From: Phyl & Fred Denton <denton@flash.net>

To: crews list ****

Date: Thursday, 20 September, 2001 18:13

Subject: 19 September, Gouvia Marina on Corfu, Greece

 

 

 

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

The world is a good place.  The people that we meet in harbors and villages are empathetic and supportive for the USA and us.  When they see that we are from the USA they open the conversation with condolences and grief.  These are people from Greece, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Germany, France.  One Frenchman emailed, "Today, we are all Americans."

 

The passage from Dubrovnic to Corfu was uneventful.  We went a hundred miles out of our way to avoid Montenegro and Albania.  At the north end of Corfu, the channel is only a mile wide with Greece on the west and Albania on the east.  At one point there is a reef on the Greece side that narrows the channel to a half mile. 

Avoiding the bad guys is a tricky process.  The Pilot and local knowledge advised strongly that these two countries had mined their waters and harbored pirates.  The mines are supposedly cleared.  But there is no claim that the pirates have been cleared.  The Pilot states that if you were in trouble in these waters, call the Italian navy and hope they get there first.

Avoiding bad guys is a tricky process.

 

A Typical Day in Ionian Sea, Greece ** Yesterday:

Temperature: Air 20 - 35  Sea Water 26

Winds:       South  0 - 3 Force  0 - 10 knots 0 - 12 mph  0 - 19 km/h

Skies:       Partly Cloudy

Sailing:     Good

Seas:        .5 - 1 m 

Anchorage:   North End of Paxos, 3.5 m  protected except North to East

Water Clarity: At 3.5 meters I could read the weight embossed on the side of the anchor.

Swim:        Good

Showers:     Hot

Traverna:    Good

Night Life:  Subdued

 

At 9:30 this morning most, no all, of the crew are asleep.  We have an undemanding captain and a slow pace. 

 

During the last week we have had a guest from Texas.  We sailed from Corfu stopping at Loggos on Paxos, Nidra on Lefkas, Fiskardo on Kefallinia, Frikes on Itahki, Prevezas on the mainland, Lakkas on Paxos and today it is back to Corfu. 

 

On Itahki we took a taxi tour of the island.  In addition to the stories of Homer, it has a rich history, beautiful mountain towns and a monastery situated high on a peak overlooking the island. From the monastery, we could see the gorgeous Vahti Bay on the eastern side of the island, and the Straits of Ithaki and the island of Cephallonia just over the narrow spit of land that divides the northern and southern parts of the island. It was a day well spent.

 

Prevezas deserves a special comment.  Think of the word "pervasive". The cruising guide describes it as a town that will grow on you.  At the visitors quay when the evening wind died, it was obvious that the town's sewerage was going into the sea directly under our boat.  The noise of the waterfront discos was loud and getting louder.  At 2300 we moved to an anchorage about 2 miles away.  The crew now says, "Prevezas,  it will grow on you, if you don't shower."

 

 

Completions to date

    July       Koper                  Sea trials for crew, systems and

                                      boat  There were only two days for

                                      this part of the exercise..

    Aug        Croatia (started 4 Aug)Island hoping and casual cruising

    Sept       Greece                  Island hoping and casual cruising

The schedule is

    Oct        Greece,

 

Recent events in the US and the actions that are being rattled may change our priorities for this winter.  Tunisia has many things going for it.  Unfortunately, it is situated between Algeria and Libya.  If the war is between the real world and the Islamic Fascist, then Tunisia will find itself in the middle.  Maybe it is for the best that we look to winter somewhere else.  Is there space in your backyard?  We will see.

 

    Oct.        ??? Italy, Sicily, Malta,   Passage to Tunisia

    Nov - Mar   Tunisia           Winter, permanent base ???

 

    2002  To Be determined             Sicily, Italy, Sardinia, Corsica,

                                       French Riviera, Spain, Gibraltar

 

    Oct / Nov 2002                     Gibraltar to the Canaries

    Nov / Dec 2002                     Canaries to West Indies

 

We currently have some crewmembers and cruise plans for the following dates:

    October 4 - October 15 * Full Crew

    October 16 - December 1 Crew needed  Possible places to go include   

         Italy, Sicily, Malta and Tunisia.  So far, there are two takers.

 

 

If you can join us for one or two weeks, please volunteer.

 

Keep a Tight Luff,

Phyl & Fred

 

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