Serifos, Greece During our first year in the Cyclades, we tried to defy nature and sail north against the unforgiving north winds. Finally, after being beaten and battered over and over again, we came to our senses and vowed to never, ever do that again. So here we were two years later, in Santorini, the […]
Thira, Greece Santorini, officially known as Thira, is what remains after a giant volcanic eruption that destroyed a single island and created the current geological caldera. Perhaps the most breathtaking of Greece’s Cyclades Islands, Thira is a crescent-moon landmass encircling the rim of the crater now filled with water. The huge lagoon measures roughly seven […]
When you look at travel guides for Greece, many tell you that visiting during the fringe seasons, May/June and September/October, are best due to milder temperatures and fewer crowds. We had already witnessed the peacefulness of the islands of Patmos and Mykonos, which were very pleasant experiences, but upon arriving in Ios, we were surprised […]
Mykonos, Greece The word “Splendidoing” is a term coined after some cruisers we know who, when crossing oceans refuse to allow any other boat to get ahead of them, but while island hopping tend to move very slowly, lingering on one dock, or in one anchorage, for weeks at a time. It is a wonderful […]
We have a running joke that one of us spends the winter making a plan for the cruising season, and then, once we are back on Berkeley East in the spring, the other one changes the plan. It is not completely untrue, as one of us doesn’t really think about cruising while on land, except […]
When we crossed the Atlantic, six years ago, our plan was to sail fast to Turkey, and then cruise slowly back west. But after more than 3,000 miles at sea, we weren’t excited to move Berkeley East at all, let alone quickly. So we spent three years traveling through the Med just getting to Turkey, […]
24 September 2015 When we began our 2015 sailing season, the plan was to get back to Italy for the winter via Southern Turkey, Crete, the Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands. But as in most years, our plan changed. After reaching Corfu, our jumping off point for Italy, we decided to go back to Turkey. […]
Lesbos, Greece Dear Nigel, Tom, Chris, Linda… We appreciate your interest in “The Adventures of Berkeley East” blog, and your requests for more frequent entries have been noted. Nigel, we don’t even know you, but we were overwhelmed that you expressed your concern for our wellbeing before letting us know that our lack of blogging […]
Ayvalik Archipelago, Turkey As hard as we try to convince people that our cruising life is more than just cocktails and sunsets, most don’t believe us. Or perhaps they just don’t want to hear us, as the thought of something other than smooth sailing, idyllic anchorages, refreshing cocktails and amazing sunsets would tarnish the concept […]
24 August 2015 We had just dropped the hook in Varkos Bay, a large anchorage off the mainland of Greece with water as blue as the Caribbean Islands, when the Captain said “that looks just like Gattopardo,” a boat we had encountered several times in the Caribbean. A bit later, a dinghy approached Berkeley East […]
