Of course, as soon as I had given up hope of Latitudes & Attitudes ever publishing my article about our 2008 Odyssey sailing trip, they finally did publish it in their May 2010 issue, along with fourteen of the eighteen photos I submitted. If you missed it at the newstand or at the seafaring.com website, you can still read it in its published format at Capt. John Kretschmer's website: "The Odd-yssey" by John Lichty.
Editor Sue took a few liberties that I wasn't overly happy about, and there are some misspellings in the photo captions, but the article finally made it to print and that's what matters. She even mailed me a check, which went immediately into the "boat fund."
If you would like to read the original article, in its original format, with all eighteen photos, which I posted here back in March when I was sure it would never get published, here's a link to it: "The Odd-yssey".
About Me
- John Lichty
- Savannah,
Georgia, USA
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." --Henry David Thoreau
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Showing posts with label Odyssey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odyssey. Show all posts
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Odd-yssey
Despite assurances from Editor Sue at Latitudes & Attitudes magazine that she would publish it eventually, it has been almost two years since I submitted the following article from our somewhat ill-fated Odyssey trip. St. Patrick's Day seems as good a day as any to post it on the blog. Don't tell her you saw it here first!
The Odd-yssey
When Capt. John Kretschmer mentioned that he was thinking of re-creating the Odyssey by sailing from Troy to Ithaca, I couldn’t believe it. What a great idea! We were at the end of a successful passage from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas and back, and we were feeling that sense of accomplishment that makes you think you’re ready for whatever’s next. Follow in the footsteps of Ulysses, one of history’s greatest adventurers? Sure, why not? If he did it in a primitive galley, we could surely do it in a modern sailboat. And if it took him ten years, we could certainly do it in two weeks. These thoughts sustained me through the fifteen months of planning and preparation leading up to our voyage, which began on April 23 of 2008 and ended on May 7.
There is much to be said in favor of spontaneity. Decide to do something and then go do it. No hesitation. No second-guessing. The fifteen months between the idea and the execution for the Odyssey trip gave us too much time to consider and then reconsider our plans. The original plan, based on the route detailed in Tim Severin’s The Ulysses Voyage: Sea Search for the Odyssey, called for us to fly into Izmir, on the west coast of Turkey, and then travel up the coast to the marina at Ayvalik, where we would meet up with Capt. John and his forty-seven foot 1987 Kaufman cutter, Quetzal. Our crew would consist of John, me, my wife Nan, and Harry and Velinda from the Bahamas trip. Since there are no marinas near the ancient ruins of Troy, in the furthest northwest corner of the Anatolian peninsula, we would travel overland to pay homage at the site of the Trojan War and its famous horse before retracing our route to begin our sail.
From Ayvalik we would sail west along the north coast of the island of Lesbos and then roughly southwest toward the Doro Channel between the islands of Evvia and Andros. Ulysses (called Odysseus in Greek) had carefully worked his way counter-clockwise around the northern Aegean Sea, sailing during the day and camping on shore at night, but we wanted to get to the locations where the main events of Homer’s epic tale had reputedly taken place, starting with the Cyclops encounter on the southern coast of Crete. From there we would sail to the island of Gramvousa, off the northwest corner of Crete. 
Severin postulated that this was the place where Aeolus, the Ruler of the Winds, gave Ulysses the leather bag of wind he would need to cross back to the Greek mainland. After working our way west and north around the fingers of the Peloponnese peninsula, we would sail right past Ulysses’ home island of Ithaca, as he had also done, into the area where his encounters with Circe, the Clashing Rocks, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis had taken place. We would then retrace our route south to Ithaca before sailing north again to end our voyage in Corfu.
By December the plans had changed. Instead of starting in Turkey, which would require greater travel expenses and the customs complication of arriving by plane but leaving by boat, it was decided that we would start in Athens and make a quick trip across the Aegean to Troy. John had worked a deal to have the Travel Channel film the voyage for a TV documentary, and they were counting on getting footage of us at Troy. John had also added another crewmember, Kevin.
Nan and I arrived in Athens a few days before we were to set sail so we could tour the city and see the sights, including the Acropolis and the Parthenon. The evening before our Wednesday departure, we met up with everybody at the marina in Piraeus for dinner and a chart briefing. It was good to see John, Harry and Velinda again, and to meet Kevin. Nan was meeting them all for the first time. Over wine and authentic Greek food, we discussed the trip ahead. Everyone was excited to get going, even after John informed us that the deal with the Travel Channel had fallen through.
After final fueling and provisioning, we were underway before noon the next day. Almost immediately, we experienced engine trouble. John had replaced the alternator the day before to correct a charging problem, and the belt slipped, filling the cockpit with burned-rubber smoke as it disintegrated. We sailed slowly along in the light winds as John worked in the engine compartment to replace the belt, but it was his last replacement so we agreed not to run the engine at more than 2,000 RPMs, the equivalent of five knots, for the rest of the trip.
In the late afternoon, we arrived at Cape Sounion, about twenty-five miles southeast of Piraeus, and anchored within sight of the Temple of Poseidon. This was the first of our touchpoints with the Odyssey route, but we were coming at it from the wrong direction. Ulysses and his men stopped here on their way from Troy.
On Thursday morning, we set out early with the idea of making an overnight passage northeast to Turkey. By afternoon, the wind from the north had picked up dramatically and we were tightly pinched to make headway against it in eight-foot swells as we approached the Doro Channel. We were beginning to wonder if the meltemi, the strong northerly winds that occur every summer in the Aegean, had arrived early. John had purposely planned the trip early in the season to avoid the meltemi, but there was no getting around the fact that the wind was going to prevent us from getting to Turkey as planned. We steered toward the closest logical landfall at Gavrio, on the southern coast of Andros, but even the leeward harbor offered little protection as the winds continued building to gale force.
Our Med mooring put us perpendicular to the wind, requiring several lines from the boat to the quay just to hold us in place. Relieved to be safely ashore, we found a cozy taverna for dinner and a discussion of our options. We all agreed that if the strong winds continued, we would not be able to continue our northeastern tack. John proposed sailing east instead, staying in the lee of the Greek islands to temper the wind, and arriving in Turkey at Kusadasi, almost 200 miles south of Troy. The implication was clear: we would not be going to Troy. To ease the disappointment, John suggested we take an extra day in Turkey to visit Ephesus, the ancient Greek ruins located a short drive north of Kusadasi, perhaps figuring that some ruins were better than none.
