SV Ostinato: The Donau, Dunaj, Duna, Dunav, Dunarea or....The Danube

Sept 8 - Belgrade - The trees and trash floating down the Sova into the Danube made me a bit concerned how the day would go. I feared dodging trees all day would be a bit intense. The guys have taken over steering duties this summer so today was my first day back on the wheel since our arrival in Amsterdam in late June. As soon as Ostinato was unattached from the restaurant, the current spun us hard to starboard and off we flew down river. The good news was the worst of the floatsom stayed near the edges of the river. For the first time in weeks, the sun was shining. A good day to be moving again.

We traveled to Veliko Gradiste at km1059...still in Serbia. The town is a check in/out spot for Serbia but we hoped to be able to check-out further downstream since once done, we were told we cannot stop to anchor overnight until checked into the next country. Trying to find a place to tie up to make requiries became a major ordeal. The first spot wanted €40 each. The 2nd wanted €20 each for 2 hrs. Overnight...the charges went through the roof. Not what I would call small boat friendly but of course we are the odd duck on this river. We finally anchored and Amusant put the dinghy in the water and chauffeured us to shore. English is limited but the officials worked hard to get us the info we needed. As we are in international waters we were advised we needed to check in with the Harbour Master each night. We had hoped that we could simply anchor if we stayed in Serbia and didn't get off the boat but apparently not....at least that was the local interpretation. We are getting low on fuel so unless we want to bring it in by taxi and jerry can, a dance with the Romanian police and immigration is in our near future.

Sept 9 Kladova - Departed the anchorage in fog. Our radar is sitting on top of the bimini along with the mast so of little use. Amusant takes the lead and kindly travels at a speed that allows us to keep her within sight. The floatsom continues to be a problem today. We pass large Islands of floating

The floods bring the garbage down river

plastic. A need for a recycling program if I ever saw one! Germany and Austria charge a deposit on plastic drink bottles and cans. As you might expect, you never see them laying around. In any case, it is with all this going on that we enter the Iron Gates, the most beautiful part of the southern Danube....now called the Dunav in Serbia. We traveled through 3 steep sided gorges each followed by large reservoirs, each with its own beauty and relics. No marinas in this area and the water depth was over 100 feet. To facilitate barge traffic, the Iron Gate Dam was completed in 1984. The flooding resulted in resettling of entire towns and some archaeological sites.

A recent addition but picture worthy

Our timing for the Iron Gates Dam was perfect. The green lights beckoned us in just as we arrived. Soon after two cruise ships entered the lock with us. We apparently are high entertainment value. I don't think anyone on board on the cruise ship doesn't have a picture of Ostinato and Amusant. A third barge was making speed to be included in the party but the doors were closed on him just minutes before he arrived. You did not need to speak Serbian to know the captain was not a happy camper. They even waited for us to leave the lock. Another first.

Shut the doors at the last minute on the barge heading in

This lock is actually two locks. Go down one and enter another and then go down some more. We were surprised to see a cruise ship waiting for us in the next lock. Now we knew why the barge was left out in the cold. Hmmmm, how's this gonna work? For the first time on this trip the little boats got to go first. As we exchanged position with the ship, another group of excited tourists got their cameras ready. One couple must have decided it was a sentinel moment as they arrived at their state room windows clad only in a towel. After we were settled, the cruise ships followed us in. By the time all that was over we had all become friends with the guest and their tour director

Sept 10 Serbia/Romania. We tied up to tiny docks on the outskirts of ...... So we were ready to head

Beautiful sunset in Serbia

to the check-out pontoon early morning, hoping a bit of recon the night before had smoothed the way for a quick exit ....but no. Three hours later we were finally released back into international waters and we traveled directly across the river into Romania. Ostinato's fuel tanks were getting down to 1/4 full. It was time to fill her tanks. Since no one group does the entire "Welcome to my country.....Hope you can stay a while" process, check-in is always mysterious. Water police, customs and immigration. Sometimes the Harbour Master. You go where they tell you. We take multiple copies of our papers along with our boat stamp that we had made at a Staples last trip home. They like our boat stamp....it says "SV Ostinato III ...Official Seal", along with our boat documentation #. In any case, even the boat stamp didn't help. At 2 hours we were allowed to move to the yacht club to purchase fuel but told we must return.

Fueling The wide girl was a problem as their fueling hose was only about 6 ft long. It reached the starboard tank but we still had to fill jerry jugs and drag them across the deck to fill the port tanks. Of course, this is the only hot day we have had in over a month. Two hour later, both of us near sun stroke, Ostinato pulls away from the dock so Amusant can finally take her turn. We return to the water police where we wait another 1 1/2 hours before our papers are returned and we are sent on our way.

We had to tie up here for customs/immigration in Serbia.

