Across the Black Sea from Sochi in Russia to Trabzon in Turkey (2006)

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On a sunny evening, we, the Nikitin team of 13 along with our three cars set sail from Sochi, the Russian town on the Black Sea coast set sail aboard Apollonnia, a medium-sized skiff.   As we pulled out of Soch, Mt.Ruslan with its lofty beret of pure white snow, rose above the tops of the buildings as if to bid us farewell. The sail upto Trabzon in Turkey would take us 12 hours.  The captain of the ship invited us to his table for drinks and dinner, which we accepted with alacrity, only to rue it later. We were served foul-smelling absinthe. The stink, though, was milder than the slosh itself which saw most of us retching and staggering to our bunks. The captain though, seemed none the worse for the entire bottle that he had downed.  He giggled and told us that he regularly ferried ‘Natashas’ in search of greener pastures further south. By early morning, we were in Trabzon, the sunny Turkish town perched on the Caucuses.