At anchor in the Danube Delta

We liked Varna. On our arrival at the yacht club a local member who spoke good English smoothed the way with the border police, who did not even want a crew list. He also got us set up with electricity and showed us the office and washrooms. The camber is a long narrow former passenger terminal converted to a yacht club. There were only a few club boats moored bows to on the one side, and we were alongside on the opposite side, with the clubhouse and workshops at the end. There were many sailboats still on their cradles with considerable activity going on to get them ready for launching.

There was only one modern boat, a 10m Beneteau, the rest being steel or fiberglass, 10 to 20 years old, most built in Poland. In discussions with several people we found out that only a few boats were owned privately, and most still belonged to the club, with designated skippers and crew for each. The assignment of skipper and crew is decided each year by a board of directors. Wow! Just imagine the politics behind that situation. Politics in any club are difficult enough with privately owned boats. The club was established in the 1970’s for workers in the maritime administration, the large organization of dock workers, ships’ personnel, administrators, etc. This was set up under the former communist regime, as was explained; just as some companies built hotels and resorts for their employees, the maritime administration of Varna set up the yacht club and provided the boats, clubhouse, workshops, and limited funds and materials to maintain the vessels. The membership is still primarily maritime administration personnel. I don’t know if private citizens not associated with the maritime structure can join or not. There is an auction scheduled in the next year or so to sell off some of the boats privately. Several skippers to whom I talked had their first mate’s papers for large ships. The location is good, the facilities are good, the boats although old appear in relatively good shape. I wish them well.

One of the interests I had was regarding the changes in Bulgaria since the communist era. In 1989 the Communist Party relinquished control through an internal party coup. However in elections of 1990, Bulgaria had the dubious distinction of being the only former communist country to elect a communist party (the Bulgarian Socialist Party) back into power. By 1996 the BSP had squandered their mandate and other democratic parties came to power. By 1997, Bulgaria had had seven changes of government. Some lament the loss of the security the former system provided, and complain about the high crime rate, and costs for services such as health care that under the former system were free. There is a very high unemployment rate bordering around the 40% level. A common observation I have had reported to me is that 15% are very rich and the remaining 85% are very poor, with a minimal middle class. The average monthly wage is only $108.00 US. Corruption is another common complaint. Many administrators of services will not provide the services without extra money, graft, bribes, or baksheesh being paid.

For example, we were invited on board the Kaliyakra, a sail training ship, for a sail back to Nesebar, a meal and return bus transportation with a German tour group. We paid $82.00 each for the day cruise, rather steep we thought; but if it supports sail training, that is good. However a couple of skeptical members suggested that much of that money would go into the pockets of the head honchos, not to buy better equipment or pay for the crews, or subsidize young people to sail. We have no idea if this is the case, but it was their view. This appears to be the common sentiment as old systems are privatized; the wheeler dealers are in there for whatever they can skim off, and most of them are former communist bosses or security people getting very rich at the expense of the poor. I have heard that some UN and Euro projects providing funding for activities and infrastructure in Bulgaria were not accessed as there were no additional funds to line the pockets of the administrators who would oversee such projects.

We have found the Bulgarians very friendly. We made good friends with the ketch astern of us. Dobri, Zuza, their two grown children, and Bobi, who was the only one who spoke much English. We had an enjoyable supper on board Santa Maria, and were quite impressed by Dobri’s skills in that he did all the cabinetry inside the boat and is a skilled knifesmith. He showed us several ornamental knives he made with intricate carvings both on the gold work of the knife handles and especially on the ornate scabbards. Then he presented us with one of his decorative knives with a flared bone handle and 8” blade, razor sharp, with engraved designs on the upper length of the blade, embossed with five delicate gold triangles, and his name etched near the hilt. This was too much, but we could not refuse. Subsequently we returned the favour with a colourful framed embroidery of dolphins that Judy has been working on for some months and my sailmaker’s palm. (Judy still has hers and she does most of the rope work anyways.)

They provided us with much local knowledge. Next day we were going inland for an overnight trip to Shumen and Veliko Tarnovo, and Dobri said they would watch over Veleda for us and insisted that we call them for a ride back from the bus station on our return. We left by train, the station near the port, but returned by bus where its station was out in the suburbs. After we returned, we had them over to Veleda for a meal. Dobri brought a bottle of his home made brandy. Very good! He also makes good wines as we tasted when on board their boat. Asked if we wanted to go out fishing with them for a day (I think they had a paying fishing party on board, as they charter out their yacht whenever possible to make ends meet.), we declined, as we are not successful at fishing and had work to do on Veleda. However when they returned Bobi came over with a bag of gobies already cleaned. This provided us a tasty meal. Another day they took Judy to a suburban supermarket grocery shopping. Great friends!

