Bulgaria - Tsarevo, to our formal entry in Bourgas - May 2, 2004 Tsarevo, Bulgaria May 3, 2004 Hi Folks, We are having a quiet time in Bulgaria as there is really not too much to see here, especially since we are out of season. Thus I am able to get caught up on my logs. This town is called Tsarevo as a couple of Tsars spent some time here. In this log I have talked about our formal entry into Bulgaria which was not as bad as expected. Most of you who wish to remain on my mailing list have responded, thank you, and I will be starting the new list with my next log about Burgas, Sozopol and the Ropotamo River conservation anchorage. For those who do not remain on it, drop me a line periodically to let me know how you are doing. All is well with us, except for the cold weather. We have been making good use of our small wood stove and the firewood given us by the Turkish fisherman. Enjoy the log, and don't hesitate to give me feedback or ask questions about our voyage. All the best, Aubrey ************************************************************************ Log #32e Bulgaria - Tsarevo, to our formal entry in Bourgas Tsarevo, Bulgaria May 2, 2004 No, we are not still in Tsarevo, but have returned here after 10 days in Bulgaria, and after having checked into the country without problems in Bourgas. In my last log I indicated we had to stop here in Tsarevo which is not a port of entry, as we were pounding into force 6 to 7 headwinds. We flew our yellow "Q" flag above the Bulgarian courtesy flag indicating we have not checked into the country yet, and hoped the officials could accept our use of Tsarevo as a port of refuge. We anchored at the entrance to the reasonably large harbour after trying unsuccessfully to raise the Tsarevo port authorities on our VHF radio (channels 16, 11, and 72), and watched a few green clad security police on the jetty looking at us for a half hour. We knew were not to land, and planned to stay onboard for the night hoping next day would be better. However we heard a VHF call for us, and responded, indicating our intentions of staying at anchor, and asking if they wished us to come ashore with our documentation. Yes, they did! Our reception ashore with a few uniformed personnel and a few civilians was … cordial. The head official in tie and green jacket said in halting English, "Welcome" and tried to ask what we were doing in his very few words of English. No one else spoke any English and we had less than a half dozen words of Bulgarian. However one of the civilian ladies spoke some French, and so we used her as a translator, explaining in French our intention to stay at anchor for the night as it was too rough to continue on to Bourgas, a port of entry, and we would head out next day, weather permitting. She translated that into Bulgarian, then we indicated we had our passports, a crew list, and ship's papers if they wished to examine them. They only recorded our passport information and indicated the weather should be better tomorrow. One of the civilians who had a few words of English asked if we needed anything, such as water, food, fuel, … beer? We laughed and said "Ne", Bulgarian for "No". We returned to Veleda and had a quiet night at anchor before leaving at 0700 next day, April 27th. We motored into a light NW wind, heading NW, but at one point the wind shifted and we hoisted main and genoa and actually sailed … for 25 minutes, before having to furl the genoa and motor into an increasing force 5 wind. At 0915 we had engine problems; the engine faltered and when we opened the compartment steam hissed out at us! The hose from the engine to the hot water heater had separated. We immediately shut off the engine to assess why. We don't know. The hose blew off the fitting, with the hose clamp still on it. Perhaps vibrations had loosened the clamp? We reattached it, filled the water reservoir with tap water, started up and continued our journey. At 1035 we noted air in the fuel line, and so throttled down while we bled the line once again. This was the last engine problem we had that day. A few minutes later we saw the outline of a warship a few miles out to sea. As we watched, it made several alterations of course; then we saw some smoke, heard thunderous cannon roar and watched the fall of the shots a few hundred metres off its starboard beam. Gunnery practice! We were well away, but it alerted us to keep receiving the Nav Warnings on our Navtex, as the Bulgarians have many naval exercises near the coast. As we approached the large Bourgas Bay, the wind picked again, but from our starboard bow, enough for us to unfurl the genoa, shut off the engine, and sail across the bay at hull speed under genoa only in a strengthening force 7 near gale for a couple of hours until entering Bourgas Harbour. At one point three warships were entering the bay, heading to the naval base at Sozopol. The lead ship was on a steady bearing on our starboard