Goodbye Mediterranean

Amaris sails the world

Approaching Gibraltar

Seas - calm, Weather clear and crisp

36 deg 11.93 Min North

005 deg 16.03 Min West

Goodbye Mediterranean

We are approaching Gibraltar with both a bit of excitement and a bit of sadness.  We have had so many wonderful adventures over the last 4 months - and it honestly is difficult to count them all.  The weather was brutally hot at times (usually when i had to do some type of task in the engine room) and cool at others (usually during a night sail accompanied by rain-- Shawn and I taking turns standing in it.  Reminiscent of sailing around the Puget Sound, I suppose).  We had wonderful periods of solitude, wonderful visits from friends, and met tons of amazing people.  I can honestly say that we are welcoming the change that is happening within our lives and attitudes.  The stress of the last 10 years is melting away and we are becoming "cruisers."  One translation - we now welcome the afternoon nap and life without an alarm clock and we can let a day go by without checking our e-mail.

A few of the highlights of the last 4 months;

• France putting on a fireworks show to welcome my 40th birthday - (or celebrating Bastille Day)
• Having 50+ packages with birthday "crazy" socks from so many of our friends in the states
• Tasting some desert in France called "floating islands" (or something like that in French)
• Having Cody come stay with us for a month - and letting him explore France, Corsica, Sardinia, and Italy on his terms.
• Cody's quote "Docking doesn't have to be stressful."
• Sailing past the wreck of the Concordia and passing other sailboats...  at 17 knots!
• Having Ron visit in the Ionian Greek Islands - perfect weather each and every day during his visit
• learning how to use the code zero (which the Outremer rep said - "i know it is hard to use at first - but trust me, it will make you fast and you will learn to like it")
• Having Miles visit in Malta - and trying not to laugh when the gangplank fell as he was boarding the boat-with his luggage (splash)
• having crew members join us (Ross and now Antonio) to share in the work.  And learning to let them share in the work
• Having my "sister" Sue and her partner join us for a week in Spain.  Even though she did hit me in the head with the flashlight in the middle of the night when i was once again in the engine room!
• "Pterodactyl" Island
• French food
• Spanish Tapas
• Meeting great people - Lorrie (who was only with us for an hour, but her kindness and spirit will be with us for a lifetime)
• Meeting other cruisers
• Not getting arrested!
• Surfing at 21 knots on the way to Menorca, Spain
• Fried Cheese (Saganaki? - spelling)
• First (and every additional) swim in the Med
• renting a car and driving around Volcano
• Watching the Americans come back and win the America's Cup Challenge (in multiple pubs/marinas while petting random Greek Cats)
• Jazz festival in Nora
• Paxos - Anchoring in crystal clear water

Sailing across the Atlantic will be a wonderful adventure and we are very much looking forward to both the adventure it will bring -and to the peace we will have when this leg is finished as we relax in the Windward and Leeward islands of the Caribbean.  It amazes me that we have had so many volunteers to help sail 3000 miles.  It will be wonderful to have the help and the personalities that will make Amaris home for the 3 weeks that we take to complete the journey.  I am looking forward to the many group dinners and games that we will play on a daily basis (it must be how people lived before TV).  I also am happy to have sailed well over 5000 miles in the last 4 months so that we have total confidence in the boat - and those people that she is taking care of.  And of similar importance - we are looking forward to opening 2-3 envelopes daily at noon during our crossing of the Atlantic - with well wishes and notes that people gave us during our bon voyage party so very long ago.

So - our fare thee well to the Med, and a welcome to the Caribbean.  May we have good winds and a following sea the entire way!

Meeting Giuseppe

Amaris sails the world

Coasta del Sol, Spain

N 36 deg 35.7 min

W 04 deg 30.5 min

After a whirlwind trip through the Coasta del Blanca we are spending a few days in a real marina - this of course represents both a treat and an opportunity to take care of some needed issues on the boat before crossing the Atlantic in a few weeks.  

