Telltales 65

Telltales 65: With contributions from Maynard.

Black Sea: Ukraine, Crimea; Balaclava and Kiev

Balaclava, Saturday July 16th till Saturday July 23rd

We have been in Balaclava for the whole week, for several reasons: this is by far the safest marina in the area (say 500 miles in either direction....); we have made many friends and keep meeting interesting people. So Dutch Jochem and Josja , who now live in Kiev, visited for a long weekend and Maynard had decided to fly back to Kiev with them and check out the capital of the Ukraine. It was wonderful for Roland to see Jochem and Josja again after such a long period and fun for Maynard to meet the couple who facilitated his private visa for the Ukraine. Next time we will ask for some more wind, as there has been little wind on the Black Sea for the last 10 days, making the days really hot. We have registered 40,8 degrees, but thankfully the temperatures drop dramatically in the evening. The boat cools off and one can sleep comfortably. The climate here is perfect.

Going native

Balaclava is a typical day tourist destination. Busloads of people from Sebastopol and Yalta arrive for a day on one of the beaches or sightseeing the town and the ex-Russian navy submarine tunnels. Summer tourists on the Crimea have always been predominately Russian. Due to the Orange Revolution in Kiev and the Moscow's attitude towards this change, fewer Russians have been visiting the Crimea this year and the local economy is feeling it. People therefore have mixed feeling about all the changes that are going on. It will take some years before Western tourists fill the gap. We see hardly any other foreigners. There are a handful of English-speaking ex-pats here and we have met most of them. Life in Ukraine is cheap, food is good, the scenery and history are spectacular and the people most welcoming. They were rather reserved in the beginning. We blame it, as said before, on the fact that they speak limited English and are not really used to foreign tourists. Now, that they realize we are just plain people as well, contacts are warm and people are very curious. There seems to be no end to the number of questions, about us, about the yacht, about Europe, etc.

Balaclava Golden Symbol Marina

So Sylphe was parked in Balaclava for the whole week?? No. Not exactly, as we did day-sailing on several days. And every time with some local friends coming along for the experience. We went sailing with Jochem/Josja, David and his children (5 and 10 year old well behaved gangsters), Sasha and his crew of sailors that work two sailboats in the local tourist trade. Outside the beautiful and sheltered Balaclava port it opens into a wide bay. Plenty of beaches around the bay, where day tripper boats take the normal tourist to the beaches, which are only accessible by boat. The coastline is very steep, with enormous cliffs, and the beaches drop to considerable depths very quickly (good for U-boats). To enable the tourists to get on the beach all the day tripper boats have a stainless steel stair/ladders built on the bow. They simply push their boats with the bow on the beach, the people get on or off and later the boat pulls out in reverse. A clever landing system, without jetties, etc.

And how about the bureaucracy and our progress on that front? This is on-going. Every time a boat wants to leave port, you must call the Port Control AND the Coast Guard via VHF to obtain permission. We comply every time, but we seldom get an answer. This is because they don't speak English. For us, no problem, and we simply sail out after having called several times without getting a reply. If we have local people with us, they do get quite nervous about our behavior. They are not used to flouting the law on their own boats, especially (as we have found out) as the Coast Guard will suspend the license of local boats who do not comply with the rules. When we have Ukrainian people on the boat, we sometimes let them do the talking over the VHF in Ukrainian and then there is an instant reply and permission. But of course Roland likes to keep calling the Coast Guard in English, just to tease them a little (Maybe he should try in Dutch?). The authorities must get used to the fact that if more foreign boats come, they will have to do it in English. We feel it is our mission to hasten this process.

The Golden Symbol Marina bar has a great sound system and eclectic cd collection and also has regular live music performances. Our biggest surprise is the Big Blues Revival Band. This group is from St. Petersburg and plays American Blues with a slight Russian twist. Very cool! They are spending the summer here and are paying their way by performing wherever they can find a gig. We really enjoy their music and their company. And of course offer to take them out sailing. Vitali, the lovely Olga (manager of the band) and her ten year-old son Dieme come out for an afternoon. I think we made their day, as they have been making our evenings. Please check out their website: www.bigbluesrevival.ru (also in English).

Big Blues Revival out of St. Petersburg

Olga and Diema

Kiev

The capital city, spiritual centre of the Ukraine, and home of the Orange Revolution is very different from the Crimea. This is a busy European city of some three million inhabitants. MacDonald’s, John Lobb and Brioni have all found their way here and it will probably not be long before we see the first Starbuck's. Prices are double those of the Crimea. Porsches, BMW's and even Aston Martins are not uncommon. Despite this, the city has a distinct identity. Grand parks, wide boulevards, gold-leafed onion-domed churches are everywhere. It can only be the Ukraine. Maynard is graciously offered David's pied-a-terre just off of Revolution square but decides that the opportunity of a couple of quiet days with room-service is too good to pass up and takes a small suite at the small and peaceful Hotel Vozdvyzhensky (try to pronounce that in Russian!).

Kiev Lavra

After an initial orientation tour by Jochem who had to fly to Amsterdam the following day Maynard sets out (mainly on foot) to visit the principal sites. First among these is the Lavra Monastery area. Originally founded in caves, this became an important religious centre and once housed over 1000 monks. It is largely rebuilt, Kiev having been pretty much flattened in WW II. However none of the charm has been lost and one or two key churches managed to survive more or less intact. There are some very impressive frescos which have the appearance of being more European than one would expect in an Orthodox environment. The Lavra is famous for the relics of hundreds of saints which lie in the caves and attracts 100,000 pilgrims per year.

Church of the Assumption

The Golden Gate (Mongol period)

Kiev Metro

Of the many other domed churches in downtown Kiev only St. Sophia escaped the devastation of the previous war. The rest are completely rebuilt but no less charming for that. Museums for the most part are rather uninteresting, Stalin having looted anything that the Nazis didn’t take away.

Maynard returned on Friday, batteries recharged, together with Jean Louis, a friend from Paris, who will join us for two weeks and will sail with us to Odessa. They arrived on different flights, but almost simultaneous at Simferopol. A driver and car, sent from the Marina, was there to meet them and bring them back to Sylphe. Some sort of speed record was probably achieved on the way back.

On Saturday we went out to sea again to meet "Lelitka”, the first Ukrainian sailboat to sail around the world. It took 2 years and was returning to its homeport in Balaclava that evening. A total fleet of 4 sailboats went out to meet this couple on their glorious return. It was not an Ellen McArthur worthy welcome, but we did our best. We had a whole gang of local people on the boat, including the commander of the local Coast Guard boat onboard. I think our problems with bureaucracy are over, at least in this part of the Crimea. We sailed off into the sunset to meet the glorious sailors, who made this enormous trip (certainly for Ukrainian standards). Chapeau!, especially considering the size of the yacht. Adventure still exists; you only have to look for it. We were happy and proud to have given them a warm welcome. The whole fleet of 4 boats sailed together, at sunset, back into Balaclava port, I think the biggest sailing flotilla they have had in Ukraine for a long time, or will have in the near future.

The first Ukrainian sailboat to have sailed around the world, returning to its home port after 2 years

Ahoy

Roland

S/y SYLPHE