Piret

Piret is a passenger ferry built  in Remontowa shipyard in Poland in 2016. Piret`s launching took place on February 1<sup>st</sup> 2016 and christening on April 12<sup>th</sup> in 2017. Piret`s home port is Kuivastu.

Contest for finding names for new ferries was organized in March 2015 and we received around 1000 different name options. Piret was named after the wife of Saaremaa`s legendary hero Tõll and ferry`s godmother is Mareli Ots.

On Piret you can find 2 passenger saloons on ferry`s 4^th and 5^th decks and sun deck for enjoying a voyage outside with nice weather. In the passenger saloon you can find a nice spot for spending time with your friends or family or a more isolated corner for reading or working.

Who was the ancient hero after whom Piret was named?

The wife of Suur Tõll, the hero of Saaremaa, was named Piret. Piret was as much of a hero as Tõll himself. She appeared smaller in stature than Tõll, but women tend to be a little smaller than men in any case. So it was with Piret.

Pire also had plenty of strength. She was a strong woman from Saaremaa. She really had no other option, since during the time when Tõll was away helping people, taking care of the household was Piret’s responsibility. And Tõll was often away. As the lady of the house, she took care of their home and meals, ploughed, sowed and reaped the crops in the fields. She boiled a cauldron of cabbage soup a day for her husband and baked an ovenful of rye bread. The bread Piret baked was delicious; indeed, it melted in the mouth. Much like Piret’s bread, her roast oxen was also praised by the women of both Saaremaa and Hiiumaa.

In addition, she even helped her husband with construction work. When Tõll started to build a sauna for them, Piret had to carry in the stones for the sauna stove. While she drudged away, one of the huge stones fell out of Piret’s apron next to Kõiguste Manor, straight onto her toe, and then hit the ground. It remains there to this day. In spite of everything, the mighty woman was not immune to pain: the stone landing on her toe caused Piret so much pain that she sat down and burst into tears. She cried so much that her tears created a swamp, which is known by the name of Naestesoo.

As is fitting for a strong woman from Saaremaa, Piret got over the mishap quickly, went on to give birth to a son, continued with her everyday activities and was of great help to her husband.