Our passage to Yalta took us past some of the loveliest coastal scenery, with high mountains as a backdrop to green slopes spreading down to golden beaches; altogether very attractive. Unfortunately, we were required to keep some distance from the shore as it was apparently home to the dachas of some vip`s. Arrival at Yalta harbour revealed a city which proved to be one of the most attractive we have yet encountered. Magnificent old buildings, and the palaces of the former royal family, the Romanovs, surrounded the waterfront, set against a backdrop of high mountains. We visited Livadia Palace, the site of the Yalta conference, where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed to carve up the post WW2 world. After stocking up for our crossing to Georgia we endured prolonged bureaucratic clearance formalities and departed Ukraine into conditions forecast to be a quite mild, force 4. As it turned out, the wind increased to force 7, with a steady 35 kts and short sharp 6 metre seas. Surfing down those breaking waves was quite exhilarating, though the 1st Mate might not use that term. After 24 hrs, conditions moderated and the remainder of the crossing was uneventful. We were often escorted by hundreds of dolphins for hours on end. In the distance were the snowcapped Caucasus mountains on the border between Russia and the rebellious Georgian province of Abkazia.
Arrival at the port of Poti at night was an adventure. None of the lights marking the channel were to be seen and the lights of 15 ships anchored close off the entrance added to the difficulty, the end result of which was an anchorage until daylight revealed a port undergoing major rehabilitation and extension. From the sublime to the ridiculous is a good way of describing impressions of Yalta and Poti. Bordered by Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, in the post Soviet era, Georgia is a struggling country and Poti is struggletown personified. Only the few main roads are paved and those are littered with pot holes. Cattle and chickens wander the streets and there appear to be no road rules. The open air markets sell everything imaginable. Said to be on the fabled silk road, if you replaced the concrete buildings with tents and the cars with horses and camels, it could be so. We plan to travel inland to the capital Tbilisi, so will get a more balanced view of the country then.
Arrival at the port of Poti at night was an adventure. None of the lights marking the channel were to be seen and the lights of 15 ships anchored close off the entrance added to the difficulty, the end result of which was an anchorage until daylight revealed a port undergoing major rehabilitation and extension. From the sublime to the ridiculous is a good way of describing impressions of Yalta and Poti. Bordered by Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, in the post Soviet era, Georgia is a struggling country and Poti is struggletown personified. Only the few main roads are paved and those are littered with pot holes. Cattle and chickens wander the streets and there appear to be no road rules. The open air markets sell everything imaginable. Said to be on the fabled silk road, if you replaced the concrete buildings with tents and the cars with horses and camels, it could be so. We plan to travel inland to the capital Tbilisi, so will get a more balanced view of the country then.
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