Lily's Art ~ Starfish

Lily's Art ~ Dolphins

.....not everyday!!

We keep on ‘keeping on’….…..heading west through the huge, Bay of Corinth and Bay of Patras, before entering the Adriatic sea and head up the Ionian Islands towards Corfu.

The landscape has changed a lot since passing through the Corinth Canal and the mountians surrounding us are HUGE! Also, it’s much greener and more cultivated. There are loads of citrus, olive groves and of course, plenty of vineyards. Some of the best wine from Greece is reportedly grown in this region. It is a nice change from the dusty Cyclades Islands and somehow feels cooler although we are in full Summer now and at mid-day, you had better be sailing with a breeze or swimming!

Leaving Corinth, we had a very calm day, there was no wind and the sea was very flat…..little ripples now and then. So, we were motoring along, at a lazy pace, when I spotted a group of dolphins in the distance. We’ve seen dolphins throughout the Med several times and it’s always pretty special. Whoever spots them (usually Levi) yells out and everyone who’s not on deck runs out and we watch them jump and swim. We’ve had them stay with us, even in rough waves for 15 minutes or more, and looking over the bow seeing them in the water right below Mehari is spectacular.

This time, Emma and I wanted to try and swim with them, and it was so calm and we had no sails to roll up, we thought it was the perfect time. We put the engines in neutral as we approached, and then turned them off, slowly reducing our speed. They kept jumping and splashing, sometimes in groups of three or four. They were having a ball and I don’t think even noticed us. Once we were crawling along, we jumped in and swam out in front toward where we last saw them. It was only a few seconds and they were jumping around us and I took a mask and could actually see them swimming below us. Rachel was on deck trying to get some pictures, but it’s so hard, when you have no idea where they’ll jump next. So, I guess you have to take our word for it for now, but it was amazing!

The whole experience was unparalleled and very special. I'm sure none of us will ever forget this day!

~Hems 

Aegina - Corinth

After we sailed around from Athens, (Porto Rafti), we made a pit stop in Lavrion, and were very glad to see the brown cloud of Athens disappear in the distance. It was amazing how far into the ocean you could see the smog, it was strung almost horizon to horizon, and I read the smog situation in Athens is among the worst in the world. It is compares to L.A., and in fact the geography of Athens is similar in that it seems to trap the smog in its valley.

We headed to an island ‘close’ to Athens, called Aegina, and it was a very quaint little village. There they had big playgrounds next to the beach and cool little backstreets. We had only planned to stay for one day, but ended up staying through the weekend and finally left Monday. The harbor where we anchored, was busy all weekend with people from Athens coming and going for the day. The streets were more narrow that other towns and only added to the cool back alleys for us to explore. 

Finally on Monday, we headed West toward the canal. We had terrible weather and what was supposed to be a mild breeze, wound up to be almost 20 knots in our face most of the day. This made for some choppy seas and most of the day was pretty rolly with Mehari pitching over the waves. The girls were not amused and as usual when it gets rough, they find a corner somewhere and sleep through it. That left Rachel and I taking turns making our way towards the canal.

We arrived at around 1800 and with some credit card issues, (someone has hacked our card, very long story), I ended up needing to go to town and find some cash to pay the transit fees. It ended up even more complicated and I needed to wait for the bank to open the next day.  So, we anchored in a bay next to the entrance of the canal, reserved for derelicks, losers and transients who are waiting to go through the canal……just kidding.  It was actually a very calm bay and it worked out great. The next day, when I went back to town to get the money, the girls spent most of the time swimming and trying to stay cool. The weather has turned very hot and if there is no breeze or you’re not moving, swimming is the best way to cool off. Most of us spend most of the time on the boat in our bathing suits, and make frequent trips in the water.

So, after a one day delay, we made it through the canal. It was a very cool experience! A little history: The area of land connects the Adriatic sea with the Agean Sea, and taking the canal saves some 180nm from going around the bottom of Greece through the Peloponnisos Islands. The canal was first started by Emperor Nero in 80 AD, using slave labor of 600 Jews captured from Jerusalem. However, after they barely started, a war in Asia diverted their attentions and they stopped work, and was put on hold for almost 2000 years.  The canal is fairly new, only completed by French and Greek teams in the late 1800’s.

For today……it’s used to save 180 Nm from sailing around the point at the bottom of Greece and for sailors, it’s just a pretty epic thing to see and do!!

Lily’s comment about the whole thing was: “No offense, but I’m really not sure what’s so great about this thing?!”….……..none taken.

~Hems

A few pictures...

