2013 Cruise

15 Nov - 16 Dec 2013: I traveled to Idaho for a month long visit with my family. I was able to spend time each day visiting my mother at the nursing home. I was also able to help my brother with some work around their homes. The weather was really cold (as low as 8 degrees Fahrenheit). I enjoyed the visit but was ready to come home to some warmer weather. This will be the last update for this year. I will start the 2014 log later this month.

01 - 09 Nov 2013: I am finishing off the to do list for the boat prior to my departure. I will be visiting my family in Idaho from 15 Nov to 15 Dec, so there is a lot to do in preparation. We have had several BBQs with friends and family during the last week.

01 - 31 Oct 2013: After the holidays, I started Ulpan (Hebrew school) in Tel Aviv, it is 4 hours a day, three times a week. I feel that I am improving somewhat.

02 - 31 Sep 2013: We returned to our spot on A Dock after the fire and clean up. We are doing required maintenance and visiting family and friends. The holidays start on 4 Sep and we are enjoying seeing all the family during the holidays.

27 Aug - 02 Sep 2013: Lisa brought the part from Cyprus and I repaired the A/Sea power converter on 28 Aug. It is nice to have shore power again.

On Friday, 29 Sep, we had a boat fire in the marina. A small powerboat entering the marina caught fire, luckily the police were close and quickly evacuated the people on board, unluckily the boat drifted onto our dock (the outside - opposite us). A small catamaran and a large gullet caught fire from the small boat. When the gullet caught fire, I moved my boat away from the dock (Yehuda was visiting to help me) and temporarily relocated to K Dock. The fire was limited to three boats (two complete losses and significant damage to the third). We were lucky that it didn't drift into the main part of the marina where there are hundreds of boats. I posted some photos from Yehuda.

We had visitors while we were on K dock: Joe and Ola from Connie; Yaacov from the kibbutz; Didi, Mashka, Vadim, Aviv, and Maya; and Nir, Idit, Dony, and Shlomit came by for a visit and to discuss the fire.

17 - 26 Aug 2013: Yosi and Gadi arrived on the 18th and we had planned to leave on the 20th but as usual our plans changed. The A/Sea power conversion unit failed and after some troubleshooting, I determined that it was the low voltage power supply. I ordered it from the US and it was supposed to arrive on Friday morning (more on that later).

This gave us an opportunity to further explore northern Cyprus, we visited the nature preserve, saw the wild donkeys, and visited the monastary on the point on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we visited Girne, St Hilaron castle, and the old port. As usual, Yosi had several great restaurants to recommend. We also enjoyed spending time with Itay, Tamar, and their kids and visiting the beach and pool. The marina there is spectacular and we had our best experience in a marina to date.

We planned to depart on Friday but DHL was not able to get the part to us in time so we left without it and cruised overnight to Israel. We arrived on Sunday at 1300 and were greeted by our friends Nir and Idit at the entrance to the marina and Israel in the office. After check in, we moved Odelia to the inside of Dock A. We hope to get back in the lagoon if space opens up for us.

Lisa (Yosi's daughter) will bring the part back with her on Wednesday. Until then I am running the generator twice a day (the same procedure as anchoring).

9 - 17 Aug 2013: We spent Shabbat at anchor, resting and relaxing after more than seven weeks of traveling since Montenegro. We were able to spend some time with Ersol and Necla. On Sunday, we enjoyed a game of Mexican Train with Patrica, her friend Francine from Fenike, Ersol, and Necla.

On Tuesday, we moved to Fethiye and took on duty free fuel. We saw Joe and Jerry on Shalimar as we approached the fuel dock. We then anchored for the night and visited them on board. There we met Ola, Joe's wife and Connie. They left to celebrate Ola's birthday and we checked the weather for our onward cruise.

On Wed, 14 Aug we left Fethiye and cruised south to Kerkova. We spent the night on anchor there and left at 0530 for the long crossing to Karpaz Gate Marina in Cyprus. The crossing took us over 29 hours but the weather was good. As we approached the coast of Cyprus, we encountered a pod of seven dolphins. They played in our bow wave for a bit and made Tsipy's day.

