Sail to Cyprus

Well, it's been almost 8 months since our last sail, so we started out with a bang. We set sail Tuesday around 6:00 pm and made our way towards Cyprus. We had checked weather online all day Tuesday, making sure we were in for NO surprises, but that's kind of what the Mediterranean is known for, surprises! So as we headed into what was supposed to be only a local coastal breeze, we were still fighting to make our way North at around midnight! The wind was coming from the north and try as we might we couldn't get our nose into it The waves were around 2.5 meters which is enough to splash over our front decks and the hatches were closed but not latched which meant water in beds and floors. BIG :(   Half of the group got sick and Miles was NOT enjoying his first sail so far....poor Rachel was staying down with him and they slept something like 18 out of the first 24 hours.

Levi and I took turns all night with 2-3 hour watches and around 3am, a line holding our dinghy suspended out of the water, broke and half of the dinghy was dragging in the water. As soon as I saw it I yelled for Levi who was asleep in the cabin and he ran out and we wrestled it back out of the water, (with life-jackets on, mom) and got it tied back up. Not without loss, as 3 out of our 4 oars dumped out in the process! 

By sunrise, the weather had calmed down and we were back on course heading north, and as the day went, wind gently picked up from the East and we
had a great sail on a beam reach, clipping along at 6-7 knots. That certainly helped make up time from the night before. 

Night 2 was absolutely gorgeous, and the kind of night that makes you forget about the one before! Fairly flat seas, steady Easterly, and clear to partly cloudy skies. I didn't want the night to end. Levi and I watched the sliver of a moon rise about 3 am as we switched watches, and I kept peeking for tanker ships and snugging in the cockpit with some jazz on the ipod. Talk about looking for the pause button for life! Rachel and "the littles" were doing much better as well, watching movies and relaxing during the day, snacking on fruit. Miles was back to himself, crawling and rolling around inside the boat, eating whatever he found on the floor. Some Cheerios had spilled in the cockpit and that kept him busy for almost 2 hours as he picked them all up. we'll have to remember that "trick" for next time ;)

Thursday late morning, we pulled into a bay on the South side of Cyprus, Ormos Pissouri, and there are no boats here, just us......the kids went to play on the beach and Miles tried out the hammock on the front deck. 

Now we wait for the next weather window to head to Rhodes, Greece, and THEN it should be small one day sails through the islands in Greece, something we're all excited for!!

Love you all ~ Hems