Georgia mk 2 and on to Turkey

About 360 km inland, Tbilisi proved to be a large city of over a million people. It straddled the Mtkvari river in a broad valley and was dominated by churches. An old fortress was also high above and the whole city had a somewhat “Turkish” appearance. The right bank of the river was home to government buildings and much of the commercial sector, and was quite sophisticated. The comparison to Poti was like night and day. There were many cafes and bars and, like all of the ex-Soviet countries we have visited, casinos. The left bank was more like Poti in that it was one large bazaar and not particularly attractive. Although our return journey was at night, we saw lovely villages, ancient castles, and rich countryside enroute.
Back in Poti, we stocked up on what we could and departed for Turkey. The Georgian coast south of Poti and near the border was quite attractive and as we progressed, the Turkish coast proved to be one of the most beautiful we have seen. High mountains rose from the coast, covered in lush emerald green trees and small tea plantations. There were many tea factories each with a tall smoke stack and the while the area is much more heavily populated than we had expected, the number of mosques was astonishing; almost one on every corner or so it seemed.
Trabzon, 1100 km east of Istanbul, was our port of entry to Turkey and we berthed in the Coast Guard basin in the port. After touring the town and a trip to an old Greek monastery built into a cliff face high in the mountains at Sumela, 50 km inland, we are ready to begin our passage west, being the first foreign yacht in these parts for a long time.

Yalta and on to Georgia

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.

Balaklava Mk2

Balaklava

On departure from Sevastopol, we had a short downwind sail, only 15 nm, to Balaclava, a small attractive harbour so well hidden behind cliffs that the entrance is almost indiscernible and the town not at all visible. It is one of the world`s safest harbours and, again, until 1996 was a Russian navy base and a town closed to outsiders. Overlooked by the remains of an ancient Venetian fortress, the town is very attractive, with the hint of an air of the like of Portofino and has the potential to be a really popular tourist location. The marina is crowded with motor yachts and on weekends it is packed with locals from Sevastopol. Unfortunately, the Ukranian navy still occupies much of the harbour and there is an ore crushing and loading facility overshadowing the town which is very noisy, dusty and operates 24 hrs/day. The Russian navy submarine base tunneled into the mountainside is now an interesting museum, but was once home to a generation of Soviet submarines and a store for their nuclear and conventional weapons. Once we have returned by road to Sevastopol to obtain out papers clearing us for Yalta we will sail there to prepare for a three or four day crossing to Poti in Georgia.

Sevastopol

A short sail from Yevpatoria has brought us to Sevastopol [equal emphasis on each syllable], a truly beautiful city situated around a magnificent harbour. It was a closed city, even to other residents of Crimea, until1996 and the Russian navy has a lease of the port until 2019. Devastated during WW2 the inner city has been restored faithfully in the style of earlier days and new construction, now, is in the same vein. There are thousands of monuments, some huge heroic Soviet style, mainly celebrating their glorious achievements during the Crimean War and WW2. We are berthed at the Russian Navy yacht club only a short walk from the city centre. It is wonderful city to visit at this time of the year, as the trees and flowers along all the wide avenues and in the many parks provide a magnificent setting. A visit to the panorama, an extraordinary work of art painted on the inside of a large domed building is an eye opener. It portrays the scene from the highest point of the city during the siege of the Crimean War, and the three dimensional effect achieved by the artists is remarkable. And we have been left in no doubt that the locals regard themselves more as Russians than Ukrainians. Sergei, the yacht club manager, suggests that the issue will become a problem similar to that of the Basques in Spain, a time bomb ticking towards explosion. We have been overwhelmed by the hospitality of the local club members.