2009 Diaries
Our Big SIR (Sailing in Retirement) nearly fell off the rails this year when Con went into a medical and business crisis. Following five months in Canada, Con survived a life-threatening situation, at the same time he had to collapse part of his business in order to survive the economic crash. Returning to Tunisia in the spring, we ventured into the south Sahara Desert for a fabulous experience. See Off the Beaten Path. Setting sail in May, we visited Malta, up the Ionian to Greece, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Italy, and back to Greece settling in Messolonghi for the winter.
Our Big SIR (Sailing in Retirement) nearly fell off the rails this year when Con went into a medical and business crisis. Following five months in Canada, Con survived a life-threatening situation, at the same time he had to collapse part of his business in order to survive the economic crash. Returning to Tunisia in the spring, we ventured into the south Sahara Desert for a fabulous experience. See Off the Beaten Path. Setting sail in May, we visited Malta, up the Ionian to Greece, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Italy, and back to Greece settling in Messolonghi for the winter.
IN CANADA
January 1, 2009 – With the crash in the economy, Con’s company went into crisis and we made a desperate return to Canada last November bunking in with Nick, Dan, and baby Dex.
Nevertheless, we celebrated the new year with Nick and Dan playing Trivial Pursuit and enjoyed a salmon dinner and chocolate fondue.
We received an email from our British friends (John and Sara) January 28th who are keeping an eye on Big Sky in Monastir. John said, “It appears Big Sky’s laces holding the tarp down had partially come undone, so I shimmied up and under the loose section to retie them. I noticed a window ajar, causing concern, so I closed it from the outside.” John returned with the Harbour Master who had our key to inspect Big Sky for potential "cat" burglary. There are so many feral cats in Monastir. I'm contemplating what could be worse: a burglar; or 100 feral cats aboard. Layers of Sarah Desert had blown through the two windows we'd left slightly ajar (believing air flow was a good idea under the tarp, but live and learn.) John wrote, "The weather out here has been somewhat changeable, and whilst the locals insist it's unusual, the effect is that we've been experiencing days of heavy rain accompanied by strong gale storm force winds, and yes, I had to go aboard "Big Sky" this morning and tie down her covers. Not a problem, as you can imagine, the string to the toe rail had chafed through and like all enthusiastic girls; she'd proceeded to unlace herself!"
Timing for our return to Big Sky is out of our control, as Con works night and day to save his business. He sleeps very little. I spend most of my time with our kids and grand kids, and the end of February, we flew to Victoria to visit my folks, which is always a light-hearted time, and then back to Con's business in Calgary.
CON'S MEDICAL EMERGENCY
March 10 – For a year now, Con has tried to solve an impossible financial crisis with his company as the economy crashes around us. Simultaneously, his body has been failing. We noticed last November he had difficulty walking. While he focused on his business, I focused on his deteriorating body. He doesn't seem to notice if his body is in pain, but he said that he was having a tingling sensation around his middle, poor circulation, cold feet, and I noticed his skin taking on a gray colour. We visited his family doctor, who also had concerns. When his right leg stopped working we didn't wait for Canada's medical care for an MRI, because that could take a year. Instead, we paid $750 for a private one. It shed no light on the mystery. His doctor has known Con for 39 years and knew something was very wrong when he noticed Con's leg muscles began wasting. He booked him in for an "urgent" MRI to view the top part of Con’s spine. Con had a tumor in his spine, putting severe pressure on blood arteries and dangerously forcing his spine out of whack. The doctor arranged an immediate visit (same day) to a surgeon, who upon viewing the MRI moved all his surgeries to have Con on the table that day if possible. As it turned out, Con was admitted in the morning and spent the entire night working on his business. While lying on the gurney waiting to go into the operating room, the anesthesiologist introduced himself to us. “You know, there is no guarantee for this sort of surgery. One wrong move and you can become a paraplegic. It is a very tricky operation. Just want you to know.”
I was shocked that such a person would deliver such negative medical information. He was not the surgeon! I talked over him into Con's ear telling him over and over, "You will be fine. He's the best surgeon and I just know you’ll come out 100 percent."
I waited in our rental car in the hospital parking lot, cell phone in hand. The nurses promised to call as soon as he was out. Five hours later, I received a call from Dr. DuPlesse, the surgeon, “It’s out. We think it’s benign, and he did great. No more worrying.”
A moment later my cell phone rang again, “Hello, is this Barbara, I’m Con’s Recovery Nurse, and he told me to tell you he loves you. He’s wiggling his toes, and everything went perfectly.”
There’s no putting in words how I felt at that moment, stress and worry now lifted. All I could say to the surgeon and nurse was, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Con was a ticking time bomb, with the tumor literally trying to squish the life out of him. Had he left it much longer, it would have burst a blood vessel in his spine leaving him permanently paralyzed, possibly a stroke, or death. It will take time, but strength is returning to his fingers and his leg atrophy is depleting.
The day of Con’s surgery, was the day he closed the failing division of his company. Now he has health, and can eventually rebuild the rest of his company.
January 1, 2009 – With the crash in the economy, Con’s company went into crisis and we made a desperate return to Canada last November bunking in with Nick, Dan, and baby Dex.
Nevertheless, we celebrated the new year with Nick and Dan playing Trivial Pursuit and enjoyed a salmon dinner and chocolate fondue.
We received an email from our British friends (John and Sara) January 28th who are keeping an eye on Big Sky in Monastir. John said, “It appears Big Sky’s laces holding the tarp down had partially come undone, so I shimmied up and under the loose section to retie them. I noticed a window ajar, causing concern, so I closed it from the outside.” John returned with the Harbour Master who had our key to inspect Big Sky for potential "cat" burglary. There are so many feral cats in Monastir. I'm contemplating what could be worse: a burglar; or 100 feral cats aboard. Layers of Sarah Desert had blown through the two windows we'd left slightly ajar (believing air flow was a good idea under the tarp, but live and learn.) John wrote, "The weather out here has been somewhat changeable, and whilst the locals insist it's unusual, the effect is that we've been experiencing days of heavy rain accompanied by strong gale storm force winds, and yes, I had to go aboard "Big Sky" this morning and tie down her covers. Not a problem, as you can imagine, the string to the toe rail had chafed through and like all enthusiastic girls; she'd proceeded to unlace herself!"
Timing for our return to Big Sky is out of our control, as Con works night and day to save his business. He sleeps very little. I spend most of my time with our kids and grand kids, and the end of February, we flew to Victoria to visit my folks, which is always a light-hearted time, and then back to Con's business in Calgary.
CON'S MEDICAL EMERGENCY
March 10 – For a year now, Con has tried to solve an impossible financial crisis with his company as the economy crashes around us. Simultaneously, his body has been failing. We noticed last November he had difficulty walking. While he focused on his business, I focused on his deteriorating body. He doesn't seem to notice if his body is in pain, but he said that he was having a tingling sensation around his middle, poor circulation, cold feet, and I noticed his skin taking on a gray colour. We visited his family doctor, who also had concerns. When his right leg stopped working we didn't wait for Canada's medical care for an MRI, because that could take a year. Instead, we paid $750 for a private one. It shed no light on the mystery. His doctor has known Con for 39 years and knew something was very wrong when he noticed Con's leg muscles began wasting. He booked him in for an "urgent" MRI to view the top part of Con’s spine. Con had a tumor in his spine, putting severe pressure on blood arteries and dangerously forcing his spine out of whack. The doctor arranged an immediate visit (same day) to a surgeon, who upon viewing the MRI moved all his surgeries to have Con on the table that day if possible. As it turned out, Con was admitted in the morning and spent the entire night working on his business. While lying on the gurney waiting to go into the operating room, the anesthesiologist introduced himself to us. “You know, there is no guarantee for this sort of surgery. One wrong move and you can become a paraplegic. It is a very tricky operation. Just want you to know.”
I was shocked that such a person would deliver such negative medical information. He was not the surgeon! I talked over him into Con's ear telling him over and over, "You will be fine. He's the best surgeon and I just know you’ll come out 100 percent."
I waited in our rental car in the hospital parking lot, cell phone in hand. The nurses promised to call as soon as he was out. Five hours later, I received a call from Dr. DuPlesse, the surgeon, “It’s out. We think it’s benign, and he did great. No more worrying.”
A moment later my cell phone rang again, “Hello, is this Barbara, I’m Con’s Recovery Nurse, and he told me to tell you he loves you. He’s wiggling his toes, and everything went perfectly.”
There’s no putting in words how I felt at that moment, stress and worry now lifted. All I could say to the surgeon and nurse was, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Con was a ticking time bomb, with the tumor literally trying to squish the life out of him. Had he left it much longer, it would have burst a blood vessel in his spine leaving him permanently paralyzed, possibly a stroke, or death. It will take time, but strength is returning to his fingers and his leg atrophy is depleting.
The day of Con’s surgery, was the day he closed the failing division of his company. Now he has health, and can eventually rebuild the rest of his company.
TO EUROPE
April 10 -- With Con's health improving daily, we flew to The Netherlands for time with Nomie and the rest of Con's family. Geert took us down the Vecht River for a day aboard his sloep, a river boat. Geert and Loes' house in on the Vecht which runs passed Loenen where Nomie lives. We collected her on the bank and the five of us continued to Utrecht for lunch. Con is now strong enough to bike, and we took off to Bussum, locking the bikes and walked around the town, stopping at an outdoor café. The country is covered in white, pink and fuchsia blossoms. A few days later, Geert invited us on his boat again and we toured the Vecht near Hillversum where Albertine lives. For Nomie's 93rd birthday we gathered for dinner together.
We left The Netherlands by train to Paris, flew to Monastir and back to Big Sky after 5 ½ months away.
April 10 -- With Con's health improving daily, we flew to The Netherlands for time with Nomie and the rest of Con's family. Geert took us down the Vecht River for a day aboard his sloep, a river boat. Geert and Loes' house in on the Vecht which runs passed Loenen where Nomie lives. We collected her on the bank and the five of us continued to Utrecht for lunch. Con is now strong enough to bike, and we took off to Bussum, locking the bikes and walked around the town, stopping at an outdoor café. The country is covered in white, pink and fuchsia blossoms. A few days later, Geert invited us on his boat again and we toured the Vecht near Hillversum where Albertine lives. For Nomie's 93rd birthday we gathered for dinner together.
We left The Netherlands by train to Paris, flew to Monastir and back to Big Sky after 5 ½ months away.
Pictured above: Driving to the Monastir Boat Yard passing the ribat; the four guys above and others help position Big Sky for the lift and secured her with the drums and shim.
BACK ON THE BOAT
April 23 -- Con lowered the ladder, saying, “no thanks” to my offer to carry the two large suitcases. His strength was returning little by little. Once aboard, he gave me a look of success having made it with the heavy bags, and then he took one whiff his face screwed up. Feral Cats! They’d moved aboard when we left, tucking in cozy under the tarp and using the coiled lines for litter boxes. A German neighbour aboard his boat laughed saying that he saw them come and go. Uggg, why didn't he seal off our boat? For the next few days, we organized Big Sky and scrubbed topsides and inside where the desert had blown in. The cats continued to board Big Sky growling at us as they peered in through our pilot-house windows as if saying, “What are you doing in OUR house.”
Con returned from the bakery with fresh bread and croissants for pennies and oranges for 78 cents a kilo. The German told us that just four days before we arrived, the marina had 50 knot winds and all the boats were heeling and one got away, but ours fared well.
We met a delightful Canadian couple and invited them to our boat to join us at 7 pm. Nearly giving up on them, they finally arrived exactly at 8 pm. The next day, we waited for Hazim in the boat yard to show for our 10 am appointment. The yard called him and he finally arrived at 10:15. Turns out we’ve been on the wrong time zone for three days. We apologized to Hazim. The quote we received from Hazim to have Big Sky hauled out, cleaned, waxed, polished, and some minor repairs and returned to the water was excellent.
April 23 -- Con lowered the ladder, saying, “no thanks” to my offer to carry the two large suitcases. His strength was returning little by little. Once aboard, he gave me a look of success having made it with the heavy bags, and then he took one whiff his face screwed up. Feral Cats! They’d moved aboard when we left, tucking in cozy under the tarp and using the coiled lines for litter boxes. A German neighbour aboard his boat laughed saying that he saw them come and go. Uggg, why didn't he seal off our boat? For the next few days, we organized Big Sky and scrubbed topsides and inside where the desert had blown in. The cats continued to board Big Sky growling at us as they peered in through our pilot-house windows as if saying, “What are you doing in OUR house.”
Con returned from the bakery with fresh bread and croissants for pennies and oranges for 78 cents a kilo. The German told us that just four days before we arrived, the marina had 50 knot winds and all the boats were heeling and one got away, but ours fared well.
We met a delightful Canadian couple and invited them to our boat to join us at 7 pm. Nearly giving up on them, they finally arrived exactly at 8 pm. The next day, we waited for Hazim in the boat yard to show for our 10 am appointment. The yard called him and he finally arrived at 10:15. Turns out we’ve been on the wrong time zone for three days. We apologized to Hazim. The quote we received from Hazim to have Big Sky hauled out, cleaned, waxed, polished, and some minor repairs and returned to the water was excellent.
TUNISIA
May 4 -- We paid Hizam in cash, 1820 euros paid in dinar 20s, the largest denomination you can get out of the ATMs. This price included the haul out and in, repairs to the hull, straightening the stainless steel (damaged in Cartagena), cleaning and polishing the stainless steel, cleaning, waxing and polishing the hull and topside. Also a cappuccino machine repair man was called to investigate our bow thruster, cutter sail, and fridge. We had major doubts about a cappuccino repair man analyzing our boat problems, however, he was right on (we learned months later and many euros later when we hired two expensive electricians in Malta). The cappuccino repair man said, “Bow Thruster has broken Electronic Control Board; sail motor broken; and dirt in the outlet coil.” We thanked him, and didn’t even know if he billed the yard. He said they didn’t have the bow thruster part, and ordering would take a while, and the sail motor would have to come apart in a shop, so we passed. The bow thruster has been weakening to the point where it has refused to work at all.
A previous quote (in Spain) for polishing and greasing the propeller, replacing zincs was CND $5400 (in Tunisia, CND$1600).
When asked about the boat on the roof of the yard, Hizem responded, "I’m waiting for the bill to be paid, it’s been there for 10 years now, but once he pays, I’ll put it back in the water.”
Back in the same slip in the Monastir marina, we finally claimed back our boat from the feral cats, and they've not been too friendly about that, continuing to growl at us from shore. This morning, a dozen song birds were in full melody aboard.
Enjoying the morning sunshine in the cockpit, eating fresh croissants with foamy latte's, a group of Tunisian women about 18 years old touring Monastir stopped to ask permission to take a photo. “Sure,” I said assuming they’d use Big Sky in the background. Two at a time, they walked the skinny plank that crossing the water and into our cockpit for photos. They wore Arabic clothes and spiked heals and invited me in my PJs to join them in the photos.
May 4 -- We paid Hizam in cash, 1820 euros paid in dinar 20s, the largest denomination you can get out of the ATMs. This price included the haul out and in, repairs to the hull, straightening the stainless steel (damaged in Cartagena), cleaning and polishing the stainless steel, cleaning, waxing and polishing the hull and topside. Also a cappuccino machine repair man was called to investigate our bow thruster, cutter sail, and fridge. We had major doubts about a cappuccino repair man analyzing our boat problems, however, he was right on (we learned months later and many euros later when we hired two expensive electricians in Malta). The cappuccino repair man said, “Bow Thruster has broken Electronic Control Board; sail motor broken; and dirt in the outlet coil.” We thanked him, and didn’t even know if he billed the yard. He said they didn’t have the bow thruster part, and ordering would take a while, and the sail motor would have to come apart in a shop, so we passed. The bow thruster has been weakening to the point where it has refused to work at all.
A previous quote (in Spain) for polishing and greasing the propeller, replacing zincs was CND $5400 (in Tunisia, CND$1600).
When asked about the boat on the roof of the yard, Hizem responded, "I’m waiting for the bill to be paid, it’s been there for 10 years now, but once he pays, I’ll put it back in the water.”
Back in the same slip in the Monastir marina, we finally claimed back our boat from the feral cats, and they've not been too friendly about that, continuing to growl at us from shore. This morning, a dozen song birds were in full melody aboard.
Enjoying the morning sunshine in the cockpit, eating fresh croissants with foamy latte's, a group of Tunisian women about 18 years old touring Monastir stopped to ask permission to take a photo. “Sure,” I said assuming they’d use Big Sky in the background. Two at a time, they walked the skinny plank that crossing the water and into our cockpit for photos. They wore Arabic clothes and spiked heals and invited me in my PJs to join them in the photos.
May 14 -- Hailey Chyler Angelozzi, our first grandbaby girl was born today to Courtney and Mike. It was a long and hard 44-hour delivery! Mom and baby look fantastic! Hailey was 6 lbs 7 oz (the exact weight that both Courtney and Lindsey were), and 19 inches long. Everybody is doing really well. We were able to see Hailey, mom, dad, and Lindsey moments after her birth thanks to Skype!
Day Trip to Souse
Just back from our land trip to the Sahara Desert, we climbed aboard a bus (for a coin) from Monastir to Sousse to check out the market and medina. The souke is set up for tourists, and bartering for anything is exhausting and they call it a sport. We were looking for a carry-on bag on wheels, I found a beautiful leather one. The starting price was atrocious. Con graciously offered to barter for me. Two young men in their 20s came into the store to watch. When the price was settled, Con shook the vendor's hand saying, “I have to go to the instant teller and will be right back.”
The vendor said, “My brother will go with you.”
Con to the man, "No," turning to me, "I’ll be right back.”
Once Con left, the three men circled me and hurled insults to me about Con. “He has no respect, we don’t like him.” Pausing then adding, “we like you.” One guy moved in closer, "Why are American’s afraid of us?”
I shook my head, but he continued to ask. I said, "I'm not American." I'm not sure why they were trying to intimidate me, but it didn't work. I remained in the store until Con return. He paid, we left. Vendors are aggressive. If you touch an item, they're on you to buy it, and if you say, "No thanks," they offer you two!
Back at the boat, we fried the light-coloured tuna we'd purchased from the fish market. Turns out, it was shark!
The Tunisians have a different approach to food handling. Three weeks ago, while on the hard, I suffered badly with E Coli from raw chicken I ate at a restaurant near the yard. Just recovering, something else attacked my insides. There doesn’t seem to be separation in handing raw chicken and then preparing a salad. Thankfully, I have Cipro medication and at the suggestion of our Canadian friend, a pharmacist living aboard in Monastir with her husband, she said, “Take it!”