We arrived in Karpaz around 1100 on Friday and we were met well out to sea by the marina boat and escorted into our place next to Yosi's boat. The whole marina staff greeted us and helped us into place. What a reception and what a beautiful marina! Itay came by right after we were berthed and invited us to a BBQ in the evening. We saw Itay and his family and Roi and his family and friends at the beach club pool and again at the BBQ. A great first day and we slept like babies.

5 - 8 Aug 2013: We left Akyarlar and cruised down to Dersik on the Bozburun pennisula for the night. The 6th was a cruise to Marmaris. I took the photo of the sailing cruise ship between Simi and Rhodos. We anchored off Yat Marin and went in for one of their famous Pepper Steaks.

We left at 0500 and arrived in Boynuz Buku on 7 Aug. I took the photo of the submarine on the way. We anchored next to Yuval (from Marina Herzliya) and his family on Petunia. His son, Sela had to try a jump from the flybridge. We met Necla and Ersol on Thursday. Ersol's son and his family are visiting for a few days.

I am trying to arrange refueling now and we plan to continue east next week.

1 - 4 Aug 2013: We left Cesme on 31 Jul after saying goodbye to our friends Mike and Bonnie. They were flying home to Canada after helping us with the cruise. Their 6 week stay flew by too quickly and we hope they come again soon. Mike was a tremendous help with all things mechanical and a great teacher. I will use his fiberglass techniques to continue work on the dinghy. Both were wonderful guests and shipmates.

We cruised down to Teos Limani for the first night and then on to Dip Burnu on the point just below Samos. The anchorage was really windy and we drug our anchor three times in the afternoon and evening. In the evening, when the wind was gusting to 30 knots, the gendarmerie came and told us we had to leave the anchorage. I declined for safety reasons and we spent the night on anchor watch. We left at 0500 and made it to D-Marin Didim for Shabbat. We left on Sunday (4 Aug) and cruised to the point of the Bodrum pennisula and are at anchor in a beautiful bay called Akyarlar. The weather down was beautiful and it looks good for the next few days for our cruise down to Fethiye.

27 July 2013: We cruised from Lesvos on the 26th and came into the Setur Marina in Cesme. We checked into Turkey and I got a new SIM card for my telephone. Our new number is shown on the Contact page.

The photos above show our tracks for the last three days and some photos along the way. We met Genghis and his son Dorut here in Cesme, he helped us find an agent and took us shopping.

24 - 25 July 2013: We took on fuel on the 23rd and then left at 0600 on the 24th for Limnos. We spent the afternoon and night on the town quay in Moudhros. It was a beautiful little town in the large bay in the center of Limnos. After dinner and a quiet walk around town, we went to bed early for a 0300 departure.

On the 25th, we crossed to the southwest of Lesvos and anchored in Kolpos Kalloni by a small fishing village.

18 - 23 July 2013: We left Skiathos Island and cruised north to Porto Koufo on the middle finger of northern Greece. We had a minor disaster while preparing to leave. While trying to lift the dinghy, a wake from a ski boat hit us and tore out the lifting eyes from the front of the dinghy. We had to tow the dinghy over 50 nm to the anchorage.

We are now reinforcing the structure and doing fiberglass repair prior to attaching new lifting eyes. I had to go to nearby town (~20km) to get the fiberglass and new, longer lifting eyes. I was picked up by young Greek vacating here from his home in Bern. He took me all the way to town, found the right store for me, translated my requirements, and then returned me to Porto Koufo. He was a real life saver. I would have had to wait for the bus, then run into the afternoon siesta time, probably wouldn't have found the right stores (they were in two gas stations away from town), would have missed the last bus, and would have had to take a taxi home. We were happy to invite Panagiotis and this girl friend Marieke over for drinks in the evening. We hope to see them again on Sunday at dinner at El Capitano (a local taverna) and perhaps sometime in the future.

Once the repair work is done, we will travel south (finally) and east to Limnos and then Levsos. Mike and Bonnie booked flights from Izmir to Istanbul for the 31st. I can't believe that their visit (almost 6 weeks) is coming to a close so fast. They were wonderful guests as always and helped us tremendously with repairs and maintanence and with our crossings. We will miss them (until next time).

