We did not go sailing at all in 2009 because Elizabeth tore her knee in May and had the operation on it done successfully in London in September. RESOLUTE was sailed by Kim across the Aegean in July/August of 2008 following our completion of the ill-fated Levant Basin Rally. (Elizabeth went to Denver to see grandchildren and start planning a small house build in the mountains). After rounding the Peloponese, our yacht was left in Preveza, in the Aktion Marine yard. We had previously used the Cleopatra Yard a few years previously but judge the Aktion Yard to be more inclusive and understanding.

Elizabeth is project managing the Colorado house build, so Kim flies alone to Preveza next week to get the boat ready for sea again. She will need a good clean, engine service (oil/fuel filters,impellers) new cam belt and new batteries. We are going for Rolls AGM this time, replacing our wet cell Trojans, and have arranged with VIOSY S.A. in Athens to have them delivered to the boat. We will also fit a Sterling 80amp Alernator-to-Battery Charger to manage the inputs properly.

Let's hope the boat has stayed dry and free of rodents during our prolonged absence!

Once she is back in the water, the plan is to sail north up to Corfu and the to Italy, leaving her up near Venice, ready for a full season next year down the adriatic to Croatia.

19 June 2008 Sailblog
Jill arrives, EMYR Dinner
Dave's girlfriend was due to arrive on 17 June, but they had overbooked her flight from Newark to Tel Aviv. She had 12 hours in Newark then got on a BA flight to London. She was then held up a further 12 hours before a flight was available to Israel. Dave picked her up from the airport and she finally arrived at the marina on the 18th. She was very tired after her travel marathon. Kim and Elizabeth were invited on board SWEET CHARIOT for the night to give the youngsters their own space.
Lots of the 80 rally boats from the EMYR had been arriving in the marina over the past few days. They gathered for their final dinner and the Levante boats were also invited. It was a grand sit down affair with tables beautifully arranged by Herzliya Marina. As it got closer to the time, we noticed that everybody in the EMYR was dressed up. So Elizabeth put on her best frock and Kim put on his summer suit and tie, and we went off to the party. (Dave and Jill were too tired to join the old fogies). We went along the pontoon where the EMYR groups were gathering, and got pressed into service to take lots of group pictures. In conversations with several of them it was obvious that the yachtie grapevine had already got the news that the Levante Basin Rally 2008 had been a disaster and was breaking up as we spoke. At the dinner, Bill and Jean sat on a table with Adrian, Risto and Christina. We sat on the next one with Jill, David, Kate and Hugh. Tiff and Tim dined with their mates on the EMYR, and OUKI's crew did not come to the dinner. The food was excellent and there was wine and soft drinks on each table. Bill gave a short speech about the Levante, but it was clearly nonsense as the rally ship was sinking under him.
We were aware previously that joint, organised activity would stop shortly. OUKIs had just come back from their tour of Egypt. They had been very disappointed with the tour company Bill and Jean uses, Masada, and said they would never go on any of their tours again. Bill and Jean needed a minimum of 14 for the Jordan trip, and with the 4 people on OUKI out of the equation, it meant that no rally tours would take place in Israel or Jordan. Everybody would be making their own arrangements from now on.
The EMYR dinner was the last organised event and the Levante Basin Rally was now a dead duck. What a sad end. There had been a great collection of wonderful people on our rally, but the whole affair had been bungled. Many crews agreed that Bill and Jean do not have the skills set to run a sailing rally. Nor did we feel our interests, or those of the other participants, were taken into consideration. We believe we should caution anybody from getting involved with them in the future and becoming part of their income stream. Certainly, the rally did not end up being value for money, since every time we turned around the fees were increased (without adequate justification). We stress this is our own personal opinion - if you need other points of view please ask some of the other participants.

15 June 2008 Sailblog
Arrival in Herzliya
We left Haifa at 06.40 on 14thJune, motoring west past the shipping laying in Haifa Roads. Kim's father had followed the same course in 1947 with his Royal Marine Commando when they left Haifa as the last British troops to leave Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Soon after that the State of Israel was declared.
There is a north/south corridor 6 miles off the coast for boats moving south. We went out to it and turned south. There was little breeze at first, but by 11.00 a light westerly had developed and we were able to motor sail with main and genny, doing 6 knots. We could make out in the haze, the shores of Israel, with modern resorts and the odd industrial complex. By 15.00 there was a good sea breeze. We turned east on our approach into Herzliya Marina, turning the engine off as we went wing-on-wing at a sedate 4 knots. It was so relaxing to just be sailing without engine noise! Several local yachts came into view as we approached the land - Israeli sailors out for a day sail. We furled the sails when we were just off the marina and motored in. There was no reply from the office, so we just motored around the pontoons looking for some of our boats. We spotted INDABA and tied up nearby.
Bill appeared and showed us the berthing list for the 15 Levante boats. We moved across the pontoon to our berth. A security man turned up and gave Dave some electronic pass keys to open the pontoon security gates and toilets. Although Bill was quite welcoming, we got absolute silence from Jean every time we passed SOLEIL SANS FIN. Clearly, the rally atmosphere as far as we were concerned was not going to be easy. To be met with this rude behaviour after Elizabeth had handed back to our leaders a healed rally was unacceptable. We soon decided that RESOLUTE would not participate in any Bill and Jean organised tours. They had had enough of our money and time.
Herzliya Marina is a modern marina complex with a large shopping mall attached, with lots of clothes shops and restaurants. It also has a supermarket on the upper floor, although we found the food and alcohol very expensive. The place is heaving with visitors, particularly at the weekend. The European Cup was taking place, with cinema screen over the plaza and a TV studio in the middle. Live bands and dancing is also organised. But it was surprisingly quiet out on the pontoons, although when you stepped off the quay you felt you could be anywhere in Florida. The showers and toilets are adequate, and there are washing machines available for 10 NIS. Internet is good but expensive, over 420 NIS for the month. (You can get daily or weekly rate- book online).