A Day On The River

A week ago was chillin’ in Yuri’s backyard.  His mom and I were chatting, and I thought she asked if I like boats.  Given my limited Russian and her limited English conversations are often interesting, but we manage, even with lots of confusion.  Within about 30 minutes me stating that I do like boats, we were all suddenly headed for river day on a boat scheduled for today.  And Sara was invited.  Sara coming was really cool.  One because her Russian ability is fantastic (two years of village life does that). And second because it would be her last full day in the Lugansk region, and what a better way to spend it then on a river in a boat.

   

Sara just ‘being’.  Sucking in the last bit of Ukraine, before beginning her trek home tomorrow.

Our trusty guide, Yuri…and Lydia riding on the front of the boat to out lunch spot.  I love how adventurous she is.

   

Lunch…Lydia put together this amazing spread.  I am still baffled at how she got so much food up on the river.  And as we continued down river it was Sara’s turn to ride in the front, with her super sexy life jacket.

    

And then we floated….and floated….and floated…  It was amazing.

   

There were snakes, birds, beavers…and turtles…

And then we stopped again.  Yuri and Yuri had dropped Sara, Lydia and I off in the morning way up river.  Then they went down river in the cars and picked up the boat.  They then came back and picked us up along the river.  So this was my first trip to where the boat lived.  And it was cool!

A Ukrainian version of Coos Bay Yacht Club.  Or at least that is what kept circling in my head.  The dock was small and rudimentary. The cabins that were lakefront were bigger and got smaller as you went up the lake. People were working on cabins and milling about like they were getting ready for the summer season.  Yuri owns a cabin two rows up from the lake and his cabin was about six feet wide and fifteen feet long.  All the cabins share a wall with another cabin on either side, so they are packed in. They had front decks with small indoor kitchen areas and two twin beds in the back room.

    

There were sailboats and motorboats.  Here is one of the roads lined with cabins and boats stored for the winter.  I got the feeling some people spend a lot of time up here in the summer.  One person put in a satellite.  Some cabins were in good condition and recently remodeled. 

One of the few cabins that was a stand alone building.

The announced board.  This still makes me chuckle.  I think of the announcement board at CBYC.  Very different look, but the announcements are the same. Water Safety! Boats For Sale! Lots For Sale! Meetings to come!

In many ways I practically grew up at CBYC and have so many great memories for there.  It was an interesting experience for me to see the Ukrainian version and reminisce my childhood.  My grandfather and his cronies had a hand in starting CBYC many years ago, and all those guys are long gone now, but I will always be grateful for their love of all things boating and for each other.