Friday passed, it’s time for Saturday
The watercraft have come. The first official meetings are behind us. Amusement parks have started, and Oldtimers have started to cruise on the Oder River. Hey delighted the public, as usual. Pianists from Szczecin’s twin towns of have been playing Chopin. The weather has been fine.

The Days of the Sea – Sail Szczecin 2010 and VI Oldtimers Rally - have begun. A few dozen watercraft have come to Szczecin: vessels of the Navy, sailing ships, Oldtimers, as well as two cruisers. Some watercraft are available to visitors. Others offer cruises on the Oder River and surrounding channels. The most magnificent sailing ships - Fryderyk Chopin – on this ship the concert Chopin on Chopin will be held on Saturday – and Iskra and Pogoria - have docked at Wały Chrobrego (the Chrobry Embankments). On Friday two giant liners – Black Watch and Delphin Voyager - also came to Szczecin. 1770 passengers have come on board these ships.

Saturday is starting
From 10 am the sailing ships and Oldtimers will open their decks to visitors. There will be cruises and marine workshops for the young, as well as an exhibition of antique vehicles. Preparations for the central piece of today’s open air show -Chopin on Chopin (which is to be held at 10 pm) - are slowly starting. Stalls of the Sea Fair, which is exceptionally rich this year, are being opened. One may buy there almost everything, starting from pinwheels, balloons, through candy floss to sailing ships’ model and sailors’ hats. One can observe the work of sculptors, painters and handcrafters. The Fair will last till Sunday.

What happened on Friday
The maritime industry celebrated the Days of the Sea as usual - Polska Żegluga Morska (Polsteam – The Polish Steamship Company) invited to the meeting of the industry on Friday. The Mayor of Szczecin, Piotr Krzystek, wished the employees of Polstem one foot of water under the keel and invited them to a joint celebration on the Chrobry Embankments. During the meeting distinctions were given to well-deserving employees of Polsteam and meritorious sea workers.
During this year’s Days of the Sea there was a conference devoted to emergency management - “Freedom and Security”. Apart from lectures and discussions involving security experts, there was also a spectacular demonstration of an anti-terrorist action.  On the Oder near the Chrobry Embankments hostages were rescued from a vessel attacked by terrorists threatening to detonate explosives. The action lasted a few dozen minutes and its purpose was to demonstrate the cooperation and coordination of actions of rescue services during emergencies

Exhibitions and literature
The Days of the Sea in Szczecin are not only attractions and fests. There is also some time for reflection and recalling events from the past and people connected with them, which have gone down in the Polish maritime history. On Friday sailors from the destroyer ORP Grom were remembered on the 70th anniversary of its sinking. On this occasion an exhibition commemorating this event was opened in the National Museum. One can see a dozen or so boards with commemorative pictures of the vessel, which was sunk in the Narwik area on 4 May 1940.
In turn, literature lovers can take part in the launching of the book on board the Zawisza Czarny „Z Marią przez życie i oceany, czyli opowieści kapitana Ludomira Mączki” (“With Maria through life and oceans through tales by Captain Ludomir Mączka”) written by Jan Zamorski. The official launching of the book was performed by godmothers Doubravka and Daniela Krautschneider, born in a Polish-Czech family with sailing traditions.

Musical Łasztownia
An evening in the concert tent left an unforgettable impression. It started with breaking a record in Rueda dance – there were 145 dancers in total. The Baltic Neopolis Orchestra, consisting of over thirty performers, gave a concert creating an exceptional atmosphere. The never-failing Hey brought the concert evening to an end. It was attended by 6,000 people. There was not enough space for everyone, but this didn’t spoil the fun. As participants said, Hey, a band from Szczecin, is a reliable attraction in the programme - this time it also was the case.
See photo coverage in gallery