sea of Azov, based on Australian yacht Tainui's experience in 2013. They are addressed to adventurous sailors considering an alternative route south from Arctic Norway to the Mediterranean.
In 2013 Tainui completed a 4 month voyage from Archangelsk to Azov.
She was preceded by Wild Goose (Ireland,1994) and Aenigma (UK, 2000), both flying Russian flags. In 1998 two Dutch yachts travelled the shorter route south to Azov from St Petersburg, also carrying Russian flags. As far as we know Tainui is the first foreign-flagged vessel of any description to have gained access the Volga-Don waterways in 100 years.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Overview of the river system
Tainui's journey
Tainui's journey
Vardo to Archangel'sk
Vardo to Archangel'sk
Archangel'sk
Solovetskiy Islands
Belomor canal
Lake Onega
Vytegra to White lake
Belozyorsk to Cherepovets
Cherepovets to Rybinsk
Rybinsk to Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl to Kostroma
Kostroma to Nizhniy Novgorod
Nizhniy to Cheboksary
Cheboksary to Kazan
Kazan to Tolyatti
Tolyatti to Saratov
Saratov to Volgograd
Volga-Don canal
Don river
Appendix
Historical notes
Volga river travel
Using this guide
Overview
Appendix