14 - 17 July 2013: We went through the Khalkis bridge around midnight on the 13th. The gap is narrow (only 39m) and the current is strong so they only open at slack tide. The bridge is a retractable or sliding bridge, both sides drop down and then retract into the sides. All the tourists in the town come out and line the quays, cheering, clapping, and taking photos. Quite an experience. We exited the narrows and anchored around the north cape for the rest of the night.

On the 14th, we took a short cruise north to Atalantis. It was a nice anchorage and we met Mike and Swanie (on the cat Swanie) and had them over for drinks. They are from San Diego and are cruising in Greece.

The next day we cruised north to Vathoudhi off the Gulf of Volos. It was depicted as a nice anchorage be turned out to be really windy. We left on the 16th and crossed to Skaithos Island and are at anchor in Koukounaries waiting for good weather to head to the three fingers in northern Greece.

11 - 13 July 2013: We crossed the bay from Korfos to Fokaia on the south end of the Athens pennisula on 11 Jul. We left this beautiful little anchorage at 0300 to take advantage of a weather window and cruised around the tip of the pennisula and then north between the Greek mainland and Evia. We arrived at Khalkis around noon and spent Shabbat here. We plan to pass the Khalkis bridge tonight. It only opens (a retractable bridge) at slack tide between 2200 and 0400. We will then continue up the coast to an anchorage near the north end of Evia. We are attempting to skirt the meltemi by going via the Northern and Eastern Sporades to Lesvos.

8 - 10 July 2013: We left Itea and ran into strong winds so we cut our trip short and stayed two nights in Andikiron at anchor. The bay was really windy, with katabatic winds coming in gusts from all directions but our anchor held like a true champion. We left on 10 July at 0300 and cruised to the Corinth canal. We were really lucky and did not have to wait and went straight through the canal behind a small tanker. The transit was amazing. Here are some photos of the crossing and our cafe dock in Korfos on the Saronic coast. We plan to cross the bay tomorrow to Fokaia, a harbor south of Athens.

4 - 7 July 2013: We cruised up the Gulf of Patara into the Gulf of Corinth. Our track is shown in the first two photos. We are staying at an unfinished marina in Itea along the north coast of the gulf. We visited Delphi on Friday morning and spend Shabbat. We are leaving on 7 July and will anchor near the Corinth canal. We plan to transit the Corinth on Monday morning and stay in Korfos on the west side or continue to Athens if the weather is good. Here are some of my photos and Mike has a website at http://www.millenniumodyssey.ca that includes his photos and stories of our cruise.

3 July 2013: Utz joined us in Lefkas Marina and we went out to celebrate his 500 ton Masters license with a dinner at the Lighthouse Taverna. Great food. We left the next day and cruised down the mainland coast and spent the night in Marathia bay just south of Astrakos. We are now at anchor in the harbor in Messalonghi. We are headed towards the Corinth canal but will spend a day or so along the way to visit Delphi. Here are the tracks for our cruise from Prevesa to Itea.

1 July 2013: We left Corfu on the Saturday morning weather window and cruised down to Prevesa. We were able to see Israel for an hour or so before he had to leave to fly back home. We stayed on anchor off Prevesa until this morning and made the short hop (~ 10 nm) to Lefkas Marina. Utz will join us here.

27 June 2013: We arrived in Corfu on 24 June and checked into Gouvia Marina. We cleared customs and received our transit log. The weather turned very windy and we decided to stay in the marina for a few days. We toured the city and did some shopping. We left the marina on 27 Jun and cruised down to an anchorage just off the old fortress. We are staying here at anchor and waiting for good weather to continue on to Prevesa. Right now we plan to leave on Saturday morning. Here are some photos of Corfu.

22 June 2013: We are in Budva, just south of the Bay of Kotor. We cruised down here on Friday (21 Jun), arrived about 1200, and are staying here for Shabbat. There is an old walled town center but lots of new construction, hotels, resorts, etc. The bay is very protected. We plan to check out on Sunday to head overnight to Corfu.