With only a few hours of daylight remaining we began looking for an anchorage early. We had tried several spots but the water was too deep near the shore or covered in fish nets. We were relieved when David located a spot just before sunset. Anchors were set and all retired early after a trying day. Little did we know that the one house located in this patch of Romania was apparently the local night club. Middle eastern music pumped out of the house from every crevice. This was accompanied by the continuous howling of dogs for 10 square miles. It didn't matter. We slept hard.

These 4 building made up the entire village where we anchored
it was the loudest anchorage of the entire trip!

Sept 11 - Anchorage near Crivina- it will forever be difficult to write that date. An alert from the American Embassy in Serbia came in this morning advising a high alert for acts of terrorism in Serbia. We made a decision in Belgrade to take our US flag down before we arrive at our nightly anchorage. While we have never felt threatened, the incident in Germany has made us more alert to the fact that Americans are not always welcome. We cross into Bulgarian waters on out starboard side today. I should add here that it has been a while since our Navionics Charts have been showing anything that even resembled a river. A bit distressing to say the least. We are mainly using ENC charts that King down loaded last winter on his lap top. They have been a life saver. The Raymarine screen is now only used to show us approaching ships via AIS. Actually, unlike the materials we had available for the Rhine and the Main-Danau Canal, much of what we have is of little value. If we were to do again, we would use the ------- books for the entire journey vs. the Die Donau by Kelheim and Meer simply because, as a non German reader, the first is easier to follow.

Ostinato in the lead with Amusant right behind us.
Our Navionics Charts were no help in this part of the Dunav.

btw...that's 15.4 kph not knots

We spent the night behind an island last night. A huge harvest moon lit up the sky. The only other light came from Amusant that was anchored nearby. Departure time was set for 700 the next morning but, apparently, somewhere along the route yesterday we crossed the time line....or at least David on Amusant did. Needless to say, he was ready long before our sorry butts crawled out of bed.

One lock today. Since Romania is on one side of the river and Bulgaria on the other they have side by

Fire fighting equipment (not guns!) in the Bulgarian lock

side locks. We head to the Romanian lock and are told over the radio that we have green lights to enter.....hmmmm, don't think so. Those locks are closed. We finally figure out that the radio voice is coming from the Bulgaria side. Off we go to the other side. As we enter, the first things I see are gun looking things mounted around the lock. This makes me a bit tense until King shares they are fire fighting equipment.

Forgotten beauties in Corabia Romania

Barge captains we encounter do not speak English. Even getting a response concerning which side to pass them on has not been successful. Thankfully, traffic is light. Our port tonight is Corabia. Along the way we pass horse drawn wagons flying along the Romanian side of the river. A large group of huge white pelicans welcomed us as we entered the harbour. We haven't seen those since home. Lovely. We tied up to Amusant who was tied up to two small boats that appear to have been permanently moored here so sometime in the 1950s. Next door they are depositing grain into large barges. Both boats were quickly covered in a film of dust. The positive news is a grocery and ATM is just up the hill. After a quick visit by the Water Police, the refrigerator is once more filled with fresh fruits and veggies. Based on the architecture, the town was once prosperous. Now, the once beautiful buildings are in decay. We joined a line at the towns ATM and were surprised to hear the automated voice giving instructions to all in English....that would be British English, of course.

Sept 12- Now that all watches have been synchronized, we prepared for a 0730 departure. Ten minutes before we are ready to untie Ostinato's lines, the Water Police arrive to request our papers. At 0800, King takes a stroll to the Water Police station to see what's up and learns that the reason we took so long to check into Romania is that after they checked us in....they checked us out. Apparently thinking after we got fuel, we would check into Bulgaria. Soooo, they are now working to check us in....hopefully. King and David took another stroll at 0930. King returned quickly....all they need is our boat stamp on some papers and we are free to depart. Gotta love that boat stamp.

Weather is looking poor in the Black Sea so we decided both boats could use a lay day...or three. The Romanian side doesn't have much to offer in the way of river cities for exploration so that means we must cross the river to Bulgaria and do the check out/in dance. We arrived late to our Romanian check out spot so decided to spend the night in a small canal. David nosed in first and radioed back that there was plenty of water. After the fast flowing Donau, the quiet of the canal was immediately calming. Fisherman waved and indicated they knew we had sought refuge to sleep. David reached a

Catamaran fans in Giurgiu Romania

tiny yacht club but it was clear there was no room. However, two guys that were just leaving the docks towing a small catamaran suddenly turned back and ask David is he was with the big Catamaran. They would find room for us. They had heard from a friend up river that a big Cat was coming. We tied along side Amusant who in turn tied along side a faded red fishing boat. As soon as we were secure, we had to come out to meet the dogs who would patrol the docks during the night. It was decided the best course would be to stay on the boat. The YC guys were catamaran fans. King gave a tour of Ostinato and pictures were taken to show the sailboat up river that had originally reported a catamaran sighting.

With the exceptional dog bark, all was quiet until Wendy called for us to join her and David on deck about 2100. The captain of the red boat we were attached to was here......and he was not happy.