Today in the market, a woman bought goat heads and hooves for a stew. I asked how you prepare it and finding the words slowly, using hand gestures, she shared, “Singe the hairs off, skin the hooves, chop with sharp cleaver, pull out the brains (not sure what they do with them), boil for 15 minutes, add chilies, mixed onions and garlic, lots of wild mint, and then cook another 45 minutes, and serve with more mint.”
I’ve been ordering bread from restaurants, while Con orders undefined foods. My stomach is still a bit weak. To ward off more illness, I’ve washed and peeled all the fruits and vegetables before eating.
May 16 -- The wind has been howling through the marina on and off for the last few days and nights, meanwhile, we’re checking all our weather resources for the best passage to Malta. Con says, “It’ll be a game of craps," referring to the weather, as reports indicate very strong winds, high seas, and other reports indicate no wind. We timed it for daytime arrival (27 hours; 189 NM).
MALTA
May 19 -- We made it to Malta, a a fascinating island, and we're in the capital, Valletta for the next 10 days. The old part of Valletta has many steep narrow streets and is surrounded on three sides by the water and a massive fortification dating back to 1565 and the Knights of the Order of St. John. When 700 knights and 8000 locals survived an invasion by 30,000 Turks, holding them off, the King of Spain and Pope Pius V built this city. Valletta is perched high atop a hill between the two deep water ports of Marsamxett (where we are) and Grand Harbour.
May 20 -- In between touring, we've been behind and under cabinets and cupboards changing hoses. I didn't know I could contort my body in such ways in such closed confined areas. I can even juggle a mirror, work a socket tool, clamp a hose, and use the other three fingers to hold back half a dozen hoses and wires, and that's with one hand, the other is tightening the clamp. Fortunately, the flashlight was on my forehead, as the hand-held flashlight earlier slipped out of Con's hand and is still shining brightly in our bilge. It's not alone, as it was joined by a socket and a couple of hose clamps.
We biked from the marina to the Customs and Immigration our second day, but Customs wouldn’t stamp Con’s passport, only mine, since I'll be leaving Malta to fly to Canada. Con will leave Malta by boat. My name was entered in the big book underneath the "Queen Victoria" ship.
May 24 -- Malta, founded on religious roots and built by the Knights of St. John's, a Christian order that provided first aid of sorts to pilgrims heading to the Holy Land still holds strong to their religion. For instance, Saturday the streets were shoulder to shoulder with people, and Sunday, they were empty. Malta's roots had a strong Christian Military Order to protect Malta, Rome and Jerusalem from the powerful Ottoman. The Knights were given Malta as a reward, to enjoy and built castles, palaces, churches, gardens and the walled fortification. Over time, the Order became very popular and rich and their priorities reversed (military first, then hospitalliers). The Pope then believed them too powerful and brought them down.
Walking the empty streets on Sunday, looking for the YMCA to make a clothing donation, we finally found it and it was closed. The cyber café said they'd give it to them when they open in the morning.
Jan and Anne Marie (Con's brother and wife) will be arriving and will sail with Con for a week heading to Corfu. I'm flying home to meet 10-day-old Hailey and help Courtney and Mike. On my return to Corfu, I'll visit my mom and dad on Vancouver Island. Nick and soon to be 9-month-old Dex will join Con in Corfu. We're now making a Lee Cloths to make a crib/bed or sorts for Dex in the bunk room.
Day Trip to Souse
Just back from our land trip to the Sahara Desert, we climbed aboard a bus (for a coin) from Monastir to Sousse to check out the market and medina. The souke is set up for tourists, and bartering for anything is exhausting and they call it a sport. We were looking for a carry-on bag on wheels, I found a beautiful leather one. The starting price was atrocious. Con graciously offered to barter for me. Two young men in their 20s came into the store to watch. When the price was settled, Con shook the vendor's hand saying, “I have to go to the instant teller and will be right back.”
The vendor said, “My brother will go with you.”
Con to the man, "No," turning to me, "I’ll be right back.”
Once Con left, the three men circled me and hurled insults to me about Con. “He has no respect, we don’t like him.” Pausing then adding, “we like you.” One guy moved in closer, "Why are American’s afraid of us?”
I shook my head, but he continued to ask. I said, "I'm not American." I'm not sure why they were trying to intimidate me, but it didn't work. I remained in the store until Con return. He paid, we left. Vendors are aggressive. If you touch an item, they're on you to buy it, and if you say, "No thanks," they offer you two!
Back at the boat, we fried the light-coloured tuna we'd purchased from the fish market. Turns out, it was shark!
The Tunisians have a different approach to food handling. Three weeks ago, while on the hard, I suffered badly with E Coli from raw chicken I ate at a restaurant near the yard. Just recovering, something else attacked my insides. There doesn’t seem to be separation in handing raw chicken and then preparing a salad. Thankfully, I have Cipro medication and at the suggestion of our Canadian friend, a pharmacist living aboard in Monastir with her husband, she said, “Take it!”
Today in the market, a woman bought goat heads and hooves for a stew. I asked how you prepare it and finding the words slowly, using hand gestures, she shared, “Singe the hairs off, skin the hooves, chop with sharp cleaver, pull out the brains (not sure what they do with them), boil for 15 minutes, add chilies, mixed onions and garlic, lots of wild mint, and then cook another 45 minutes, and serve with more mint.”
I’ve been ordering bread from restaurants, while Con orders undefined foods. My stomach is still a bit weak. To ward off more illness, I’ve washed and peeled all the fruits and vegetables before eating.
May 16 -- The wind has been howling through the marina on and off for the last few days and nights, meanwhile, we’re checking all our weather resources for the best passage to Malta. Con says, “It’ll be a game of craps," referring to the weather, as reports indicate very strong winds, high seas, and other reports indicate no wind. We timed it for daytime arrival (27 hours; 189 NM).
MALTA
May 19 -- We made it to Malta, a a fascinating island, and we're in the capital, Valletta for the next 10 days. The old part of Valletta has many steep narrow streets and is surrounded on three sides by the water and a massive fortification dating back to 1565 and the Knights of the Order of St. John. When 700 knights and 8000 locals survived an invasion by 30,000 Turks, holding them off, the King of Spain and Pope Pius V built this city. Valletta is perched high atop a hill between the two deep water ports of Marsamxett (where we are) and Grand Harbour.
May 20 -- In between touring, we've been behind and under cabinets and cupboards changing hoses. I didn't know I could contort my body in such ways in such closed confined areas. I can even juggle a mirror, work a socket tool, clamp a hose, and use the other three fingers to hold back half a dozen hoses and wires, and that's with one hand, the other is tightening the clamp. Fortunately, the flashlight was on my forehead, as the hand-held flashlight earlier slipped out of Con's hand and is still shining brightly in our bilge. It's not alone, as it was joined by a socket and a couple of hose clamps.
We biked from the marina to the Customs and Immigration our second day, but Customs wouldn’t stamp Con’s passport, only mine, since I'll be leaving Malta to fly to Canada. Con will leave Malta by boat. My name was entered in the big book underneath the "Queen Victoria" ship.
May 24 -- Malta, founded on religious roots and built by the Knights of St. John's, a Christian order that provided first aid of sorts to pilgrims heading to the Holy Land still holds strong to their religion. For instance, Saturday the streets were shoulder to shoulder with people, and Sunday, they were empty. Malta's roots had a strong Christian Military Order to protect Malta, Rome and Jerusalem from the powerful Ottoman. The Knights were given Malta as a reward, to enjoy and built castles, palaces, churches, gardens and the walled fortification. Over time, the Order became very popular and rich and their priorities reversed (military first, then hospitalliers). The Pope then believed them too powerful and brought them down.
Walking the empty streets on Sunday, looking for the YMCA to make a clothing donation, we finally found it and it was closed. The cyber café said they'd give it to them when they open in the morning.
Jan and Anne Marie (Con's brother and wife) will be arriving and will sail with Con for a week heading to Corfu. I'm flying home to meet 10-day-old Hailey and help Courtney and Mike. On my return to Corfu, I'll visit my mom and dad on Vancouver Island. Nick and soon to be 9-month-old Dex will join Con in Corfu. We're now making a Lee Cloths to make a crib/bed or sorts for Dex in the bunk room.
May 29 - 31 -- Jan & Anne Marie arrived and after a brief "hello" I said, "Good-bye" and the taxi collected me from Big Sky for the airport.
From Con: After nine days in Malta, it was time to move on. Barb had left the previous day for Canada to visit our first granddaughter Hailey, just 10-days old. Jan and Anne Marie will sail with me to Corfu. We planned to leave at the crack of dawn to make Syracuse, Sicily, about 90 nautical miles, but at 5:30 pm, there wasn't a breath of wind. We slept more and reassessed the situation a few hours later. By 9 am, we changed our destination to Marzamemi, 60 nautical miles away. Jan steered us out of the Valetta harbour while Anne Marie and I secured the fenders and lines. Raising the sails, to our surprise we found a beautiful 15 - 20 knot NW wind. Big Sky was clipping at 8 knots. Nine hours later, we sailed into the Marzamemi marina. In the morning, we left for Syracuse, greeted by a pod of dolphins, beautiful blue skies, but little wind. At 11 am, we motored out directing Big Sky to Crotone, Italy, just under 160 nautical miles. The "Stad Amsterdam" under full sail crossed our bow. It was an impressive sight and exciting for us, because just seven years ago, Jan and Anne Marie, Barb and I, and most of our family enjoyed a half day sail on that very same ship. It's a true replica of the original, except for its engine. Shortly after, the wind picked up and while on a close haul, I went down to check on things only to discover that the hot water hose Barb and I had repaired in Malta had failed and 500 litres of water had been pumped onto the stern bathroom and bedroom floor. Awkward, because we still had 20 hours to go before reaching Crotone. The wind continued to pick up to 25 knots; time to reef the sails. The genoa refused to move -- a blown fuse. Access to the fuse was behind the hot engine, so my only option was to go forward with the hand crank and crank in the huge sail. The sea state was pretty rough with two meter waves crashing over the deck. Tied to the lifeline, I went forward and 30 minutes later, the sail was furled. Once the sea died down, I went into the awkward cupboard and made a make-shift fix for the hot-water hose. We motored into the Crotone marina believing all our excitement was behind us. It was not. After docking, we discovered that one of the mooring lines had fouled the prop. I donned bathing suit and snorkel and 30 minutes later, freed the line.
In Canada
May 30 -- Calgary -- Hailey, our beautiful two-week old granddaughter is a joy to be around. So tiny. She reminds me of Lindsey and Courtney when they were babies and I'm remembering the energy expelled in the beginning as a new mom. I'm finding my niche to give Courtney and Mike their much needed sleep.
June 5 -- (In Italy & Greece) Yesterday Con says they had a fantastic sail from Santa Maria de Leuca to Otranto, in calm waters with decent winds from behind. With the Genoa up they moved along at three to six knots. Con headed toward the coast to anchor so they could have a swim as the wind had fallen off so much, but by the time they got close, the wind came up to 15 knots, so they moved on to their next destination. Anne Marie spotted a turtle swimming passed them. The next day, they docked in Kassiopi, Greece today, in what Con described as a "perfect sail." It's a pretty town filled with flowers and full of boats. On their first try docking, they ran aground. Thankfully, they found a second spot and literally docked right in front of where people were having a drink. Once settled, they claimed the table. When they left for Ortranto at 7 am the next day, they had 25 knot SE winds and set up for an 11-hour reefed sail. Dolphins visited.
Calgary -- Lindsey joined us from Red Deer and shared their BIG news that she and Les are engaged to marry! We spent the day playing with Hailey and planning the wedding.
June 15 -- Daughter's Nick and Brit are visiting their Dutch family in The Netherlands for a few weeks, along with Dex and Nolan. Nick and Dex then flew to Big Sky, Brit and Nolan went back to Canada. I'm still in Calgary enjoying my last moments with family before returning to Big Sky. The boat "crib" is now completed for nine-month-old Dex, where we fitted a Lee Cloth on the bottom bunk. Con replaced all the hot water hose, had the rigging checked, (still need to fix the bow thruster), had an LED light fixed up the mast, and numerous other tasks. I flew to Victoria, BC to visit my mom and dad for a week before heading back to Con, Nick and Dex in Corfu.
June 17 -- Greece Con and Nick set sail from the marina to an anchorage for a few days to enjoy the warm weather and swim in the 25-26 degree sea waters. Dex happily played in the cockpit.
Nick, Dex and Con organized themselves and set sail around 11 am heading to a calm cove for anchorage. Nick held Dex, Con let go of the bow lines, walked to the stern line, let it go, settled into the cockpit and backed Big Sky out. He used the bow thruster three times perfectly, then it quit again (which makes a year now without it). They headed to the Bay by Igoumenista on the mainland, about 22 nautical miles away which turned out to be disappointing, so them carried on to the pretty town of Platarias pulling in beside a 55' Dutch boat. Con set the lines and bow ladder. At the last moment, Nick put Dex in the cockpit to play.
The cockpit floor is set up with a piece of old kitchen floor protector, then blankets and toys. Nick dropped the stern anchor with precision, and Con tossed the lines to the Dutch man on shore. Too hot for Dex to sleep on Big Sky, they walked to a shady cafe for a beer and lemonade and Dex’s sleep. They met up with the Dutch couple who assumed Dex was Con’s son and that daughter and father were actually husband and wife. They chuckled about that.
From Con: After nine days in Malta, it was time to move on. Barb had left the previous day for Canada to visit our first granddaughter Hailey, just 10-days old. Jan and Anne Marie will sail with me to Corfu. We planned to leave at the crack of dawn to make Syracuse, Sicily, about 90 nautical miles, but at 5:30 pm, there wasn't a breath of wind. We slept more and reassessed the situation a few hours later. By 9 am, we changed our destination to Marzamemi, 60 nautical miles away. Jan steered us out of the Valetta harbour while Anne Marie and I secured the fenders and lines. Raising the sails, to our surprise we found a beautiful 15 - 20 knot NW wind. Big Sky was clipping at 8 knots. Nine hours later, we sailed into the Marzamemi marina. In the morning, we left for Syracuse, greeted by a pod of dolphins, beautiful blue skies, but little wind. At 11 am, we motored out directing Big Sky to Crotone, Italy, just under 160 nautical miles. The "Stad Amsterdam" under full sail crossed our bow. It was an impressive sight and exciting for us, because just seven years ago, Jan and Anne Marie, Barb and I, and most of our family enjoyed a half day sail on that very same ship. It's a true replica of the original, except for its engine. Shortly after, the wind picked up and while on a close haul, I went down to check on things only to discover that the hot water hose Barb and I had repaired in Malta had failed and 500 litres of water had been pumped onto the stern bathroom and bedroom floor. Awkward, because we still had 20 hours to go before reaching Crotone. The wind continued to pick up to 25 knots; time to reef the sails. The genoa refused to move -- a blown fuse. Access to the fuse was behind the hot engine, so my only option was to go forward with the hand crank and crank in the huge sail. The sea state was pretty rough with two meter waves crashing over the deck. Tied to the lifeline, I went forward and 30 minutes later, the sail was furled. Once the sea died down, I went into the awkward cupboard and made a make-shift fix for the hot-water hose. We motored into the Crotone marina believing all our excitement was behind us. It was not. After docking, we discovered that one of the mooring lines had fouled the prop. I donned bathing suit and snorkel and 30 minutes later, freed the line.
In Canada
May 30 -- Calgary -- Hailey, our beautiful two-week old granddaughter is a joy to be around. So tiny. She reminds me of Lindsey and Courtney when they were babies and I'm remembering the energy expelled in the beginning as a new mom. I'm finding my niche to give Courtney and Mike their much needed sleep.
June 5 -- (In Italy & Greece) Yesterday Con says they had a fantastic sail from Santa Maria de Leuca to Otranto, in calm waters with decent winds from behind. With the Genoa up they moved along at three to six knots. Con headed toward the coast to anchor so they could have a swim as the wind had fallen off so much, but by the time they got close, the wind came up to 15 knots, so they moved on to their next destination. Anne Marie spotted a turtle swimming passed them. The next day, they docked in Kassiopi, Greece today, in what Con described as a "perfect sail." It's a pretty town filled with flowers and full of boats. On their first try docking, they ran aground. Thankfully, they found a second spot and literally docked right in front of where people were having a drink. Once settled, they claimed the table. When they left for Ortranto at 7 am the next day, they had 25 knot SE winds and set up for an 11-hour reefed sail. Dolphins visited.
Calgary -- Lindsey joined us from Red Deer and shared their BIG news that she and Les are engaged to marry! We spent the day playing with Hailey and planning the wedding.
June 15 -- Daughter's Nick and Brit are visiting their Dutch family in The Netherlands for a few weeks, along with Dex and Nolan. Nick and Dex then flew to Big Sky, Brit and Nolan went back to Canada. I'm still in Calgary enjoying my last moments with family before returning to Big Sky. The boat "crib" is now completed for nine-month-old Dex, where we fitted a Lee Cloth on the bottom bunk. Con replaced all the hot water hose, had the rigging checked, (still need to fix the bow thruster), had an LED light fixed up the mast, and numerous other tasks. I flew to Victoria, BC to visit my mom and dad for a week before heading back to Con, Nick and Dex in Corfu.
June 17 -- Greece Con and Nick set sail from the marina to an anchorage for a few days to enjoy the warm weather and swim in the 25-26 degree sea waters. Dex happily played in the cockpit.
Nick, Dex and Con organized themselves and set sail around 11 am heading to a calm cove for anchorage. Nick held Dex, Con let go of the bow lines, walked to the stern line, let it go, settled into the cockpit and backed Big Sky out. He used the bow thruster three times perfectly, then it quit again (which makes a year now without it). They headed to the Bay by Igoumenista on the mainland, about 22 nautical miles away which turned out to be disappointing, so them carried on to the pretty town of Platarias pulling in beside a 55' Dutch boat. Con set the lines and bow ladder. At the last moment, Nick put Dex in the cockpit to play.
The cockpit floor is set up with a piece of old kitchen floor protector, then blankets and toys. Nick dropped the stern anchor with precision, and Con tossed the lines to the Dutch man on shore. Too hot for Dex to sleep on Big Sky, they walked to a shady cafe for a beer and lemonade and Dex’s sleep. They met up with the Dutch couple who assumed Dex was Con’s son and that daughter and father were actually husband and wife. They chuckled about that.