The wind was still howling on Friday morning, pinning us in place for the day. We wandered around Gavrio, shopped for provisions and killed time in an Internet café. Nan and I checked into a harborside hotel, hoping for a better night’s sleep and a decent shower. That evening we all watched as the local people celebrated Greek Orthodox Good Friday by parading through the streets carrying their church’s tabernacle and playing the funeral dirge on bugle and drums.
There was a small window of opportunity the following day, so we carefully exited the harbor and headed southeast along the protected coasts of Andros and Tinos. The wind picked up predictably as we crossed the gap to Mykonos, where we spent our fourth night at the new harbor north of town. It would have been worth the trip into town to see the distinctive “Greeky” architecture of white adobe buildings with bright blue trim for which Mykonos is known, but we lacked ground transportation and it was still off-season for most businesses.
We awoke to rain on Sunday morning. The winds had moved on, replaced by dark clouds. We motored most of the distance east to the island of IkarÃa, named for Icarus from Greek mythology, and arrived at Kirikos as the town was preparing to celebrate Greek Orthodox Easter. While we were tying up in the town’s small harbor, some local people were busy hanging Judas in effigy at the end of the dock. Later, when it was dark enough, we watched from a harborside taverna as they set the dummy on fire. The gathered crowd cheered as the fireworks stuffed inside were ignited, sending rockets in all directions. We had to admit we had never seen an Easter celebration to rival this one.
The clouds cleared but the wind didn’t return for the next leg of our trip east, to the island of Samos, just west of the Turkish coast. We moored at the new marina east of Pythagoria, the reputed birthplace of Pythagoras, the ancient mathematician credited with the theorem that bears his name. We made the muddy hike up and over the hill that separates the marina from town and were rewarded with a beautiful stroll along a stone boardwalk lined with tavernas on the one side and pastel-colored fishing boats on the other.
There was still no wind for our final push to Turkey on Tuesday morning, so we motored with limp sails while dodging the many cruise ships going to and coming from Kusadasi. We arrived in the early afternoon and were immediately captivated by the place. Turkey was very much like Greece in its terrain and climate, but everything about it was more pleasant. It was cleaner and better organized, the people were friendlier, and the food was better. There was a noticeable sense of pride and patriotism. All of this was clearly evident at a neighborhood street market we stumbled upon as we wandered the city streets. Despite the language and culture differences, and the fact that we were the only Americans in the crowded market, the merchants were happy to assist us in buying spices and souvenirs.
Ephesus, our substitute Troy, was made memorable by Emre, our personal guide. He admitted at the beginning of our day trip the next day that he was hung over from drinking too much raki, but that didn’t prevent him from filling our heads with all the known history of the famous ruins, everything from the significance of the bull busts that topped one ancient wall to the fact that Marc Antony and Cleopatra had celebrated their honeymoon here.
Our couple of days in Turkey were the highlight of our trip, but it had taken us a full week to get there. We needed to be 500 miles to the west, all the way to Corfu, within another week to make our travel connections. We would need to hurry. Crete, the site of the most memorable Odyssey events, would need to be skipped. Not only that, we would need to make a series of overnight passages, with very few landfalls.
Our first passage had us leaving Kusadasi before dawn and sailing continuously for more than 300 miles over two nights and three days to reach Methoni, at the southwest corner of the Peloponnese peninsula. We spent the night anchored offshore from the beach that draws summer crowds to this scenic town and its well-preserved Venetian-era castle.
Short on fuel from frequent light-air motoring, we were lucky to find a fuel truck willing to deliver on a Sunday morning when we pulled into the harbor at Pylos, just a few miles up the coast from Methoni. Then it was north to Ithaca on our second overnight passage.
Early the next morning, we anchored in the beautiful harbor of Vathi on Ithaca. Not counting Methoni and Pylos, where Ulysses and his crew must have stopped on their way north, Ithaca was only the second touchpoint of our Odyssey trip after the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion. We planned to make the most of it, renting cars to drive to the Cave of the Nymphs in the northern part of the island, where Ulysses hid his treasure after returning home. The cave had collapsed during the 1953 Kefalonia earthquake so there was not much to see, but standing at the shore below, it was easy to imagine Ulysses washing up in the crystalline waters of Polis Bay after twenty years away from home.
We headed north in the afternoon for the island of Corfu, our last overnight passage and the last leg of our trip. The capital city of Corfu, with its imposing Venetian citadel and Great Cross, were a welcome sight through the mist the next morning. We sailed past the city a few miles to the town of Gouvia, where Corfu’s primary marina is located, and Med moored for the final time.
Nan and I went off in search of the hotel we had booked for the next three nights, and John went off to see if he could clear us in to Greece at the marina’s customs office. We had cleared in and out of Turkey at the Kusadasi marina, but since leaving Turkey, we had never been in one place long enough or during business hours on a weekday to clear back in to Greece. When Nan and I returned to the boat to pack up and move, John informed us that since it was off-season and the marina’s customs office was closed, we would all need to go into Corfu city to clear in. Tired, hungry and grubby, Nan and I stood with the others at the bus stop, regretting that we hadn’t made a detour to Samos or somewhere right after we left Turkey to take care of this necessary detail. Three hours later, after trudging through the rainy cobblestone streets, visiting first one office and then another and then yet another, and waiting interminable periods in sterile waiting rooms, we were cleared. Nan and I caught the first taxi we could find back to the marina, packed up and caught another taxi to the hotel.
After showers, clean clothes, an excellent meal and a good night’s sleep, we felt human again. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then walked back to the marina. John was preparing the boat to be left on its own for a few weeks, and he and Kevin were packing up so they could catch a flight to Athens that afternoon. Harry and Velinda were going to stay on the boat for a few days to take in the sights of Corfu. We talked the nice owners of the Hinckley next to us into taking our picture, then we exchanged contact information, shook hands and hugged. Our Odyssey was over.
