The Approaching 2014 Sailing Season

Christmas in Dubai with the twins
 

Hello Everyone

 

This is more of a ‘TEST’ letter to see if I have set up my new computer correctly – well more like seeing if I can use it correctly.  Brigitte did all the setting up for me, and Dan has been great in helping me navigate around the thing.

 

Our sailing season is fast approaching again.  At this moment Alec and I are back in Abu Dhabi staying with family on our way back to Athens.  We fly out of Dubai on the 15^th April  and then catch the bus back to SHAMAL which has spent the winter parked up in Lefkada, Greece.

William in the Christmas Spirit
 

 

As you know we left Lefkada in late November and came to Abu Dhabi where we spent Christmas and New Year with daughter Brigitte, Dan and the boys.  Son Murray flew up here from New Zealand to join us.  We did a road trip down to Oman to catch up with friends which is always fun.  We also visited friends in Dubai.  Brigitte and Dan have been great putting up with us for so long.

 

Matthew with Great Uncle John
 

By mid-January we were all down in New Zealand.  Murray arrived first followed a week later by Alec and I, then Brigitte, Dan and family a week after us, which gave us time to get Murray’s tiny little Unit ready to fit the seven of us in!!  Brigitte took Dan to the south Island for five days and left Nana, Poppa and Murray to look after the boys.  They were so good for us.  Then we all headed off to the Coromandel for a lovely beach holiday at Hahei for a week. It is one of our favourite beach holiday sites.

 

We had family come and visit and we travelled around different parts of the North Island visiting family and friends.  One of the highlights was the Art Deco Weekend in Napier where my brother John and his wife Noelene live.  Alec and I did this trip.  This is commemorated each year at the anniversary of the 1931 Napier earthquake which nearly destroyed the old town, and out of the ashes rose the new town with its wonderful buildings in the Art Deco period, which today are beautifully preserved.  The whole town comes out to celebrate in real style many dressing in the period. There are dinners, bands playing, a ball, a vintage car parade, air displays, and then to round it off on the Sunday a picnic along the Marine Parade which was great.  The weather was perfect for the weekend.

Art Deco Weekend, Napier
 

 

Dan returned to Abu Dhabi after three weeks as work was beckoning, and Brigitte had arranged to travel back with us as with the twins being under two years of age she cannot travel alone with them.  Plan ‘A’ was for us all to fly out on the 27^th March, BUT, Alec had to remain in New Zealand for another week to wait for results on a sunspot biopsy. Thank goodness it came through negative or he would have needed surgery.  The downfall of our sailing adventures with a fair skin !!  But we do keep a close eye on things and he has regular check-ups.

Boys at Cathedral Cove, Coromandel
 

 

So Brigitte and I looking like a small band of pilgrims moving country with our 11 pieces luggage, (it is amazing how much stuff one needs with when travelling with toddlers) flew out here without Alec.  I have to admit the boys were very good, but Brigitte and I got no sleep. We put the headsets on them and put on Micky Mouse which kept them occupied for ages.

Ann and Judith, Dubai

 

When we arrived back in Dubai I said good-bye to Brigitte and the boys for a few days and Dan took them home to Abu Dhabi, and I went and stayed with our boating buddies Judith and Graham.  Judith had taken a couple of days off work and we did some site seeing together including a boat trip along the coast and up into Dubai Creek.

Opito Bay, Coromandel
 

 

We hope this finds our readers all fit and well and with Adventures of your own to for full this year.

 

Opoutere Beach, Coromandel
 

We will give you updates where and when we can

 

Much love from

 

The Admiral and the Commander

Returning to Turkey and Greece

Goodbye Black Sea

Hello One and All




Shipping in the Bosphorus

It is Saturday 28^th September and we are sitting in Poyraz Fishing Harbour at the top of the Bosphorus, Turkey.  It is time to up anchor and move on again towards our winter home in Lefkas Marina on the Island of Lefkada – Greece - in the Ionian Sea.  We still have a lot of miles to cover, but hopefully the autumn will be kind to us with warm days and good sailing conditions.  Also we have the Bosphorus, our “open air” museum, to share with Judith and Graham.  So that is just what we do – up anchor on a lovely sunny morning, cross over to the European side of the strait, and head off towards the heart of Istanbul.  Being my fourth trip along the Bosphorus I become quite the tour guide telling one and all, or whoever will listen, what we are passing!! I am not really a city person, but there is something about Istanbul that other cities don’t have.  Maybe it is because it stands at the crossroads between east and west divided by a stretch of water that has seen more historical events than most others.  But what Istanbul also has is a rich cultural heritage for being the capital of Rome, Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires, in days gone by.  I wanted Judith and Graham to see something of this.

Romania and Bulgaria

Hello Again

Yacht Club, Odessa

Romania and Bulgaria were two of the countries we had not done a lot of homework on.  We had just not had the time, so we really were venturing into the unknown.  First we had to get there. 

Romania has a population of 22.2 million.  Its Communist Government was over thrown in 1989, and, they joined the E.U. in 2007.  It covers an area of 238,000 square kilometres, and its coastline is 225km’s long, from the Danube Delta in the north to the Bulgarian border in the south.  Along the coastline are miles of beautiful sandy beaches which become packed in summertime with holidaymakers.  There are no natural anchorages on its coastline, and, only four ports which yachts can use.  Still each of our stops – three in all – were interesting experiences. 

Harbour Masters Office,
Odessa

Checking out of the Ukraine took a little longer than we planned, then we had some local currency we wanted to spend.  A final coffee down on the waterfront is always a nice way to say goodbye to a place and that is just what we did.  I was also able to get Alec some very yummy pastries for the trip ahead.  So it was not till mid-afternoon that we untied our lines and sailed out of Odessa Port, turned south to run down the coast towards the border with Romania.  Yes another night passage. This leg was 102nm.  It was now overcast and the temperature 19 deg. C.  At first we had to motor as once outside the port we had head winds, and that current, yet again, against us.  This part of the coastline is rather low-lying and once we had passed the large commercial port of Ilyichevsk, it becomes difficult to see much.  Just before dark we were able to raise the sails and move along a little more quickly. Then during the night it started to rain, and yes off in the distance some very active thunderstorm clouds, but this time they stayed well away.