Welcome to Rhodes, Dodacanese Islands, Greece

This morning we were up early to catch the ferry to Rhodes. Like Santorini, the marina in Rhodes is first come, first serve, and the anchorages are not good. We figured we were better off leaving Kosmos safely in Kos than to risk having to anchor her in an anchorage infamous for its poor holding.

The ferry over was a fast catamaran, similar to the one we had taken to Santorini. It was a quick two hour trip, and a smooth ride. We were dropped off at the main town on the island, the city of Rhodes. The imposing fortress walls of the old city of Rhodes loomed in front of us, similar to the walls in Kos. We walked from the bay to one of the city gates. Christi felt like we had walked into a history book. It is a true medieval city, different than anything we have ever been to before, with gothic buildings made of stone block and stone block roads.

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Rhodes is Continue reading

Welcome to Kos, Dodecanese Islands, Greece

Yesterday we went through our normal “get ready to go to sea” routine and pulled out at 1600 (4:00 pm). While we were getting ready, Stratos, one of the helpful guys who works at the marina, asked us if we were sure we wanted to go out in these conditions. Eric said he didn’t think it would be too bad. Famous last words. Continue reading

San Diego to Crete, Adjusting Back to Life Aboard

When we got back to Egypt from the US, we had a hard time getting over the jetlag. For three days we slept a lot, slept at weird hours, and were incredibly lackadaisical. This time the jet lag has been much worse, with us sleeping even more and at even odder hours. Today is day three back in Agios Nickolaos, day 5 back in Greece, and our bodies are still out of sorts. Of course, it may be possible that this is our way of decompressing from the fast paced lifestyle back in America.

It is also really, really hot outside here in Greece. Last time we went home, we had a hard time adjusting to the cold weather in Southern California (compared to Egypt and the tropics, at least). We were actually happy to go back to the warmer weather. This time the weather in San Diego was idyllic, and we are having a hard time re-adjusting to the heat.

In between all the sleep, we have managed to do a few chores. Unpacking and lots of laundry topped the list, of course. We had to do some reorganizing of storage spaces to put away the stuff we brought back. We filled up the stabilizer oil, which sounds easy, but is in fact a messy, two person job for us.

Eric also tried to fix the slow draining sink in the master bathroom. It seemed like just a simple clog. He undid the pipes and cleaned out all the goo, then put the pipes back on. It was better, but still not draining quite right. And now the pipe was now leaking. Hmmm. He must have broken the seals on the pipes. He brought out the plumbers tape and taped up every area where it could be leaking from, then put the pipe back on. He tested it out. Still leaking. He re-taped again and used silicone. The second try did the trick, so no more leak. But still draining slow, and we can’t figure out why.

Costas and Koralia and a couple of their friends came to visit us yesterday. It was good to see them. We spent a low key evening catching up on the last few weeks and getting to know their friends.

We tried more new foods. The first is called keleftiko. It is a leg of lamb that is amazingly tender, juicy and delicious. We think it is cooked pot roast style, and it is cooked with assorted veggie chunks, including carrots, potatoes and zucchini. The second is called stifado, and is a tasty beef stew. We are partial to stewed meats. We like how tender they are. The third was thin slices of pork wrapped around prunes. It is really good, and we don’t remember the name of it.

Spending Time with the Family in Athens

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

Work Week 3 in San Diego

We have just completed week three back in California. We are leaving in two days. Just like last time, we are eager to go back to our slow paced boating life style. Last time, adjusting back to high speed life was somewhat traumatic. This time we adjusted OK, but just because we adjusted didn’t mean we liked the faster pace.

We again spent the weekend with Eric’s family and spent time with Christi’s family. We have also squeezed in a few more visits with friends. We had a great time with all the people we did get to see, and are sad that we didn’t get a chance to see more of our friends. To everyone we didn’t get a chance to call, know that we love you all the same. We were crazy busy with Eric’s work and Christi’s project and there just wasn’t enough time for friends. While we don’t miss life in America much, we definitely miss all our friends and family a lot.

We have lots of good news to report! Eric’s project looks like it will be completed before we go, most of the loose ends we left behind last time were taken care of, and it looks as if we are going to be able to wrap up our surprise project before we leave. It won’t be the nicest wrapping up job, but it will be sufficient. Last time we were kind of stressed about all the loose ends being left behind, but this time we feel good about how neatly most things have been wrapped up. To reiterate, if you want to travel, there will never, ever be a time in your life when everything is perfectly wrapped up, so you just have to decide go when it is “good enough”.

Here is another observation about life at home versus life for us in other countries: Continue reading