While it is certainly true that we in no small way duplicated the voyage of Ulysses, I believe that our adventure in his part of the world more than lived up to Capt. John’s hope for it when he wrote in an email message before the trip: “I am searching for the spirit of Odysseus as much as anything.”
The Odd-ysseyWhen Capt. John Kretschmer mentioned that he was thinking of re-creating the Odyssey by sailing from Troy to Ithaca, I couldn’t believe it. What a great idea! We were at the end of a successful passage from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas and back, and we were feeling that sense of accomplishment that makes you think you’re ready for whatever’s next. Follow in the footsteps of Ulysses, one of history’s greatest adventurers? Sure, why not? If he did it in a primitive galley, we could surely do it in a modern sailboat. And if it took him ten years, we could certainly do it in two weeks. These thoughts sustained me through the fifteen months of planning and preparation leading up to our voyage, which began on April 23 of 2008 and ended on May 7.
There is much to be said in favor of spontaneity. Decide to do something and then go do it. No hesitation. No second-guessing. The fifteen months between the idea and the execution for the Odyssey trip gave us too much time to consider and then reconsider our plans. The original plan, based on the route detailed in Tim Severin’s The Ulysses Voyage: Sea Search for the Odyssey, called for us to fly into Izmir, on the west coast of Turkey, and then travel up the coast to the marina at Ayvalik, where we would meet up with Capt. John and his forty-seven foot 1987 Kaufman cutter, Quetzal. Our crew would consist of John, me, my wife Nan, and Harry and Velinda from the Bahamas trip. Since there are no marinas near the ancient ruins of Troy, in the furthest northwest corner of the Anatolian peninsula, we would travel overland to pay homage at the site of the Trojan War and its famous horse before retracing our route to begin our sail.
From Ayvalik we would sail west along the north coast of the island of Lesbos and then roughly southwest toward the Doro Channel between the islands of Evvia and Andros. Ulysses (called Odysseus in Greek) had carefully worked his way counter-clockwise around the northern Aegean Sea, sailing during the day and camping on shore at night, but we wanted to get to the locations where the main events of Homer’s epic tale had reputedly taken place, starting with the Cyclops encounter on the southern coast of Crete. From there we would sail to the island of Gramvousa, off the northwest corner of Crete. 
Severin postulated that this was the place where Aeolus, the Ruler of the Winds, gave Ulysses the leather bag of wind he would need to cross back to the Greek mainland. After working our way west and north around the fingers of the Peloponnese peninsula, we would sail right past Ulysses’ home island of Ithaca, as he had also done, into the area where his encounters with Circe, the Clashing Rocks, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis had taken place. We would then retrace our route south to Ithaca before sailing north again to end our voyage in Corfu.
By December the plans had changed. Instead of starting in Turkey, which would require greater travel expenses and the customs complication of arriving by plane but leaving by boat, it was decided that we would start in Athens and make a quick trip across the Aegean to Troy. John had worked a deal to have the Travel Channel film the voyage for a TV documentary, and they were counting on getting footage of us at Troy. John had also added another crewmember, Kevin.
Nan and I arrived in Athens a few days before we were to set sail so we could tour the city and see the sights, including the Acropolis and the Parthenon. The evening before our Wednesday departure, we met up with everybody at the marina in Piraeus for dinner and a chart briefing. It was good to see John, Harry and Velinda again, and to meet Kevin. Nan was meeting them all for the first time. Over wine and authentic Greek food, we discussed the trip ahead. Everyone was excited to get going, even after John informed us that the deal with the Travel Channel had fallen through.
After final fueling and provisioning, we were underway before noon the next day. Almost immediately, we experienced engine trouble. John had replaced the alternator the day before to correct a charging problem, and the belt slipped, filling the cockpit with burned-rubber smoke as it disintegrated. We sailed slowly along in the light winds as John worked in the engine compartment to replace the belt, but it was his last replacement so we agreed not to run the engine at more than 2,000 RPMs, the equivalent of five knots, for the rest of the trip.
In the late afternoon, we arrived at Cape Sounion, about twenty-five miles southeast of Piraeus, and anchored within sight of the Temple of Poseidon. This was the first of our touchpoints with the Odyssey route, but we were coming at it from the wrong direction. Ulysses and his men stopped here on their way from Troy.On Thursday morning, we set out early with the idea of making an overnight passage northeast to Turkey. By afternoon, the wind from the north had picked up dramatically and we were tightly pinched to make headway against it in eight-foot swells as we approached the Doro Channel. We were beginning to wonder if the meltemi, the strong northerly winds that occur every summer in the Aegean, had arrived early. John had purposely planned the trip early in the season to avoid the meltemi, but there was no getting around the fact that the wind was going to prevent us from getting to Turkey as planned. We steered toward the closest logical landfall at Gavrio, on the southern coast of Andros, but even the leeward harbor offered little protection as the winds continued building to gale force.
Our Med mooring put us perpendicular to the wind, requiring several lines from the boat to the quay just to hold us in place. Relieved to be safely ashore, we found a cozy taverna for dinner and a discussion of our options. We all agreed that if the strong winds continued, we would not be able to continue our northeastern tack. John proposed sailing east instead, staying in the lee of the Greek islands to temper the wind, and arriving in Turkey at Kusadasi, almost 200 miles south of Troy. The implication was clear: we would not be going to Troy. To ease the disappointment, John suggested we take an extra day in Turkey to visit Ephesus, the ancient Greek ruins located a short drive north of Kusadasi, perhaps figuring that some ruins were better than none.
The wind was still howling on Friday morning, pinning us in place for the day. We wandered around Gavrio, shopped for provisions and killed time in an Internet café. Nan and I checked into a harborside hotel, hoping for a better night’s sleep and a decent shower. That evening we all watched as the local people celebrated Greek Orthodox Good Friday by parading through the streets carrying their church’s tabernacle and playing the funeral dirge on bugle and drums.There was a small window of opportunity the following day, so we carefully exited the harbor and headed southeast along the protected coasts of Andros and Tinos. The wind picked up predictably as we crossed the gap to Mykonos, where we spent our fourth night at the new harbor north of town. It would have been worth the trip into town to see the distinctive “Greeky” architecture of white adobe buildings with bright blue trim for which Mykonos is known, but we lacked ground transportation and it was still off-season for most businesses.