June 24 -- After 20 hours by air, I was “home”. This had been the longest separation Con and I had had and it was fabulous having his arms wrap around me. As a bonus, Nick and Dex were still aboard.
The Greek sun felt great as we walked along the marina promenade, and then something bit me in the centre of my back! I tried to reach around and it bit again, and then two enormous hornets flew away.
Throughout the night the sky rumbled with thunder and lightning struck around us. By morning, it cleared and the four of us walked around town enjoying the Greek culture. Dex received lots of attention, especially from a particular older women with just half a mouth full of teeth who couldn't stop kissing him. Nick said, "That's nothing, last week we were out for dinner, and an older woman from the kitchen came out, picked Dex off my lap and disappeared back into the kitchen."
Nick and I have been trying the different coffee combinations. The most popular is Nescafe cold coffee with lots of ice and frothed milk. We thought we asked for that, when an ice-cream and chocolate cold coffee arrived.
June 25 -- We sailed to the small Greek town of Kassiopi where in the first century AD the Emperor Nero is said to have visited a Temple of Jupiter, situated on the western side of the harbor. Ruins of a 13th century castle is just a short walk further west. We tied up on the quay for a peaceful night in the quiet fishing village. We returned to Gouvia the next morning since it was the closest to the airport and Nick and Dex leave at 8 in the morning. It rained and the sky rumbled again and lightning scratched across the sky.
The Greek sun felt great as we walked along the marina promenade, and then something bit me in the centre of my back! I tried to reach around and it bit again, and then two enormous hornets flew away.
Throughout the night the sky rumbled with thunder and lightning struck around us. By morning, it cleared and the four of us walked around town enjoying the Greek culture. Dex received lots of attention, especially from a particular older women with just half a mouth full of teeth who couldn't stop kissing him. Nick said, "That's nothing, last week we were out for dinner, and an older woman from the kitchen came out, picked Dex off my lap and disappeared back into the kitchen."
Nick and I have been trying the different coffee combinations. The most popular is Nescafe cold coffee with lots of ice and frothed milk. We thought we asked for that, when an ice-cream and chocolate cold coffee arrived.
June 25 -- We sailed to the small Greek town of Kassiopi where in the first century AD the Emperor Nero is said to have visited a Temple of Jupiter, situated on the western side of the harbor. Ruins of a 13th century castle is just a short walk further west. We tied up on the quay for a peaceful night in the quiet fishing village. We returned to Gouvia the next morning since it was the closest to the airport and Nick and Dex leave at 8 in the morning. It rained and the sky rumbled again and lightning scratched across the sky.
June 29 -- Corfu is the island east of Italy and south of Albania, a beautiful green and lush island, with attractive secluded coves for anchorage. Once ruled by the Roman Empire in 229 BC - 337 AD, and then every culture thereafter: Byzantine, Goths, Normans, Angevin, Venetian's from 1386-1797, and then the French who brought back their Greek language, despite a brief British rule. Now they're part of the EU (European Union). The NATO leaders were in our neighbourhood yesterday, along with the Russian, Greek and Italian presidents to discuss the stabilization of Europe and North American relations. This was to make sure everybody was friendly when they meet next month to discuss the containment of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It caused quite a police and security helicopter presence in and around our marina. By late Sunday afternoon, the politicians had left along with the helicopters. Sitting in Big Sky's cockpit with our binoculars, we could clearly see the balconies of the hotel where the meetings took place.
We're on the home-stretch of our maintenance, with new bathroom hose being installed, and Monday, and new boat batteries. We put that monster of a purchase off as long as possible, sucking every last drop out of our 10-year old batteries.
July 1 -- Happy 142 years Canada! Con and I celebrated with a Greek dinner on a quiet restaurant patio. We're having lazy days, reading books under the shade of our cockpit tarp waiting for the right winds to take us north to Albania, Montenegro and eventually to Croatia, and later Slovenia for the summer. Planning for our trip to Albania, we will need an agent, who has been in email conversation with us. During WWII, the Albanian coast had been extensively mined and we're told the surface water is safe but the mines have not been retrieved from the bottom, so anchoring is potentially dangerous. We've been told, don't get into an argument because many people carry firearms, but they’re friendly. Also don't drink fresh milk or the Albanian water because AIDS and hepatitis is ramped.
Albania has seen its share of invaders too: the Greek, Romans, barbarian tribes, Serbs, Slavs, Venetians, and Ottoman Turks but they've managed to hold onto their language and culture. They are the oldest race in SE Europe and do not belong to the EU. Once Christians, they converted to Islam during the Ottoman invasion. Albania was occupied by the Italians, then the Germans during WWII, followed by the Communists, who ruled with an iron fist until 1992 when Democracy was voted in for one term. Communism returned the next election then Albania returned to Democracy and is today. While the shift from Communism to Democracy was taking place, the country saw a dramatic increase in criminal activity. It wasn't too long ago that yachts in Albanian waters were met with hostility. It should be an interesting visit. Our clearing agent says he'll greet us in Saranda and handle all the official paperwork for Big Sky and for us.
Albania
July 6 – In 2007, our insurance coverage didn't include Albania, but crime has abated and they will hold covered. Our arrival was extremely pleasurable. The agent met us at the harbour, caught our lines, and took our papers to the officials. He also snapped a polaroid picture of us aboard for "your scrap book". The only tricky thing about entering the harbour was dodging the kids swimming there. While we waited for the agent aboard, young teenage boys swam to our boat begging to climb aboard. The agent returned and said something to them and they swam away.
July 8 -- We remember Larry Radu today with great memories of a fun family life together.
Internet security is tight here and it has been difficult to upload the website for security blocks. In Saranda, Communist symbols and concrete constructions can be seen everywhere, now calling themselves “The Soviet Party” which apparently is made up of the same people that were once in the Communist party.
At the market, Con tried to buy oranges from one of the female vendors, and she shooed him away. He came back with me hoping to buy her plums, because they were the best looking ones, and even with me, she shooed him away again. We circled the market of about 50 vendors, where she kept a close eye on him. Finally, he went back to her and pointed to the plumbs pleadingly. She reluctantly let him purchase. Maybe foreigners are not welcome everywhere.
We purchased a watermelon for less than $2 Canadian, and bags of fruit and vegetables for great prices. Like in Tunisia, they use the weight scale for price. Returning to Big Sky, we turned on Albanian radio and "All I Want for Christmas" was playing -- in July.
Stocked for our next few days at anchor, we departed for Palermo Bay about three hours north. It's a butterfly-shaped bay that was once a military site. It was completely devoid of people or any form of human activity and attempted to drop anchor on the more shallow north side. As we tucked into the bay a bit closer, we spotted about a half dozen machine guns mounted pointing to the sky (and later learned that there was a camouflaged cave where the Albanians keep their submarine). Two soldiers appeared and were running toward us holding their rifles pointing up against their shoulders. Finally we heard, "Go! Go! Go!" We did, and motored to the south side of the bay and dropped anchor. There appeared to be a small abandoned area made up of a handful of concrete houses but with no windows or doors, and surrounded by cactus and desert-like shrubs. It was deathly quiet. The scent of lavender wafted down the hillside toward us. The water was warm and clear. We swam to our hearts content. Nearing sundown, four fishing boats arrived and a number of Albanians went ashore to the structures.
We're on the home-stretch of our maintenance, with new bathroom hose being installed, and Monday, and new boat batteries. We put that monster of a purchase off as long as possible, sucking every last drop out of our 10-year old batteries.
July 1 -- Happy 142 years Canada! Con and I celebrated with a Greek dinner on a quiet restaurant patio. We're having lazy days, reading books under the shade of our cockpit tarp waiting for the right winds to take us north to Albania, Montenegro and eventually to Croatia, and later Slovenia for the summer. Planning for our trip to Albania, we will need an agent, who has been in email conversation with us. During WWII, the Albanian coast had been extensively mined and we're told the surface water is safe but the mines have not been retrieved from the bottom, so anchoring is potentially dangerous. We've been told, don't get into an argument because many people carry firearms, but they’re friendly. Also don't drink fresh milk or the Albanian water because AIDS and hepatitis is ramped.
Albania has seen its share of invaders too: the Greek, Romans, barbarian tribes, Serbs, Slavs, Venetians, and Ottoman Turks but they've managed to hold onto their language and culture. They are the oldest race in SE Europe and do not belong to the EU. Once Christians, they converted to Islam during the Ottoman invasion. Albania was occupied by the Italians, then the Germans during WWII, followed by the Communists, who ruled with an iron fist until 1992 when Democracy was voted in for one term. Communism returned the next election then Albania returned to Democracy and is today. While the shift from Communism to Democracy was taking place, the country saw a dramatic increase in criminal activity. It wasn't too long ago that yachts in Albanian waters were met with hostility. It should be an interesting visit. Our clearing agent says he'll greet us in Saranda and handle all the official paperwork for Big Sky and for us.
Albania
July 6 – In 2007, our insurance coverage didn't include Albania, but crime has abated and they will hold covered. Our arrival was extremely pleasurable. The agent met us at the harbour, caught our lines, and took our papers to the officials. He also snapped a polaroid picture of us aboard for "your scrap book". The only tricky thing about entering the harbour was dodging the kids swimming there. While we waited for the agent aboard, young teenage boys swam to our boat begging to climb aboard. The agent returned and said something to them and they swam away.
July 8 -- We remember Larry Radu today with great memories of a fun family life together.
Internet security is tight here and it has been difficult to upload the website for security blocks. In Saranda, Communist symbols and concrete constructions can be seen everywhere, now calling themselves “The Soviet Party” which apparently is made up of the same people that were once in the Communist party.
At the market, Con tried to buy oranges from one of the female vendors, and she shooed him away. He came back with me hoping to buy her plums, because they were the best looking ones, and even with me, she shooed him away again. We circled the market of about 50 vendors, where she kept a close eye on him. Finally, he went back to her and pointed to the plumbs pleadingly. She reluctantly let him purchase. Maybe foreigners are not welcome everywhere.
We purchased a watermelon for less than $2 Canadian, and bags of fruit and vegetables for great prices. Like in Tunisia, they use the weight scale for price. Returning to Big Sky, we turned on Albanian radio and "All I Want for Christmas" was playing -- in July.
Stocked for our next few days at anchor, we departed for Palermo Bay about three hours north. It's a butterfly-shaped bay that was once a military site. It was completely devoid of people or any form of human activity and attempted to drop anchor on the more shallow north side. As we tucked into the bay a bit closer, we spotted about a half dozen machine guns mounted pointing to the sky (and later learned that there was a camouflaged cave where the Albanians keep their submarine). Two soldiers appeared and were running toward us holding their rifles pointing up against their shoulders. Finally we heard, "Go! Go! Go!" We did, and motored to the south side of the bay and dropped anchor. There appeared to be a small abandoned area made up of a handful of concrete houses but with no windows or doors, and surrounded by cactus and desert-like shrubs. It was deathly quiet. The scent of lavender wafted down the hillside toward us. The water was warm and clear. We swam to our hearts content. Nearing sundown, four fishing boats arrived and a number of Albanians went ashore to the structures.
Hit by Lightning!
July 11 --Without internet we were unable to check the weather and after three fabulous days at anchor we reluctantly decided to pull up anchor. The water was so clear that we could practically count the grains of sand on the bottom of the bay 5 meters below. Con took a last leisurely swim to shore to unleash our chain and line from the rock that kept us from swinging in the bay. The sky was sunny, the waters calm. Stretching, I turned toward the hillside and to my alarm, moving like a race car, black clouds were bubbling up in the sky moving closer toward the bay. I shouted to Con and pointed at which time he began a front-crawl sprint to shore, freed the chain and swam with great speed returning to our stern platform gathering up the line. Meanwhile, I started the engine and began taking up the anchor. Before the back gate was closed, I had given Big Sky full throttle out of the bay and out to sea. Looking back over my shoulder as we exited the mouth of the cove, an enormous thick lightning bolt cracked directly into the spot we'd just vacated!
“Straight ahead,” Con instructed, which wasn't our intended route, but we wanted to outrun the storm. You can never beat Mother Nature. The storm followed us at incredible speed and before we could blink, it had surrounded us, the sky opened and lightning bolts shot all around us.
The safest place in a lightning storm is the lowest part of your boat. I'd gone inside, but Con went out with the camera and filmed the show while standing under the bimini. When a lightning blast crackled overhead followed by a loud boom, he came inside. Con assessed our situation and decided it was best that we motor north directly into the storm and possibly lessen our time in it. We set Big Sky on course from inside and on auto pilot. The rain quickly turned into hail and the sea was angry! Big Sky heeled alarmingly (without sails). I steadied myself inside, standing in the pilot house studying the GPS and it appeared we were going backward! The wind speed indicated clocked a steady 52 NM (90 KPM) and it seemed as though the storm was attempting to lift Big Sky's 27 tons out of the sea. Con and I stood together in the pilothouse hugging each other waiting for the next surprise when everything became still -- calm.
"We're in the eye of the storm," Con announced softly.
In the next moment the pressure returned along with the other side of the storm, bringing more wind and hail and then it just passed as if it never existed. The sky cleared and the sun returned.
Surveying our instruments, we later learned that lightning struck our electronics aboard, specifically our outside autopilot not allowing it to hold the course and sending us into a Man Overboard setting that puts us in circles. For the next seven hours, Con steered Big Sky to Vlore, another large Albanian harbor all the while telling me, “Rest.” What we didn’t know then was that our inside auto pilot hadn’t been zapped and we could have set the course from the inside. (Video of the storm at the bottom of this diary.)
July 11 --Without internet we were unable to check the weather and after three fabulous days at anchor we reluctantly decided to pull up anchor. The water was so clear that we could practically count the grains of sand on the bottom of the bay 5 meters below. Con took a last leisurely swim to shore to unleash our chain and line from the rock that kept us from swinging in the bay. The sky was sunny, the waters calm. Stretching, I turned toward the hillside and to my alarm, moving like a race car, black clouds were bubbling up in the sky moving closer toward the bay. I shouted to Con and pointed at which time he began a front-crawl sprint to shore, freed the chain and swam with great speed returning to our stern platform gathering up the line. Meanwhile, I started the engine and began taking up the anchor. Before the back gate was closed, I had given Big Sky full throttle out of the bay and out to sea. Looking back over my shoulder as we exited the mouth of the cove, an enormous thick lightning bolt cracked directly into the spot we'd just vacated!
“Straight ahead,” Con instructed, which wasn't our intended route, but we wanted to outrun the storm. You can never beat Mother Nature. The storm followed us at incredible speed and before we could blink, it had surrounded us, the sky opened and lightning bolts shot all around us.
The safest place in a lightning storm is the lowest part of your boat. I'd gone inside, but Con went out with the camera and filmed the show while standing under the bimini. When a lightning blast crackled overhead followed by a loud boom, he came inside. Con assessed our situation and decided it was best that we motor north directly into the storm and possibly lessen our time in it. We set Big Sky on course from inside and on auto pilot. The rain quickly turned into hail and the sea was angry! Big Sky heeled alarmingly (without sails). I steadied myself inside, standing in the pilot house studying the GPS and it appeared we were going backward! The wind speed indicated clocked a steady 52 NM (90 KPM) and it seemed as though the storm was attempting to lift Big Sky's 27 tons out of the sea. Con and I stood together in the pilothouse hugging each other waiting for the next surprise when everything became still -- calm.
"We're in the eye of the storm," Con announced softly.
In the next moment the pressure returned along with the other side of the storm, bringing more wind and hail and then it just passed as if it never existed. The sky cleared and the sun returned.
Surveying our instruments, we later learned that lightning struck our electronics aboard, specifically our outside autopilot not allowing it to hold the course and sending us into a Man Overboard setting that puts us in circles. For the next seven hours, Con steered Big Sky to Vlore, another large Albanian harbor all the while telling me, “Rest.” What we didn’t know then was that our inside auto pilot hadn’t been zapped and we could have set the course from the inside. (Video of the storm at the bottom of this diary.)
Land Trip Albania
July 15 – With Big Sky safe in the Orikum Marina, near Vlore (Albania's only marina) we rented someone's personal car for 40 euro a day (from a travel agency) and left the coast to explore inland. We plotted a two-day trip: a more northern route from the west coast to the eastern border with Macedonia, and a southern route back to the coast. Both routes took us through the rolling hills to the Balkan Mountains. The roads wound their way up and down the mountain ranges and we passed few cars and those were in substandard condition. Our rental didn't have a working gas gage which was a bit tricky traveling in the mountains and in remote areas when there weren't a lot of service stations. Our horn didn't work either, which turned out to be a crucial feature when navigating the one-lane, pot-holed roads that seemed to hand precariously to the mountain sides. Often we took a deep breath when taking a curve hoping the sandy shoulder wouldn't cave in and we'd end up rolling down the mountain side, or when crossing a rickety bridge that it would still be standing when we got to the other side. There wasn't a map to be found in the entire country (at least we couldn't find one). No internet, and no mapping on our ipads.
We averaged about 30 KPH through most of our travels and road signs were a scarcity, so at intersections or going through the tiny villages and towns, we'd use the sun as our guide. If it was behind us in the afternoon, we knew we were still going east. At one point, we stopped for diesel and I asked the attendant in sign language where the garbage can was holding a handful of trash from the car. He gestured "over there" and I walked over there, then he said "further" with his hands, I looked again at him for directions, and he pointed and nodded, "there". There was the cliff. The idea is you just toss your garbage over. I brought it back to the car.
We arrived at the beautiful lake in the afternoon on the eastern Albanian border, and stayed in a hotel for 18 euro a night, including a fantastic breakfast, expresso and Turkish coffees. The hotel had just three rooms. Ours overlooked the beautiful lake; the other two were vacant. Apparently there's another hotel in the village, but we never found it.
We fell in love with this village and the people who live there. Everyone greeted us with a big smile, let Con to take their photograph, and even allowed me into the over-crowded "men's-only" restaurant and bar. It's on the main floor of the hotel. There were a few odd stares and some glares, but mostly smiles. Earlier we were asked, "What time?" for dinner, and "How many fish?"
We said, "7 pm" and "2 fish" (pointing one for me and one for Con.
At 6:45 there was a frantic knock on our hotel door. "Come now! Come now! Fish is ready."
The fish unfortunately was over cooked. After dinner, a different teenage boy asked us where we were from using his high-school English.
“Canada.”
I asked, "Where are the women?" pointing to the restaurant.
He shrugged, “They're not allowed," looking at me for reaction added, “you are a guest, you can go in.”
