The final set of pictures from Isola Lipari.  Next update from Crete.

j

Posted: May 30th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: 1

These pictures are from Isola Lipari.

j

Posted: May 30th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: none

I am at Starbucks in Chania, Crete posting this blog and I am not sure of the signal strength so I am downloading in bit and pieces.

j

Posted: May 30th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: none

We left Corsica headed to Sardinia on May 14^th.  The weather was cloudy and cool but pleasant.  I must say that when we were moored at the marina in Bonafacio; sandwiched between two sail boats our rocking and rolling was at a minimum as we are beam to beam with only fenders separating us.  That is called Med mooring and we are getting good at tying lines and throwing stern lines ashore.  When one of your neighbours leaves, your boat has room to move and the fenders have space to swing.  Needless to say both of our neighbours left and we swayed and banged all night long.  Roger, Paige and I did not get much sleep.  Thank goodness it was only a short day hop to Sardinia.

We arrived in Olbia, Sardinia (on the NE side) at 4:30 pm and just as we got into the harbour it started to pour rain.  Our neighbours from Corsica were at Olbia and we chatted with them on the radio, tried to get into the marina where they were but ended up tying up to the town quay.  The price was right (free) for a change but we were a bit worried about whether we could stay there all night.  We did and had no issues.  We met Wolfraum, Andrea, Charlotta and Julius for supper and had a great evening.  They left the next day and we moved over to Marina di Olbia.  We rented a car for a few days to go and check out the sites as the winds were blowing hard and we were not going anywhere.  Sunday, May 16^th, we took a trip south and on the way back bought some badly needed groceries.  The weather was not improving so Monday we took a trip north.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Finally the weather changed, it stopped blowing, so on Tuesday, May 18^th we left Olbia for Sicily.

The trip to Sicily was 2 days.  We crossed the Tyrrhenian Sea heading SE towards the boot of Italy.  Our plan was to go through the Strait of Messina on our way to Taormina where John was stationed in the 60’s.  On Wednesday we were still chugging along crossing areas of the sea that were 9842’ deep.  But all good plans go awry as the weather changed, the winds picked up and the seas grew so we made it as far as Isola Lipari.  The weather channel was calling for Force 8 winds (30-35 knots or 43-50 mph), it was time to find a hole.

Isola Lipari turned out to be that hole and we thoroughly enjoyed the island.  The town of Lipari has so much history that it was mind boggling; under the rule of many different factions for the last millennium.  We had to tie up at the marina in the pouring rain with 20-30 knot winds blowing on our beam but that was ok as it washed off the salt from the boat.   On Friday the 21^st we went for great walk around town, hope you enjoy the pictures.  Saturday the weather calmed down and we decided to leave for Crete with the east side of Sicily as a backup in case of weather.  Engines were started, lines were cast then Roger found that the TRAC stabilizer system was not working.  Roger being the genius that he is with equipment got them running again. He had to remove the chart plotter monitor then replaced the stabilizer instrument panel and its “brains.”  The weather was somewhat conflicting with the weather channel calling for Force 7 winds and the weather sites on the net were calling for Force 2.  By 2 pm the weather channel had cancelled the wind warning and we cruised.  By the time the wind warning was cancelled we were many miles from Lipari.

It turned out that we did not have to stop along the way and so we motored along at an average speed of 7 knots with calm seas and sunny skies.  We have noticed how much commercial traffic there is on the Med.  We all must keep a close eye on the radar to watch for “blips” when we are doing our watch.  At one time we have 12 targets on the screen.  It has been an absolute pleasure to have John on board with us especially when running overnights like we have been.  We do 3 hour watches, I do 8-11 pm, Roger is 11-2 am and John is the night shift guy, 2-5 am.  John has let me sleep in a couple of times as I do the early morning shift 5-whenever Roger gets up, what a great guy!  We were at sea for Saturday, Sunday, Monday arriving Tuesday morning in Chania, Crete, Greece.

Until next time…

Posted: May 30th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: none

On Monday, May 10th New Paige left Palma bound for Corscia which is a French country.  We would have left earlier in the day accept we had davit issues and had to get it fixed before we left, so it was 5 pm before we departed the fuel dock.  Diesel in Palma was 1.085 Euros per litre or $1.43Cdn./litre.

The whole trip was a delight as the weather was good and the wind was almost non-existent.  Every so often we pass things in the water and this was a first for a refrigerator, lord only knows where it came from. 

We did hit a mile stone as we rolled over 10,000 nautical miles on New Paige.  The picture shows 9,999 (TRIP) then X999.  Some explanation of other parts of the picture, we are the black boat lower left.  The island on the left of the screen is Menorca also part of the Ballerics.  The triangles with either the X or straight line from the top are other ships that have shown up on our AIS (automatic identification system).  SOG; we are traveling at 7.2 knots which is a good speed as it is very economical for fuel.  DEPTH; the water is so deep that it does not show on our depth sounder.  BEARING; we are traveling NE at 62.3 degrees.  Hope that explains some parts of the picture.  This momentous occasion happened on my watch on
Tuesday, May 11th at 8:35 am and our position was 39 degrees 47 minutes N & 4 degrees 4 minutes E. 

I am running out of juice so will post the pictures.

We have been in Sardinia for 4 days and are heading for Sicily so will catch up then.

Until then…

Joan

Posted: May 17th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: 1

These are the last few pictures of Palma.  Sorry the blog part was not as chatty as usual. 

New Paige departed Palma on Monday, May 10th bound for Corsica.  It is a two day run for us.

Until next time…

Joan

Posted: May 17th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: 1