We awoke to rain on Sunday morning. The winds had moved on, replaced by dark clouds. We motored most of the distance east to the island of IkarÃa, named for Icarus from Greek mythology, and arrived at Kirikos as the town was preparing to celebrate Greek Orthodox Easter. While we were tying up in the town’s small harbor, some local people were busy hanging Judas in effigy at the end of the dock. Later, when it was dark enough, we watched from a harborside taverna as they set the dummy on fire. The gathered crowd cheered as the fireworks stuffed inside were ignited, sending rockets in all directions. We had to admit we had never seen an Easter celebration to rival this one.The clouds cleared but the wind didn’t return for the next leg of our trip east, to the island of Samos, just west of the Turkish coast. We moored at the new marina east of Pythagoria, the reputed birthplace of Pythagoras, the ancient mathematician credited with the theorem that bears his name. We made the muddy hike up and over the hill that separates the marina from town and were rewarded with a beautiful stroll along a stone boardwalk lined with tavernas on the one side and pastel-colored fishing boats on the other.
There was still no wind for our final push to Turkey on Tuesday morning, so we motored with limp sails while dodging the many cruise ships going to and coming from Kusadasi. We arrived in the early afternoon and were immediately captivated by the place. Turkey was very much like Greece in its terrain and climate, but everything about it was more pleasant. It was cleaner and better organized, the people were friendlier, and the food was better. There was a noticeable sense of pride and patriotism. All of this was clearly evident at a neighborhood street market we stumbled upon as we wandered the city streets. Despite the language and culture differences, and the fact that we were the only Americans in the crowded market, the merchants were happy to assist us in buying spices and souvenirs.
Ephesus, our substitute Troy, was made memorable by Emre, our personal guide. He admitted at the beginning of our day trip the next day that he was hung over from drinking too much raki, but that didn’t prevent him from filling our heads with all the known history of the famous ruins, everything from the significance of the bull busts that topped one ancient wall to the fact that Marc Antony and Cleopatra had celebrated their honeymoon here.Our couple of days in Turkey were the highlight of our trip, but it had taken us a full week to get there. We needed to be 500 miles to the west, all the way to Corfu, within another week to make our travel connections. We would need to hurry. Crete, the site of the most memorable Odyssey events, would need to be skipped. Not only that, we would need to make a series of overnight passages, with very few landfalls.
Our first passage had us leaving Kusadasi before dawn and sailing continuously for more than 300 miles over two nights and three days to reach Methoni, at the southwest corner of the Peloponnese peninsula. We spent the night anchored offshore from the beach that draws summer crowds to this scenic town and its well-preserved Venetian-era castle.Short on fuel from frequent light-air motoring, we were lucky to find a fuel truck willing to deliver on a Sunday morning when we pulled into the harbor at Pylos, just a few miles up the coast from Methoni. Then it was north to Ithaca on our second overnight passage.
Early the next morning, we anchored in the beautiful harbor of Vathi on Ithaca. Not counting Methoni and Pylos, where Ulysses and his crew must have stopped on their way north, Ithaca was only the second touchpoint of our Odyssey trip after the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion. We planned to make the most of it, renting cars to drive to the Cave of the Nymphs in the northern part of the island, where Ulysses hid his treasure after returning home. The cave had collapsed during the 1953 Kefalonia earthquake so there was not much to see, but standing at the shore below, it was easy to imagine Ulysses washing up in the crystalline waters of Polis Bay after twenty years away from home.We headed north in the afternoon for the island of Corfu, our last overnight passage and the last leg of our trip. The capital city of Corfu, with its imposing Venetian citadel and Great Cross, were a welcome sight through the mist the next morning. We sailed past the city a few miles to the town of Gouvia, where Corfu’s primary marina is located, and Med moored for the final time.
Nan and I went off in search of the hotel we had booked for the next three nights, and John went off to see if he could clear us in to Greece at the marina’s customs office. We had cleared in and out of Turkey at the Kusadasi marina, but since leaving Turkey, we had never been in one place long enough or during business hours on a weekday to clear back in to Greece. When Nan and I returned to the boat to pack up and move, John informed us that since it was off-season and the marina’s customs office was closed, we would all need to go into Corfu city to clear in. Tired, hungry and grubby, Nan and I stood with the others at the bus stop, regretting that we hadn’t made a detour to Samos or somewhere right after we left Turkey to take care of this necessary detail. Three hours later, after trudging through the rainy cobblestone streets, visiting first one office and then another and then yet another, and waiting interminable periods in sterile waiting rooms, we were cleared. Nan and I caught the first taxi we could find back to the marina, packed up and caught another taxi to the hotel.
After showers, clean clothes, an excellent meal and a good night’s sleep, we felt human again. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then walked back to the marina. John was preparing the boat to be left on its own for a few weeks, and he and Kevin were packing up so they could catch a flight to Athens that afternoon. Harry and Velinda were going to stay on the boat for a few days to take in the sights of Corfu. We talked the nice owners of the Hinckley next to us into taking our picture, then we exchanged contact information, shook hands and hugged. Our Odyssey was over.
While it is certainly true that we in no small way duplicated the voyage of Ulysses, I believe that our adventure in his part of the world more than lived up to Capt. John’s hope for it when he wrote in an email message before the trip: “I am searching for the spirit of Odysseus as much as anything.”
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sailing the Spanish Virgin Islands in April
Nan and I will be sailing with John Kretschmer again in April. Our trip this time will take us from Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas to Ponce in Puerto Rico, by way of the Spanish Virgin Islands. It's not a trip that's on John's regular schedule (http://www.yayablues.com/passages.htm), but he needs to get his Kaufman 47 sailboat, Quetzal, from where he ended his last trip, "Trans-Caribbean South to North: Trinidad to St. Thomas, via Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Martinique" to where he will start his next trip, "Fountain of Youth: Retracing the route of Ponce de Leon from Ponce, Puerto Rico to St. Augustine, via Grand Turk, San Salvador, Hopetown."
