09/14/2011, Under way
We had a very eventful night aboard Azure II. Other than dodging the usual suspects - ships crossing our bow at 18 knots - now we have floats to deal with. I am not sure what these things are, but there are hundreds of them all in a straight line. They seem to be spaced about 1000 feet apart and are anchored in 1200 feet of water. I cannot imagine the anchor that is holding them in 1200 feet of water. We have been paralleling them ever since we left Malta.
We are motoring past Pantelleria right now in very light winds. We would like to stop and do some snorkeling. The entire island is a nature preserve. Alas we need to push on to try to get to Gibraltar while the winds are favorable. The winds in the Med average 15 knots - either 0 or 30 - so we are pretty happy with 0 right now. Fuel is another concern for this passage. We can only motor for 6 days, but the passage will take 8. Hopefully we will be able to sail soon, otherwise we need to find a port to get fuel.
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09/12/2011, Royal Malta Yacht Club
John and Jim arrived successfully this morning....12:30am. Of course we had to stay up to 3:00 am to share all of our stories. The next morning we celebrated with a fresh pot of Pete's coffee and some famous Azure pancakes. Today we are touring around Velletta to see some sights. We are thinking of starting our journey to Gibraltar on Tuesday the 13th.
We have a spot now so you can follow us at:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0WOUnoFlnhAgJEMeQDg9d3B5qtT0TaHuu
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09/06/2011, Malta
We arrived in Malta a few days ago and have been busy ever since. We checked in with customs and did a quick tour of Valetta. You immediately sense how much history there is here. Malta is very unique compared to other old European cities in that it has retained so much of its architecture. The Maltese seem to of avoided the earthquakes, wars and pillaging that have decimated so many other cities. We have been very busy readying the boat for the next passage. There are always new projects that creep up to occupy our time. We are staying at the Royal Malta Yacht club near Valetta. They have a new clubhouse and with about 500 members.
Jamie, Elaine and Barry are flying out on Thursday the 8th. We have had a great three weeks together exploring Turkey and Greece. John and Jim will fly in to join me on Sunday the 11th for the next leg of our adventure. So far weather windows are starting to look good for the 14th, but you never know.
Photos Here
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08/31/2011, Olympia
We have something very special to celebrate today. It is Jamie and Elaine's 10 year wedding anniversary! Greece is a great place to celebrate pretty much anything!
Yesterday we rented a car and drove to Olympia to check out the old stuff (as Leo would say). The site was very interesting with the temple of Zeus (one of the seven wonders) and the origin of the Olympic Games. It was very special to stand on the site where the Olympic Torch is lit every four years. We also toured the stadium where the running and chariot races were held.
We are leaving for Malta tonight around 9:00pm our time. We should be in Malta on September 3rd in the morning. The total trip will be about 360 miles.
Photos Here
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08/29/2011
A new record was set tonight. Sorry RJ but the number 2 grinder is now Jamie. The confirmed timed event happened this evening with no wind assist. Jamie grinded up the dingy to its full hoist in 30 seconds flat - crushing RJ's time by 13 seconds. Elaine and Barry have declined to compete in the nightly event sighting hormonal or geriatric circumstances. Hopefully RJ will continue to eat his Wheaties and come back to redeem himself soon.
We had a great passage to Pilos today. We dodged ships and fishing boats all night while doing our watches. Since we have 4 people our night watches were spent 2 hours on and 6 off. Six hours of sleep is really nice. We arrived in Pilos about 10am and as we entered we could see the tankers lining up at the public pier. In Greece you usually purchase fuel via mini tanker, so we were very pleased to see three of them lining up to sell us fuel. I guess they must have some kind of rotation system because only one of them pulled up next to the boat. The cost of fuel is 1.45 euros per liter of diesel. This is the cheapest we have seen in all of Europe. In US standards that is only $7.70 per gallon which is a deal. In turkey we were paying almost $9 a gallon. It is amazing how expensive fuel is in Europe.
After filling our tanks we headed south to Methoni. Methoni is a really nice bay with beautiful beaches and a very cool fort. Tomorrow we will rent a car and make the trek to Olympus. The town is supposed to be spectacular.
Our date for the crossing keeps on changing. We are shooting for the 31st or 1st to leave for Malta. The weather is very light in the Ionian Sea right now so we are trying to pick our weather window so we can sail as much as possible.
Photos Here
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08/27/2011, Folegandros Greece
We made the 14 mile passage to Folegandros from Ios yesterday. The Meltemi was blowing pretty hard but we were in the lee of the islands for most of the passage. Today we are heading for the Peleponese on the very southern tip of mainland Greece. The total passage is 180 miles so we will sail all night. Our plan is to make port in Pilos where we can get fuel before we head to Malta. The weather has changed quite a bit so now we are planning to leave on the 30th. There is a high pressure zone forming between mainland Greece and Malta that is giving us some navigation problems.
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