Black Sea Logbook Entry

Date: 9/3/2010
Distance: 65 nm
Sailed from: Eforie Nord and Mangalia, Romania
Lat: 43°24.2’N
Long: 28°09.7’E

Pulling alongside a large tug in the dark of night at the commercial dock in Balchik, we had low expectations for a positive experience with Bulgarian entrance formalities. Our guidebooks indicated that they only process foreign yachts on Mon-Fri from 9-5. It was now 8:45 on Friday night.

After setting out this morning, we realized that there was no way we were going to make it to Balchik before 5:00 p.m. We also needed to stop briefly in Mangalia, Romania to clear-out. It was a beautiful day on the Black Sea, and even though the wind was not strong enough to speed us along the 65-mile passage, it was just enough to keep us stable in the cross-swell left-over from the wind of the previous few days. It was such a pleasant sail, we gave up trying to arrive before sunset. Continue reading Balchik, Bulgaria: A Black Sea resort fit for royalty and full of pleasant surprises →