Our involvement is the result of a trade that John and I made at the end of our Odyssey trip last year. He agreed to take Nan and me sailing again in exchange for me redesigning his website. I am an Internet developer by trade, and I don't normally do freelance work, but John's offer sounded like a good one so we shook on it. With his comments and content, the redesign went smoothly and the new website has been in place now for more than six months. It seems to be working well as a marketing tool based on how quickly his trips sell out, so he's happy with his end of the trade.
Now we're looking ahead to our end of the trade, with a departure date of Sunday, April 12. According to John, it will be a casual sail, with none of the overnight passages he normally plans, just daysails between marinas on St. Thomas, Culebra, Vieques and Puerto Rico. John has invited another couple, author Dallas Murphy and his wife, to join us but it will just be the five of us. I am in the process of reading Mr. Murphy's Rounding the Horn: Being a Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives--a Deck's-Eye View of Cape Horn so I will have some topics for conversation. It should be a fun, relaxing trip. I will post updates and photos to my blog as we travel.
Our involvement is the result of a trade that John and I made at the end of our Odyssey trip last year. He agreed to take Nan and me sailing again in exchange for me redesigning his website. I am an Internet developer by trade, and I don't normally do freelance work, but John's offer sounded like a good one so we shook on it. With his comments and content, the redesign went smoothly and the new website has been in place now for more than six months. It seems to be working well as a marketing tool based on how quickly his trips sell out, so he's happy with his end of the trade.
Now we're looking ahead to our end of the trade, with a departure date of Sunday, April 12. According to John, it will be a casual sail, with none of the overnight passages he normally plans, just daysails between marinas on St. Thomas, Culebra, Vieques and Puerto Rico. John has invited another couple, author Dallas Murphy and his wife, to join us but it will just be the five of us. I am in the process of reading Mr. Murphy's Rounding the Horn: Being a Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives--a Deck's-Eye View of Cape Horn so I will have some topics for conversation. It should be a fun, relaxing trip. I will post updates and photos to my blog as we travel.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Letter 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been an eventful year for us. It started out with the worst possible news when our dog Charlie was diagnosed with cancer. He had a tumor in his upper jaw that turned out to be osteosarcoma. We decided not to put him through surgery, which would have been painful and disfiguring, and instead began a course of chemotherapy to slow the metastasis. Even with treatment, it was apparent by the date of his tenth birthday, March 29, that we needed to end his suffering. Charlie passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 6, as we sat on the floor comforting him. He was a wonderful companion and we will miss him always.
Two weeks later we flew to Athens for a trip we had been planning for over a year, to re-create the Odyssey with four other people by sailing a 47-foot sailboat from Troy in Turkey to Ithaca, an island off the west coast of Greece. The combination of starting in Greece and unfavorable sailing weather turned our adventure into more of a direct trip to Turkey and back than the grand tour of the Aegean and Adriatic Seas that Ulysses had undertaken, but he took ten years and we only had two weeks. We did get to see some sights along the way though that were in keeping with the spirit of Ulysses: the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Kusadasi and the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey, and the Cave of the Nymphs on Ithaca. We ended the trip in Corfu, where it took a few days to get our land legs back. If you’re interested, there’s a fun slideshow of the trip, complete with an authentic Greek soundtrack, on John’s blog at http://whisperingjesse.blogspot.com/2008/05/odyssey-slideshow.html.
A week after returning home, John flew out to Washington, DC for an Internet development conference that allowed him to stay with Curt and Meg Haensel and their kids in nearby Falls Church. The last time we got together, Meg was pregnant with Ada, who is now ten years old and has a little brother, Peter, so it had been way too long. It was fun to spend a few days with everybody, getting reacquainted with Curt and Meg, learning about nautiluses from Ada, and trying to keep up with Peter on Guitar Hero. We hope to have them come out to Colorado for skiing or golf sometime soon.
Speaking of golf, we finally got Nan some new clubs and played together quite a bit at Redlands Mesa, the course right up the road. John established his first handicap since junior golf, but it’s not a number he’s proud of. Bad golf lives!
For John’s fiftieth birthday in June, Nan gave him a golden retriever puppy to help ease the sorrow of losing Charlie. Raising young Scout has been a challenge. He is willful and tough-minded, with a cocked-head, what’s-in-it-for-me look in response to most commands. But he is also lovable and affectionate, and a terrific hiking companion, so he has endeared himself to us completely.
Scout was a real trouper when we drove home to Wisconsin in late July. For safety, we kept him in his travel crate, which we dubbed “the space capsule,” for two days of driving in each direction with very little complaint. In addition to spending time with family and friends, Nan in Manitowoc and me in Wauwatosa, highlights of the time at home included a Brewers/Cubs game, the State Fair, Lollapalooza in Chicago, and more bad golf.
In October we returned to Isla Mujeres, Mexico for the fifth time in ten years. It rained every day but then the sun would come out and turn the puddles to steam, so it was hot and humid but otherwise pleasant. We rented an apartment for ten days that was high enough to catch a cool breeze and provide beautiful views of the beach, palm trees and the blue Caribbean. We visited with our friend Juan and his family, and toured the new house he is building. It should be finished by the time we return next September, when we will be renting the same apartment for a month, taking Scout with us, and enrolling in an intensive Spanish class. The laptop and decent Internet access will keep us in touch with family, friends and work. ¡Debe ser una aventura!
A few weeks after our return, Nan went back to Manitowoc again, this time for the wedding of her niece Molly to Brandon and to spend time with her mother and siblings. John stayed home to look after Scout and to follow all the news leading up to the election. We don’t know about you, but we were pleased with the results. It feels like the country is back on track to make progress on issues that are long overdue, like improving the economy and ending the war in Iraq.
Here’s to peaceful, more prosperous days in the coming year for you and yours.
Love,
Monday, September 29, 2008
Grado to Gibraltar?
One would think that moving a sailboat out of the water and into a secure boatyard would be the safest place to store it for an extended period. I'm sure John Kretschmer thought so when he left his boat, Quetzal, in dry storage in Grado, Italy. Quetzal is the 47-foot Kaufman cutter that Nan and I helped sail on our Odyssey trip this past spring. After we left the boat in Corfu, John sailed her with another group up the east coast of the Adriatic to Venice and then on to Grado, where he had her hauled out until he could return for the next passage.