bow. Although we "might" cross its bow, and even though we, being under sail, had the right of way, I started the engine, furled the genoa, and headed 90° upwind so as not to cross ahead and to make my maneuvers early and clearly. However the lead ship, a missile launching vessel of some type, altered course at the same time about 30° to his port avoiding us completely. We continued motoring into the wind as the two following ships came down our port side. We dipped to the lead "frigate" but saw no return of our salute, and so did not bother with the next ship. Actually, I could not identify any national flag flying from the stern or the mainmast of the ships. On subsequent looking, I think there was a small Bulgarian flag flying from one of the crosstrees of the mainmast, quite inconspicuous. So I shan't bother Bulgarian navy ships with any further salutes. After they were past, we unfurled the genoa and shut off the engine to whip along at hull speed under genoa only until we approached the large industrial harbour at Bourgas. On VHF we were called in to pier 6 along a high choppy industrial dock. Several officials were there to welcome us and to take us over to passport control and the harbourmaster. The harbourmaster spoke good English, and helped us through the formalities. There is a passport control office at the gate where we originally thought we had to leave our passports except when going out the gate into town; but no, we were allowed to keep our passports and just show them each time we exited or entered the dock area. At another building just outside the gate we applied for a cruising permit. All the officials were helpful, and included some improvements on the expected procedures. The first was that we did not have to hand in our passports at the gate each time we entered. The next was that our cruising permit, which cost only 32.00 Leva (about $29.00 Cdn or $20.00 US), did not have to specify the specific ports in the Bourgas area. Instead it was a Temporary Navigation Certificate, a general cruising permit for all territorial waters of the Republic of Bulgaria, meaning we did not have to check out from Bourgas before going into the Varna area. The certificate, valid until Dec. 31, 2004, in English, states: "THE MARITIME ADMINISTRATION of BULGARIA certifies that s/v VELEDA IV owners: Aubrey John Millard and Judith Claire Millard under Canadian flag, register No 348358, with valid ship's documents is temporary registered in port of BURGAS Reg. No 2/TR Book under the command of Capt. Aubrey Millard. It is permitted to sail in the territorial waters of the Republic of Bulgaria till five nautical miles off shore up to 4 Beaufort scale in daytime and visit the following areas and ports: All Bulgarian Black Sea ports" This plasticized document was officially stamped, dated and signed by a Captain V. Ivanov, the Director, Maritime Administration, Burgas. I think it was he who actually brought it over to the dock next day to explain it to us and to indicate it differs from other earlier regulations as they (the Maritime Administration of Bulgaria) did not want to inconvenience our voyages in Bulgaria. He was also interested in our certificates of competency. We showed him our Canadian Coast Guard Pleasure Craft Operator Cards. At first I thought he was questioning the validity or competency required for them. However, he was interested in how they were issued and the requirements for such as he was interested in setting up a system of certification for Bulgaria. He asked how a pleasure craft differed from a fishing boat, and what government or organization instructed and certified these cards. We tried to explain pleasure craft meant non-commercial, and the role the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron had in the setting up of the courses, but that individuals could take the test without taking the basic Power Squadron course. The Operator's Card was issued by the Canadian Coast Guard. He also asked about the Courtesy Safety Inspection we had for Veleda from the Canadian Coast Guard. We showed him the certificate we got in 1998 before leaving Canada and he asked if he could make a photo copy for his benefit, and asked us about a few of the terms and categories listed on the certificate. He thanked us for our assistance in his enquiries and wished us good sailing. He also indicated that, since the Harbour Master's Office had a copy of our ship's papers, and we retained the original, we did not have to return to Burgas to retrieve the papers, and that we should not have to show them to any port authorities. To check out of Bulgaria, all we have to do is to return our Temporary Navigation Certificate and have our passports stamped out at out last port of entry, which for us will be Balchik, before entering Romania. This is far more convenient than we had originally anticipated. Bulgaria is trying to be more cruiser friendly. Next log