People came out of their homes to greet us, or stopped tending their goats or garden to wave or blow a kiss and offer, “Welcome,” or pose for a photo. Throughout the country, through towns and remote countryside, small pill-box bunkers littered the ground, put there during the cold war. Conservatively, there could be a fifty thousand of them. We can’t imagine how much concrete was transported around the country making them.
Below: Albania's put scare crows on their houses to ward off evil. The people below gave permission for us to take their pictures and had fun posing for us. You can see the pillbox, and the processionary caterpillar larvae tent. They were everywhere in the pine tree forests. We didn't know until we had internet that they were actually harmful to humans and had gotten very close, tempted to hit it with a stick. They are from the moth family but most interesting is that when they leave the tent they walk nose to tail in one long line.
July 15 – With Big Sky safe in the Orikum Marina, near Vlore (Albania's only marina) we rented someone's personal car for 40 euro a day (from a travel agency) and left the coast to explore inland. We plotted a two-day trip: a more northern route from the west coast to the eastern border with Macedonia, and a southern route back to the coast. Both routes took us through the rolling hills to the Balkan Mountains. The roads wound their way up and down the mountain ranges and we passed few cars and those were in substandard condition. Our rental didn't have a working gas gage which was a bit tricky traveling in the mountains and in remote areas when there weren't a lot of service stations. Our horn didn't work either, which turned out to be a crucial feature when navigating the one-lane, pot-holed roads that seemed to hand precariously to the mountain sides. Often we took a deep breath when taking a curve hoping the sandy shoulder wouldn't cave in and we'd end up rolling down the mountain side, or when crossing a rickety bridge that it would still be standing when we got to the other side. There wasn't a map to be found in the entire country (at least we couldn't find one). No internet, and no mapping on our ipads.
We averaged about 30 KPH through most of our travels and road signs were a scarcity, so at intersections or going through the tiny villages and towns, we'd use the sun as our guide. If it was behind us in the afternoon, we knew we were still going east. At one point, we stopped for diesel and I asked the attendant in sign language where the garbage can was holding a handful of trash from the car. He gestured "over there" and I walked over there, then he said "further" with his hands, I looked again at him for directions, and he pointed and nodded, "there". There was the cliff. The idea is you just toss your garbage over. I brought it back to the car.
We arrived at the beautiful lake in the afternoon on the eastern Albanian border, and stayed in a hotel for 18 euro a night, including a fantastic breakfast, expresso and Turkish coffees. The hotel had just three rooms. Ours overlooked the beautiful lake; the other two were vacant. Apparently there's another hotel in the village, but we never found it.
We fell in love with this village and the people who live there. Everyone greeted us with a big smile, let Con to take their photograph, and even allowed me into the over-crowded "men's-only" restaurant and bar. It's on the main floor of the hotel. There were a few odd stares and some glares, but mostly smiles. Earlier we were asked, "What time?" for dinner, and "How many fish?"
We said, "7 pm" and "2 fish" (pointing one for me and one for Con.
At 6:45 there was a frantic knock on our hotel door. "Come now! Come now! Fish is ready."
The fish unfortunately was over cooked. After dinner, a different teenage boy asked us where we were from using his high-school English.
“Canada.”
I asked, "Where are the women?" pointing to the restaurant.
He shrugged, “They're not allowed," looking at me for reaction added, “you are a guest, you can go in.”
People came out of their homes to greet us, or stopped tending their goats or garden to wave or blow a kiss and offer, “Welcome,” or pose for a photo. Throughout the country, through towns and remote countryside, small pill-box bunkers littered the ground, put there during the cold war. Conservatively, there could be a fifty thousand of them. We can’t imagine how much concrete was transported around the country making them.
Below: Albania's put scare crows on their houses to ward off evil. The people below gave permission for us to take their pictures and had fun posing for us. You can see the pillbox, and the processionary caterpillar larvae tent. They were everywhere in the pine tree forests. We didn't know until we had internet that they were actually harmful to humans and had gotten very close, tempted to hit it with a stick. They are from the moth family but most interesting is that when they leave the tent they walk nose to tail in one long line.
The countryside was fertile and farmers grew crops everywhere they could, even at the tops of the mountains. We passed gardens, orchards, crops, flocks of sheep, goats... Our travel books declared Albania as the “poorest country in Europe”. It might be so, but the people didn't appear to want for anything, at least in the country. There's new construction, road building, maintained houses, well cared for yards, usually with a beautiful garden of fruits and vegetables. Everyone greeted us warmly. When communism fell in 1992, it seems that most of the stark factories closed and are now falling into disrepair. The people have found their way through this era with some prosperity and pride. The standards of living can't be compared with Western Europe, because cost of living and life style is so different.
Croatia
July 18-20 -- Checking two weather resources, we found the weather window that would comfortably take us to Croatia, a 29-hour sail. The weather files were wrong! We had a great sail from 6 am until about 11 pm when a strong 25-32 KN winds blew on our bow and remained until we docked south of Dubrovnik. The winds here are called Bora and with them you can receive the lightning and 52-knot winds we had in the Albanian anchorage. Just a few hours into our journey the water became incredibly uncomfortable unable to decide which pattern to toss and pound Big Sky settling on a side to side bash and stern to bow crash. In our two years sailing, this was the most uncomfortable voyage yet. What a wonderful sight to see land and to be secured. The Adriatic has a reputation of kicking up nasty storms without warning. Having missed a night's sleep sailing from Albania to Croatia, we slept nearly 12 hours straight once we got into the Dubrovnik Marina. Waking to a nice day, we washed Big Sky's salt-loaded topsides and we ventured into the beautiful town. We had been there five years ago on our honeymoon, having chartered a sailboat then. We’ve seen many different cities, towns, villages, but arriving here we can really appreciate its beauty. This city experienced damage as most cities during the 90s Yugoslav Wars. The city walls were a saving grace, preserving Dubrovnik with its fortifications. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik went through perhaps the most difficult days in its existence. Serbian aggression cut it off putting its survival into jeopardy. UNESCO has provided new red tiled roofs and you can only imagine how many were replaced during rebuilding.
July 23 -- Viewing Croatia on a map, you can see the uniqueness of the country's border located on the Balkan Peninsula. We’re anchored off the island of Mijet, north of Dubrovnik.
Background: The Yugoslav Wars were a series of violent conflicts during the 1990 to 2001, but tensions had been building during the 80s when Communism ended in 1991. When the Slovenians and Croatians walked out of the meetings, it kicked off the conflict.
The wars that followed:
* War in Slovenia 1991;
* Croatian War of Independence from 1991 - 1995,
* Bosnian War in 1992-1995.
* NATO bombed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.
* In Albania, the Kosovo War was from 1998 - 1999.
* NATO bombed again in 1999
* Southern Serbia conflict 2000 - 2001
* Macedonia conflict - 2001
In 2003, the name "Yugoslavia" was abolished; in 2006, Montenegro and Serbia declared independence; and in 2008, Kosovo declared their independence.
Yugoslavia, during the 20th century was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, also of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Montenegro annexed just after WWI. Yugoslavia was renamed again, following WWII, to the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia when a communist government was established, dividing the country into provinces: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, etc. The wars were about ethnic clashing between the Serbs on one side and the Croats, Bosniaks, and Albanian's on the other side. But it was also between Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia, also about the Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia. It was the first time the world heard the term: Ethnic Cleansing which is really genocide.
We anchored in a deep bay in front of the small town of Slano, flattened in the 1991 conflict with the Serbs. The Serbs came over the mountains pictured behind this house, and lobbed missiles hoping to secure this as a port location. Across from us one of only three remaining houses is pitted with bullet holes. Since 1991, the Croats rebuilt.
Croatia
July 18-20 -- Checking two weather resources, we found the weather window that would comfortably take us to Croatia, a 29-hour sail. The weather files were wrong! We had a great sail from 6 am until about 11 pm when a strong 25-32 KN winds blew on our bow and remained until we docked south of Dubrovnik. The winds here are called Bora and with them you can receive the lightning and 52-knot winds we had in the Albanian anchorage. Just a few hours into our journey the water became incredibly uncomfortable unable to decide which pattern to toss and pound Big Sky settling on a side to side bash and stern to bow crash. In our two years sailing, this was the most uncomfortable voyage yet. What a wonderful sight to see land and to be secured. The Adriatic has a reputation of kicking up nasty storms without warning. Having missed a night's sleep sailing from Albania to Croatia, we slept nearly 12 hours straight once we got into the Dubrovnik Marina. Waking to a nice day, we washed Big Sky's salt-loaded topsides and we ventured into the beautiful town. We had been there five years ago on our honeymoon, having chartered a sailboat then. We’ve seen many different cities, towns, villages, but arriving here we can really appreciate its beauty. This city experienced damage as most cities during the 90s Yugoslav Wars. The city walls were a saving grace, preserving Dubrovnik with its fortifications. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik went through perhaps the most difficult days in its existence. Serbian aggression cut it off putting its survival into jeopardy. UNESCO has provided new red tiled roofs and you can only imagine how many were replaced during rebuilding.
July 23 -- Viewing Croatia on a map, you can see the uniqueness of the country's border located on the Balkan Peninsula. We’re anchored off the island of Mijet, north of Dubrovnik.
Background: The Yugoslav Wars were a series of violent conflicts during the 1990 to 2001, but tensions had been building during the 80s when Communism ended in 1991. When the Slovenians and Croatians walked out of the meetings, it kicked off the conflict.
The wars that followed:
* War in Slovenia 1991;
* Croatian War of Independence from 1991 - 1995,
* Bosnian War in 1992-1995.
* NATO bombed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.
* In Albania, the Kosovo War was from 1998 - 1999.
* NATO bombed again in 1999
* Southern Serbia conflict 2000 - 2001
* Macedonia conflict - 2001
In 2003, the name "Yugoslavia" was abolished; in 2006, Montenegro and Serbia declared independence; and in 2008, Kosovo declared their independence.
Yugoslavia, during the 20th century was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, also of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Montenegro annexed just after WWI. Yugoslavia was renamed again, following WWII, to the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia when a communist government was established, dividing the country into provinces: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, etc. The wars were about ethnic clashing between the Serbs on one side and the Croats, Bosniaks, and Albanian's on the other side. But it was also between Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia, also about the Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia. It was the first time the world heard the term: Ethnic Cleansing which is really genocide.
We anchored in a deep bay in front of the small town of Slano, flattened in the 1991 conflict with the Serbs. The Serbs came over the mountains pictured behind this house, and lobbed missiles hoping to secure this as a port location. Across from us one of only three remaining houses is pitted with bullet holes. Since 1991, the Croats rebuilt.
Above: common sight seeing bullet holes and grave sites from the conflicts of the 90s.
July 26 -- We stopped enroute to Trpanj, in a secluded bay for lunch and a swim with water temperature 29 degrees. Surveying potential docking style, we dropped our stern anchor and proceeded to motor to the quay. People ashore called, “No anchor! Pick up lines.” Too late, our stern anchor snagged heavy metal cable from the 4.5 meter bottom. Con had a heck of a time releasing it from the anchor. All the while, I was doing maneuvers at the helm to keep Big Sky in the centre of the harbour in the cross wind for about an hour. Once settled, we toured the area. Just up the road from the marina are the ruins of a medieval fortress.
Today, we sailed on to Mali Ston, a medieval town, dodging the mine-field of oyster bed traps. That night, we set the GPS anchor alarm as the winds howled.
July 27 -- Rowing ashore in our dinghy and a climb high up the hill gave us a spectacular view from the top of the fortress. The fortress circles the hillside to the next town of Ston on the other side of the peninsula. During our hike up the hill, we passed massive spiders, beetles, and one abandoned house.
July 29 -- Yesterday, we sailed passed Bosnia Herzegovina's 20 kilometer coastline, not stopping. The 3-4 kilometers of developed coast was wall-to-wall sun bathers. When they spotted our Canadian flag, we heard, "Canada! Canada!" We took photos of the people taking photos of us. It was an odd sensation because I thought we were part of NATO’s bombing in 1995 and again in 1999.
The Croatian coast guard immediately chased us down once we left the Bosnia Herzegovina's waters because in fact, we’d sailed out of Croatia and into a different country and back again. They called to us from their boat asking for all our documents, passports, ship’s papers, and insurance. We complied, handing them over from our boat. They took all our papers and fell in behind us for some time. We thought we were in a mess of trouble. Eventually they returned, handed back our papers and waved us on.
Dropping anchor in a small resort town, we stocked the cupboards and moved on to a private anchorage, and swung on the hook for two days and then moved on the Jerolim.
July 26 -- We stopped enroute to Trpanj, in a secluded bay for lunch and a swim with water temperature 29 degrees. Surveying potential docking style, we dropped our stern anchor and proceeded to motor to the quay. People ashore called, “No anchor! Pick up lines.” Too late, our stern anchor snagged heavy metal cable from the 4.5 meter bottom. Con had a heck of a time releasing it from the anchor. All the while, I was doing maneuvers at the helm to keep Big Sky in the centre of the harbour in the cross wind for about an hour. Once settled, we toured the area. Just up the road from the marina are the ruins of a medieval fortress.
Today, we sailed on to Mali Ston, a medieval town, dodging the mine-field of oyster bed traps. That night, we set the GPS anchor alarm as the winds howled.
July 27 -- Rowing ashore in our dinghy and a climb high up the hill gave us a spectacular view from the top of the fortress. The fortress circles the hillside to the next town of Ston on the other side of the peninsula. During our hike up the hill, we passed massive spiders, beetles, and one abandoned house.
July 29 -- Yesterday, we sailed passed Bosnia Herzegovina's 20 kilometer coastline, not stopping. The 3-4 kilometers of developed coast was wall-to-wall sun bathers. When they spotted our Canadian flag, we heard, "Canada! Canada!" We took photos of the people taking photos of us. It was an odd sensation because I thought we were part of NATO’s bombing in 1995 and again in 1999.
The Croatian coast guard immediately chased us down once we left the Bosnia Herzegovina's waters because in fact, we’d sailed out of Croatia and into a different country and back again. They called to us from their boat asking for all our documents, passports, ship’s papers, and insurance. We complied, handing them over from our boat. They took all our papers and fell in behind us for some time. We thought we were in a mess of trouble. Eventually they returned, handed back our papers and waved us on.
Dropping anchor in a small resort town, we stocked the cupboards and moved on to a private anchorage, and swung on the hook for two days and then moved on the Jerolim.
Croatia
July 31 – Jerolim is an island town just off Hvar, a naturalist location, meaning nobody wears clothes. We dropped anchor, but the wind created swells rocking the boat uncomfortably.
Our interview we conducted while in Tunisia, we learned was published in the Ocean Navigator magazine. It was a follow-up to my published article in that magazine about the “Crossing of the Bay of Biscay”.
August 4 -- Beautiful Croatia, a paradise for boaters with the hundreds of perfect bays and coves to drop anchor and enjoy the crystal clear warm waters, but even in paradise, there are thorns – the wind. Another storm was coming so we pulled up anchor and high tailed it into the Zadar Marina. After our Bora experience in Albania, we had no interest in challenging nature. On the strong southerly's, we sailed 7-8 knots on the jib north and into Zadar. Early evening, the winds changed to northerly's bringing rain and lightning overhead into the night and the next day. When the sun returned, we walked into the heart of the old city Zadar experiencing their "Full Moon Festival." The "Riva" (boardwalk) is lit by torches and candlelight and boats are turned into floating markets. You might have heard of Zadar because of the Sea Organ. Steps descend into the Adriatic along the Riva where 35 pipes of different lengths, diameters and vertical tilts create seven chords and 5 tones.
Moving on to Hvar, a crazy-busy, noisy, and expensive harbour where 60 euro gets you a buoy to tie to and too close to the next buoyed boat. We stopped for just 30 minutes, not wanting to pay the price and then have to put up with disco noise at night. I rowed ashore, dumped our garbage, filled up with a few bags of groceries, and rowed back to the boat for departure to a quiet anchorage just around the corner. We visited Hvar on our honeymoon in 2004 and it really is beautiful, despite the disco noise.
August 8 -- With good east winds we're making our way north up Croatia's coast winding through the islands. This afternoon, we were the only boat at anchor in a quiet cove and enjoyed lunch in the cockpit. When Con was finished with his noodles, he tossed them overboard. Before he'd turned back, we heard the activity in the water and couldn’t believe what we saw! Fish EVERYWHERE. Big too, bigger than what we’d been used to and lots of them about 8-10 inches long with the black dots on their tails. In a moment, all the noodles were devoured. We put on our masks to take a close-up look. From the ladder, peering under the boat, we could barely see water from FISH! They saw us looking at them and came right up to us. By the end of the evening, 21 boats had anchored in our private cove. A guy in the boat next to us got out his guitar and sang for an hour. People aboard the other boats whistled and clapped.
August 10 -- Earlier this afternoon, we entered the Valata Marina, quickly learning it was a "naturalist" marina. A few naked people offered to help us tie on, and then the marinara arrived (the only person wearing clothes) to inform us there was no room. With the storm coming, their smaller marina was booked solid and we were turned away, but maybe because we were wearing bathing suits. We then moved on to the Vrsar Marina, just 20 minutes further north, now in the northern part of Croatia, on the west coast of Istria. There are lots of shallows all around, and it's (like all of Croatia) beautiful. The city of Vrsar sits on a hilltop overlooking the marina and the view of the archipelagoes will knock your sandals off. There are 18 uninhabited islets.
August 12 -- Motoring around the islands and shoals we dropped anchor in the north, perilous task with the dozens of rocky outcrops just breaking the surface of the water.
July 31 – Jerolim is an island town just off Hvar, a naturalist location, meaning nobody wears clothes. We dropped anchor, but the wind created swells rocking the boat uncomfortably.
Our interview we conducted while in Tunisia, we learned was published in the Ocean Navigator magazine. It was a follow-up to my published article in that magazine about the “Crossing of the Bay of Biscay”.
August 4 -- Beautiful Croatia, a paradise for boaters with the hundreds of perfect bays and coves to drop anchor and enjoy the crystal clear warm waters, but even in paradise, there are thorns – the wind. Another storm was coming so we pulled up anchor and high tailed it into the Zadar Marina. After our Bora experience in Albania, we had no interest in challenging nature. On the strong southerly's, we sailed 7-8 knots on the jib north and into Zadar. Early evening, the winds changed to northerly's bringing rain and lightning overhead into the night and the next day. When the sun returned, we walked into the heart of the old city Zadar experiencing their "Full Moon Festival." The "Riva" (boardwalk) is lit by torches and candlelight and boats are turned into floating markets. You might have heard of Zadar because of the Sea Organ. Steps descend into the Adriatic along the Riva where 35 pipes of different lengths, diameters and vertical tilts create seven chords and 5 tones.
