Twenty One Days on the Danube | A Journey of Endurance and Grace

September 8, 2017December 8, 2019 Christine Abundance, fearless, Grace

starting page six…

We had work to do on the kayak to make her sea ready so we decided to stay another day since the rooms were all booked for the next night we were allowed to set up our tent on the grass outside.

We also had that romantic dinner and I was even gifted a rose one that I had leaned over to sniff and it fell off the stem at my feet! I braided in my hair and wore it for three days while it dried then floated the petals downstream to Cristian at the aft of the kayak.

Christine wears the gift of a rose in her hair.

Cristian relishes a beer knowing we reach his beloved Black Sea soon.

That night we walked to town and watched a huge ship dock which was impressive to see such a hulk be steered with such grace that it barely kissed the dock when they were finished. We spotted ships from Istanbul, Italy and Bulgaria, there is the romance with distant ports that is part of our collective memory.

The port of Sulina at sunset watching the ships dock.

We Reach the Black Sea and Journey’s End

This morning was a favorable one for returning to the river, blue skies and no wind which by now are cherished omens. I reach over to wake Cristian and he is burning with a fever even so he accepts my offer of some coffee. He had woken in the middle of the night nauseous with aches and pains. Fortunately he had worked on the kayak the day before so all we needed to do was load her something he was insisting on in spite of feeling so ill.

I am now much more helpful having learned the capabilities and structure of our little boat so I go about doing what I can to tie the water proof bags on the pontoons and make sure we have all snugly aboard and packed. Cristi sits face down turned on an abandoned boat and asks for more time. I don’t do healing work any more but am given permission to work on him, my past training takes over and I find the right places to release the knotted energies and calm the fever. We are both grateful that in about fifteen minutes he feels much better, at least the nausea is gone.

Blue is sea ready with her sail up.

It is now later than we hoped for our start, with Cristian’s consent we push off from shore once again. We’ve decided on the channel that runs parallel to the sea as the exit from Sulina since the main river is full of ships and we hear there is a rock jetty on reaching the sea that we would have to navigate. It’s hard paddling the first hour as the wind blows steady off the nearby sea. We reach the channel within an hour and step into the rhythm of our oars hitting the water with a soft wind at our backs.

This channel will take us to Sfântu Gheorghe (Saint George) where we plan to enter the Black Sea. Other than having to take our sail down once to pass under a bridge we make good time, Cristian is feeling better as we move along and the sun warms our tired bones.

We reach Sfântu Gheorghe and decide to have a meal for the day ahead will be long and we may not make our destination until night fall. Once again I adore the cuisine of Romania, always fresh and delicious. We finish our stay visiting the local bakery where we purchase a loaf of bread that has been baked in an wood burning oven.

Everything feels good now as we untie from the dock and make our turn out it is then we see Willem standing above us on the dock with a big smile on his face. We pull closer to explain what had happened when we lost our rudder and express our apology for not being able to contact him, I had finally sent an email just an hour before. Cristian had said before we left Sulina that he felt we would meet Willem in St. George and there he was!

We meet Willem again after his close call with death the day before.

We are gladdened to meet this beautiful courageous man again and even more so as he tells us he almost drowned at sea the day before. His mission was to deliver a special stone for his wife to a remote place, he was met by high waves that washed over his kayak again and again. Only the strength and determination he had earned during his journey saved him, he was obviously shaken but recovering when we said our goodbyes. Like he said to us on our previous meeting, “You meet yourself on journeys like these.”

We resume our travels as the Black Sea is just ahead, taking a short canal we find ourselves in a no man’s land of marshes, rushes with seagulls cawing overhead. On the map it looks like the sea though we soon realize that we are gently entering the sea as fresh water is slowly turning salty.

We see ahead that the water is changing color and within some minutes we are sailing along on the Black Sea a steady wind at our backs and spirits rising with each gust that moves us quickly along now.

The open waters of the Black Sea.

A most contented Cristian sailing on his beloved sea.

Far from land but within our sight.

For hours we sail as dreams of ancient mariners catch my imagination, wondering how much courage and fortitude it must have taken to cross an ocean losing sight of land for months on end.

There are moments we drift closer to shore thinking perhaps to camp for the night but we have a place mapped and will try to reach it. The name is Perișor and it is designated as a hotel and resort we are thinking that maybe we will find a room though we’ve grown so accustomed to our tent and fire that this idea loses its appeal. I also notice that there is another fresh water canal nearby and we may have to go inland again as the weather is forecast to turn with strong wind at our head and rain.

We keep our bearings and notice that there is a cell or microwave tower which we choose as our landmark. The sun is lowering in the sky too so we know we have to make landfall before night.

Our landmark in the setting sun.

As we approach land we are once again given over to the enchantment of the natural world and our connection to it … there are thousands of birds lining the shore and they take flight in waves of wings as we pass, I see them as a welcoming dancing flock dressed in their finest.

We see the buildings now and are tacking to shore when I notice a dolphin surface just over the bow. I practically jump to standing with excitement for I never expected this, we scan the waters in front and to the side of us knowing we may catch a glimpse again when two dolphins surface playfully at our side and I manage to capture them in motion. As anyone who has been around dolphins knows just how amazing they are, nothing could have been more magical.

A pair of dolphins surface along side our kayak as we reach shore.

We make landfall and this is what we see as we step ashore, how much more perfect does it get? I get goose bumps now remembering these moments for they are the ones you want to last forever and yet know that they can’t be held on to.

“I Love you” is written in Romanian in the sand as the sun sets to the West.

We set what is to be our last camp for Cristian must return to Bucharest by Sunday. We knew the journey would end eventually so we spend the night around our campfire allowing the fullness of what we accomplished sink deeply into our very marrow. It wasn’t epic really but it brought us so much fulfillment that the idea of becoming water gypsies fills our dreaming souls.

We sleep the deepest sleep as we listen to the waves come to shore, there is no sound more soothing to those caught in the realms of wander lust. I will end this journal with moments captured as images as we bid our friends a fair adieu.

…until the next chapter for the journey never ends.

The sun’s first rays soaked in while sipping my morning coffee and a walk along the sea shore.