MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/. People living on the Solovki (the Solovetsky Islands) know that some of their neighbors have visited the islands once and returned to the mainland only in order to sell the property and to return and stay for good. None of the people, who we have met, was able to explain the islands’ magic power. Impossible to explain and impossible to touch. Anywhere on the islands, you can see the sky’s hem and it’s impossible to notice at which point clouds start emerging from the sea.
To put in a nutshell: the Solovki is a regular settlement at an irregular location. With the irregular history, of course. Many pilgrims come to be closer to the monastery (the Solovetsky Monastery in the White Sea). The settlement has everything people may need: a school, a hospital, shops. However, in low seasons, only few people remain on the islands: many would return to cities - mostly to Arkhangelsk, which is 260 kilometers away.
"Like in the space"
In summer, very many tourists come to visit the islands. Most visitors come to spend a week, guides say. This time may be enough to learn something about the archipelago. Others come every year to spend summer on the islands. And besides, there are people who have decided to stay on the Solovki for good.
The Moryana yacht is moored by a small wooden pier not far from a house. Marine architecture for dreamers.
Vasily Dmitriyev, the yacht’s owner, takes off boots before stepping onboard. That’s how he cares.
- I’ve made the first boat, sailed for five years - no: too small. Then I made a bigger one - again thought it wasn’t big enough. The next boat was 11m. I sail, and say - no, yet too small. So I make the Moryana - 14 meters long, 3.8 meters wide.
At the beginning, Vasily did not have good instruments or materials. A few thousand screws - by hand.
No special education: he read books, watched how other yachts were made. And yet, his yacht is unique.
- It’s fascinating to make a boat. You go to the forest, pick the trees, cut them, make boards - you had nothing and here’s something similar to a boat.
"Everything’s by hand, with the exception for the engine and some trifles. The sails are homemade, he said. "The fabric is not for sails, it’s for sewing workwear. I’ve checked - it is not blown through. I sewed for two hours every day - the sail was ready within a week. I’ve been using it for six years. Ordering all the sails is expensive - here’s what I have here!
Vasily came to the Solovki for the first time more than 40 years ago. After the military service, he married Marina, who comes from Sumsky Posad - a village a few kilometers from the Onega Bay, the White Sea.
The bay’s biggest archipelago is the Solovki Islands.
- I come here once, and that’s it! The desire to return here, but why? I can’t say. I’ve moved and began making sailboats, - Vasily said. - I’ve been sailing the sea for 40 years.
Every summer, sometimes even from late spring, to early autumn, Vasily spends on the water.
He enjoys traveling. Says he can’t do without water. The occupation is to transport tourists.
- On the Solovki it is like in the space. Quiet. It’s a special place. Like, say, for beluga whales the Beluga Cape is special. You won’t find anything similar anywhere else on the White Sea. Something pushes people to come here, not only me. Many would come here once - and that’s it. They are returning every year, - Vasily said.
The Pomors have many names for winds, but Vasily has picked Moryana. A strong northern wind.
- I sail to the Solovki in spring, and here is Moryana! Guys would joke, I’m bringing the wind: "We don’t need to check - clearly, Vasily is here!" The son’s also chosen the sea, has almost sailed the globe.
Vasily dreams to sail to the Novaya Zemlya (one of the most hard-to-reach places in Russia and in the world). He’s made a few attempts. Unsuccessful attempts. He has traveled a lot across the domestic White Sea. Once, sailing a yacht he approached the Chavanga village on the Kola Peninsula. Due to the ebb, he couldn’t approach the shore, just entered the river and anchored.
- I see kids are rowing to us. One of the boys was so funny: "Where’re you from?" We answered. Then I ask: "Boys, what’s with the water?" - They say: "It ebbees!" We say ebbs and flows, and they pronounce "ebbees," and "flowees." Every village has own talk, own words.
- A few days by the pier, and that’s it - people fade down. A lack of movement, - the sailor said. "It’s much more efficient to have a speedboat, but the yacht gives very different emotions. In autumn, imagine being by some uninhibited island. It’s dark, and the silence is astonishing. You look up at the stars and realize what a grit you are. All the people are only temporary. The sea gives the feeling of eternity. When in the open see, there’s the horizon, the sky and nothing else.
Cats and masters
Valentina and Mikhail Musykin work in a small cozy gift shop behind the Pinagor caf·, away from tourist routes. They are masters.
- At the exams to the university, I met my future wife, Valentina. I learned she comes from the Solovki. I was visiting her. We got married and have been together for 27 years already.
Mikhail and Valentina were reporters. Later on, they decided to change the occupation to make souvenirs.
- We are on our own. No managers. Plus, our work is connected with the Solovki - my fatherland. My grannies came here in 1939. My mom was born after the war, she had five sisters, - Valentina said. - We here live at two locations: in winter - in Arkhangelsk, and during the (tourist) season - here.
Their hours are not limited, and yet they are busy. To make sure the supplies are ongoing, to find new interesting authors.