Moving on to Hvar, a crazy-busy, noisy, and expensive harbour where 60 euro gets you a buoy to tie to and too close to the next buoyed boat. We stopped for just 30 minutes, not wanting to pay the price and then have to put up with disco noise at night. I rowed ashore, dumped our garbage, filled up with a few bags of groceries, and rowed back to the boat for departure to a quiet anchorage just around the corner. We visited Hvar on our honeymoon in 2004 and it really is beautiful, despite the disco noise.
August 8 -- With good east winds we're making our way north up Croatia's coast winding through the islands. This afternoon, we were the only boat at anchor in a quiet cove and enjoyed lunch in the cockpit. When Con was finished with his noodles, he tossed them overboard. Before he'd turned back, we heard the activity in the water and couldn’t believe what we saw! Fish EVERYWHERE. Big too, bigger than what we’d been used to and lots of them about 8-10 inches long with the black dots on their tails. In a moment, all the noodles were devoured. We put on our masks to take a close-up look. From the ladder, peering under the boat, we could barely see water from FISH! They saw us looking at them and came right up to us. By the end of the evening, 21 boats had anchored in our private cove. A guy in the boat next to us got out his guitar and sang for an hour. People aboard the other boats whistled and clapped.
August 10 -- Earlier this afternoon, we entered the Valata Marina, quickly learning it was a "naturalist" marina. A few naked people offered to help us tie on, and then the marinara arrived (the only person wearing clothes) to inform us there was no room. With the storm coming, their smaller marina was booked solid and we were turned away, but maybe because we were wearing bathing suits. We then moved on to the Vrsar Marina, just 20 minutes further north, now in the northern part of Croatia, on the west coast of Istria. There are lots of shallows all around, and it's (like all of Croatia) beautiful. The city of Vrsar sits on a hilltop overlooking the marina and the view of the archipelagoes will knock your sandals off. There are 18 uninhabited islets.
August 12 -- Motoring around the islands and shoals we dropped anchor in the north, perilous task with the dozens of rocky outcrops just breaking the surface of the water.
ITALY AND SLOVENIA
August 14 -- Today's our 5th wedding anniversary! Checking out of Croatia with Customs and Immigration we had to have our passports stamped as they are not EU members. We moved north entering the narrow channel leading to Grado on the north east side of Italy. The shallows were at times less than our 2.1 keel, but we attempted to tuck into a berth despite the strong cross wind and the awkward rings on the dolphin poles either side of the boat that we had to thread our lines through. After many attempts, I got them, and as we motored forward but Big Sky didn't fit! Our width is 4.6 and the dolphins must have been about 4 meters. We backed out and found a spot along the wall. With Little Sky, we motored through the Venice-like canals. (Venice is just across the water.) We tried to officially check back into the EU, but the marina office agent winked, "No no, you came from Venice," and wouldn't call Customs and Immigration. We shrugged to each other, realizing we will buy bit of time to stay in the EU. As Canadian's we have 90 days in 180 days within the EU, so the day count should have begun. We're currently illegals.
The next day, we sailed into Trieste, with a beautiful wind and again with Little Sky motored through the canals enjoying the beautiful city from the water. At high tide, we locked Little Sky to a ring and stepped ashore to explore. Returning at low tide was entertaining to say the least, trying to get back into Little Sky. It was Assumption Day in Italy, and the streets were bare, not a soul to be found. It was blistering hot and gratefully, we found shade in the pretty parks.
We sailed further, passing Castello di Miramare, where Maximilian of Hapsburg had his last retreat of that dynasty before relocating to Mexico where he was killed. As interest rumour still exists that Maximilian was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte II (grandson to Napoleon Bonaparte I).
August 17 -- Entering Slovenia, our 25th country aboard, we were greeted by dozens of dolphins. Entering the marina, the marinara ushered us forward into a dolphin-poled slip and again, as suspected, Big Sky was too wide. Unfortunately, using wishful thinking we attempted the docking, scraping our bumper strip.
August 18 -- Slovenia's coast is small, but the Slovacs flock to the tiny beach access parking their towels right on the sidewalks. We had to step over and around them.
The former states of Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro) stand between eastern and western Europe. They've surfaced from their 15-years of bloody war, but it’s not all as peaceful as they like you to believe. They've realized the international tourists dollars are good, and because the division of the land in 1982, gave Croatia more coastal border. The Slovacs retaliate by drawing a line (in the water) and patrol it vigorously. Crossing the line by boat without checking out of Croatia is illegal. And, by land, they charge Croatians an "extortion" fee of 35 euro to cross 12 kilometres. Slovenia entered the EU a few years ago, having agreed to the border, but because they are in the EU, and Croatia is waiting to be accepted, Slovenia makes outrageous demands of Croatia before the Slovacs cast their vote. The EU believes Slovenia's claims are absurd, but when one country opposes, the waiting country cannot enter. Slovenia's current government and opposing government believe that the whole of the Istria peninsula should be Slovenia's. March, 2009, the EU suggested the two countries take it to the courts, but Slovenia doesn’t want any part of that.
While in Italy, we bought Prosciutto (four different varieties), Parmesan cheese and coffee. In Slovenia, we stocked up on tomatoes, cucumbers, nectarines and grapes. We've just finished the last of the oh-so-delicious Croatian feta cheese. We dropped the anchor and took the Zodiac into the sleepy town of Isola, Slovenia to have a look around.
August 14 -- Today's our 5th wedding anniversary! Checking out of Croatia with Customs and Immigration we had to have our passports stamped as they are not EU members. We moved north entering the narrow channel leading to Grado on the north east side of Italy. The shallows were at times less than our 2.1 keel, but we attempted to tuck into a berth despite the strong cross wind and the awkward rings on the dolphin poles either side of the boat that we had to thread our lines through. After many attempts, I got them, and as we motored forward but Big Sky didn't fit! Our width is 4.6 and the dolphins must have been about 4 meters. We backed out and found a spot along the wall. With Little Sky, we motored through the Venice-like canals. (Venice is just across the water.) We tried to officially check back into the EU, but the marina office agent winked, "No no, you came from Venice," and wouldn't call Customs and Immigration. We shrugged to each other, realizing we will buy bit of time to stay in the EU. As Canadian's we have 90 days in 180 days within the EU, so the day count should have begun. We're currently illegals.
The next day, we sailed into Trieste, with a beautiful wind and again with Little Sky motored through the canals enjoying the beautiful city from the water. At high tide, we locked Little Sky to a ring and stepped ashore to explore. Returning at low tide was entertaining to say the least, trying to get back into Little Sky. It was Assumption Day in Italy, and the streets were bare, not a soul to be found. It was blistering hot and gratefully, we found shade in the pretty parks.
We sailed further, passing Castello di Miramare, where Maximilian of Hapsburg had his last retreat of that dynasty before relocating to Mexico where he was killed. As interest rumour still exists that Maximilian was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte II (grandson to Napoleon Bonaparte I).
August 17 -- Entering Slovenia, our 25th country aboard, we were greeted by dozens of dolphins. Entering the marina, the marinara ushered us forward into a dolphin-poled slip and again, as suspected, Big Sky was too wide. Unfortunately, using wishful thinking we attempted the docking, scraping our bumper strip.
August 18 -- Slovenia's coast is small, but the Slovacs flock to the tiny beach access parking their towels right on the sidewalks. We had to step over and around them.
The former states of Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro) stand between eastern and western Europe. They've surfaced from their 15-years of bloody war, but it’s not all as peaceful as they like you to believe. They've realized the international tourists dollars are good, and because the division of the land in 1982, gave Croatia more coastal border. The Slovacs retaliate by drawing a line (in the water) and patrol it vigorously. Crossing the line by boat without checking out of Croatia is illegal. And, by land, they charge Croatians an "extortion" fee of 35 euro to cross 12 kilometres. Slovenia entered the EU a few years ago, having agreed to the border, but because they are in the EU, and Croatia is waiting to be accepted, Slovenia makes outrageous demands of Croatia before the Slovacs cast their vote. The EU believes Slovenia's claims are absurd, but when one country opposes, the waiting country cannot enter. Slovenia's current government and opposing government believe that the whole of the Istria peninsula should be Slovenia's. March, 2009, the EU suggested the two countries take it to the courts, but Slovenia doesn’t want any part of that.
While in Italy, we bought Prosciutto (four different varieties), Parmesan cheese and coffee. In Slovenia, we stocked up on tomatoes, cucumbers, nectarines and grapes. We've just finished the last of the oh-so-delicious Croatian feta cheese. We dropped the anchor and took the Zodiac into the sleepy town of Isola, Slovenia to have a look around.
Back in Croatia
August 22 -- Checking back into Rovinj, Croatia was an impossibility, no matter how many times Con tried to explain that we'd checked out, they said we never left. The agent said, "You have a Croatian stamp. Go! No more stamps!" Con gave up. Now back in the non-EU country, tied to the quay in the centre of the beautiful town, we took in the view. It's built on an island of limestone rock, densely packed with Venetian-coloured (pastels of every shade) medieval townhouses curving around it. The townhouses are separated by small cobblestone walk-ways and a few centre plazas. At the top on the island is a church with an elegant bell tower. The town was packed with artists of every genre. Sorry, no photos, our camera gave up.
August 26 -- Days blended into the next simply lounging in the sunny cockpit and swimming in the warm waters moving from anchor to anchor. In a lovely bay, at the top of Dugi Otok Island, an outer island, we had complete privacy, except for a few fishermen entering the bay from time to time in tiny row boats. Boating in Croatia is exceptional. A cruising log, at 230 euro is required and for the beauty we receive in return, we're happy to support this special piece of the world. The seas are well marked, the villages are well preserved, and the people know the value of their resource. We rowed to shore exploring the desolate beach observing that somebody had painstakingly planted tomatoes and left them to overgrow. Con enjoyed a few.
August 27 -- We saw a whale today! Pulling up anchor and just motored out of the bay, a solo Mink was hunting just 12 meters from our boat moving in slow circles, arching his back and blowing water out of his air hole.
More addicted to the waters every day, we couldn’t wait to drop anchor and snorkel. There were different fish from what we've been used to seeing. They were small, attractive, and looked good to eat. It's not unusual to see people swimming with spear-guns and leaving the bay with a bag full of fish. We ended the afternoon in a 1 ½ hour wait for diesel at the Zadar Marina. A British yacht ahead of us, not the biggest we've seen, but nevertheless, we counted five staff members took 13,000 litres, $100,000 Kuna, (CND$21,000). We topped up our diesel taking on 500 litres. I drove forward, lined up for the quay, perhaps a bit too close as the wind was blowing slightly pushing us to the dock. Nothing I couldn't handle, I thought. Then the ferry blasted three times, which means it's backing up, directly toward our port side. The wash immediately pushed Big Sky against a moored fishing boat and nearly crashed our bow into the concrete. What a panic! Con scrubbed the blue fishing boat paint off our hull and all was well. The fishing boat was unharmed.
August 31 -- Roc and Lori, friends from Calgary arrived a few days ago for their second visit aboard. We collected them in Zadar and set off in the Adriatic. Just as we were identifying the perfect spot to drop our anchor, again we spotted Mink Whales – two this time, swimming in the bay! The wind was picking up, and with a bit of maneuvering, we managed to get the anchor in the perfect spot, Con swam the line ashore, and climbed back onto Big Sky satisfied and ready for a break. Then we smelled it – the garbage dump just above our heads on the hillside. Promptly pulling up anchor we motored to another fantastic, calm, quiet spot between two rock cliffs. Con again swam ashore and secured our line. We settled into the pilot house for a late Mediterranean platter prepared aboard: chicken, sausages, pork, and a Greek Salad. Rain and thunder arrived at night while we were at anchor causing us to scurrying around the boat in the dark closing hatches. Mars was shining brightly in the night sky, the closest it will be to Earth in something like 700 years.
September 1 -- We've had great sailing winds south through the Croatian islands. We stopped in Sibernik at the quay for the night stocking up on good foods at the market. Sibernik is a medieval town filled with steep winding alleyways and terra cotta rooftop houses and a Cathedral of St Jacob, built between 1431 and 1536 with 74 faces running around the outer walls. These are the faces of the citizens of Sibernik "too stingy" to contribute to the building of the church, so they created the statues and planted them around the church! Roc and Lori treated us a meal in a beautiful restaurant in old town. In the morning, we sailed to a small fishing village, tied onto a buoy and rowed ashore (Roc swam). Not wanting the day to end, we picked up anchor and sailed further dropping the hook around dinner time in a quiet bay on the island of Hvar. We stayed for two noisy nights. Boats were tied to a buoy front and back in the harbour, with the spots ideal for a 42 foot boat. Big Sky was 52 feet, but we managed to fit in. The harbour waters rocked the many boats throughout the day and night with the many boats entering and exiting. Without a breath of wind, the boats lay helter skelter. About 2 am, the boat behind us slipped forward and crashed into our stern taking a chunk out of the fibre glass. Roc joined me topside as we tried to tighten Big Sky on the front buoy as I pushed the boat back from crashing into us again. All the while Con slept, Lori too. The next day, Roc took the helm as we sailed from Hvar to our next anchorage on 20-24 KN beam winds. We soared nearning 8 knots. Settling in the bay, Lori cracked open a cold bottle of champagne to celebrate -- life.
September 5 -- Continuing to Trogir, an ancient town built on an island in the strait between the Croatian mainland and an island, we anchored in the straight. Trogir is surrounded by water. The city walls and gates wrap around the island enclosing the medieval city within, with most of the buildings dating between the 13th and 14th century. Traces of life have been found from the early Stone Age, dating back 50,000. Pottery and other fragments of houses can be dated from 2,000 BC. Trying to outrun a nasty northern storm was fruitless as loud, long lightning bolts split the dark sky... appropriately, since we were heading to Split.
September 6 -- Roc and Lori left for Calgary this morning after a fabulous week together. We experienced great winds, beautiful anchorages, clear star-filled nights, delicious meals and most of all, wonderful friendship.
Remaining in the Split Marina, we watched the charter boat captains attempting to exit and enter in 20+ knot winds. Not daring to leave our boat unprotected, we stood guard pushing boats off our stern and hand holding fenders to position them from pending crashes into our boat. It seems for the most part the inexperienced captains freeze up once they're free from their lines, not giving enough forward motion to get out of the narrow pontoon aisles and then the wind takes them, or they gun the engine at the wrong time and have messy crashes into other boats. Bow anchors are tangled into other boat's stanchions (the side rails) which eventually give way with a snap. The sound of boats scraping and crashing sends chills up my spine. One marinara saved the day and he jumped from one boat to another taking them out of the slip and into an open area. Not a good day for the insurance companies.
August 22 -- Checking back into Rovinj, Croatia was an impossibility, no matter how many times Con tried to explain that we'd checked out, they said we never left. The agent said, "You have a Croatian stamp. Go! No more stamps!" Con gave up. Now back in the non-EU country, tied to the quay in the centre of the beautiful town, we took in the view. It's built on an island of limestone rock, densely packed with Venetian-coloured (pastels of every shade) medieval townhouses curving around it. The townhouses are separated by small cobblestone walk-ways and a few centre plazas. At the top on the island is a church with an elegant bell tower. The town was packed with artists of every genre. Sorry, no photos, our camera gave up.
August 26 -- Days blended into the next simply lounging in the sunny cockpit and swimming in the warm waters moving from anchor to anchor. In a lovely bay, at the top of Dugi Otok Island, an outer island, we had complete privacy, except for a few fishermen entering the bay from time to time in tiny row boats. Boating in Croatia is exceptional. A cruising log, at 230 euro is required and for the beauty we receive in return, we're happy to support this special piece of the world. The seas are well marked, the villages are well preserved, and the people know the value of their resource. We rowed to shore exploring the desolate beach observing that somebody had painstakingly planted tomatoes and left them to overgrow. Con enjoyed a few.
August 27 -- We saw a whale today! Pulling up anchor and just motored out of the bay, a solo Mink was hunting just 12 meters from our boat moving in slow circles, arching his back and blowing water out of his air hole.
More addicted to the waters every day, we couldn’t wait to drop anchor and snorkel. There were different fish from what we've been used to seeing. They were small, attractive, and looked good to eat. It's not unusual to see people swimming with spear-guns and leaving the bay with a bag full of fish. We ended the afternoon in a 1 ½ hour wait for diesel at the Zadar Marina. A British yacht ahead of us, not the biggest we've seen, but nevertheless, we counted five staff members took 13,000 litres, $100,000 Kuna, (CND$21,000). We topped up our diesel taking on 500 litres. I drove forward, lined up for the quay, perhaps a bit too close as the wind was blowing slightly pushing us to the dock. Nothing I couldn't handle, I thought. Then the ferry blasted three times, which means it's backing up, directly toward our port side. The wash immediately pushed Big Sky against a moored fishing boat and nearly crashed our bow into the concrete. What a panic! Con scrubbed the blue fishing boat paint off our hull and all was well. The fishing boat was unharmed.
August 31 -- Roc and Lori, friends from Calgary arrived a few days ago for their second visit aboard. We collected them in Zadar and set off in the Adriatic. Just as we were identifying the perfect spot to drop our anchor, again we spotted Mink Whales – two this time, swimming in the bay! The wind was picking up, and with a bit of maneuvering, we managed to get the anchor in the perfect spot, Con swam the line ashore, and climbed back onto Big Sky satisfied and ready for a break. Then we smelled it – the garbage dump just above our heads on the hillside. Promptly pulling up anchor we motored to another fantastic, calm, quiet spot between two rock cliffs. Con again swam ashore and secured our line. We settled into the pilot house for a late Mediterranean platter prepared aboard: chicken, sausages, pork, and a Greek Salad. Rain and thunder arrived at night while we were at anchor causing us to scurrying around the boat in the dark closing hatches. Mars was shining brightly in the night sky, the closest it will be to Earth in something like 700 years.
