Photo: Art hard at work aboard "Sherpa"

Since August 1st, we've been back on our boat in Turkey, and are getting better acquainted with her systems and equipment. After several day-sails and a four-day mini-cruise, we've concluded that she's fast (as sailboats go) and handles beautifully. She's a cutter rig, which means there's a second foresail behind the genoa -- in this case, a self-tending staysail on its own boom. We've learned by happy experience how easy it is to tack (change direction) if we fly the staysail rather than the genoa when going to windward in a strong wind.

While not at all fancy by today's standards, Sherpa has lots of amenities and navigation equipment that we didn't have back in the mid-'70s when we were sailing our beloved wooden boat "Sea Fever" on the Chesapeake Bay, up to Maine and down to the Bahamas.

I keep trying to decide which is the single best improvement from the old days -- such as a fridge (that makes ice!). How I love starting the day sitting under the sunshade in the cockpit looking out over the water, sipping a glass of iced coffee. We also appreciate having radar, a GPS, a wind vane and solar panel to help keep Sherpa's six heavy-duty batteries charged, VHF and SSB (short- and long-wave) radios, electric windlass (for effortlessly lowering and raising the anchor with its 200 feet of heavy chain), the Aries wind vane (a clunky thing that hangs off the stern, but does a great job of steering the boat so nobody is tied to the helm for hours on end), wind speed and direction indicator, depth gauge (bye-bye leadline!), boat speedometer, dodger and bimini, etc. All this equipment makes cruising much less a "seat-of-our-pants" endeavor, for which we're grateful, but for the time being we're on a steep learning curve (although Greg, the former owner who is now in Canada, patiently answers the many questions that we email to him).

We also just bought a dongle, which is a gadget that plugs into our laptop and (when it works) gives us 24/7 internet access, making it a lot easier to keep up with international news, check the latest wind and weather predictions, send and receive emails, chat with family and friends via Skype, and update this blog. (If you want to say hello and see the boat, get on Skype. Our Skype user name is art.grosman.)

We're quite spoiled by the cushy marina we're at (hot showers, Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis court, restaurant and bar, grocery store and chandlery, marine services of every variety, private beach). We're here only because Greg had a prepaid contract for the season, and it's a good base as we prepare for a longer cruise. Nevertheless, we're eager to cut the umbilical cord and begin wending our way down the Aegean coast, which offers an endless array of scenic bays and inlets, fishing villages and anchorages, archaeological sites and museums to explore. Not so attractive are the myriad fish farms obstructing and polluting the waterways and the new cracker-box "holiday villages" dotting the coastline.

The weather here is basically the same every day: hot, sunny and (usually) windy. No matter how hot it gets during the daytime, it cools off at dusk and the evenings are as pleasant as can be. The prevailing winds, referred to as "the meltemi," are from the N/NW, and can blow with gale force for days on end. At times you can literally get blown off your feet, and you definitely want to be in a well-protected harbor.

One thing I like about our new cruising lifestyle is that Art and I have a shared agenda rather than each of us going off and doing our own thing each day. We've been together almost constantly now for 4-1/2 months and, so far, we still enjoy one another's company.

All in all, we feel incredibly fortunate to have found a boat that suits us, to have the resources (well, last I checked before the stock market went berserk again) to cruise the startlingly clear blue waters of the Mediterranean and Aegean seas, and that we continue to be in good health! But we do miss our family and friends, so please keep in touch!