Hey all-

We've been moving kinda fast trying to get to Athens in less than a week now. So not much internet. Here's just a few pictures from the last few days...

Levi showing Miles the ocean....
Mom making Miles laugh like he does so often! :)
Emma and I enjoying typical small Greek streets
Zoe and Lily playing on shore......I'm guess they're playing a restaurant...Lily being the waitress.
Zoe.....just being Zoe :)

Arki, Amorgos, and south....

It's been a busy week sailing towards Santorini, or sometimes called Thira. We stopped at a couple islands on the way, 50 miles from Patmos we went to Amorgos, a very quaint, clean island. We loved it!

Before that, we stopped in a little island of Arki, just a fishing village with 2 restaurants on the water. We were there with only 2 other boats, one group from Germany, and a couple from Scotland. It was a quick stop but we managed to foul our anchor. Pretty funny, we've been in some super crowded anchorages without a problem and with 3 boats in this bay, the couple from Scotland accidentally laid their anchor over ours. So when we pulled up our anchor we pulled their anchor as well. The irony.....(well, steel......sorry)

Anyway, we're in Santorini now, it's unbelievable. It it supposed to be where many scholars think the legend of Atlantis came from. Around 2000 BC, an enormous volcano erupted, tuning a huge island into a ring with sea in the middle.  It even desecrated all the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 70 miles away.  The strange thing is, they have discovered elaborate dwellings and evidence of an advanced civilization, but no skeletons or human remains.  So, the thinking is the people here knew the volcano was about to erupt?! Puzzling. 

Now it's some of the most spectacular cliffs and cities literally clinging to the hill tops. Some astounding views and vistas and your mind can not conceive of an explosion taking away the center of the island as you look out across the bay. Breathtaking.  The pictures we took don't do it justice, but with some imagination you can feel the sea breezes from up there and try and envision it.  

We'll try and get some more up this week. 

From the ring of fire,

~ Hems

Symi to ???

We left Rhodes Thursday afternoon, and although there was more to explore, the main bay is VERY crowded and more boats were coming. There is no anchorages around the main town, so we decided to move on. 

Greece/Turkey is simply one of the most amazing cruising grounds in the world.  People who have circumnavigated and sailed all over the world, say there are 3 "best" areas for cruising: this part of the Mediterranean (+ Croatia), of course the Caribbean, and South Pacific. All have pros and cons, but the way you can hop from island to island easily in a day, and SO much amazing sites and cultures to experience, it's really overwhelming to choose. I can see why people come here and never leave!........sorry to ramble. 

So we sailed over to Symi, leaving later than we wanted on Thursday, and just pulled into an empty bay but for a few houses at around 11:30 at night. WE awoke to goats' bells walking around the very steep hills around us.

Symi town is very quaint, tucked into another steep valley with cream and blue painted houses crawling for the ridges high above. There are several churches dotting the hills and you hear bells in the morning echoing in the valley. The harbor is right in the middle of everything and we are anchored next to a very cool couple making their way to Turkey and back to France later this year. The day we pulled in, they invited us over for a visit that night and we had Maggie whip up a chocolate cake. They had some hilarious and amazing stories and we ended up there until late and joined again for coffee the next morning at a little cafe right behind the boats. 

Mom and pops sent some money for Rachel and I to celebrate our birthdays, and we found a little Italian place a few alleys in from the boat. Once Miles fell asleep, we were off and had a delicious meal and felt like we were in "Lady and the Tramp" (we're parents!) Fantastico! Afterward they come out with a caramel flan, and a chocolate mousse, "please compliments of the kitchen" and limoncello, an after dinner liqueur made from citrus and served ice cold. Yum!

So, it's Sunday morning, and we hate to pull away, but there is so much more to see! Symi has a bay around the corner where we hope to stop for lunch which is totally empty except for an abandoned monastery, which we just have to see and then another bay at the bottom of the island where you can buy bread from a monastery, so of course we have to do that! 

Symi has been amazing, but we're off to the next adventure, and can't believe people tell us it gets better!

Love you all ~ Hems

Startıng out.....

Here we are....in the Greek island of Leros. This is where the boat is, so here's where we start!

Here is a picture of a bay we anchored at while we sailed around the island.

It is an overwhelming adventure we're starting on, but we've been planning this for 10 years and the LORD has opened the doors for it to happen, so we're very excited to see what we're going to learn, and we know it will probably have nothing to do with sailing! Hopefully, it will be about learning about each other and growing closer together.... and with 7 people in 600 sq. ft. I think it's inevitable!

So, please follow along with us, we'll try to post as often as possible and try to explain what we're learning.

Thanks,

Hems