30MILES project – small ports on the eastern Gulf of Finland are developing fast.

The 30MILES international cooperation project was established to develop small ports on the eastern Gulf of Finland, and six Finnish and six Estonian small ports are participating in it. The objective of the project is to harmonise the level of services, security and convenience of use of the ports. The outcome of the 30MILES project will be a ring of quality small ports every 30 miles apart around the Gulf of Finland.
The deadline for completion of the project is May 2018.

Further information: http://www.merikotka.fi/30miles

Clearance: when clearing out of Finland to a non-EU country, eg Russia, you must provide at least 4 copies of your crew list to be stamped. If then going from Russia eg to Estonia, get at least 5 copies stamped (4 for Russian border control, 1 for Estonian border control). Finland border control is relaxed about the regulation that after clearing out you must stay within a marked channel, but they emphasise that once in Russian waters you absolutely must stay within or just outside a marked channel.
Alan Wilson, Kiitaja (in 2011)