2013

What to do while the Meltemi blows

What to do while the Meltemi blows

Eastern Peloponnisos, Greece Meltemi winds are the strong, dry north winds of the Aegean Sea, which blow from late June or early July to September, reaching full strength in July and August. They blow strongest in the central Aegean, typically peak in the afternoon and often last for days without a break. The winds are […]

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Life’s a Beach

Life’s a Beach

Mykonos, Greece We have been fortunate to spend much of our lives living near beaches. And when we didn’t, we made a point to travel to places with great sun and sand. From California and Florida, to Australia, Mexico, Central America, South America, the South Pacific, Caribbean and now, the last four summers cruising in […]

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The Acropolis was calling

The Acropolis was calling

Athens, Greece While planning our trip to Athens, we read a lot of opinions, much of which were that Athens is just a big, busy, dirty city with only one redeeming feature, the Acropolis. We even met people who said it wasn’t worth a visit. But with our newfound love of Greek ruins, we had […]

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The road to Athens

The road to Athens

Golf of Patras to the Eastern Peloponnisos, Greece We often blog about the exciting things we see and do while cruising. But in between the iconic ruins and thrilling passages are normal, everyday occurrences that take cruising from one long vacation into just a regular, somewhat unusual, life. After a few weeks sailing around the […]

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The bridge, and the gap

The bridge, and the gap

Corinth Canal, Greece To sail from the Ionian Islands to the Aegean Sea, you can either go south around the Peloponnisos, or travel east through the Gulf of Corinth; we chose to go east. The entrance to the Gulf of Corinth is marked by the Rion-Andirrion suspension bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. […]

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A country in ruins

A country in ruins

Olympia, Delphi & Epidaurus For the last few years, we have been watching the Greek economic crisis with interest. As a result of government overspending, Greece was forced to adopt harsh austerity measures to bring the country’s deficit under control. This, in turn, caused much unhappiness with Greek residents, a change in lifestyle and drop […]

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Words to live by

Words to live by

Ionian Islands, Greece A cruising friend once gave us some very good advice. “Always remember, any docking that you can walk away from, is a good docking.” We have passed these brilliant words on to other cruisers, posted them on Facebook, blogged about them, and repeated them to ourselves after every hairy experience. But we […]

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Pork Chops at Jackie O’s

Pork Chops at Jackie O’s

Skorpios Island, Greece On our fifth night in Greece, we sat down to dinner in our private cove at Jackie’s favorite beach house. Jackie is Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and we were anchored off Skorpios, a private island of the Onassis dynasty and the wedding venue of Jackie and Ari. There is no public access […]

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Another day, another gale.

Another day, another gale.

Siracusa, Sicily Italy It was a beautiful, sunny, calm morning in Siracusa Sicily. Perfect conditions to dinghy into town for one last wander, before leaving our home-away-from-home for Greece. One last visit to Sicily’s most stunning piazza, one last gelato, one last browse through the lively open market, one last gathering of supplies, one last […]

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MALTA RADIO: “What is the problem?”

MALTA RADIO: “What is the problem?”

Siracusa, Sicily, Italy VESSEL: “The problem is the Captain is crazy!” This was one of the first things we heard after leaving Marina di Ragusa, Sicily to begin our 2013 cruising season. Bound for Siracusa, on a nine-hour passage to shake the cobwebs out of Berkeley East, the distress call over the VHF took us […]

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