Experience Huntington Tall Ships Toledo!

Article in The Monroe Guardian, published June 27, 2002: (click here to see the original article)

Visiting Russia: A taste of culture comes sailing in

By Maggie Ednie, Special Writer

MONROE TWP. — Mikhail Pobar says of his ship, “You are welcome to visit Russian territory without a visa!”

From last Thursday until Saturday afternoon, Monroe area residents had the opportunity to visit Russia when the Russian tall ship St. Paul was docked in Bolles Harbor.

This boat has seen 12 countries, 24,000 miles, five hurricanes, 140-knot winds and waves twice as high as the ship’s masts.

Its captain, Pobar, was a well-known journalist in Russia before building his ship.

“I had been everywhere in Russia and I just wanted to see the world,” he said.

He and his wife, Irene, set sail on the St. Paul in 1991.

The vessel is a replica of a ship that was part of a 1741 Russian expedition covering Alaska and the Northwest Territory. It is 50 feet long, 12 feet wide and can reach 4 to 6 knots.

The third crewmember is the couple's cat, Koozya, who came to them while they were docked in Seattle, Wash. The Pobars now have a book published about Koozya and their adventures on the water called, “A Salty AmeriCat.”

The book includes art by Irene and photos of people they have met.

While stopped in various cities, the couple visits museums and enjoys making new friends.

“Sometimes you hate the difficulty,” Pobar said. “But then you come into the beach and see smiling people.”

Some of the difficulties the ship has faced include many arrests, pirates boarding the ship in El Salvador and being robbed in the Republic of Panama.

“We've met so many good people here who bring us a good smile and good spirits,” Pobar said. “Even after 10 years, I haven't forgotten a port.”

For financial support, Irene creates Russian art — oil canvas paintings, wooden painted eggs and a wide variety of Russian nesting dolls — to sell to people in the ports.

“Our boat is a small wooden bridge between many people, now she is a live museum of our common heritage,” Pobar said.

The two sailors are now ambassadors of Russia and "sail around the world with a mission of peace, friendship, culture and education."

The ship left Bolles Harbor on Saturday, but it is not too late to “visit Russia.” The St. Paul will be docked in Toledo until Tuesday, as Pobar says Russian sailors never leave on Mondays.

For more information on the Pobars, their cat and their expedition, visit www.saltysail.com.