Some of the people looked exactly like us and others had the map of Eastern Europe printed on their faces. There were also Tartars, Uzbeks, Moldavians, Tadjiks, Khirgizians and many other Soviet Nationalities present in this city of 110,000 on holiday at the seashore. Through the Seaman's club we were able to obtain trips to the country and several theater events, museums, a champagne winery and even the Moscow circus which was giving a local performance. After a few more days we were berthed alongside the holding dock. We were told we would be in Novorossiysk for about 90 days due to the lack of railroad cars to transport the cargo.
Ships are a great place to store wheat.
The Russians only had so many days to begin unloading or they would be charged demurrage, so they decided to declare the ship infested with weevils and fumigate, thus buying some time. We were all run off the ship for the fumigation. This turned out to be some of the most uncomfortable eight days of my life. We were put up in the Black Sea Hotel in town. We were warned to bring our own toilet paper and our own soap.