Giurgiu Yacht Club

Posturing and explanations began. Red boat captain in Romanian, King and David in English....and lots of arm gesturing by both. It finally got down to how much for us to stay. Red boat captain didn't care that we had paid the yacht club. His boat wasn't in the yacht club.....or so we think that's what he said. Red boat captain: "50 Lira per boat". King/David: "no, no 50 Lira both boats". back and forth this went. Red boat captain was standing firm. King: "Fine, we will leave". Red boat captain: shrug... King: "Sue, start the engines"....I might add here that I'm in my pj's. It is pitch black on the river. The engines break the silence of the river as they come to life. Five minute later, its agreed 50 Lira for both boats. Payment is made and everyone returns to their boats. Fifteen minutes later, Wendy and David are back. Red boat captain apparently took another look at the boats hanging off of him and began complaining about 2 boats. I don't know if he thought Ostinato was 2 boats or just didn't process the first round of negotiations. David told him no more Lira but gave him 2 beers. That seemed to settle him down for the rest of the night.

Tied up to the barge for checking out of Romania at 0900. It was not until 1300 that we were finally cleared for departure. There is something to be said for checking in/out at customs/immigration that have experience dealing with sport boats. Most do not and you end up being treated like a large ship. We immediately crossed the to Bulgaria and within 30 minutes we were on our way to the Ruse Yacht Club Marina. It was easy to see there was no way Ostinato was going to fit. A Swede moved a boat around so Amusant could squeeze in but while the finger peers were wide enough, a small boat was using the space and was chained to the dock. We had begun to think that for the first time on this trip we would not be able to stay in the same location. With some quick research, King found a phone number for the marina and the owner would said they would have the boat moved in 10

The Hoover

minutes....."of course there is room for you!" Thirty minutes later, Ostinato was shoe horned into the spot with one small boat under it's stern, another sandwiched beside it and the pontoon and a third tied off it's bow. Beautiful! And they have a washing machine! A Hoover. I was never able to get it much below a 2 hour wash but I had no competition for its use so no complaints.

The marina owner recommended a local restaurant for our first night out in Ruse. We joined Sven, our new neighbor on the Swedish boat and the crew of Amusant for a great meal. Sven recommended the tomato salad with goat cheese. Oh my, I haven't tasted tomatoes like that since I was a child.

By the time we were ready to leave, the marina had become quite international with a Swede, Brit, Belgium, German and, of course the Americans. How we all squeezed in was remarkable and a tribute to Both boats are getting low on water so have begun looking for options. The Ruse YC does not have potable water available. However, Pontoon 10, a restaurant just down the river does and agreed to let us fill up our tanks and spend the night so we can have an early morning departure. The cook is pleased as this means a night out.

Yachts from US, Sweden and Germany crowd the docks in the Ruse YC, Bulgaria

Sept 18 - 21 From Ruse to Silistra to Cernavoda. All a blur until we entered the River Danube-Black Sea Canal, aka in the 1950's as "The Canal of Death". I am so ready to be off the river that, for once, I don't even raise an eyebrow at the name. We had an uncomfortable night hanging off Amusant who was hanging off a boat on the Harbour Master's dock. The river is rising again so the current that we were told would disappear continues to increase. Last night we were give a lock time today for 0800 by Port Control. Didn't want to be late so we were up with lines off at 0730. Off down the channel we headed....until the voice of Port Control screamed at us over the radio. "Where did we think we were going?" and on and on and on. After we had had a good tongue lashing we were sent back to the harbour to wait. I think this was akin to being put in time out. We would call Port Control every 30 minutes or so to see if there was any news....no response. Finally, two hours later we were finally told to head for the lock.....and we must hurry!

Last view of the Danube as we turn off to the canal

Once inside the lock, paperwork was handed down in a can with a line attached. The Lock Master

Lock Master lowers paperwork for us to fill out
the old fashion way by can and string.

was excited as we were his first American boat to go through the lock. The canal is 64 km long and cuts of approximately 400 km off the journey to the Black Sea. We reached the final lock of the trip in Constanta an hour later than we had hoped due to our delayed start. It is not unusual for there to be a wait of several hours for them to fit you into the lock so there was little hope we would be able to reach Port Tomis before dark. First, we had to pay lock fees. The Port Authority comes to you. We had tied up as instructed to the wall next to a ladder but the top 6 rungs were missing. He informed us he needed to come onto the boat but when he saw the ladder, .....it wasn't necessary after all....and he had just been told there was room for us in the current lock so after a quick look at the passport and signing of papers we must hurry, hurry, go, go! We would make Port Tomis after all!

Our last lock. Hard to believe its all over. We finally have the locks down pat. No drama, no excitement. Easy peasy. Rafting, same. Rafting in 5 knots of current....no big deal. All those new skills.....I hope not to use again anytime soon! And the people. What wonderful people we had the opportunity to meet. Now it's time to think about becoming a sailboat again and where are those seasick pills. But we will think about that tomorrow....tonight it's time for champagne!