Berit Treats Islanders to Free Firewood
Last Friday, high waves swept 100 cubic meters of timber overboard a Lithuanian freighter west of Saaremaa's Sõrve peninsula. The mishap was a stroke of luck for local villagers, who had a busy weekend collecting firewood.
According to Capt. Tarvo Vaher, head of the Saaremaa marine border patrol center, the MS Alfalina reported losing a portion of its timber load in high seas at 15:57 on November 25. The cargo washed overboard consisted of three-meter birch logs, wrote Meie Maa.
The incident took place 22 kilometers west of the Sõrve peninsula. Over the weekend, when the westerly winds of the Atlantic storm Berit reached Saaremaa, local inhabitants were blessed with a fair quantity of free firewood, the paper reported.
An ancient maritime tradition, followed since times immemorial, lets finders keep all goods given up by the sea.