The Coasta del Blanca was beautiful.  At first, i had anxiety about what appears to be many exposed anchorages - and few that are very protected.  I am leaving the coast longing to come back to spend more time at the beautiful beaches and small towns that line the coast.  Shawn and I did learn while sailing on Vancouver Island that there are not many sandy beaches where storms hit the coast.  Rightly or wrongly, i suppose we could assume that these wonderful, although exposed, beaches would be safe for the night.  Fortunately the weather is accurately predicted these days and a prudent sailor would find appropriate shelter at the first sign of too much wind for their anchor.  

We have met a ton of individuals while sailing through the Mediterranean.  All of them leave us with something that defines their spirit.  While anchored in San Jose just 3 days (and 100 miles) ago, we met a man named Giuseppe who departed Italy in April of this year and was sailing solo around the Med and planned on crossing the Atlantic as well to the Caribbean.  We had a difficult time understanding his Italian and he our English (Especially Ross who, from the UK does an amazing job butchering the language we have perfected in the US).  That said, he was diagnosed with in-operable cancer and decided it was time to set off for an adventure.  We have a lot of guesses as to what he said, but believe he has two children - one from two women that lived together?  and one who is living in his home in Sicily.  We think he worked on watches big in small - including replacing cogs in "big Ben."  Sadly, we received a bounce back from Giuseppe's e-mail (i guess he can't write in English either) so we will likely not know the rest of the story.  Good health, fair winds, and a following sea to our new found and very brave friend.  Oh-and on a side note, while touring his boat we noticed he had a full leg of prosciutto in his kitchen!  

Speaking of Italians - we are days away from meeting our own Italian!  From here we have one more stop before the Canary Islands (an 800 mile sail from Gibraltar).  Antonio - our 6th crew member will be flying in this Saturday to help with this upcoming sail.  This will be the longest leg so far that we will have made on the Amaris.   As the weather is now dipping down to the 60's at night-we are looking forward to a bit of "change in latitude."  

Rats

Amaris sails the planet

Abelike bay, Meganisi Island, Greece

9/7/13

We were warned by a kind German sailor after we anchored that "there are rats here!"  He had awoken the night before with rats climbing up his stern line and scurrying around his boat.  In tight bays, it is polite to anchor and take a line from the stern of the boat to a fixture on shore (tree, rock, shrubbery, pretty much anything stationary).  This allows all the boats to drop an anchor towards the center of the bay and radiate out like a fan towards the shore.  If all the boats anchored without doing so, the boats would need "swinging room" to allow for wind and current changes.  In sum, by "stern tying" there were about 8 boats and room for more in a bay that would otherwise hold 3-4.  

Our guide book had mentioned rats on some of the Ionian islands.  Some reports actually list rats swimming out to boats and climbing up their anchor chain to gain access to their food stores inside.  Not that i was uberly proud of our food stores, but i didn't want rats on board chewing through our wiring and even worse the hoses that are below the boat's water line.  

In a moment of "genius" i remembered having  a few frisbees on board.  I cut a hole through my least favorite frisbee and put our stern line through it as demonstrated in the photograph of of Shawn and our rat deterrent device.  We will never know if rats tried to climb out the line from shore, but we do know the value of the frisbee turned rat deterrent.  Anchored to our port was a kind English couple that were very envious of our contraption.  As we were out of tonic water a fine trade was made and all were happy...  and rat free.

night watches

Amaris sails the planet

night watches

I recall my first solo night watch.  I was crewing on a Tartan 37 sailing from San Diego CA to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  Don't get me wrong, I have sailed many an hour in the dark, often alone.  I think if you ask most sailors there is something magical about sailing alone in the dark or (preferably) under a moonlit sky.  

Although we are blessed to have a great crew member now (Ross), I prefer to do my night watches alone.  To aid my mother here - people now routinely sail around the world alone - which gives them plenty of opportunities for something bad to happen.  That said, sailing at night certainly adds an element of risk - as you can't see dangers that lie ahead (as easily).  To further help relax my mother - we (as do most sailors) reduce sail at dusk and slow the boat down to minimize the risk of hitting something, give us more reaction time, and to prevent the need of a reduction of sail in the dark and alone.

