L to R: Martin Walker, director of the RCCPF, with The Black Sea co-authors Lisa Borre and David Read Barker.
The Black Sea cruising guide is now available for purchase from the RCC Pilotage Foundation and Imray. We will be launching the book at a briefing about the Black Sea in Marmaris, Turkey this Saturday, 28 April at 10:00 AM in the Dining Room Annex at Marmaris Yacht Marina. The timing couldn’t be better. We are back aboard Gyatso in Marmaris preparing for a seasonal cruise in the Med. Martin Walker, our editor at the RCCPF, will be hand-carrying a copy of the book from England when he returns to his boat in Marmaris tomorrow. Continue reading The Black Sea book launch scheduled for Saturday 28 April in Marmaris, Turkey→
Gyatso motoring on the Black Sea near Rize, Turkey in 2010. Photo by Hasan Techimer.
The Black Sea cruising guide that we wrote is scheduled for release later this month. The guide is being published in a hard-cover book format with updated harbor plans and color photos as a joint venture between the RCC Pilotage Foundation and Imray. It replaces the text-only e-pilot we published with the RCCPF last year and provides sailing directions for all six countries surrounding the Black Sea. The guide is based on previously published and unpublished cruising notes as well as information we gathered while sailing around the Black Sea in 2010. For our personal account of sailing on the Black Sea, see the Black Sea section of the Gyatso website.
We didn’t make it very far when we set-out today for Mangalia and found the wind on-the-nose and too strong to make for a comfortable passage. After passing the large commercial port of Constanta, we decided to tuck into the small harbor in the Eforie Nord beach resort rather than back-track to Port Tomis. With the swell running near the harbor entrance and no answer to our radio calls, we used our cell phone (with a Romanian sim card) to call the harbormaster to confirm that the harbor was safe to enter since we had very little pilotage information. He explained how to enter the harbor and was there to greet us and help us tie-up upon arrival a few minutes later. Continue reading Eforie Nord, Romania: A brief stay at a Black Sea beach resort while waiting for the wind to shift→
After sailing overnight from Odessa, we entered the Danube River Delta at Sulina to clear into Romania. Even on a calm day like the one we had, a big swell piles up at the mouth of the Danube where brown river water, having traveled thousands of miles through Europe, mixes with the blue-green water of the Black Sea. We tied up for two nights along the cement quay and moments later, the harbormaster arrived with border officials and asked David to come ashore for clearance procedures. After our dealings with officials in the Ukraine, Lisa was surprised when David returned less than 30 minutes later and talked about how courteous and professional the officials were. All ships entering this branch of the Danube must stop and clear-in at Sulina before continuing upstream. Continue reading Sulina, Romania: A trip up the Danube→
