The closest we were able to bring Gyatso to Russia was 30 miles offshore. Photo by Lisa Borre.
Watching the Olympics this year, I envy the athletes, but not just for their incredible athletic achievements at the world’s premier international sporting event. My added envy is because they’ve done something else I haven’t. They’re in Sochi, a place my husband David and I were not allowed to visit just a few years ago.
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 The guide is based on previously published and unpublished cruising notes as well as information we gathered while sailing around the Black Sea in 2010.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 cancelled plans to visit Russia today after learning that a European-flagged yacht was denied entry to three separate Black Sea ports in Russia in early July, despite having all paperwork in order and a fluent Russian speaker onboard. We had hoped that things would change when Sochi, Russia won the bid for the Winter Olympic Games in 2014 earlier this year, but apparently this is not the case.
While planning a circumnavigation of the Black Sea, we wanted to visit all six countries bordering the sea. Having visited Russia and other former Soviet Republics several times in our work with international organizations, we are perhaps more familiar than most about entrance formalities. Although we could obtain the necessary advance tourist visa to visit Russia, we could get no assurances from officials that an American-flagged yacht would be allowed entry into Russian territorial waters. Continue reading Russia: Gyatso crew cancels plans to visit Russian Black Sea coast after learning that foreign yachts are still not welcome→
