It’s one of those things you keep hearing about the whole time you’re in Estonia, but you never actually get to do. Well one of this weekends we decided to drive west to the small town of Haapsalu, and while we were there, we saw some cars out in the sea. We obviously had to try it as well.
So we took to the sea with our car, trying to stay afloat. It was actually quite safe, but it looks pretty scary. At the beginning of the road there’s a sign that says you’re not allowed in if your car weighs more than 2 tons. Also, once you start driving, you can’t stop and you must keep a constant speed of between 10 and 25 km/h or you must drive above 45 km/h. Anything between 25 and 45 km/h is not safe (maybe some resonance thing…)
At one point the icy road turns a bit mushy as the ice starts to melt and give way to murky waters. That looked dangerous. You’re supposed to drive without a seatbelt, so that, in case the car goes under water, you can get out quickly. But today’s cars start beeping if you remove the seatbelt, so you have to attach it behind your back.
All in all it was a pretty fun experience. Here’s the video and some photos
Driving on Ice in Estonia