A few weeks ago, I received an email message from Harry, another of the Odyssey crewmembers, that Quetzal had been seriously damaged. I confirmed the details in an email exchange with John. He said a tornado had struck the Grado boatyard and knocked Quetzal off her supports. Fortunately, she had fallen to starboard and landed on an inflatable boat so the hull damage was not severe, but not so fortunately, the mast and rigging came down on a powerboat next to the inflatable and on the fence beyond that. They were a total loss.
Instead of returning for his scheduled Trans-Med trip earlier this month, John returned to assess the damage and begin the process of making Quetzal sailable again. He ordered a new mast from the Selden company in France, at a cost of at least $20,000. With any luck, it should be delivered and installed in time for a November 1 departure. Then he'll need to hustle in order to meet a crew in Gibraltar, Spain in time for the November 22 start of the Trans-Atlantic passage he has had planned for over a year.
Since the Trans-Med passage was canceled, John will have no scheduled crew to help him sail from Grado to Gibraltar, so with Nan's approval, I volunteered. I offered to cover my own expenses in exchange for the opportunity to help John and one of the original Trans-Med couples sail Quetzal two thousand miles in two weeks, and John accepted. If it goes as I expect it will, with minimal landfalls and continuous overnight passages, it could be a serious experience builder. More details to follow.
A few weeks ago, I received an email message from Harry, another of the Odyssey crewmembers, that Quetzal had been seriously damaged. I confirmed the details in an email exchange with John. He said a tornado had struck the Grado boatyard and knocked Quetzal off her supports. Fortunately, she had fallen to starboard and landed on an inflatable boat so the hull damage was not severe, but not so fortunately, the mast and rigging came down on a powerboat next to the inflatable and on the fence beyond that. They were a total loss.
Instead of returning for his scheduled Trans-Med trip earlier this month, John returned to assess the damage and begin the process of making Quetzal sailable again. He ordered a new mast from the Selden company in France, at a cost of at least $20,000. With any luck, it should be delivered and installed in time for a November 1 departure. Then he'll need to hustle in order to meet a crew in Gibraltar, Spain in time for the November 22 start of the Trans-Atlantic passage he has had planned for over a year.
Since the Trans-Med passage was canceled, John will have no scheduled crew to help him sail from Grado to Gibraltar, so with Nan's approval, I volunteered. I offered to cover my own expenses in exchange for the opportunity to help John and one of the original Trans-Med couples sail Quetzal two thousand miles in two weeks, and John accepted. If it goes as I expect it will, with minimal landfalls and continuous overnight passages, it could be a serious experience builder. More details to follow.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
"Searching for epic hero Odysseus in the winds of history"
John Kretschmer's article about our Odyssey sailing trip was published in the Travel section of the Miami Herald today: "Searching for epic hero Odysseus in the winds of history" The Web version included three photos, two by John and one by me. John's are the two embedded in this post. Mine is the one of John in the left sidebar under My Photos.It was interesting to read John's take on our adventure, which took place more than four months ago. Some of the details were not exactly as Nan and I remembered them, but then embellishment is the writer's prerogative. As John just emailed me, "The piece has a few fictions but not too many."
The article balances the history and mythology of Odysseus with the details of our trip in fanciful ways, as if the Greek gods themselves were behind our misadventures. It is an entertaining read. If you read it online, there is a form at the bottom for submitting comments. I'm sure John would enjoy hearing from you.My account of our trip is due to be published as a feature article in an upcoming issue of Latitudes & Attitudes. At least that's what Editor Sue has told me. It will be my first published piece, so I'm pretty excited about it. With any luck, it could create opportunities for future writing assignments. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Odyssey: Slideshow
Sorry for the delay in posting additional photos from our Odyssey trip. I took about 360 so it has taken some time to figure out which ones to share. While reviewing them, I came up with a novel idea: use the Windows DVD Maker to create the slideshow, then rip it to WMV and MOV formats and upload it to the Internet. It's less work than creating Flex/Flash slideshows like I did for our Italy trip last fall, and I was able to add music from a CD of classic Greek music that we picked up in Corfu. Take your pick:- The Odyssey: Slideshow (Windows Media Player format)
- The Odyssey: Slideshow (QuickTime Player format)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Bombay Sapphire's "The Spirit of Exploration" Contest
While we were away on our Odyssey trip, I received an email invitation from a media company represesenting Bombay Sapphire:
Methoni:
The official contest begins today. If you're interested in participating, you can fill out an entry form online at http://www.thespiritofexploration.com/. Good luck!
You've been invited to participate in Bombay Sapphire's The Spirit of Exploration blog! We feel that your blog embodies that of a true spirit of exploration and we're exclusively inviting you to be part of the journey. We are only extending this opportunity to select top bloggers and we are pleased to let you know that you are one of them!Here's the entry I composed during our sailing passage from Kusadasi to
We invite you to write an entry answering the question: What does The Spirit of Exploration mean to you?
Methoni:
To me, the Spirit of Exploration is a mindset, a way of looking at life that strives to pack in as much experience as possible. It requires leaving the comfort of daily routines to seek out new and interesting challenges, forsaking certain safety for the joys of accomplishment and survival.They requested photos, so I submitted two from my The Odyssey: Early Photos post, the one taken at the Temple of Poseidon and the one of me at the helm.
For example, as I write this, I am sailing across the southern Aegean Sea with five other people in a 47-foot sailboat, directly from Kusadasi in Turkey to Pilos in Greece, a distance of about 300 nautical miles. We pushed off before dawn this morning and expect to make landfall in two days, weather permitting. This passage will involve sailing overnight for two nights, sometimes out of sight of land. It is the sixth leg of our voyage, which started in Athens more than a week ago and will finish in Corfu next week.
Undertaking a voyage such as this involved more than planning and coordination. It took self-examination. Did I possess not only the necessary sailing skills and experience, but also the desire and commitment to face the uncertainties of a journey halfway around the world, sailing through unfamiliar seas, and experiencing languages and cultures different from my own? As I look out across the water to the passing island of IkarÃa--named for Icarus, one of the most daring adventurers from Greek mythology--I am certain of my answer: "Yes!" I desire to live the Spirit of Exploration and I am committed to sharing that Spirit with others, that they may experience it for themselves.
