We passed a buoy that was barely visible in the fog, and the pilot turned the wheel to the left to point us north where there awaited us, seafaring adventurers that we were, an unknown, undiscovered land, terra incognita. We continued to make our way across the lake, concentrating unbrokenly on finding our way in the fog. Our journey across the mist-blanketed water was like life: we had to feel our way along without knowing what would come next. Gradually, however, the fog that had covered Lake Seliger overnight now thinned, melted away, and swirled like white steam over the water. The fog to the right of our course, over the eastern shore of the lake, acquired a copper tinge, the first sign of the still unseen sun.
Maintaining our speed, we proceeded north and slightly west, where the la
