Black Sea Logbook Entry
Date: 7/15/2010
Distance: 24 nm
Sailed from: Rize
Lat: 41° 10.9’N
Long: 40° 54.5’E
The clouds began to build in the late afternoon, but the weather remained fair for our passage to Pazar today. We spotted a small waterspout to seaward, but it collapsed quickly into a rain cloud. Nevertheless, we were relieved once again to find a very good harbor at Pazar. We tied to the end of the fisherman’s quay and were greeted by the captain of the big fishing trawler nearby. He asked if we needed anything, so we asked if there was any water to fill our tank. Something must have been lost in the Turkish translation because he disappeared and returned with a dozen drinking water bottles. It was not exactly what we wanted, but a generous gift which we gladly accepted.
A young man who spoke English had been called, and Mustafa arrived awhile later and offered to drive us to the local market in town. The heat and humidity in this part of the Black Sea makes us feel quite tired at the end of the day which is why we declined his invitation and another to join a small group of men at the local seafront fish restaurant. The latter group would not take “no” for an answer, so one of them returned 30 minutes later and insisted that he treat us to dinner. Just then, a double rainbow appeared over the harbor, and we took it as a sign. We went ashore for a pleasant evening and more delicious Black Sea fish. A brief rain shower passed over, and the temperature dropped, giving us a temporary break from the heat and humidity.
While we were preparing to depart the following morning, a Turkish-flagged yacht entered the harbor, circled around and departed as quickly as they arrived. We waved from the quay, since other sailing yachts are such a rarity in this part of the Black Sea, but they seemed to be in a hurry. We departed soon after and followed them for awhile along the coast. They seemed to be doing what we were doing — visiting every harbor — but their visits were much quicker than ours. We saw them again later when we arrived in Hopa, but they were at anchor. We continued into the port, figuring that they would find us when they went ashore, but we didn’t see them again.
