Othoni, Greece During the last five cruising seasons, Berkeley East has spent a huge amount of time in Greece. We have visited some 60 islands; countless anchorages, towns and cities have been explored. Some were quintessential, others, not so much. But each one added to the fabulous experience that is Greece. We have celebrated four […]
Gulfs of Corinth and Patras, Greece We had been through the Corinth Canal, Gulf of Corinth and the Gulf of Patras twice before, so this passage was more about moving the boat, than exploring. We were traveling out of the Aegean and into the Ionian Sea, and we wanted to do it fast. In the […]
Pireaus, Greece We usually prefer exploring new destinations rather than revisiting the same places over and over. But there is something to be said for going back to a marina where you have been before, like Zea Marina in Pireaus Greece. There are no worries about where you will dock, no wondering about how to […]
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. […]