The official contest begins today. If you're interested in participating, you can fill out an entry form online at http://www.thespiritofexploration.com/. Good luck!
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Odyssey: Early Photos
Nan and I are checked into the Sofitel Hotel at the Athens airport, after our Aegean Airlines flight over from Corfu this morning. Early tomorrow morning we fly back to Colorado with Lufthansa by way of Munich. We are both ready to go home. The three weeks we have been traveling is starting to feel like three months.
We have reliable high-speed Internet access here at the hotel, so I am trying to catch up on the blog. I have manually posted the few Spot updates that went through that Kevin has forwarded to me. If you view the Spot updates' Google Maps links in chronological order, they give you a rough idea of our voyage east to Kusadasi, Turkey and then west to Corfu, although the last Spot is from right outside of Methoni, our first landfall after leaving Kusadasi.
Here are three photos from early in our voyage. The first shows Quetzal tied up at the marina in Piraeus before we set sail. That's Kevin in the white shirt, writing in his journal. The second is a group shot of Harry, Kevin, me and Nan in front of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion after our first day of sailing. And the third shows me at the helm on our second day, sailing to Andros, when the gale started to blow in. The camera is not tilted, as you can see by the level sea behind me; the boat is really heeling that much. What you can't see is that we were rocking and rolling through some massive swells that afternoon.When we get home, I will try to put together the best photos into a slideshow and post them here. Thanks for following our voyage!
Update 5/15/08: Kevin sent me two more Spots, one from Ithaca dated May 5 and one from Corfu dated May 7. Both are posted now under their respective dates.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Odyssey: Corfu
We arrived in Corfu yesterday morning after an overnight passage from Ithaca. After four nights of passages between Kusadasi and Corfu, Nan and I were ready to get off the boat. As soon as we tied up at the Gouvia marina, we set out in search of the Iliada beach hotel, where we had a reservation. We were a day early but it is still off-season here so it wasn't a problem.
Ithaca was beautiful. We rented two Fiats for the six of us and toured the northern end of the island. We stopped at an old monastery with a view of Vathi, where we had anchored Quetzal. Then we drove on to the Cave of the Nymphs, known locally as Louvias Cave. It was a disappointment. The 1953 earthquake which devastated Kefalonia, the large island to the west of Ithaca, also collapsed the cave. It was located right at the waterline and we were able to walk to it, but there wasn't much to see, just the grafitti and trash that are ever-present in Greece.
We couldn't clear into Greece at the marina, so we needed to go into Old Corfu. We all took a bus, which ended up taking longer than if we had just walked the three kilometers. We wandered through the narrow crowded streets, somewhat reminiscent of Florence, to reach the waterfront where the customs and immigration offices were located. After an endless wait, an official added a handstamp to our Turkey stamps and we were cleared. Nan and I caught a taxi back to the hotel and showered off the many days of sea travel, then ate a leisurely Greek dinner and settled into our first land-based sleep in almost two weeks.
We will be in Corfu until Friday morning, when we fly to Athens. On Saturday morning, we fly home. I think we will both be relieved to be home. This has been an interesting adventure, not at all how we imagined it. We had difficult weather at the beginning when we were sailing east and then almost no wind at all for the westward return. We needed to run the engine frequently to make headway, which meant we were going about five knots instead of the seven to eight that we would have been going under sail. We still managed to travel eight hundred nautical miles in fourteen days, but that meant that we spent more time on the boat than we did exploring the places where we made landfall. In retrospect, it was unrealistic to think we could re-create the Odyssey in that timeframe. Afterall, it took Ulysses ten whole years to make his similar voyage.
Ithaca was beautiful. We rented two Fiats for the six of us and toured the northern end of the island. We stopped at an old monastery with a view of Vathi, where we had anchored Quetzal. Then we drove on to the Cave of the Nymphs, known locally as Louvias Cave. It was a disappointment. The 1953 earthquake which devastated Kefalonia, the large island to the west of Ithaca, also collapsed the cave. It was located right at the waterline and we were able to walk to it, but there wasn't much to see, just the grafitti and trash that are ever-present in Greece.
We couldn't clear into Greece at the marina, so we needed to go into Old Corfu. We all took a bus, which ended up taking longer than if we had just walked the three kilometers. We wandered through the narrow crowded streets, somewhat reminiscent of Florence, to reach the waterfront where the customs and immigration offices were located. After an endless wait, an official added a handstamp to our Turkey stamps and we were cleared. Nan and I caught a taxi back to the hotel and showered off the many days of sea travel, then ate a leisurely Greek dinner and settled into our first land-based sleep in almost two weeks.
We will be in Corfu until Friday morning, when we fly to Athens. On Saturday morning, we fly home. I think we will both be relieved to be home. This has been an interesting adventure, not at all how we imagined it. We had difficult weather at the beginning when we were sailing east and then almost no wind at all for the westward return. We needed to run the engine frequently to make headway, which meant we were going about five knots instead of the seven to eight that we would have been going under sail. We still managed to travel eight hundred nautical miles in fourteen days, but that meant that we spent more time on the boat than we did exploring the places where we made landfall. In retrospect, it was unrealistic to think we could re-create the Odyssey in that timeframe. Afterall, it took Ulysses ten whole years to make his similar voyage.
OK ESN:0-7351773 (Corfu)
This is Quetzal, all is well. We'll be in touch when we can.
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:39.6498
Longitude:19.8539
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/07/2008 00:01:24 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=39.6498,19.8539&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:39.6498
Longitude:19.8539
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/07/2008 00:01:24 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=39.6498,19.8539&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Monday, May 5, 2008
The Odyssey: Ithaca
We have arrived at Ithaca, Ulysses' home island, on the Ionian coast of Greece. Quetzal is currently anchored in the harbor of Vathi. We will be renting cars in a little while to drive up to the Cave of the Nymphs, where the only relics from Ulysses' presence on the island are located. Late this afternoon, we will be shoving off again on another overnight passage, this time to Corfu, our final destination.
