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 [...]

To the Aegean

19 May 2018
Finally the time had come to start the trip to the Aegean we lifted the anchor and scrapped off the goo. About 3/4 of the way out of the bay we noticed that there was no water coming out of the starboard engine. Crap. We turned around and found a new spot in the bay to anchor. Despite cleaning hoses and filters this problem would plague us until Galaxidi when we switched out the new impeller for a different new impeller.
The next day we headed to Kastos and med moored to a wall next to a large power boat. The two people aboard were very friendly and they gave us some helpful tips about the next few ports. We went for a few walks to enjoy the town. There were some of the widest olive trees I have ever seen as well as a large variety of wild flowers in bloom not to mention peoples gardens roses, bougainvillea and geraniums mixed with citrus trees both in bloom and with fruit. The next town was Mesolongion it was our first stop after leaving the ionian sea. We motored down a canal flanked by houses built on marshy land each with its own ancient looking dock. Men in small boats were in the shallow water fishing when they needed to move they pulled up their stakes and poled themselves to the new spot stuck the stakes back into the mud and continued fishing we even passed some cormorants sunning themselves on a fishing weir. From here we traveled under the Rio Bridge. We have drove over this large bridge several times when traveling between Athens and Preveza and going under it made it seem even bigger. Usually when you go under a bridge there is a nagging feeling in the back of your brain that your mast is going to hit. Not with this one. We could hear the boats checking in with the authorities to receive permission to transit under the bridge and we were starting to recognize the names from previous ports. People we had helped tie to a quay and people that had helped us it was kind kewl. Our next stop was Trizonia. someone had started to make a Marina and couldn't quite make a go of it. The concrete break walls were still there as well as some of the floats and as long as you didn't hit one of the sunken boats it was a free place to tie . The local taverna owners helped secure the boats and took the opportunity to hand out menus. One of the guys who helped tie us said we needed to stay five days one day for each of the four tavernas and the
fifth to return to our favourite. The local mini mart took orders during the day for the next mornings bread delivery and for one euro a small passenger boat would ferry you to the mainland if you needed to do a bigger shop. I suspect this island would be an amazing place for a summer get away. We picked our weather window and zipped down to Galaxidi with less then an hour left in the run we were visited by two dolphins. There is nothing quite like dolphins playing at the bows of your boat and the feeling you get when they roll over and stare right at you is amazing. Galaxidi is bigger then it looks from the water. It is near Delphi so many people go there to do a day trip to the site. hehehe our last meal there was like a dinner with a show. The taverna was busy so we were treated to the owner hamming it up while taking orders then two cats got into a fight I see what they mean by when the fur flies wow it was everywhere. Once that was dealt with three geese came and muscled in on the local cats gig. Cats you can ignore ( except for the ones that dangle by their front paws from your table ) three big geese not so much. Eventually one of the restaurant staff lured them away with the offer of bread. While in Galaxidi not only did we fix the engine but we also took the time to modify the mattress for the port cabin something we had been putting off since We bought the new mattresses at an Ikea in Italy last fall. The starboard side fit like a glove. we knew the port side berth was a little smaller but when we unrolled the mattress it resembled a ski jump at least 6 inches in width had to go. With some trepidation we unzipped the mattress cover drew a line down the length of the foam and started cutting. Not only did it cut nice but it cut clean in a matter of minutes we had a mattress that fit the birth like it belonged. If only we had know about these Ikea
mattresses earlier. We departed Galaxidi for Kiaton it would be our last port before heading through the Corinth canal. The port of Kiaton was mostly full of little fishing boats but we and two others found a spot to tie. There was a lovely quay a stones throw west of the port but we were told a container ship was coming in an it wasn't going to be a good place to be. Sure enough moments after we tied we could see a tug boat zoom out to a ship and guide her in . While relaxing in the cockpit a gentleman walked buy and struck up a conversation seems he had been to the west coast several times. He declined a beer but said he would be walking along the Corinth canal about the same time as we had planned to transit and if we gave him our email he could send us pictures. They are wonderful Thank you very much. Kiaton is also where we picked up our newest crew member Gizmo the second a very cute little basil all he needs is a bigger pot.
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ICE BEAR's Photos - Main
16 Photos
Created 24 April 2019
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Created 25 April 2018