We left the marina on 20 Jun, cruised around the Bay of Kotor and anchored near to small man-made islands just off Perast. They are home to a church and monastery. We commissioned the watermaker and checked out the remaining systems in preparation for our cruise. Here are some photos from our stay so far.

20 June 2013: We unloaded Odelia from the transport on 19 June, cleared customs, and spent the night in Porto Montenegro, a beautiful marina in Tivat. Odelia came through with all systems working. We gave her a thorough washdown, shopped for perishables, and filled the water tanks. We plan to head out to a local anchorage for the night to check out the anchor windlass, generator, and watermaker in preparation for our cruise south. We will upload some photos of the unloading process at the next update.

14 June 2013: We left Lewiston on 10 June and flew to Newark. Etty and Ruti picked us up from the airport and we spent the night in Ruti's house.

We flew to Montenegro via Istanbul on 11 - 12 June. A long flight and layover but we arrived safe with all our bags. After an hour taxi ride (A2Btransfers) we arrived at our hotel in Tivat. It is a small apartment/hotel, clean and nice, with a kitchenette and a washer.

We walked to the marina, a beautiful new facility, and met our agent on Thursday. Our delivery is still on track for the 18th, ship is now approaching Genoa on schedule.

30 May 2013: We arrived in Lewiston on 27 May and received word that Odelia was loaded in the afternoon. Here are some shots of her alongside the ship. The loading was delayed so Chris was unable to get any photos of her on board.

We are staying with Terry and Kathy and visiting my mom.

25 May 2013: We finally left Ft Lauderdale and cruised up the ICW to Palm Beach on 23 May. Seven Stars delayed the arrival of our ship until 27 May, so we left Odelia in Old Port Cove Marina and arranged for a local skipper to bring her over to the ship on Monday or Tuesday.

We took the train from Palm Beach back to Ft Lauderdale, picked up our car from Steve and Zack (they brought it to the station for us), and began our trip north. We spent Thursday night in a hotel and completed the drive to Etty and Jan's home on Friday. We are visiting them until Monday morning. Ruti is driving us to Newark Airport for our trip to Idaho.

We had a wonderful time in Ft Lauderdale with all of our friends and we want to thank Steve and Zack for opening their home and hearts to us. We hope they come and visit us in the Med so we can return the favor.

18 May 2013: We are still in Ft Lauderdale enjoying Steve and Zack's hospitality. Bob and Susi came down on 13 May to share our last week here. We had a BBQ on their first night and a Shavout party on the second night with some friends. They flew home this morning. We had a great time visiting with them, doing some sightseeing, and having fun.

We plan to cruise up to Palm Beach on Tues (21 May) to position us for loading on the MV Spiegelgracht (Seven Stars transport shown below). We don't have a final loading schedule but we hope to load on Thursday or Friday. We plan to drive to NJ and fly to Idaho to visit my family. The boat is schedule to arrive in Tivat on 14-15 June and we are flying over to meet it. Bonnie and Mike are joining us there for the transit to Turkey.

24 April 2013: We continued our tradition of BBQs. Yanev and Vivi came early and carried the new engine start batteries (two 8Ds at 166 lbs each) down to the engine room, across the engine, and up into the battery box. We then settled down to a wonderful meal with Yanev, Jenny, Vivi, Mirit, Alex, Karen, John, Daneilla, Zack, and Little Stevie. Steve missed out and went to concert.

18 April 2013: Well as we always say - "our plans are firmly written in jello". We had been discussing our return to the Med for some time and while we were in Key West we met Reina Louden, a yacht transport broker. She negotiated a great rate for us with Seven Stars Yacht Transport. So ... Odelia will be loaded on a ship in Palm Beach around the 17th of May and will be transported from there to Tivat, Montenegro.

We cancelled our planned trip to the Abacos and are staying in Ft Lauderdale preparing the boat for transport, restocking repair parts, and enjoying our friends. Steve and Zack allowed us to continue our stay at their dock. On 14 April, we sadly said goodbye to Cloverleaf as they sailed off to the Abacos. We hope to see them again in Israel.