- Quite often we discuss whether we could live here in winter. Rather not. The island is a limited space. Not every person can stand it. However, my parents wouldn’t hear about leaving the island. Mom used to work at school for many years, dad used to be the lighthouse service head. Their lives are here. Many young people choose to stay, or to move here, - Valentina said. - To live here, a person needs either to seek spiritual life, and the monastery supports the choice, or to be preoccupied with some business you care for.
Valentina’s first souvenirs were coastline stones, which she painted.
- It’s been my hobby since school years. I drew our monastery on stones and gave them as gifts. In the late 1990s, the life was tough, and besides we were expecting our firstborn. I asked our vicar, Father Iosif, to buy a few of my stones - so that I could take a flight to Arkhangelsk. He agreed, and later on the monastery was ordering such stones. Later on, we participated in the Solovki Fair. Clearly, we enjoyed this work. The work brings joy and also revenues. We’ve made different souvenirs, lately have been making gifts of leather - nowadays it’s our main direction.
The tourism upsurge was between 2014 and 2018 - visitors came from Moscow and St. Petersburg, from abroad. Later on, namely in 2020-2021, for obvious reasons the number of tourists shank. The masters say, this year there are more tourists than they saw a year earlier. They also say about growing numbers of permanents clients - people fall in love with the Solovki, go there again and again, and always visit the gift shop.
As for competitors, the Muzykins are friendly with them. They are rather colleagues, the masters say, stressing however they do not have time to relax.
- Souvenirs have trends: at some point plates were very popular, then bells, then magnets. The latter are not so popular lately, but we offer interesting versions: on juniper cuttings, on stones, on sea woods. I am painting myself, - Valentina said. - People having collections also come here: some love cats, others foxes or owls. Noteworthy, we never buy big consignments and never borrow money. Most souvenirs are made by our hands. Or by hands of our friends, who give them to us to sell. We normally sell out everything over a season.
The couple has special feelings to cats. The family owns three cats. Hence, they are on the post cards, which Valentina is drawing. The images resemble the family cats - furry and kind-looking. Here, at the shop, tourists can sign a card and throw it into the box. No doubt, it would be sent out.
- Local masters are few on the Solovki. But in fact those who enjoy crafts are getting more. This is good. We work with authors from Vologda, Arkhangelsk, the Plesetsk District, from the Murmansk Region, - Valentina continued. - Many masters, especially those who just begin, may be shy to sell their products, nor do they have the market. Thus, we can help some of them. Another aspect is not all clients can afford hand-made things - they cannot be cheap.
"Solovki, to Dad Valera"
- When I just came here, I still continued to live in a certain mode, like a person in the city. Here, I may ask: "When will it be done?" - "Tomorrow." But tomorrow comes, and nothing is ready. With time, I realized that ‘tomorrow’ means ‘in a week.’ With no hurry, everything will be done. Life here is no rush, - Valery Kravnikov said.
He began visiting the Solovki in 1975. At first - as a tourist of cruise voyages. Then, for some time, he lived in Germany, and when back, he was offered the position of a construction manager on the Solovki. In the very beginning, he had to live in a trailer, and even in a monastic cell.
- My place of residence reads: "The Solovki, the Kremlin." The head of our settlement, Gennady Dzhavadov, kept sending letters to Mikhail Gorbachev. The envelopes read: "To: Moscow, Kremlin, Gorbachev. From: Solovki, Kremlin, Dzhavadov." Every letter has been delivered. My son, when a first-year school student sent me a letter once. The envelope read: "Solovki, to Dad Valera." I did receive it.
On the archipelago, everyone gets what he wants, Valery said. Back in 1998, he attempted leaving the islands, started working in Arkhangelsk, but the wife and kids wouldn’t leave the Solovki.
- I still say I’m a newcomer. Think - I’ve been here for just 30 years. One son was seven, the other - one, when we moved. The junior says he’s a local.
When retired, Valery started tourism business. He was adamant - a hotel must be on the Solovki.
- My partner and I have two hotels on the Solovki. Over a season we welcome about 8,000 guests. They book rooms about a year in advance. When we just began building one of the hotels - 20 rooms were immediately sold out for the summer. We are sold out until the season ends.
Normally, tourists stay on the Solovki for one (those on cruise programs) to five days (in organized groups). Some visitors prefer short visits in winter. For example, writers - to escape the fuss. There are practically no tourists outside the season. The only exception is the New Year period.
- Over these 30 years, I have seen so many interesting guests. For example, a National Geographic photographer, whose task was to make photos of sunsets across the globe. He said - the two most picturesque views of sunsets were in the Sahara and on the Solovki.
If a person comes to the Solovki for the second time, Valery said, he would travel there for the third and the fourth times - he’ll fall in love with the Solovki.
The trail to Beluga Cape is not easy. It crosses the forest, partly in water, runs past the bird rookery with noisy sterna birds. But all the visitors take the route - to watch for hours how the white whales of the cold sea are playing in the greenish water in the warm sun rays.
They do have reasons to enjoy this place!.