Photos Courtesy of Assen and Nikolay Alexandrov
Assen and Nikolay Alexandrov go by many names. “The twins.” “The Russians.” “The San Diego captains.” “The dream team.” They have logged hundreds of thousands of nautical miles delivering yachts to ports and lands that few of us will ever know, having been U.S. captains since 2005 and Bulgarian captains since 1992.
And despite their nickname, they are not Russians. They were born in Bulgaria and immigrated to the United States in their mid-20s, some 30 years ago. They speak Bulgarian, Russian, a bit of Spanish and English, with the English being quite good unless they’re cranked up about something. The demand for their services is so strong that they each spend about 80 percent of their lives delivering yachts. It’s their mission, their passion.
Assen and Nikolay are uncannily identical in purpose, function, intensity and style. When you hire Assen, you’re also hiring Nikolay. They’re in constant contact by phone, bouncing everything off each other for expert advice and to coordinate client requests. Their business culture is based on handshake agreements, and it continues to work out just fine.
I served as crew with Assen and Nikolay on three deliveries. Casual conversations revealed a mastery of many subjects: international relations, domestic politics and technical matters, all driven by a curiosity that is never sated. Light the fuse, and they’re off. With Assen, I learned. He’s the more serious of the two. With Nikolay, who has a lighter heart, I learned and I laughed.
Their process starts before the delivery departure, with a comprehensive assessment of all systems that will be used. Discrepancies are noted for the yacht’s owner, and significant issues are fixed. Their intensity, on a 1-to-10 scale, puts Assen at a 10 and Nikolay at a 9. And there is never any compromise about situations that could affect safety or the captain’s authority over the passage, even if the yacht owner’s feathers are ruffled.
The twins deliver yachts made by virtually every major yacht builder. The 65-footer that we delivered to Sidney, British Columbia, was a pristine example of performance and quality. The owner had spent much time and money caring for it, but when we arrived, Assen noticed black scuff marks on the port hull. The fenders were quite dirty, and had been for a while.
Assen, on hands and knees, painstakingly scrubbed up the mess so the owner wouldn’t be bothered. That’s dedication.
Each of my three deliveries with the twins covered about 700 miles and took about five days. They were at the helm about 70 percent of the time, pretty much whenever they weren’t sleeping in three- and four-hour shifts. And even when sleeping, they were alert to any unusual noises: unexpected bilge pumps, changes in sea state. They are always on alert, including on a delivery we did with fair weather, calm seas and few mechanical issues. For Nikolay, it was a chance to make sure everything was secured and that all systems were in order.
This level of expertise is earned over decades. Something that happens today might be similar to something that happened 10 years and 400 deliveries ago. Relationships, too, come with that kind of time spent on the water. When dealing with marina staff, for instance, they want to be memorable and welcome when they return. Knowing where to go and whom to call is critical, including with government staff for customs and immigration. Those relationships can traslate into and out of a port in four hours instead of two days.
That’s the kind of attitude that separates good delivery captains from great ones. The twins have earned a reputation for being the latter, with no signs of stopping.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2026 issue of Passagemaker magazine.