September 1 -- We've had great sailing winds south through the Croatian islands. We stopped in Sibernik at the quay for the night stocking up on good foods at the market. Sibernik is a medieval town filled with steep winding alleyways and terra cotta rooftop houses and a Cathedral of St Jacob, built between 1431 and 1536 with 74 faces running around the outer walls. These are the faces of the citizens of Sibernik "too stingy" to contribute to the building of the church, so they created the statues and planted them around the church! Roc and Lori treated us a meal in a beautiful restaurant in old town. In the morning, we sailed to a small fishing village, tied onto a buoy and rowed ashore (Roc swam). Not wanting the day to end, we picked up anchor and sailed further dropping the hook around dinner time in a quiet bay on the island of Hvar. We stayed for two noisy nights. Boats were tied to a buoy front and back in the harbour, with the spots ideal for a 42 foot boat. Big Sky was 52 feet, but we managed to fit in. The harbour waters rocked the many boats throughout the day and night with the many boats entering and exiting. Without a breath of wind, the boats lay helter skelter. About 2 am, the boat behind us slipped forward and crashed into our stern taking a chunk out of the fibre glass. Roc joined me topside as we tried to tighten Big Sky on the front buoy as I pushed the boat back from crashing into us again. All the while Con slept, Lori too. The next day, Roc took the helm as we sailed from Hvar to our next anchorage on 20-24 KN beam winds. We soared nearning 8 knots. Settling in the bay, Lori cracked open a cold bottle of champagne to celebrate -- life.
September 5 -- Continuing to Trogir, an ancient town built on an island in the strait between the Croatian mainland and an island, we anchored in the straight. Trogir is surrounded by water. The city walls and gates wrap around the island enclosing the medieval city within, with most of the buildings dating between the 13th and 14th century. Traces of life have been found from the early Stone Age, dating back 50,000. Pottery and other fragments of houses can be dated from 2,000 BC. Trying to outrun a nasty northern storm was fruitless as loud, long lightning bolts split the dark sky... appropriately, since we were heading to Split.
September 6 -- Roc and Lori left for Calgary this morning after a fabulous week together. We experienced great winds, beautiful anchorages, clear star-filled nights, delicious meals and most of all, wonderful friendship.
Remaining in the Split Marina, we watched the charter boat captains attempting to exit and enter in 20+ knot winds. Not daring to leave our boat unprotected, we stood guard pushing boats off our stern and hand holding fenders to position them from pending crashes into our boat. It seems for the most part the inexperienced captains freeze up once they're free from their lines, not giving enough forward motion to get out of the narrow pontoon aisles and then the wind takes them, or they gun the engine at the wrong time and have messy crashes into other boats. Bow anchors are tangled into other boat's stanchions (the side rails) which eventually give way with a snap. The sound of boats scraping and crashing sends chills up my spine. One marinara saved the day and he jumped from one boat to another taking them out of the slip and into an open area. Not a good day for the insurance companies.
The island of Vis below.
Croatia
September 7 -- Dex turns one today!
September 9 -- We sailed to the Island of Vis on 20-25 knot winds, and tied onto the town quay for the night. In the morning, we motored through slight bow wind to an anchorage in front of the town of Komiza. About 10 minutes out of the harbour, a pod of whales followed our route for about an hour before crossing our bow and heading out further to sea. I thought they were shy, moving a safe distance behind us in the beginning, and then it seemed they were right beside us, going our speed checking us out. I later learned that Con adjusted our course and slowed our speed to match theirs.
September 14 -- A few days ago, we were settled in the cockpit enjoying the cool breezes at anchor in a beautiful secluded bay, sheltered on three sides, when we spotted another boat entering. As got closer it began looking more familiar. It was John and Sara our British friends whom we met in Monastir, Tunisia, the fall before. Once anchored they joined us aboard for more great meals, stories, and laughs. We moved on to another anchorage a few days later and a lightning storm that had been threatening us throughout the day snuck in by night along with strong swells making Big Sky pull hard on the anchor. The wind blew around us, the lightning lit up the pitch-black night illuminating the five or six other boats at anchor. When the storm moved overhead at 3 am, we wrapped our laptops and GPS's in a towel and stuffed them into the oven to insulate them and went back to bed. In the morning, the seas were calm and the sky sunny. It was time to move into a town for supplies, since we were down to our one remaining package of linguini.
September 15 -- The Island of Korcula is as beautiful as we remembered five years ago.
We spend the night in a quiet calm bay, but the Adriatic kicked up in the night creating huge swells. We left in the confused sea about noon for the Island of Mljet. Big Sky climbed high and sliced hard on the swells, causing water to spray over the dodger.
September 18 -- Happy 30th birthday Lindsey!
Con had to visit the tiny hamlet of Okuklje (Oh kuk la ya) because of its name. It's a bay with about six or eight restaurant- houses lining the shore, each with a concrete quay and each with the ability to have two boats tie on. The price tag is a meal in their restaurant. You'd completely miss the inlet if you sailed past the coast because it's nestled so deep in and around a hillside, offering mariners shelter from storms from nearly all directions. The bay in fact is surrounded by beautiful mountains covered in a rainbow of green shades. We'd just tied the back mooring line when lightning crackled around us -- again. Big Sky was washed with a 30-minute rainfall, the kind that gives you goosebumps. We met two Canadians on a charter boat and invited them for a drink in the early evening. It reminded us of the great comradery among sailors. Con and I ended the night with a delicious fish dinner at the restaurant. This morning, the sun was shining brightly and it was hot. No winds to take us on our next journey south toward Montenegro.
September 19 -- It's a sunny day for our departure from Croatia to Montenegro. Con went to the Customs & Immigration to check out. Again, it became a confusing mess. “You can’t check out because you haven’t arrived,” said the agent flipping through our passports seeing the original check in stamp, and our check out stamp in the north. Con explained when returning from Italy, the agent wouldn’t stamp our passports. “He refused,” he added.
The agent pushed the passports back through the hole in the window saying, “Not my problem.”
Con pushed them back under the window, “Not my problem.”
Eventually, the agent called someone in the north and incredibly, the agent remembered Con from the ordeal he had trying to have the guy stamp us in. They finally settled the issue and stamped us out.
Montenegro declared its independence in 2006 and seem to accept other ethnic groups: Montenegrins, Serbs, Bosniaks, Muslims, Albanians, and Croats. The number of Montenegrins and Serbs fluctuates wildly from census to census, not because of real changes but because apparently people change their identity.
Last night, we attempted to stay in a bay around the corner from Dubrovnik but learned early evening that we'd better move when a ferry tied right beside us. We motored on, passing bullet-holed and bombed out hotels and houses.
September 21 -- In Montenegro, we tied to the dock, Con stepped off the boat with the papers and went into the customs office. The female agent asked, “Where is your boat?” Con pointed out the window to the spot right in front. In an agitated state she responded, “THIS is the border,” running her hand up and down on a make-belief line in the water. “You must dock back here,” a spot a few meters north of where we'd docked.
“Do you want me to move the boat?”
With hands on her hips, she looked exasperated, “No.” We then purchased a one-week cruising permit and plan to make the most of our short visit in Montenegro.
Montenegro's coast is bordered by Croatia to the north, Albania to the south. We’re in the gorgeous Gulf of Kotor, on the anchor, an incredibly picturesque spot. The town's population is maybe squeaking in at 13,000. It’s the most indented part of the Adriatic and is referred to as the southern-most fjord in Europe. In the past few decades, the area has had lot of earthquake activity. Kotor was devastated in the 1979 with a 7.0 earthquake that lasted 10 second. It took down the town, but left the walls. UNESCO helped to rebuild it. They suffered too, from the devastating Yugoslav Wars in the 90s. Donning hiking shoes, we climbed to the top of the fortress, nearly 300 meters above sea level for a spectacular bird’s-eye view. The area has barely been touched by cruising tourism, probably because one needs to purchase the cruising permit and it's really just the fjord for sailing. Most cruisers we know sail right passed Montenegro. The Gulf of Kotor is a submerged river canyon with city walls climbing up the limestone cliffs and the town hanging on at the top. Apparently an earthquake opened the Gulf which for centuries had been closed. Stopping in a restaurant, we spotted "Vrat" on the menu. Hoping it wasn't "rat" we ordered it, and enjoyed a pork loin sandwich for all of 3 euro.
September 22 -- Leaving the Gulf, dolphins joined us at the bow enjoying us as much as we them as we motored south along the Montenegrin coast, stopping in Budva. It's a touristy town with medieval buildings which have been converted to designer shops. We stayed at anchor one night and moved on to Bar (a town filled with Russian money).
September 26 -- From Bar, we drove 810 kilometers in a rental to the top of the Balkan Mountains, down into the canyons, around and through the rocks, over bridges on two-lane two-way roads, one-lane two-way roads, gravel roads, often thousands of meters above cliffs with no guard rails, hanging on by the tire threads. We traveled through Montenegro, to Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, winding through the Federated Bosnia Herzegovina, through Serbia and back to Big Sky. The beauty and rawness was like nothing we'd witnessed. All the homes and businesses are by burning wood -- not very eco friendly. Stacks and stacks of wood piles were being prepared for the cold winter to come. Basements and often first floors, and balconies were piled with chopped wood. Con asked one of the guys chopping if he could have a go at it since we’d watched him chopping for some hours now. Young guys stopped to cheer Con on. The cooler temperatures had arrived in the area we'd stopped for the night, but there wasn't any form of heating in our room. We had to tuck in and snuggle under the covers.
September 7 -- Dex turns one today!
September 9 -- We sailed to the Island of Vis on 20-25 knot winds, and tied onto the town quay for the night. In the morning, we motored through slight bow wind to an anchorage in front of the town of Komiza. About 10 minutes out of the harbour, a pod of whales followed our route for about an hour before crossing our bow and heading out further to sea. I thought they were shy, moving a safe distance behind us in the beginning, and then it seemed they were right beside us, going our speed checking us out. I later learned that Con adjusted our course and slowed our speed to match theirs.
September 14 -- A few days ago, we were settled in the cockpit enjoying the cool breezes at anchor in a beautiful secluded bay, sheltered on three sides, when we spotted another boat entering. As got closer it began looking more familiar. It was John and Sara our British friends whom we met in Monastir, Tunisia, the fall before. Once anchored they joined us aboard for more great meals, stories, and laughs. We moved on to another anchorage a few days later and a lightning storm that had been threatening us throughout the day snuck in by night along with strong swells making Big Sky pull hard on the anchor. The wind blew around us, the lightning lit up the pitch-black night illuminating the five or six other boats at anchor. When the storm moved overhead at 3 am, we wrapped our laptops and GPS's in a towel and stuffed them into the oven to insulate them and went back to bed. In the morning, the seas were calm and the sky sunny. It was time to move into a town for supplies, since we were down to our one remaining package of linguini.
September 15 -- The Island of Korcula is as beautiful as we remembered five years ago.
We spend the night in a quiet calm bay, but the Adriatic kicked up in the night creating huge swells. We left in the confused sea about noon for the Island of Mljet. Big Sky climbed high and sliced hard on the swells, causing water to spray over the dodger.
September 18 -- Happy 30th birthday Lindsey!
Con had to visit the tiny hamlet of Okuklje (Oh kuk la ya) because of its name. It's a bay with about six or eight restaurant- houses lining the shore, each with a concrete quay and each with the ability to have two boats tie on. The price tag is a meal in their restaurant. You'd completely miss the inlet if you sailed past the coast because it's nestled so deep in and around a hillside, offering mariners shelter from storms from nearly all directions. The bay in fact is surrounded by beautiful mountains covered in a rainbow of green shades. We'd just tied the back mooring line when lightning crackled around us -- again. Big Sky was washed with a 30-minute rainfall, the kind that gives you goosebumps. We met two Canadians on a charter boat and invited them for a drink in the early evening. It reminded us of the great comradery among sailors. Con and I ended the night with a delicious fish dinner at the restaurant. This morning, the sun was shining brightly and it was hot. No winds to take us on our next journey south toward Montenegro.
September 19 -- It's a sunny day for our departure from Croatia to Montenegro. Con went to the Customs & Immigration to check out. Again, it became a confusing mess. “You can’t check out because you haven’t arrived,” said the agent flipping through our passports seeing the original check in stamp, and our check out stamp in the north. Con explained when returning from Italy, the agent wouldn’t stamp our passports. “He refused,” he added.
The agent pushed the passports back through the hole in the window saying, “Not my problem.”
Con pushed them back under the window, “Not my problem.”
Eventually, the agent called someone in the north and incredibly, the agent remembered Con from the ordeal he had trying to have the guy stamp us in. They finally settled the issue and stamped us out.
Montenegro declared its independence in 2006 and seem to accept other ethnic groups: Montenegrins, Serbs, Bosniaks, Muslims, Albanians, and Croats. The number of Montenegrins and Serbs fluctuates wildly from census to census, not because of real changes but because apparently people change their identity.
Last night, we attempted to stay in a bay around the corner from Dubrovnik but learned early evening that we'd better move when a ferry tied right beside us. We motored on, passing bullet-holed and bombed out hotels and houses.
September 21 -- In Montenegro, we tied to the dock, Con stepped off the boat with the papers and went into the customs office. The female agent asked, “Where is your boat?” Con pointed out the window to the spot right in front. In an agitated state she responded, “THIS is the border,” running her hand up and down on a make-belief line in the water. “You must dock back here,” a spot a few meters north of where we'd docked.
“Do you want me to move the boat?”
With hands on her hips, she looked exasperated, “No.” We then purchased a one-week cruising permit and plan to make the most of our short visit in Montenegro.
Montenegro's coast is bordered by Croatia to the north, Albania to the south. We’re in the gorgeous Gulf of Kotor, on the anchor, an incredibly picturesque spot. The town's population is maybe squeaking in at 13,000. It’s the most indented part of the Adriatic and is referred to as the southern-most fjord in Europe. In the past few decades, the area has had lot of earthquake activity. Kotor was devastated in the 1979 with a 7.0 earthquake that lasted 10 second. It took down the town, but left the walls. UNESCO helped to rebuild it. They suffered too, from the devastating Yugoslav Wars in the 90s. Donning hiking shoes, we climbed to the top of the fortress, nearly 300 meters above sea level for a spectacular bird’s-eye view. The area has barely been touched by cruising tourism, probably because one needs to purchase the cruising permit and it's really just the fjord for sailing. Most cruisers we know sail right passed Montenegro. The Gulf of Kotor is a submerged river canyon with city walls climbing up the limestone cliffs and the town hanging on at the top. Apparently an earthquake opened the Gulf which for centuries had been closed. Stopping in a restaurant, we spotted "Vrat" on the menu. Hoping it wasn't "rat" we ordered it, and enjoyed a pork loin sandwich for all of 3 euro.
September 22 -- Leaving the Gulf, dolphins joined us at the bow enjoying us as much as we them as we motored south along the Montenegrin coast, stopping in Budva. It's a touristy town with medieval buildings which have been converted to designer shops. We stayed at anchor one night and moved on to Bar (a town filled with Russian money).
September 26 -- From Bar, we drove 810 kilometers in a rental to the top of the Balkan Mountains, down into the canyons, around and through the rocks, over bridges on two-lane two-way roads, one-lane two-way roads, gravel roads, often thousands of meters above cliffs with no guard rails, hanging on by the tire threads. We traveled through Montenegro, to Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, winding through the Federated Bosnia Herzegovina, through Serbia and back to Big Sky. The beauty and rawness was like nothing we'd witnessed. All the homes and businesses are by burning wood -- not very eco friendly. Stacks and stacks of wood piles were being prepared for the cold winter to come. Basements and often first floors, and balconies were piled with chopped wood. Con asked one of the guys chopping if he could have a go at it since we’d watched him chopping for some hours now. Young guys stopped to cheer Con on. The cooler temperatures had arrived in the area we'd stopped for the night, but there wasn't any form of heating in our room. We had to tuck in and snuggle under the covers.
Below: Montenegro Big Sky is the tiny spec the centre on the south end of Kotor Bay at anchor.
ITALY
September 30 -- We planned for a 25-hour motor from Montenegro to Brindisi, but turned into one of our best sails; 19 1/2 hours on 12-16 knot beam winds. There were only four other boats registering on our radar through the night. Brindisi is a port city on the Adriatic. We entered the big harbor and tied on the quay, 100 meters in front of the column marking the end of the Appian Way, the ancient Roman road. Caesar and Pompeius had their epic fight there and Antonio and Octavianus divided the Roman Empire there. An official walked over motioning in broken English to move back, “Just behind this flower pot, and there is no fee.” We did, and Con stayed six weeks. I went to Canada where my dad was in poor health. We'd been looking for the Customs and Immigration office without success, and when we found it, assumed it was closed for the weekend deciding to go on Monday and check in. On Monday, the female Customs agent was so angry at us for not coming immediately, that she wouldn't stamp our passports. We thought she knew who we were when we arrived at the building pushing buttons for entrance in the Customs office. The tall woman stood at the top of the stairs, hands on hips shouting to us, "UP DOWN UP DOWN UP DOWN”. She then gestured with her two fingers toward her eyes and back to us over and over quickly. She was watching us! No matter how many times we tried to apologize, she wouldn't stamp us in, saying "If you come and see me when you're leaving, maybe I'll stamp you in." Since that made no sense to us. We never returned.
A typical Italian day: Offices and shops open around 8:30 or 9 am and close at noon or 1 pm, reopening about 5 pm. People stroll the promenade. Families stroll the promenade, and talk talk talk. When the men speak, they stop walking, swing their arms expressively in conversation, and then carry on strolling. By 8 pm, the streets and promenade was choker-block full of people, kids laughing, biking, crying continuing until 11 pm and then all is quiet again. We participated in the promenade strolling too, or sometimes just watched it all from our pilot house windows. Often people would stop to take photos of our boat.
I'd received an email from mom the evening we'd arrived in Brindisi and they shared the realities of dad's ill health. Never wanting to burden us with their issues, they'd never told us dad had cancer. We knew he had some health issues, but the email said, "it's bad." I arrived October 2nd, two days after the email. When he learned that I was coming, he felt horrible for interrupting our lives, but he knew I wouldn't be anywhere else but with him. (He died four months later.) Dad was a tough guy, but the cancer created a great deal of discomfort for him. Mom was at his side and taking care of every need even before he asked.
Con remained on the wall without electricity or a chance to fill the water tanks, however he had no problems. He used the generator to charge the batteries, and still had water left from our 1600 litres when I returned three weeks later. He'd visit the bakery to buy bread and locals knowing he was on the quay would put cookies in his bag. He purchased cheese and a cheese knife was put in the bag. He visited the dentist to have a crown put back on his tooth, "No charge.”