I am sad to say that i am unable to capture any of natures magic on film.  I have watched meteorites shoot across the sky in bright red, yellow, and white.  It amazes me the speed at which they travel as they fly across half the sky in a matter of seconds.  I have watched (a bit frightened) lightening storms with bolts striking the sea miles before or behind us.  I have looked up at the stars and looked to the constellations knowing they are guiding us as they have guided sailors for thousands of years.  I am particularly fond of the start of a new day knowing a new adventure awaits and that we will once more be able to increase sail!

While crossing from Malta to Sardinia my watch fell to the time from sunset to 1AM.  Fortunately on this day, the moon had not risen and there was not a breath of wind - a motor through glass like water.  A few hours into my watch, the boat cut through a field of intense phosphorescence.  The sea glowed as millions and millions (Carl Sagan emphasis) of tiny organisms lit up the sea in a response to the boat cutting through the water near them.  As Ross cam on for his watch and mine came to a close, I tried to describe the intensity of the patch of sea i had crossed.  Of course the next morning he had to tell me all about watching the dolphins cut through the water all aglow.  As if that was more impressive than the millions and millions of tiny organisms.

A sailor's work is never done...

Amaris Sails the World

 

Zakynthos - Kefalonia, Greece

 

A sailor's work is never done...

 

Staying in a harbor has been rare for us while cruising the Med.  Twice in Italy we stayed in marinas - once when we had an issue with one of our engines, and a second time when we wanted to leave the boat for a day to visit the ancient city of Pompeii. Both of those nights in a marina cost us over $300 US.  In Greece, we were pleasantly surprised by the low cost options of public quays.  Staying in Zakynthos seemed a luxury at only $30/night.  (half that if you only have one hull).  Most public quays in Greece don't charge at all.  We had found our version of paradise.

 

Once the boat is safely tied up in a marina- we have time to leisurely wander through the town shopping, eating, drinking etc.  Of course being tied up also gives you access to go to a hardware store, where you can get parts, return to your boat, try to make the parts fit, then repeat.  Normally this is a more or less easy process at the conclusion of which you have a job well done - and an ice cold beer.

 

Zakynthos is an interesting type of town.  It serves as a major hub for the cruising community as boats come into the town to clear customs, get their Greek cruising permits (Transit Log), grab a few groceries, and meet friends that fly into the airport from all around the world.  There are several grocery markets, produce markets, butchers, fish mongers, and of course hardware stores.  Oddly - there was no chandlery (place where you buy parts for boats) within the city.  We were given a decent set of directions to walk there (3-4 km away) and instead asked the harbor representative if he knew of a place to buy a cruising guide.  "I will have one dropped by."

 

That was done easy enough.  The gentleman that met us later that day with the guide in hand ready to sell to us (ironically not even marked up) owned the local chandelry.  Because his store is so far away, he doesn't get many customers and needs to deliver the goods.  I had a short list and Shawn and I were quickly invited on a field trip.

 

The man had an amazing store full of stock.  Anything that a sailor could want was available - under an inch of dust.  Not to worry - we picked up our Malta courtesy flag, two new dock lines, some fuel hose (for the project i was about to complete), some teak oil, and a hand full of other items that were not previously on our list.  Amazingly - the man apparently didn't know to inflate prices of his goods annually and likely just did when he reordered.  We paid 1960's prices for our items and left feeling great about supporting his business (we hadn't intended on buying the new dock lines).  After letting us pet his dog for a few minutes, he drove us back to the boat while telling stories of his adventures having been born on Kefalonia, working on merchant ships for 20 years, and then returning to Kefalonia where he had lived for the last 20 years trying to make a go of it with his shop.

 

Once back to the boat, it was time to finish my job of changing out the water separators in the fuel system (one failed earlier causing the loss of an engine as described above).  I was able to finish half the job before Ron came.  He caught me on film finishing the work on the second engine.  And as a side note, I was not the only one in the harbor working on the engine in my underwear!  (Note the shorts in the foreground of the photo)  It is hot in that compartment!