We plan to fly back to Idaho to visit my mom and brother during the transit time. Mike and Bonnie (who accompanied us on our first trip to the Med) have agreed to fly over and cruise with us again. We will pick up Odelia sometime in June (date to be determined) and then cruise down the coast via Albania to Corfu, then through the Corinth canal and across Greece to Turkey. We plan to spend the rest of the summer in our favorite cruising areas in Turkey before heading to Cyprus and then Israel. We plan to be in Israel for Rosh Hashana.

11 Mar - 17 April 2013: We celebrated Pesach with Dave and Bev (our friends from Cloverleaf) and their nephew Dan and his family, Ellen, Max, Jake, and Kate. We had a great meal and service ably led by Dan. We celebrated the second Seder with Racheli and her family and Ely and his family and had another wonderful meal and service.

Our friends Tali, Dan, and Tali's son Yoni from Brunswick came down for a visit and Susan and David returned so we had a BBQ (served inside Steve and Zack's home since it was raining). We also invited "Little Steve" since he is a real fan of my lamb. I somehow missed Steve and Racheli in these photos.

We celebrated Steve's birthday on the 17th with a dinner at the Capital Grille, a wonderful meal and a great time.

20 Feb - 11 Mar 2013: We left Key West early on Tuesday when a small weather window opened. We made it to Marathon and anchored outside for the night. We left Marathon on Wednesday and stayed outside to Channel Five and then came inside to the ICW and back to Islamorada. Beautiful weather and lots of dolphins (lots of crab/shrimp traps, too). We headed back to Ft Lauderdale with stops in Key Largo, Biscayne Bay, and then Steve and Zacks.

We met Zack's sister Judy and her friend Nancy on our return to Ft Lauderdale and had a nice evening and dinner with them on the 27th. On the 28th, we had a small party with Steve, Zack, Judy, Nancy, Yaniv, Jenny, Jenny's mom Karen, John, Daniella, Alex, and his friend Mula. I prepared Cajun food and we had a wonderful time.

On 10 Mar, we had Eli, Fay, Sharon, Fred, Judy, Racheli, Tammy, and George over for a visit and then had dinner at Zucherillos.

08 - 19 Feb 2013: We left Ft Lauderdale on 6 Feb and traveled outside to Miami, then came inside to Biscayne Bay for the evening at anchor. This gave us a good sea trail before our cruise. We left on 7 Feb and went outside to Hawks channel headed for Key Largo. We checked for a marina there and when all were full, we cut inside to the ICW at Angelfish Creek and anchored in Blackwater Sound off Key Largo. We had dinner ashore last night and celebrated Shabbat onboard at anchor.

On 8 Feb, we took the dinghy into Largo Sound and out to Hawks channel. The waves were beginning to kick up so we returned to our anchorage. Tsipy and Rachel went shopping while Yehuda and I had a beer at Sundowners (an aptly named spot on Blackwater Sound). The weather report says that the wind will increase to about 20 knots on Sunday so we will stay here until the front passes.

We left Blackwater Sound and traveled down to Islamorada. We arrived on Sunday and since the weather still looks iffy, Yehuda, Rachel, and Tsipy took the bus down to Key West to explore it prior to our arrival. I stayed aboard and did some maintenance work. We arrived in Marathon on Wed (13 Feb) and stayed at Pancho's Fuel Dock and Marina. We had a nice meal at Castaways nearby.

On Thursday we cruised down to Key West . We stayed at the Westin Marina in Key West. It is a resort and we had access to the pool, jacuzzi, and spa facilities. We stayed there through Tuesday since there was some windy weather. We did some sightseeing around the city, visited some famous places like the Hemingway House, the lighthouse, etc. Yehuda and Rachel left on Sunday (17th) and returned to Miami for the boat show and then Israel. We really enjoyed their stay and miss them already. Nir and Idit were supposed to come to visit but Idit broke here arm and had to stay in Miami until their flight home.

01 - 06 Feb 2013: Yehuda, Rachel, Idit, Nir, and Idit's mother arrived from Israel and came for a visit. Yehuda and Rachel came with us on the start of our Keys cruise.

