SV ICE BEAR

Vessel Name: ICE BEAR
Vessel Make/Model: Privilege 39
Hailing Port: Victoria Canada
Crew: Don and Cindy
About: From Vancouver Island British Columbia. Retired and enjoying relaxing Cruising.
Extra: we were hard core racers having sailed many many miles and loved the Long distance races with our previous three boats and friends boats but now we are pulling the throttles back. Even though ICE BEAR has a very nice turn of speed.
27 July 2019
12 July 2019 | Nydri marine
30 June 2019
07 May 2019
25 April 2019 | Temple of Zeus, Olympia
11 September 2018
03 August 2018
13 July 2018
27 June 2018 | Nafplio
11 June 2018
01 June 2018
19 May 2018
10 May 2018
06 May 2018
25 April 2018
20 January 2018
06 January 2018
19 December 2017
08 December 2017
Recent Blog Posts
27 July 2019

Paxos / Corfu

The next morning we paid the new Greek cruising tax said goodbye to the guys on Mangata and the lovely town of Preveza. Our next stop was Paxos. The island of Paxos was only a short hop up the Greek coast. It was a great place to wait for good conditions to cross the Adriatic sea to Italy. The harbour [...]

12 July 2019 | Nydri marine

The Bank

With our return to Vliho bay the weather cooled back down and the rain returned we spent the next few days doing more boat jobs.Found the rattle in the steering system there was wear in the linear drive and to fix it we needed new parts sigh one more job for Tunisia. Replaced the fresh water pump, fixed [...]

30 June 2019

The Aussie

We motored to the stern of Mangata and knocked. From inside we heard a hello woohoo he was home well we kinda knew he was home the dinghy was tied to the stern. We climbed aboard and went below for a quick tour and drink. I always forget how much room is inside a Bavaria. There must be at least [...]

07 May 2019

The next ten days were spent in the boat yard. Unlike last year there was no red dirt but it was cold and wet.Fortunately we had a heater and electricity. When it rained we went to the stores for parts and food when it dried for a few minutes we painted the bottoms, serviced the engines, repaired [...]

25 April 2019 | Temple of Zeus, Olympia

Adventure 2019 begins

The 2019 travel season started on April 2nd with a ferry ride to Vancouver where wonderful friends put us up for the night before the flight to Greece. Thank you so much. The flight was just the way we like flights uneventful. Once we passed through customs and satisfied the man at the exit that the [...]

24 April 2019

Wrap up of 2018 sailing season

When we left our intrepid traveler Emmet he was in Poros waiting for a weather system to pass. While waiting food was consumed and roads were walked. One of the boats near us had its anchor lifted and ended up side tied to the quay which wasn’t a great place to be. The surge from the storm and other [...]

Split day one

15 September 2017
Split is a big city and home to another Game of Thrones set. The marina we chose to stay in was an ACI. ACI marinas are all that is right and wrong with boating in Croatia.
They are clean and well run they have everything you could want in a marina helpful staff well maintained docks, laundry service, bathrooms, really nice showers,grocery store, restaurant,
and all manor of skilled tradesmen If you want it chances are they could supply it or know someone who can. But they are very expensive (160 eu for one night for Ice Bear) they cater to
the charter companies which means if you by some miracle could actually get a slip on a weekend you would pay even more. I would guess at least 100 boats return get cleaned and leave the
dock on vacation every weekend from every ACI in Croatia the activity at the docks must be insane. One harbour master said he was told there were as many as 20 thousand charter boats exploring Croatia at any one time.
Knowing all this we still chose to tie at the ACI in Split and we don't regret it. We needed to do three things for the boat here and until we went to the reception building to check
in we really didn't have an idea of how we were going to do all of them. While checking in we were reading all the flyers and brochures on the tables and walls. Some talked about tours of the palace. Some about the services in the area one in particular caught our attention... bring us your propane tank and we will fill it, boat job # 1 complete. We had asked for directions to the taxi
because the chandlery with the anchor wasn't at the marina when suddenly out of nowhere a guy showed up and said you need a ride? We explained what we were doing and he seemed to have no issues
helping with the 33 kg anchor quest and said 200 kn return ($40 can) sold. Off we went it was almost 20 minutes to the store we spent probably another 20 min shopping and sorting the anchor paperwork. Wow it looked so big on the floor all wrapped in bubble wrap and sales slips. The look on our drivers face when he saw the anchor was priceless. You know its a big thing when you arrive and they send two guys to the store room to retrieve it. The anchor took up his whole trunk at his request we tied it down so there was no chance it could move. When we arrived back at the marina we carefully removed it from his car into a wagon. With much thanking a tip and shaking of hands we dragged it back to Ice Bear tied a line to in and pulled it over the passerelle ( draw bridge ). We were
afraid that the weight of the anchor combined with one of us would fold the passerelle in half. Once secured on the boat we had a nap, job # 2 done. That evening we set off for the palace but
not before talking to some guys at the dock about job # 3 a new bow roller for the anchor. Our old one wasnt round anymore. They didnt have one big enough for us but they knew a guy in the marina
that had a lathe and he would be at the dock early tomorrow. hmm fingers crossed for # 3. At marina reception there was a boat that for 50 kn would take you right to downtown Split but we chose
to walk it didnt look that far. We walked past some race boats and a fleet of dingy sailors returning from a day of training. Judging by the signs several building sported with the names and dates
of wins at international competitions they took racing seriously. We walked past several yacht brokers and then onto the promenade. There were really big boats tied to one side and restaurants and
lots of bench seats along the other. In the promenade itself there were plaques placed in the stone. Each plaque had the name, date and location of the summer olympics that a Croatian won a medal
in an aquatic sport. It was really kewl to see. After about a fifteen minute walk we came to the old roman town outside the palace. The small streets were lined with restaurants and shops. In the middle of the main walking street was the place where the mornings fish market was held. I have no idea how they do it but it didn't smell like fish. We continued to walk through the small streets until omg a Tea shop the first one I had seen since leaving home. hmhmhm kn later my tea choices were greatly improved upon woohoo no more yellow label Tetley for awhile. To celebrate this wonderful find we stopped for dinner We had a pizza with a big dollop of sour cream on top. You know it was really good, however when we declined the offer of ketchup and mustard they looked at us as if we were a little odd. We spent the rest or the evening walking around the outside of the palace looking at the stalls of local gift and made in taiwan trinkets. Emmet even had his picture taken with a statue of Grgur Ninski the Bishop that is responsible for the bible being read in the Croatian language. They say that rubbing his foot brings good luck. Who doesn't need more good luck?
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ICE BEAR's Photos - Main
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Created 24 April 2019
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Created 25 April 2018