We have been sailing almost continuously since leaving Kusadasi last Thursday. Our first landfall was on Saturday evening, in the little port of Methoni on the Peloponesse peninsula, a few miles short of our intended destination of Pylos. We had a well-deserved "taverna" dinner to celebrate our 300-mile passage. On Sunday morning, we sailed the short distance to Pylos and were able to buy diesel fuel, but all the markets were closed so we couldn't buy much in the way of provisions. Early in the afternoon, we set sail again for the overnight to Ithaca, where we are now.
Apparently, there is a limit to how many addresses we can have in the Spot system, and none of Nan's or mine made it into the list. Kevin has been nice enough to forward them all to me so I will post them manually when we get up to Corfu.
We have been sailing almost continuously since leaving Kusadasi last Thursday. Our first landfall was on Saturday evening, in the little port of Methoni on the Peloponesse peninsula, a few miles short of our intended destination of Pylos. We had a well-deserved "taverna" dinner to celebrate our 300-mile passage. On Sunday morning, we sailed the short distance to Pylos and were able to buy diesel fuel, but all the markets were closed so we couldn't buy much in the way of provisions. Early in the afternoon, we set sail again for the overnight to Ithaca, where we are now.
Apparently, there is a limit to how many addresses we can have in the Spot system, and none of Nan's or mine made it into the list. Kevin has been nice enough to forward them all to me so I will post them manually when we get up to Corfu.
OK ESN:0-7351773 (Ithaca)
This is Quetzal, all is well. We'll be in touch when we can.
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:38.366
Longitude:20.7192
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/05/2008 09:53:30 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.366,20.7192&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:38.366
Longitude:20.7192
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/05/2008 09:53:30 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.366,20.7192&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Sunday, May 4, 2008
OK ESN:0-7351773 (Leaving Methoni)
This is Quetzal, all is well. We'll be in touch when we can.
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:36.8183
Longitude:21.696
Nearest Location: Meth*ni, Greece
Distance: 1 km(s)
Time:05/04/2008 00:00:15 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36.8183,21.696&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:36.8183
Longitude:21.696
Nearest Location: Meth*ni, Greece
Distance: 1 km(s)
Time:05/04/2008 00:00:15 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36.8183,21.696&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Friday, May 2, 2008
OK ESN:0-7351773 (Between Serifos and Sifnos)
This is Quetzal, all is well. We'll be in touch when we can.
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.0504
Longitude:24.6016
Nearest Location: *yioi An*ryiroi, Greece
Distance: 10 km(s)
Time:05/02/2008 01:34:02 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.0504,24.6016&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.0504
Longitude:24.6016
Nearest Location: *yioi An*ryiroi, Greece
Distance: 10 km(s)
Time:05/02/2008 01:34:02 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.0504,24.6016&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Thursday, May 1, 2008
OK ESN:0-7351773 (South of Mykonos)
This is Quetzal, all is well. We'll be in touch when we can.
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.2854
Longitude:25.2541
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/01/2008 18:41:50 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.2854,25.2541&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.2854
Longitude:25.2541
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/01/2008 18:41:50 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.2854,25.2541&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
OK ESN:0-7351773 (North of Samos)
This is Quetzal, all is well. We'll be in touch when we can.
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.8494
Longitude:26.82
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/01/2008 02:32:18 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.8494,26.82&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.8494
Longitude:26.82
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/01/2008 02:32:18 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.8494,26.82&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
The Odyssey: Passage to Pylos
Today was a shore day in Kusadasi. We took a guided tour of Ephesus in the morning and then bombed around town in the afternoon. Ephesus was amazing, like touring an entire city from the Greek and Roman eras. We have a new appreciation for the beauty and sophistication of Turkey.
Early tomorrow we're headed west to Pylos on the Peloponesse peninsula of Greece, about 300 miles away. Capt. John decided that we will need to skip Crete in order to stay on track to reach Corfu by next Wednesday, when we all have travel connections. So we will be sailing for about forty-eight straight hours without landfall. We'll try to send Spot updates, but they might show only here on the blog and not go out to the recipients list. Sorry that hasn't worked out better.
Early tomorrow we're headed west to Pylos on the Peloponesse peninsula of Greece, about 300 miles away. Capt. John decided that we will need to skip Crete in order to stay on track to reach Corfu by next Wednesday, when we all have travel connections. So we will be sailing for about forty-eight straight hours without landfall. We'll try to send Spot updates, but they might show only here on the blog and not go out to the recipients list. Sorry that hasn't worked out better.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
OK ESN:0-7351773 (Kusadasi, Turkey)
This is Quetzal, all is well. We'll be in touch when we can.
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.8729
Longitude:27.2627
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2008 12:21:04 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.8729,27.2627&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7351773
Latitude:37.8729
Longitude:27.2627
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2008 12:21:04 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.8729,27.2627&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
The Odyssey: Kusadasi, Turkey
Hello from the marina in Kusadasi. Yes, we have finally left Greece behind for Turkey after a full week of sailing. We arrived this afternoon after motoring over from Pythagoria on Samos, where we moored last night. Today was our best weather day so far, sunny and warm, but with almost no wind, thus the motoring.Kusadasi has a different, much less European feel from any of our Greek landfalls. Turkey is a Muslim country and it shows in the cleanliness of its streets, the friendly nature of its people and the liveliness of its marketplaces. We spent the afternoon wandering around the area near the marina, buying spices and produce to boost our diminished provisions. We ate dinner at Mezget, a traditional Turkish restaurant with excellent seafood and grilled meats. The last prayer of the day just echoed out across the city about a half-hour ago, so it must be time to call it a night.
Tomorrow we are taking a tour of Ephesus, the famous Roman ruins north of here. It will have to substitute for Troy, which is still too far away. On Thursday, we are planning on getting underway early and sailing continuously until we reach the northwest corner of Crete, about 120 nautical miles away. This will involve overnight sailing and two-person, three-hour watches.Sorry again about the SPOT updates. Apparently, all of Nan's and my email addresses have been left out of the recipients list. The update from yesterday was forwarded to me by crewmate Kevin. It shows us on our way from Kirikos to Pythagoria. Capt. John says he will try to get the situation rectified by tomorrow. I will keep you posted.
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