Category Archives: Failure

Something broke or failed.

Passage from Bodrum, Turkey to Agios Nickolaos, Crete

Posted on by
1

This morning we got ready to go back to sea. At 1100, the lift came to pick us up and put us back into the water. The wind had been screaming yesterday, and the forecast was the same for today. But, so far, the wind wasn’t too bad and the sea in the bay seemed to be calm. This is a very good thing.

imgp6120-small.JPG

We had planned to take Ali and his family for a quick ride around the bay so they could experience being on a Nordhavn for themselves. There were a few cruisers staying at the yard that were watching Kosmos being put back in the water, so we invited them along, too. We were only out for 30 minutes, and it was a fun little ride.

We dropped off the guests, then took the 2 ½ hour ride over to D-Marina, where we tied up to the customs pier and checked out of the country. This was the fastest and easiest check out of all time. Within 15 minutes of tying up, we were pulling out again. We were so sad to see Continue reading →

Spending Time with the Family in Athens

Posted on by
1

The flight back to Athens was uneventful. It had been almost 48 hours since we slept, so we actually managed to fall asleep for several hours on the flight. Sleeping in uncomfortable places is simply a matter of being tired enough, we suppose.

We arrived at 1000 local time. Directly across the street from the airport exit is a hotel. It is maybe 1000 yards away. We were planning to go downtown to get a hotel. But this one was so darn close and easy to get to that we couldn’t resist. We walked over to the hotel, checked in, crawled into bed, and instantly passed out. We got in a desperately needed 6 hour nap before it was time to head downtown to meet Christi’s other half-brother, Andronikos, for dinner.

It was exciting to see Andronikos. Andronikos lives in Chicago, USA, so we get to see him more frequently than we see Costas, but we still don’t get to see him often. Andronikos was in town to visit his mother and aunt, and to deal with some administrative headaches that accompany a new Greek law that was just passed.

We went out to dinner at a cute taverna near his apartment. We tried some locally produced Continue reading →

Welcome to Male, Maldives

Posted on by
Reply

This morning, Eric realized that our primary bilge pump wasn’t working. Ooops. The good news is that we would be in to shore very soon, where it would be much easier to fix. Only a small amount of water leaks from the shaft as the boat is running, so it is really not a big deal. And we are not planning to spring any leaks. Even if we did we have another automatic bilge pump and a manual pump.

We could see land at around 1100. Like the Tuomotus, the islands are small and low, barely poking out above the water. The islands appear to be randomly scattered, which is a sharp contrast to the Tuomotus, where the islands are generally are congregated together into a clear ring shape. Though scattered, the islands here are pretty close together, and it doesn’t take much imagination to see this cluster of little islands were once one big island.

Our destination was the island of Male (pronounced Mall-ay). As we got closer, we were kind of shocked by how built up Male is. We were expecting it to look like the Tuomotus, with a small village and little houses spread out beyond the village. From what we could see, it looked like most of the buildings were between three and ten stories high, and incredibly densely packed. It looks like any mid-size city center anywhere in the world, except maybe with prettier scenery surrounding it. We knew Male has an area of only 1.7 square kilometers with a population of 130,000, so we should have been expecting it to be built up. Logically speaking, to get that many people in such a small space, it would have to be.

dsc01215-small.JPG

As was recommended from several different sources, we Continue reading →

Port Blair to Maldives Days 4-7

Posted on by
Reply

Over the last three days, the winds have continued to be erratic in speed and direction, so the seas pick up, then smooth out, then pick up”¦ and so on. But overall, the ride is still pretty good, even at its roughest. Mike is bored stiff and suffering from internet withdraw, but the good news is that his injuries are healing nicely, probably aided by the fact that he isn’t moving around much. He is so lucky about the good seas. It is very hard to move around the boat in rough water, especially on the stairs. With the difficulty he has bending his knees thanks to his wounds, we don’t know how he could have physically done it if the water were rough.

Also over the last three days, moon has gone from a crescent to nothing. The small/no moon has been bad for visibility, but the flip side is that both the stars and bioluminescence are dazzling without the moonlight to usurp their glory.

On Sunday, we realized Continue reading →

Welcome to Phuket Island, Phuket Province, Thailand

Posted on by
Reply

We untied from the mooring at 1000, just as a long line of tourists boats came chugging into the bay. Not only was our timing good going in, it was good going out, too. If there weren’t so many tourists around we probably would have stayed in the Phi Phi islands another day or two, but all the ridiculously heavy boat traffic made for very uncomfortable and rolly anchorages. Besides, we haven’t checked into the country yet, so it was probably time to get officialdom out of the way. Technically we weren’t supposed to have stopped in Ko Muk or the Phi Phis, but we had been told that the Thai government gives you a week between checking out of Malaysia and checking into Phuket before they become suspicious that you may have made an illegal stop along the way. Also, there is no real coast guard checking for illegal boats, so getting caught stopping someplace is unlikely.

Our trip to Phuket was almost identical to our trip to Phi Phi. The seas were smooth, calm and pleasant, there were some pretty islands along the way, and there were lots of fishing flags to weave in and out of, requiring constant hand steering. We understand fully why people out here prefer to day hop versus take overnight trips. Trying to avoid these little flags at night is very stressful. And like on the trip to Phi Phi, we had an equipment problem. Eric turned on the Continue reading →