The Odyssey: Departure

Tomorrow morning we depart for our long-awaited Odyssey trip.

We will arrive in Athens on Monday afternoon and maybe do a little sightseeing if we're not too jet lagged. Our hotel is within walking distance of the Acropolis, so that would be our first stop.

On Tuesday morning, we'll try to meet up with Capt. John Kretschmer at Marina Zea in Piraeus to help with any last-minute provisioning. Quetzal, his 47-foot Kaufman cutter-rigged sailboat, is parked in a slip there. (The photo is from the marina's website at medmarinas.com. Click it for a larger view.) Nan has never met John, so introductions over breakfast and a quick tour of the boat may be in order.

The rest of the crew--Harry, Velinda and Kevin--should arrive by Wednesday, when we're scheduled to set sail. My guess is that we will sail overnight to Turkey that first day. The weather and other factors could dictate otherwise, but right now the extended forecast is calling for sunny skies and average temperatures around 70 degrees. Windfinder.com is showing light breezes mostly out of the north in the Aegean Sea which separates Greece from Turkey, so we could be in for some perfect sailing conditions as we set out.

Next update: Athens