I actually wanted to go to Ayvalik, a (chic) place with a new harbour and a petrol station. I needed to fill up. But the petrol station is closed for maintenance, of all days… So on to Dikili. My destination is Pergamon, the ancient city (with its once famous library) on a high mountain in […]
And now we’re heading into the next bottleneck, the Hellespont, or in today’s parlance, the Dardanelles. A historic and legendary area, where the love story of Hero and Leander is set… Strong currents do indeed regularly test shipping here, but I don’t notice anything. The ArgoFram rushes under a truly enormous suspension bridge, around 3,600 […]
Another delicious, hearty breakfast with Nasin in a restaurant near “my” harbour in Istanbul, then I say goodbye to him and his friends – onward through the Bosporus to the Sea of Marmara, to the marble quarry island of Marmara, to the tranquil harbour of Asmali. Fishing boats, a few sailboats and only one other […]
The winds are favourable again, the sea is calm, and I set off early – first to Eregli (to refuel) and then straight on to Istanbul. And again, just like before Sinop, the waves pile up an hour before I enter the Bosporus and shake me up considerably. Slaloming between waiting tankers and large transport […]
The winds are favourable – I continue along the impressive north coast of Turkey: high mountain ridges that drop steeply to the sea and seem somewhat repellent. On the map, I discover a new harbour, much too large to belong to this small village… I moor. There is hardly anyone there. Why would there be? […]
What I am asking myself here in Trabzon is: would it be better to spend a few days immersing myself in one place and then travel longer distances at a time, rather than hopping around every day? Perhaps this has something to do with the abrupt cultural change – Russia became strangely familiar to me; […]
I discussed the mess with David – under these conditions, it is better to use common sense and accept reality: once you give in to blackmail, you risk being blackmailed again and again. The officials didn’t seem to be in a hurry, as my boat was blocked… So I visited Batumi. David had invited me […]
With the help of Evgeny, a highly professional clearance agent, we complete our departure from Russia – back to the Sochi Grand Marina, this time to the customs area, where we finalise the last papers and get them stamped. With clear instructions to stay well clear of Abkhazia (even though it is controlled by Russia) […]
Once again, Lena and I have to go from one government office to another in Anapa to get to Sochi – luckily, we are informed about the “special situation” due to potential attacks from the Ukrainian side (I had been wondering anyway how the thousands upon thousands of tourists here could be spending their holidays […]
Passing the many ships after the Kerch Bridge is very impressive – but I am already faced with a challenge: how do I get to Anapa without GPS, especially as it will soon be completely dark? I switch on the radar again and take a crash course, but I can’t see or distinguish anything on […]