Our trip on Kaliyakra, a three masted barquentine, was most enjoyable, although several of the German tourists were seasick. We had a good wind to allow all four square sails to be flown from her foremast (topsail, gallant, top gallant, and royal), two jibs, a large fisherman trysail, and a large fore and aft gaff rigged mainsail and mizzen, giving good speed and heeling over her in a brisk force four (15 knots) wind. Judy could not restrain herself and had to help coiling down the lines. At least she didn’t climb up into the top yards. All sails could be flown from deck level. No crew had to go aloft to release or furl the big square sails. We had lunch under way in the spacious aft cabin wardroom with chicken, fish, and kebabche (a tasty Bulgarian spiced hamburger sausage), as well as potatoes, vegetables and salad. We had good talks with Stoyan Angelov, the captain, whom we had met a few days earlier. As we noted he had the same Sea Map computer program as we have on Veleda, he came over a few days later to Veleda and showed us a few other operations using that system..

Transportation by bus or train is cheap and reasonably frequent and so we went inland by train, a grimy experience. Their trains have dusty old compartmental cars, windows grimed over, with first class not much better than second. We went second and had a compartment all to ourselves for the three hour trip to Shumen. However the compartment door would not stay closed, and cigarette smoke from other compartments via the passageway permeated everything. The toilets were horrible. There was a dining car serving coffee, tea, and sandwiches, but the few patrons there were also smoking. At least it left and arrived on time.

At Shumen we caught a taxi for the trip out to the fortress dominating the mountain valleys. It is one of the oldest sites in Bulgaria, an ancient civilization dating back to the Iron age, fortified by the Thracians in about 500 BC, then occupied by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottoman Turks, then “liberated” by the Russians in the 1870’s. The extensive walls are in varying stages of restoration, and the low stone foundations of several civilizations crisscrossed the large protected inner area. We were the only tourists on this drizzly day. From the battlements we had a panoramic but hazy view over the valleys, including Shumen, and a couple of miles across to the Bulgarian State Monument, a large ugly edifice dominating the ridgeline. At first we thought it was just a concrete factory or mineshaft on the mountainside, but found out it was a workers historical memorial built in 1981 to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire. Most statues and monuments here seem to extol concrete, in squat figures and supposedly modern or abstract designs, in unadorned gray. The Lonely Planet guidebook said, “This probably gets our award as the ugliest and most conspicuous of many ugly and conspicuous monuments in Bulgaria”; we agree.

After catching a taxi back into town and seeing, again as the only visitors, the large History Museum (opened up room by room for us), we caught a private bus line to Veliko Tarnovo, one of the most picturesque towns in Bulgaria. The bus was modern and clean, a better and faster service than the train, and better and well worth the extra 10 % above the dusty public bus lines. Veliko Tarnovo’s history dates back to 5500 BC when it was settled by Neolithic people, then by the Thracians about 2000 BC, and subsequently by the Romans, Byzantines, Turks, and Russians. It was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185 – 1396), and so was chosen as the location for the writing of the Bulgarian Constitution in 1879 and to proclaim the independent state of Bulgaria in 1908. With another large ancient fortress overlooking the town and gorges of the Yantra River in central Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo is a picturesque town perched on the sides of the gorge of the Yantra River as it winds its way through central Bulgaria.

There are hustlers, from seedy old or greasy young men to little old ladies, at the bus station trying to get you into whatever accommodations they represent. We passed them to walk across town to a bed and breakfast we had identified earlier. However, another well meaning lady waylaid us to her home, which looked OK and had a lovely view across the ravine. She turned out to be a very dominating protective “biddy” who even walked with us in the evening and sat with us at an outdoor café, as she felt we should not walk the streets by ourselves at night! I was ready to scream!

The town was interesting, the fortress large and imposing, the views spectacular, the museums good, and the weather for a change was like summer. We would recommend this town highly. Returning to Varna next day, we were picked up at the bus station by our friend Dobri.

A final trip from Varna was to Aladzha Monastery, caves and a necropolis built into the limestone cliffs during the Ottoman era from the 13th to the 18th century. We were going to take a bus, but because of the uncertain times, took a cab both ways. It was OK, but not worth the effort to see dusty shallow caves carved into the cliffsides.

The day we left Varna, I took an early morning dinghy ride through the commercial docks, loading bulk cargoes; the navy docks with a couple of old submarines and a half dozen small warships; the shipyards with several large floating dry docks and rusting hulls of new but long unfinished ships; under the bridge past a ships’ graveyard where several hulks lay abandoned, half submerged; and into Varna Lake, a long estuary with several small yacht clubs and a variety of heavy industry harbours, many of which are derelict. We could have sailed Veleda up into the lake, but the shore is flat and uninspiring, so we did not bother.

Before leaving Varna at 1430 on May 18, we topped up with water, paid the yacht club manager 52 Leva for 8 days mooring with electricity (45 Leva for a week and 7 leva per day) (approximately $25.00 US), and left. We did not have to check out with border police or any other authority. On we went to Balchik where we were to exit Bulgaria for Romania.

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