Torpedo on the hook

Edi Keck snags a Soviet torpedo with the point of his anchor - and lives to tell the tale!

- Edi Keck

During the late morning of 20 July 1989, after successfully clearing Customs (and KGB) out of Tallinn, Estonia, Single Malt was heading north along the precisely ordered course line.

A group of Finnish yachts had visited Tallinn the previous year, but our Amel ketch was probably the first foreign yacht for decades to visit Estonia, which at that time still belonged to the USSR. Onboard with me and my late wife Doris, were our elder daughter with her boyfriend and another lady, an old family friend.

Once in the open waters of the Gulf of Finland, Single Malt headed for Hanko to clear into Finland, so that we could visit the outer islands of the Åland group.

Despite the night-time twilight, at nearly 60°N the approach to Hanko harbour was fairly demanding, due partly to the lack of available information at that time – and no GPS in those days.

Upon arrival at Hanko harbour, we finally got the anchor to hold at 0315. The fairly shallow sea bottom, as well as the many surrounding islands and rocks, is granite, polished by the various ice ages, with little mud or sand covering it, which makes anchoring quite hazardous. In addition, the sea water is brownish due to the swampy lakes further north, and vertical visibility was no more than 30cm on that particular day.

At 0700 we started to weigh anchor in order to make fast alongside a small fuel station, so that the crew could do the necessary shopping (which was impossible in Tallinn), while I would clear in with the authorities and take on fuel and water. We wanted to save time so that we could reach the Åland Islands that day.

Doris was at the helm while I operated the anchor winch. Suddenly the winch stopped with the anchor chain bar tight. With the polished granite bottom we couldn’t figure out why the anchor would not move.