All Blog Posts (984)

One of the last boats to arrive at the island we had a narrow berthing option ..so narrow ..that the tender pushed us on ..port-side-to ...all went well until someone came to tie alongside us and discovered that the yachts have no brakes! ...their anchor left a decorative mark along our bow! ..Have I drooled about the boat yet? a 44 Bavaria called 'Fanourios' ..a Greek Saint or a prayer or something ..very interesting story ..about St.Fanourios' mother ...seems she was a bit naughty but it…

Lovely sunshine as we pulled up anchor in Galaxidi to head for Trizonia Island. Galaxidi was a favourite with all the crews and before we left we visited the local maritime museum. It gave a wonderful overview of the history of the area ...it was a ship- building town for many years ...if you are cruising in the locality ..its well worth a visit. The local food is hearty and wholesome but am a bit worried about my cholesterol levels after all the cheese and egg dishes! Managed a swim on a…

Apologies retroactively and in advance for typos and bad grammar. All my posts are from Tavernas and obviously I cant just come in and use the wifi without ordering something! I have tried (unsuccessfully) to find a Greek beer that I like so I am forced to revert to my old staple of Heineken. Yesterday, we motored from Corinth to Galaxidi ..where I am now ..seated in a Taverna (where else?) looking across the road at all the flotilla boats. I have just discovered the 'joys' of flotilla…

Having spent a more or less sleepless night in the Yotel in Gatwick airport ...( a great place to stay if leaving from the South Terminal in Gatwick) I caught my Easyjet flight to Athens. Luckily, the air- traffic controllers were not on strike in Greece and we arrived more or less on time. The previous day, there had been a 8 hour delay! We were met at Athens by our 'hosties' and immediately made our way to the coach. We headed straight for Epidavros with one stop on the way ...to…

Heading to London tomorrow to start my Greek sailing trip. Arriving in Athens on Monday. I will be crewing one of 11 boats sailing from near Athens up through the Corinth Canal, island hopping en route to Corfu. Hoping the weather will be good and really looking forward to my first visit to Greece. Will keep you all posted if I get wifi along the way 

 After spending a wonderful summer in the great north east and surviving Irene in Newport, I find myself crewless. Scheduled crew had a change of plans so I'm looking for help sailing  from here to Annapolis. Anyone interested?

From my corny brain to yours (if you have one), just sing along to the tune of Zipity, Do Dah, Zippity Yea,

Zippity Do Day Zippity Yea

I changed the oil in my Yanmar today,

Plenty of grease in my fingernails

Ickity, yuckity, Grossly I say

Oh Mr. Builder of my tri

Why did you put the filter on the port side?

Scrapedee scratchee, me knuckles are sore,

Dirty and tired, the lesson today

On changing oil, was a success, but even the…

Deciding to update my profile and change the overall impact of my blog, I spent two hours discovering my new entries got lost in cyber space. Oh dear, , , ,

Anyway, I think I need a blog coach, you know someone who can help me put some pizazz in my writing; someone who can help me put inspiration in my writing, someone who can help me turn my experience, determination, and passion for wmaking my dream a reality into something that will have meaning and motivation for…

I thought it might be useful to list some links related to hurricanes:

The granddaddy of them all...NOAA....tracking Irene:  http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#IRENE

Hurricane preparedness for the home:  http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html

Securing a boat for a hurricane: …

It is looking more and more like Irene won't hit Florida directly, and so it looks like O Town is spared this time.   To all those people in NC who are looking at an incoming devastating storm, I offer my prayers.  Preparation is the key, as I am sure everyone knows. 

We always keep emergency items in our house.  There are always batteries (assorted sizes), at least 10 gallons of water, and food for at least a week.  We have a radio that is our "hurricane radio".  It…

As I look forward to learning how to change the oil in my inboard diesel, I had to re-learn the importance of being upfront and honest. It's one thing to tell the truth, it's another thing to take the initiative to tell someone something they might not want to hear. For example, the lasttime I boarrowed a friend's sailboat the outboard was not very cooperative. It was easy for me to discount any mechanical problem and simply blame myself for not pulling the cord with enough torque. After 3…

Is it really bad luck to change a boat's name? Please send me your thoughts. Thanks,

Is anyone in the Tampa FL. area that could put up with land locked dreamer. I came down from Alaska to visit a sick brother and thought I would like to look at how people rig and handle thier boat in this area. I have very little sailing experence but I am building a 36' steel sailboat and any new info always helps. I will only be here untill the 11th contact me here or email me at akenai@yahoo.com

 Aaron

Doesn't it feel good to take something off the endless list? Now that I can say I did a 3 week open water voyage I am enthralled with myself. Tonight I saw at a meeting for an upcoming annual Mermaid Regatta. The competition will be stiff and I don't have the energy to coach my crew. I'm preoccuppied and tired of motivating others. So, I'll take this one on the chin. Gather up who I can and give it my all. I'll concentrate on driving the boat, having the boat in decent working order, and…

Doesn't it feel good to take something off the endless list? Now that I can say I did a 3 week open water voyage I am enthralled with myself. Tonight I saw at a meeting for an upcoming annual Mermaid Regatta. The competition will be stiff and I don't have the energy to coach my crew. I'm preoccuppied and tired of motivating others. So, I'll take this one on the chin. Gather up who I can and give it my all. I'll concentrate on driving the boat, having the boat in decent working order, and…

Yesterday, the winds were blowing 11-15 but, what seemed different was the temperature of the wind was 90+ deg and you just couldn't cool off. That's when the new "mister" installed on the aft deck became a lifesaver. I had been fighting putting one in for years because I didn't think it was nautical enought, but hidden away under the cockpit storage area, it worked out great. I guess as we get older we start making some better decisions and but the way we keep the crew happy in the…

Sailing has taken me many places and now I'm publishing sea stories (my own and others) through Shipyard Press, a publishing company I started in 2005. Shipyard is a publishing company for this new electronic age. I print books on demand, there is no upfront cost from authors and nobody is telling you what or how to write, it just has to be good, readable, page turner material. Illustrations and photos are OK and the books can be in full color or B&W. Covers, front and back are always…

It has been said if you make enough money to require a payment to Uncle Sam, then you are in good shape. Put the good with enough and you have the name of the boat I just purchased:  Good Enough. Yipe, I am the proud owner of a Marples 35 wood/epoxy constant camber tri..... After a successful sail home from the Rio Dulce, she'll be renamed SPRAY 3  (same as my Corsair was named).…