1 - 31 Jan 2013: Utz and I removed the A/Sea Power Converter (230 lbs/104 kg) and took it to the dealer for repair. It was quite a job getting it out of the enginer room, up the stairs, and off the boat. It had to go to the manufacturer for repair. We also finished all the polishing, painting, and repairs. The boat looks great for the upcoming season. Utz left on the 13th to return to Germany. Thanks again for all your hard work on the boat and good luck with your job hunt.

I flew to Idaho on 13 Jan for two weeks to visit my mom and to celebrate her 91st birthday. I visited her every day, played some bridge, and took her shopping. We celebrated her birthday over three days: the 23rd at the Royal Plaza, then dinner with Kathy and Sherry on Thursday at Macullums, and finally dinner with Laurie, Matt, Devin, Sherry, and Kathy at Roosters.

Terry went to the SHOT show and then the Safari Club show so he was gone for most of my visit. I had a great time there with mom, Terry, Kathy, and the kids. As an added benefit, I was able to join the local gym to continue my exercise routine.

Ruti came down to visit Tsipy while I was in Idaho. They had a good time sightseeing. Ruti and Yarden (Iris's son) meet some of our friends from the synagogue.

I returned on Sunday the 27th and today I completed the rewiring for the A/Sea unit. Now I will be able to switch between the A/Sea unit or regular US shore power.

23 - 29 Dec 2012: Tali and Dan arrived from Brunswick for a visit. We were able to do some sightseeing with them and had a great visit with them. We also had several dinners with Steve and Zack.

10 - 22 Dec 2012: Suzy joined us on the 10th and we celebrated the third night of Hanakah with a dinner on the patio with Steve, Zack, Jeff, and Mike.

On the 15th, we had Bev and Dave over for the Ft Lauderdale Holiday Boat Parade. The boats paraded along the ICW just behind us. Bob, Suzy, Steve, Zack, and Utz took the speedboat out to get closer and took these photos.

Bob, Utz, and I reinforced the foundation and rebuilt the dock during the week that Bob visited. Utz and I stained and completed the work after a week of drying and I installed a new 110V utility outlet and new LED lights, including a LED light strip on the edge of the upper dock and around the rock.

5 - 10 Jan 2012: We started our cruise Tuesday morning and headed offshore from Brunswick to Ft Pierce, FL. It was an overnight trip (about 30 hours) but we had plenty of help with Utz and Bob onboard. The weather was great at the beginning but deteriorated during the evening and was a little sloppy for most of the night and early morning.

We arrived in Ft Pierce around noon in a downpour. Tsipy was happy though since she saw lots of dolphins along the way. We left Ft Pierce on Friday morning and cruised along the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) to West Palm Beach. We stayed there for Shabbat. It is a beautiful marina, across the ICW from Palm Beach. We enjoyed walking along the ICW and the downtown area (Clematis). We continued our trip to Ft Lauderdale on Sunday and arrived at Steve and Zack's house around 1400.

01 Nov 2012: This is the start of our log for the 2013 cruising season.

We stayed in Brunswick Landing Marina for the hurricane season, our four month road trip in the US, and one month in Israel. We returned to install some upgrades and prepare the boat for this season.

I installed a new Simrad electronics suite; including two Multifunctional Displays, a 3G broadband radar, a Class B Automatic Identification of Shipping (AIS) transceiver, and a heading sensor. Here are some photos of the new equipment. I installed the new radar dish and GPS on the leading edge of the flybridge hardtop, the AIS GPS on the existing radar arch, and the AIS VHF antenna on the front of the flybridge. The new electronics improves functionality, adds the capability to overlay radar and charts, integrates the AIS onto the radar and chartplotter screens, and adds an AIS transponder to identify us to other boats. The installation went smoothly and to my surprise everything actually was "plug and play".

As I mentioned at the end of the 2012 log, our friend Utz arrived for a visit and decided to polish the boat to keep busy. It really looks good, here he is finishing off the flybridge.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with our friends Tali and Dan with his sons Evan and Mark. It was the first Thanksgiving for Utz and he really enjoyed the tradional meal. We had our neighbor Scott Lord (on Spindrift) over for Shabbat dinner.