Odessa to Yevpatoria

Leaving Odessa was a lengthy process; since the fuel facility at the port marina was unserviceable, we had to source ours from a service station, but local regulations stipulated that it could only be stored in metal containers. Friendly locals loaned some to replace our plastic ones. Then, the clearance procedure at the port took three hours to ensure that we could continue our coastal passage, staying within the 12 mile limit so as not to cross the border. So we set sail east enroute to the Crimean peninsula, and crossed to an overnight anchorage in the lee of a long sand spit behind Cape Tendrovskey. Next was on overnight passage to Chornomorske, an old navy port, and now a small dusty town with a great shoreside market, and a lovely beach area popular with local tourists. We anchored in the old naval harbour surrounded by the rusting remains of old steel wharves and sunken small craft. On then, past low brown countryside and cliffs, and the dilapidated remains of soviet military hardware littering the capes and points; huge surveillance radar arrays, missile control radars, and antennas of all shapes and sizes, all surrounded by campers in tents and vans. To Yevpatoria, an attractive large holiday resort town, with long sandy beaches backed by wonderful wide treed parks and avenues. The tourists are here in force and no one except school children speaks English. The resort atmosphere, to us, is very old fashioned, with gaudy decorations, and plastic palm trees. We are at the yacht club quay, and at a bbq to watch Russia play Spain, soccer, were surprised to hear the locals express the view that Crimea was rightly more part of Russia than of Ukraine.