I was legal in the EU at this point, receiving a stamp in my passport at the airport. Con was still an illegal, not having checked back into the EU. In a rental car, we toured the countryside north through the white and blue villages on the Murge hills reaching ancient villages built around castles. Thousands of small windows look out over the panorama of sea and olive groves. The coast-line gave us remarkable views as we climbed up higher. The roads were tiny, and lined with millions and millions of rocks. As we neared Arbelbello, we spotted the Trulli houses and farms. Originally designed in the 14th century, with the idea that they could be quickly destroyed to avoid tax, they’re still being built today for their cool appeal. Both cool-cold, and cool-neat concept. Each had a cysteine so they had their own water supply from within, and painted white inside for coolness in the summer, but condensation in the winter made them very cold. They added a fire-burning feature in the center, and I couldn’t help but compare them to teepees. The country is covered in beautiful rich red earth, olive trees and stones.
Below: Trulli houses; Brindisi Appian Way marker; and the town of Brindisi
September 30 -- We planned for a 25-hour motor from Montenegro to Brindisi, but turned into one of our best sails; 19 1/2 hours on 12-16 knot beam winds. There were only four other boats registering on our radar through the night. Brindisi is a port city on the Adriatic. We entered the big harbor and tied on the quay, 100 meters in front of the column marking the end of the Appian Way, the ancient Roman road. Caesar and Pompeius had their epic fight there and Antonio and Octavianus divided the Roman Empire there. An official walked over motioning in broken English to move back, “Just behind this flower pot, and there is no fee.” We did, and Con stayed six weeks. I went to Canada where my dad was in poor health. We'd been looking for the Customs and Immigration office without success, and when we found it, assumed it was closed for the weekend deciding to go on Monday and check in. On Monday, the female Customs agent was so angry at us for not coming immediately, that she wouldn't stamp our passports. We thought she knew who we were when we arrived at the building pushing buttons for entrance in the Customs office. The tall woman stood at the top of the stairs, hands on hips shouting to us, "UP DOWN UP DOWN UP DOWN”. She then gestured with her two fingers toward her eyes and back to us over and over quickly. She was watching us! No matter how many times we tried to apologize, she wouldn't stamp us in, saying "If you come and see me when you're leaving, maybe I'll stamp you in." Since that made no sense to us. We never returned.
A typical Italian day: Offices and shops open around 8:30 or 9 am and close at noon or 1 pm, reopening about 5 pm. People stroll the promenade. Families stroll the promenade, and talk talk talk. When the men speak, they stop walking, swing their arms expressively in conversation, and then carry on strolling. By 8 pm, the streets and promenade was choker-block full of people, kids laughing, biking, crying continuing until 11 pm and then all is quiet again. We participated in the promenade strolling too, or sometimes just watched it all from our pilot house windows. Often people would stop to take photos of our boat.
I'd received an email from mom the evening we'd arrived in Brindisi and they shared the realities of dad's ill health. Never wanting to burden us with their issues, they'd never told us dad had cancer. We knew he had some health issues, but the email said, "it's bad." I arrived October 2nd, two days after the email. When he learned that I was coming, he felt horrible for interrupting our lives, but he knew I wouldn't be anywhere else but with him. (He died four months later.) Dad was a tough guy, but the cancer created a great deal of discomfort for him. Mom was at his side and taking care of every need even before he asked.
Con remained on the wall without electricity or a chance to fill the water tanks, however he had no problems. He used the generator to charge the batteries, and still had water left from our 1600 litres when I returned three weeks later. He'd visit the bakery to buy bread and locals knowing he was on the quay would put cookies in his bag. He purchased cheese and a cheese knife was put in the bag. He visited the dentist to have a crown put back on his tooth, "No charge.”
I was legal in the EU at this point, receiving a stamp in my passport at the airport. Con was still an illegal, not having checked back into the EU. In a rental car, we toured the countryside north through the white and blue villages on the Murge hills reaching ancient villages built around castles. Thousands of small windows look out over the panorama of sea and olive groves. The coast-line gave us remarkable views as we climbed up higher. The roads were tiny, and lined with millions and millions of rocks. As we neared Arbelbello, we spotted the Trulli houses and farms. Originally designed in the 14th century, with the idea that they could be quickly destroyed to avoid tax, they’re still being built today for their cool appeal. Both cool-cold, and cool-neat concept. Each had a cysteine so they had their own water supply from within, and painted white inside for coolness in the summer, but condensation in the winter made them very cold. They added a fire-burning feature in the center, and I couldn’t help but compare them to teepees. The country is covered in beautiful rich red earth, olive trees and stones.
Below: Trulli houses; Brindisi Appian Way marker; and the town of Brindisi
Brindisi
October 23 -- Dante, an Italian man about 40 was fishing near our boat. A ferry went by, caught his line, pulled his rod into the water, and dragged it to the boat behind us. I quickly called to the man aboard to “Catch!” and he did. He handed it to me and I handed it to Dante, and from that moment on, I was the saviour, the hero, his best friend, and, well it unfolded like this:
Day one: Dante brought baking from, “Mama’s kitchen”. I thanked him and baked cookies for him and some for mama.
Day two: Dante arrived with a bottle of award-winning wine, “From papa’s cellar”. He had been waiting for us to see him standing in front of our pilot house windows in the pouring rain. I saw him, opened the companionway doors, and he handed me the bottle.
Day three: he invited us to his uncle's for dinner. "I will pick you up at 4:30 pm.”
I baked two lemon loaves; one for “mama” and one as a thank you gift for dinner at his uncles. Before heading to dinner Con told Dante that the wine was fabulous, "Can we buy a case?”
After uncomfortable silence he responded, “I don’t know if I can get papa’s key.”
Con and I looked at each other with concern, and didn't ask again. We got into his car and carried on to Dante’s, “Uncle’s house” for dinner. Arriving, we quickly realized it was a restaurant. They wouldn’t let Dante in the door until he flashed some euros in the window. (Con and I stole another glance at each other.)
Once seated, Dante took me into the kitchen where chefs were preparing and I offered my dinner gift – the lemon loaf. Awkward? Yes! We had no idea it was a restaurant. But, it began to get more awkward from there. Dante wanted me to come with him to the back door to see the kittens – not Con. I followed, saw the cats, and he gathered me into his arms as if THAT’S what you do when you see kittens. Back at the table, Dante (sitting across from me) kept trying to make eye contact. Con completely oblivious to what was going on, excused himself to go to the bathroom. Dante could barely control his mouth and fingers doing sexual gestures. All the while, I'm trying to make myself busy searching in my purse for nothing. Con returned to the table, still unaware of what had been going on and said, “Dante, this has been a great night, do you want to sail with us to Ortrante tomorrow.”
I bumped his leg under the table, but Con still didn't get my more than obvious gesture.
“I have to look after the animals,” Dante said with great disappointment.
Dante drove us back to Big Sky, we said, "Good-bye" and once inside the boat I shared my experiences with Con. We decided to leave early, just in case Dante changed his mind and decided to sail with us. At 7:30. I drew back the curtains, and there was Dante, cupping his eyes to see inside. I went out, my mind searching for ways to uninvite him sailing when he announced, "I've been here since 5 am." His eyes looked me over in an inappropriate way, totally ticking me off.
I simply said, "Oh," and turned to go back inside saying, "And, thanks again for last night. We're leaving now."
Back inside, I said to Con, "Turn on the boat, we're leaving right now!"
Con didn't question, he turned on the Garmin Navigation units and the boat. I quickly stashed anything that could fall, and within minutes, we untied from the quay where Big Sky had been planted for six weeks. We left the harbor so quickly, that we didn't even give way for the ferry, who had to let us know with a loud honk.
Below: Big Sky is behind the boat in the centre; Dante. Click on the photo to open larger.
October 23 -- Dante, an Italian man about 40 was fishing near our boat. A ferry went by, caught his line, pulled his rod into the water, and dragged it to the boat behind us. I quickly called to the man aboard to “Catch!” and he did. He handed it to me and I handed it to Dante, and from that moment on, I was the saviour, the hero, his best friend, and, well it unfolded like this:
Day one: Dante brought baking from, “Mama’s kitchen”. I thanked him and baked cookies for him and some for mama.
Day two: Dante arrived with a bottle of award-winning wine, “From papa’s cellar”. He had been waiting for us to see him standing in front of our pilot house windows in the pouring rain. I saw him, opened the companionway doors, and he handed me the bottle.
Day three: he invited us to his uncle's for dinner. "I will pick you up at 4:30 pm.”
I baked two lemon loaves; one for “mama” and one as a thank you gift for dinner at his uncles. Before heading to dinner Con told Dante that the wine was fabulous, "Can we buy a case?”
After uncomfortable silence he responded, “I don’t know if I can get papa’s key.”
Con and I looked at each other with concern, and didn't ask again. We got into his car and carried on to Dante’s, “Uncle’s house” for dinner. Arriving, we quickly realized it was a restaurant. They wouldn’t let Dante in the door until he flashed some euros in the window. (Con and I stole another glance at each other.)
Once seated, Dante took me into the kitchen where chefs were preparing and I offered my dinner gift – the lemon loaf. Awkward? Yes! We had no idea it was a restaurant. But, it began to get more awkward from there. Dante wanted me to come with him to the back door to see the kittens – not Con. I followed, saw the cats, and he gathered me into his arms as if THAT’S what you do when you see kittens. Back at the table, Dante (sitting across from me) kept trying to make eye contact. Con completely oblivious to what was going on, excused himself to go to the bathroom. Dante could barely control his mouth and fingers doing sexual gestures. All the while, I'm trying to make myself busy searching in my purse for nothing. Con returned to the table, still unaware of what had been going on and said, “Dante, this has been a great night, do you want to sail with us to Ortrante tomorrow.”
I bumped his leg under the table, but Con still didn't get my more than obvious gesture.
“I have to look after the animals,” Dante said with great disappointment.
Dante drove us back to Big Sky, we said, "Good-bye" and once inside the boat I shared my experiences with Con. We decided to leave early, just in case Dante changed his mind and decided to sail with us. At 7:30. I drew back the curtains, and there was Dante, cupping his eyes to see inside. I went out, my mind searching for ways to uninvite him sailing when he announced, "I've been here since 5 am." His eyes looked me over in an inappropriate way, totally ticking me off.
I simply said, "Oh," and turned to go back inside saying, "And, thanks again for last night. We're leaving now."
Back inside, I said to Con, "Turn on the boat, we're leaving right now!"
Con didn't question, he turned on the Garmin Navigation units and the boat. I quickly stashed anything that could fall, and within minutes, we untied from the quay where Big Sky had been planted for six weeks. We left the harbor so quickly, that we didn't even give way for the ferry, who had to let us know with a loud honk.
Below: Big Sky is behind the boat in the centre; Dante. Click on the photo to open larger.
October 28 -- Arriving in Ortranto, we were again at the quay, no electricity to recharge the batteries. Usually we don't fret over low batteries because the engine will recharge, but we sailed most of the way. There was no available water, and after two months, we were very low. The slip in Ortranto left no room for error, as the lines were crossed wildly from one boat to another. Hoping for an early start for our sail to Greece, Con backed up ever to carefully, but couldn't get past the crazy lines before Big Sky was blown starboard fouling the prop on the neighbours anchor line. Con jumped into the 18 degree water and an hour later, Big Sky was freed from the line. We carried on to Kassiopi and dropped anchor in a beautiful bay just at sunset. We moved on to Kasini, then Gouvia on Corfu and finally filling up our water in Plantaria. We washed Big Sky inside and out, I did three loads of laundry, and then went our for Greek food.
BEAUTIFUL GREECE
October 30 -- Hopping from mainland western Greece to the Greek Ionian Islands, we're taking in the last warm days of the season. The charter sailboat business is closed for the season, leaving Big Sky and a few other cruisers in the Ionian. Evening humidity is thick but burns off by day. When crossing from Lefkas to Frikes on the island of Ithaca one lone fishing boat passed behind us. It was swarmed by seagulls, always a stunning view.
Our bow thruster is still causing us grief. Once in Frikes, Con dove below for a look. No clues. Ithaca is an island of goats and goat paths. We had lunch with two locals in the Frikes Taverna.
November 4 -- Motoring through a three NM canal which had been dug out through the swamp, we arrived in the new marina in Messolonghi, our winter location, however, we had more sailing to do before ending the season. It's 1.5 km from town, a perfect trip on our bikes. Messolonghi is an authentic Greek town, barely touched by tourism with orange trees lining the streets and lemons, mandarins, and olive trees growing in abundance. They harvest salt in the lagoon, and piles of white snow-like hills are surrounded by black cormorants, igrets, and gulls, and the swamp is teaming with fish. We arrived on Sunday -- barbeque day for the cruisers. I quickly prepared a Greek salad and we joined in. The local fishermen brought freshly caught fish. We met a British family staying here for the winter, Sara, David and their two kids, a boy 10 and their daughter Bethany 11. The kids are home schooled, but during their stay in Messolonghi, they're attending Greek school. Sara works aboard, transcribing medical journals and their daily blogs are featured in a sailing magazine. Bethany was celebrating her 11th birthday. Con and I cycled into town and bought her a small purse, wrapped it up and gifted it receiving big smiles. (Sadly seven years later, Bethany was thrilled to have a job on a German luxury yacht and went up the mast during cleaning tasks and the ropes came undone and she sadly fell to her death from the top of the mast.)
Flood rains were predicted and they arrived, just when we were cycling back to the marina from the town in the dark of night. The intersections became small lakes and negotiating them in the dark without bike lights was hazardous. A few times, we felt swallowed by the pools of water, but surfaced miraculously still atop our bikes. A few things we knew: the marina was located at the edge of town and under construction so there wasn't a light anywhere; we needed to find the locked gates and slip in our key to open it; and that a pack of wild dogs lived right outside the gate. The latter we knew because they chased us on our bikes every single time we passed, and it was especially challenging when we were returning with fresh groceries. Saturated in rain water, and nearing the unlit marina gate, we couldn't see the noses in front of our faces, but we heard them, the dogs. Rain or shine apparently, the blasted pack of wild dogs came out, creating a frightening event, not seeing them, but hearing them coming closer and closer got my heart rate up. Lucky me, the barks became more distant as I had a big piece of sausage in my backpack. Either they retreated in the rain or we weren't actually at the marina gate. Still moving forward, I heard a bang, then a low arrrrrrgh. Con reached the marina gate with a crash. Behind the marina gates was another piece of the dangerous maze. I reminded Con about the 20 meter deep x 20 meter wide hole in the tarmac devoid of protective gate that sits between our pier and the gate. We detoured near the water's edge to avoid it.
Pictured: The one and only boat we passed; entering Frikes; the criss-cross lines at the quay; two other patrons in the restaurant; below Gaios, Greece
BEAUTIFUL GREECE
October 30 -- Hopping from mainland western Greece to the Greek Ionian Islands, we're taking in the last warm days of the season. The charter sailboat business is closed for the season, leaving Big Sky and a few other cruisers in the Ionian. Evening humidity is thick but burns off by day. When crossing from Lefkas to Frikes on the island of Ithaca one lone fishing boat passed behind us. It was swarmed by seagulls, always a stunning view.
Our bow thruster is still causing us grief. Once in Frikes, Con dove below for a look. No clues. Ithaca is an island of goats and goat paths. We had lunch with two locals in the Frikes Taverna.
November 4 -- Motoring through a three NM canal which had been dug out through the swamp, we arrived in the new marina in Messolonghi, our winter location, however, we had more sailing to do before ending the season. It's 1.5 km from town, a perfect trip on our bikes. Messolonghi is an authentic Greek town, barely touched by tourism with orange trees lining the streets and lemons, mandarins, and olive trees growing in abundance. They harvest salt in the lagoon, and piles of white snow-like hills are surrounded by black cormorants, igrets, and gulls, and the swamp is teaming with fish. We arrived on Sunday -- barbeque day for the cruisers. I quickly prepared a Greek salad and we joined in. The local fishermen brought freshly caught fish. We met a British family staying here for the winter, Sara, David and their two kids, a boy 10 and their daughter Bethany 11. The kids are home schooled, but during their stay in Messolonghi, they're attending Greek school. Sara works aboard, transcribing medical journals and their daily blogs are featured in a sailing magazine. Bethany was celebrating her 11th birthday. Con and I cycled into town and bought her a small purse, wrapped it up and gifted it receiving big smiles. (Sadly seven years later, Bethany was thrilled to have a job on a German luxury yacht and went up the mast during cleaning tasks and the ropes came undone and she sadly fell to her death from the top of the mast.)
Flood rains were predicted and they arrived, just when we were cycling back to the marina from the town in the dark of night. The intersections became small lakes and negotiating them in the dark without bike lights was hazardous. A few times, we felt swallowed by the pools of water, but surfaced miraculously still atop our bikes. A few things we knew: the marina was located at the edge of town and under construction so there wasn't a light anywhere; we needed to find the locked gates and slip in our key to open it; and that a pack of wild dogs lived right outside the gate. The latter we knew because they chased us on our bikes every single time we passed, and it was especially challenging when we were returning with fresh groceries. Saturated in rain water, and nearing the unlit marina gate, we couldn't see the noses in front of our faces, but we heard them, the dogs. Rain or shine apparently, the blasted pack of wild dogs came out, creating a frightening event, not seeing them, but hearing them coming closer and closer got my heart rate up. Lucky me, the barks became more distant as I had a big piece of sausage in my backpack. Either they retreated in the rain or we weren't actually at the marina gate. Still moving forward, I heard a bang, then a low arrrrrrgh. Con reached the marina gate with a crash. Behind the marina gates was another piece of the dangerous maze. I reminded Con about the 20 meter deep x 20 meter wide hole in the tarmac devoid of protective gate that sits between our pier and the gate. We detoured near the water's edge to avoid it.
Pictured: The one and only boat we passed; entering Frikes; the criss-cross lines at the quay; two other patrons in the restaurant; below Gaios, Greece
Albertine Visits
November 5 -- Albertine (Con's youngest sibling) arrived from The Netherlands. The three of us motored out of the shallow Messolonghi swamp toward Trizonia in the Gulf of Corinth, a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea separating the Peloponnese from the western mainland of Greece. We sailed under the Rio Andirrion bridge at the Gulf's narrowest point and one of Europe’s most seismically active regions. The gulf was created by the tectonic plates expanding (10 mm per year).
November 6 -- We entered the Trizonia harbor/marina seeing to our horror and curiosity, a German ketch fully submerged. Apparently the captain hit rocks a few years ago barely making it into the marina. He'd ordered pumps from Athens, but when the bill arrived, he refused to pay. The pumps went back and the boat sunk. Walking into the small town, there were a few restaurants, but they took turns opening throughout the week. Along with about a dozen other boaters who had arrived in the marina piled into the small stone-walled restaurant for dinner. The solo restauranteur came out of the kitchen took one look at the crowd who had seated themselves had a look of panic on his face. He pulled out his cell phone and called his wife who arrived like a sergeant major, along with mama, who followed quietly behind. The front door hadn't even closed behind her when we heard her shouting out commands to the people at the table. "Pork chops" pointing to each table as she marched past. "Pork chop, Pork chop, Pork chop..." The husband set "momma" in a chair and turned her toward the crowd. She sat compliantly in her black skirt, granny shoes, black coat, and black babushka wrapped tightly around her head and chin. She didn't move all night, just watched with a glimmer of entertainment in her eyes.
We moved on to Itea the next day and took a bus to the ancient site of Delphi. It's built high in the cliffs on terraces, appearing ready to topple into the Plistos Gorge below. The Delphi Temple of Apollo is the place of the famous oracle. In ancient days, people gleamed psychic translated messages from the oracle. It's located on two fault lines and is believed that steam with hallucinate properties were released. The pillars have been preserved from the 3rd century BC. Other temples were destroyed by fire and earthquakes from the 6th and 7th century. The oracle was said to be under the floors of the Temple of Apollo. People would come from all over the world to hear about their future or have wishes granted. A woman "priestess known as the Pythia" would hear the question and provide an answer only when she was in a trance -- induced by the vapour-filled adyton. Her nonsense would be translated only by the priests for their convenience for a suitable fee. Two fault lines meet under the Temple and the vapour were poisonous gasses.
November 9 -- We sailed by but not through the Corinthian Canal this morning. The canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf taking you into the Aegean Sea and onto Turkey. It's 6.3 kilometers long, built in 1893. Rulers in 7 BC tried to cut a route, Caesar was engineering a canal but was assassinated before he could complete the plan, and Nero launched an excavation, personally breaking the ground with a pickaxe, but died shortly afterwards. The Romans put 6,000 Jewish prisoners to work digging 40 - 50 meter trenches, but that was never completed. Following the Panama Canal's success, they set to work again and drills dug through the rock.
We entered the Corinth marina marina/harbor for the night. There was a gentle rocking and click-clan sounded when Big Sky moved against the wooden pier. The constant steady heart-beat like motion broke about 2:30 am, when Big Sky lurch slightly followed by soft foot steps waking me. I grabbed my housecoat and snuck up to the pilot house to see four big guys in the cockpit fiddling with the locked companionway door. I reached for the million-candle powered flash light planning to flash them without them seeing me, but the batteries were dead. The guys began banging the door using Con's sandals in a feeble attempt to break the plexiglass. I knocked back loudly from the inside and shouted in my most authoritarian voice, "GET OFF THE BOAT!"
They called back, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," and to my great surprise and relief retreated. Once they were away from the boat, I stood out in the pilot house pointing at them and shouting, "Go!" Con and Albertine woke about the time the men were walking down the pier.
"What's all the racket Barb?" Albertine asked innocently.
Neither of them heard a thing. In the morning, I urged Con to come with me to identify the men. I'd intended to... to... well, I don't know, but I wanted to confront them. Walking down the pier, I spotted one of Con's sandals and picked it up.
"There!" I said to Con, taking his hand to lead him toward four guys sitting on a bench, I called to them accusingly, with hands on hips, “WERE YOU ON OUR BOAT LAST NIGHT? You!" Pointing to one of them. "You were on our boat last night."
One guy eagerly said, “Yes, okay, we wash boat.”
Another guy nudged him in the gut with his elbow and whispered in his ear. I realized these weren't the guys.
November 10 -- We moved on to Galixihi where it was blowing madly at the public quay. The town was bursting with bougainvilleas. We were the only boat there. Moving on to Andikron, we stuffed ourselves with baklava.
November 15 -- Visiting the Ancient Olympic Games site in Olympia, (766 BC) we likely walked every square inch. Many myths are written about their origin. One is that Zeus initiated the festival after his defeat of his predecessor, the Titan Cronus. Winners of the various sports would be given free food for the rest of his life, an oxen, and other goodies. Even in ancient times, athletes tried to cheat. They would sometimes be caught drinking the blood of the bull for the steroids. Likely where the marketing name: Red Bull came from. The cheaters would have to have a statue built of them so people could walk by and spit on it. Women were not allowed to compete or to even attend the games. When some would disguise themselves and snuck in to compete, they declared the games to be held in the nude. If a woman was caught at the site, they would be thrown off a nearby mountain! You had to be a Greek citizen and male. The kick-off began with the flame.
Below: Trizone's sunken boat; "mama"; and the three of us in Delphi; Greek pastries; and the Corinth Canal
November 5 -- Albertine (Con's youngest sibling) arrived from The Netherlands. The three of us motored out of the shallow Messolonghi swamp toward Trizonia in the Gulf of Corinth, a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea separating the Peloponnese from the western mainland of Greece. We sailed under the Rio Andirrion bridge at the Gulf's narrowest point and one of Europe’s most seismically active regions. The gulf was created by the tectonic plates expanding (10 mm per year).
November 6 -- We entered the Trizonia harbor/marina seeing to our horror and curiosity, a German ketch fully submerged. Apparently the captain hit rocks a few years ago barely making it into the marina. He'd ordered pumps from Athens, but when the bill arrived, he refused to pay. The pumps went back and the boat sunk. Walking into the small town, there were a few restaurants, but they took turns opening throughout the week. Along with about a dozen other boaters who had arrived in the marina piled into the small stone-walled restaurant for dinner. The solo restauranteur came out of the kitchen took one look at the crowd who had seated themselves had a look of panic on his face. He pulled out his cell phone and called his wife who arrived like a sergeant major, along with mama, who followed quietly behind. The front door hadn't even closed behind her when we heard her shouting out commands to the people at the table. "Pork chops" pointing to each table as she marched past. "Pork chop, Pork chop, Pork chop..." The husband set "momma" in a chair and turned her toward the crowd. She sat compliantly in her black skirt, granny shoes, black coat, and black babushka wrapped tightly around her head and chin. She didn't move all night, just watched with a glimmer of entertainment in her eyes.
We moved on to Itea the next day and took a bus to the ancient site of Delphi. It's built high in the cliffs on terraces, appearing ready to topple into the Plistos Gorge below. The Delphi Temple of Apollo is the place of the famous oracle. In ancient days, people gleamed psychic translated messages from the oracle. It's located on two fault lines and is believed that steam with hallucinate properties were released. The pillars have been preserved from the 3rd century BC. Other temples were destroyed by fire and earthquakes from the 6th and 7th century. The oracle was said to be under the floors of the Temple of Apollo. People would come from all over the world to hear about their future or have wishes granted. A woman "priestess known as the Pythia" would hear the question and provide an answer only when she was in a trance -- induced by the vapour-filled adyton. Her nonsense would be translated only by the priests for their convenience for a suitable fee. Two fault lines meet under the Temple and the vapour were poisonous gasses.
November 9 -- We sailed by but not through the Corinthian Canal this morning. The canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf taking you into the Aegean Sea and onto Turkey. It's 6.3 kilometers long, built in 1893. Rulers in 7 BC tried to cut a route, Caesar was engineering a canal but was assassinated before he could complete the plan, and Nero launched an excavation, personally breaking the ground with a pickaxe, but died shortly afterwards. The Romans put 6,000 Jewish prisoners to work digging 40 - 50 meter trenches, but that was never completed. Following the Panama Canal's success, they set to work again and drills dug through the rock.
We entered the Corinth marina marina/harbor for the night. There was a gentle rocking and click-clan sounded when Big Sky moved against the wooden pier. The constant steady heart-beat like motion broke about 2:30 am, when Big Sky lurch slightly followed by soft foot steps waking me. I grabbed my housecoat and snuck up to the pilot house to see four big guys in the cockpit fiddling with the locked companionway door. I reached for the million-candle powered flash light planning to flash them without them seeing me, but the batteries were dead. The guys began banging the door using Con's sandals in a feeble attempt to break the plexiglass. I knocked back loudly from the inside and shouted in my most authoritarian voice, "GET OFF THE BOAT!"
They called back, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," and to my great surprise and relief retreated. Once they were away from the boat, I stood out in the pilot house pointing at them and shouting, "Go!" Con and Albertine woke about the time the men were walking down the pier.
"What's all the racket Barb?" Albertine asked innocently.
Neither of them heard a thing. In the morning, I urged Con to come with me to identify the men. I'd intended to... to... well, I don't know, but I wanted to confront them. Walking down the pier, I spotted one of Con's sandals and picked it up.
"There!" I said to Con, taking his hand to lead him toward four guys sitting on a bench, I called to them accusingly, with hands on hips, “WERE YOU ON OUR BOAT LAST NIGHT? You!" Pointing to one of them. "You were on our boat last night."
One guy eagerly said, “Yes, okay, we wash boat.”
Another guy nudged him in the gut with his elbow and whispered in his ear. I realized these weren't the guys.
November 10 -- We moved on to Galixihi where it was blowing madly at the public quay. The town was bursting with bougainvilleas. We were the only boat there. Moving on to Andikron, we stuffed ourselves with baklava.
November 15 -- Visiting the Ancient Olympic Games site in Olympia, (766 BC) we likely walked every square inch. Many myths are written about their origin. One is that Zeus initiated the festival after his defeat of his predecessor, the Titan Cronus. Winners of the various sports would be given free food for the rest of his life, an oxen, and other goodies. Even in ancient times, athletes tried to cheat. They would sometimes be caught drinking the blood of the bull for the steroids. Likely where the marketing name: Red Bull came from. The cheaters would have to have a statue built of them so people could walk by and spit on it. Women were not allowed to compete or to even attend the games. When some would disguise themselves and snuck in to compete, they declared the games to be held in the nude. If a woman was caught at the site, they would be thrown off a nearby mountain! You had to be a Greek citizen and male. The kick-off began with the flame.
Below: Trizone's sunken boat; "mama"; and the three of us in Delphi; Greek pastries; and the Corinth Canal
Messolonghi for Winter
Noveber 18 -- Currently Messolonghi has the best winter price in this region, about $9 CND per day. The town is made up of mostly young university students and "siesta" is taken seriously here. Stores close by 12:30 and open at 5 or 6 pm. We're off to a bar to watch a football (soccer) game tonight and will return by bike in the dark again, but this time, we have headlights (literally). We bought flashlights headbands.
November 23 -- jWe've found a good bike repair shop in town and will have our bikes serviced. We toured “Hero Park”, built to remember the Greek War of Independence between the Ottoman Empire and Greek rebels in 1825-26. The Turks surrounded the city by land and sea locking the Greeks in for nearly a year, intent to starve them. During a planned escape, a Greek tipped off the Turks and most of the citizens were slaughtered (7,000 dead, 1,000 survived). The Turks then invaded the next day, Palm Sunday, but most of the Greeks blew themselves up with gunpowder rather than surrender. Those survivors were sold into slavery. The Turks displayed 3,000 severed heads on the walls.
November 25 -- Tasks aboard today: re-caulked both bathrooms, took down the jib to store, fixed scratches and gashes to the gel coat, organized clothes to donate and replace sea cocks (which we’ll do when we return from Canada). We attended Greek language lessons in the morning, the talk on the Red Sea in the afternoon, and participated in the music night in the cruisers room. Con borrowed a guitar and strummed beautifully to "Sloop John B."
November 29 -- Off to Athens for a few days, staying in a hotel. First stop: the Acropolis. It was a beautifully sunny day, perfect for hiking around the big three hectares of rock and around the restored temples and ancient statues. Throughout the Acropolis, a three hectare hill, about 490 feet above sea level, there are a number of preserved temples. Acropolis means “higher city”, built in the 6th century for strategic defense. Historians aren’t sure of the Parthenon Temple’s original purpose, but while under construction in 480 BC, the Persians burned it down. It was dedicated to the goddess Athena Pallas (a virgin) and maybe built to protect the gold and ivory statute of Athena. Its massive foundations are made of limestone, and the columns of Pentelic marble, a material then that was utilized for the first time.
Day two: We walked to the original stadium of the new (1800s) modern Olympic games, and to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It’s a colossal-sized ruined temple dedicated Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, constructed in the 6th century. The temple's glory was short lived when it was pillaged in a barbarian invasion in the 3rd century.
Day three: With map in hand, we snaked all over the city via subway, foot, and 12 euro funicular. Can you believe, the visit to the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora was FREE! The first Sunday of every month – no fee.
Walking back to Syntagmotos Square (the place where riots and protests take place) was no exception today. Riot police moved in, busses of them poured out into the street in full combat apparel including bullet-proof vests and carrying shields. The national guard roared up another road and piled out of their busses. Crowd control water trucks blocked off the square in front of the Parliament buildings. Within the hour, an organized demonstration took place with the message that they didn't like the job cuts, inefficiencies and corruption in the government. During the whole craziness, the Parliament guards stationed in front of the building continued their timed high-footed march.
Noveber 18 -- Currently Messolonghi has the best winter price in this region, about $9 CND per day. The town is made up of mostly young university students and "siesta" is taken seriously here. Stores close by 12:30 and open at 5 or 6 pm. We're off to a bar to watch a football (soccer) game tonight and will return by bike in the dark again, but this time, we have headlights (literally). We bought flashlights headbands.
November 23 -- jWe've found a good bike repair shop in town and will have our bikes serviced. We toured “Hero Park”, built to remember the Greek War of Independence between the Ottoman Empire and Greek rebels in 1825-26. The Turks surrounded the city by land and sea locking the Greeks in for nearly a year, intent to starve them. During a planned escape, a Greek tipped off the Turks and most of the citizens were slaughtered (7,000 dead, 1,000 survived). The Turks then invaded the next day, Palm Sunday, but most of the Greeks blew themselves up with gunpowder rather than surrender. Those survivors were sold into slavery. The Turks displayed 3,000 severed heads on the walls.
November 25 -- Tasks aboard today: re-caulked both bathrooms, took down the jib to store, fixed scratches and gashes to the gel coat, organized clothes to donate and replace sea cocks (which we’ll do when we return from Canada). We attended Greek language lessons in the morning, the talk on the Red Sea in the afternoon, and participated in the music night in the cruisers room. Con borrowed a guitar and strummed beautifully to "Sloop John B."
November 29 -- Off to Athens for a few days, staying in a hotel. First stop: the Acropolis. It was a beautifully sunny day, perfect for hiking around the big three hectares of rock and around the restored temples and ancient statues. Throughout the Acropolis, a three hectare hill, about 490 feet above sea level, there are a number of preserved temples. Acropolis means “higher city”, built in the 6th century for strategic defense. Historians aren’t sure of the Parthenon Temple’s original purpose, but while under construction in 480 BC, the Persians burned it down. It was dedicated to the goddess Athena Pallas (a virgin) and maybe built to protect the gold and ivory statute of Athena. Its massive foundations are made of limestone, and the columns of Pentelic marble, a material then that was utilized for the first time.
Day two: We walked to the original stadium of the new (1800s) modern Olympic games, and to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It’s a colossal-sized ruined temple dedicated Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, constructed in the 6th century. The temple's glory was short lived when it was pillaged in a barbarian invasion in the 3rd century.
Day three: With map in hand, we snaked all over the city via subway, foot, and 12 euro funicular. Can you believe, the visit to the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora was FREE! The first Sunday of every month – no fee.
Walking back to Syntagmotos Square (the place where riots and protests take place) was no exception today. Riot police moved in, busses of them poured out into the street in full combat apparel including bullet-proof vests and carrying shields. The national guard roared up another road and piled out of their busses. Crowd control water trucks blocked off the square in front of the Parliament buildings. Within the hour, an organized demonstration took place with the message that they didn't like the job cuts, inefficiencies and corruption in the government. During the whole craziness, the Parliament guards stationed in front of the building continued their timed high-footed march.
IN THE NETHERLANDS
December 5 -- Sinterklaas Day!
We flew to The Netherlands enjoying the Sinterklaas celebration with Nomie at her housing complex. Sinterklaas looks a lot like Santa Claus, (or rather vise versa) and is joined by the controversial Zwarte Piet (Black Pete – a black person, or a white person painted black). It's uniquely Dutch and Flemish and celebrated on the 5th December, but poor Zwarte Piet is attacked by all the do gooders trying to end the appearance of discrimination. Sinterklaas in legend was a kind-hearted Bishop, born in Turkey centuries ago and on the 5th December he arrived in The Netherlands via Spain with gifts. Zwarte Piet is the antagonist, so if you’re bad, he'll hit you with his chimney brush and you won't get any candies and if you're really bad, you are taken to Spain.
December 13 -- Nomie, Con and I selected a church from the newspaper to attend for a Christmas concert where it said "traditional Christmas songs to sing along to..." We arrived to a full out Fundamentalist Protestant church sermon with three choirs. Women wear skirts or dresses, so despite being dressed in nice slacks, I clearly got the message that I wasn’t presentable by the church goers. It was a long two hours. Later the whole Sprenger family gathered at Anna’s (Con's sister) for traditional pea soup dinner.
IN CANADA
December 26 – Fun days! Celebrating the holiday with our grandkids and kids in Calgary, Red Deer, and in Carrot River.
Below: videos out of order
December 5 -- Sinterklaas Day!
We flew to The Netherlands enjoying the Sinterklaas celebration with Nomie at her housing complex. Sinterklaas looks a lot like Santa Claus, (or rather vise versa) and is joined by the controversial Zwarte Piet (Black Pete – a black person, or a white person painted black). It's uniquely Dutch and Flemish and celebrated on the 5th December, but poor Zwarte Piet is attacked by all the do gooders trying to end the appearance of discrimination. Sinterklaas in legend was a kind-hearted Bishop, born in Turkey centuries ago and on the 5th December he arrived in The Netherlands via Spain with gifts. Zwarte Piet is the antagonist, so if you’re bad, he'll hit you with his chimney brush and you won't get any candies and if you're really bad, you are taken to Spain.
December 13 -- Nomie, Con and I selected a church from the newspaper to attend for a Christmas concert where it said "traditional Christmas songs to sing along to..." We arrived to a full out Fundamentalist Protestant church sermon with three choirs. Women wear skirts or dresses, so despite being dressed in nice slacks, I clearly got the message that I wasn’t presentable by the church goers. It was a long two hours. Later the whole Sprenger family gathered at Anna’s (Con's sister) for traditional pea soup dinner.
IN CANADA
December 26 – Fun days! Celebrating the holiday with our grandkids and kids in Calgary, Red Deer, and in Carrot River.
Below: videos out of order
Hit by lightning on video