Back to writing? Time will tell

Avner and Gili in a Family gather 

Avner, my beloved jefes, passed away on October 21, 2024. Exactly one year ago today. 

Two years since the terrible war began.

The hostages have finally come home — and maybe, just maybe, the war has ended.

I’m trying to return to writing after more than two years of silence.

It was one of Udi’s wishes — he kept encouraging me to write again, and also a request from some of my “faithful readers.”

Out of despair, Udi even started his own blog, well worth reading, especially for those interested in the technical details I tend to skip.

There will no doubt be some overlap, but for us, it fulfills the deep need to document.

In August 2025, we marked four years since we began this new chapter of life aboard Ester — a journey that started in Greece and set sail westward into the wide world.

I stopped writing about six months into the voyage (except for a short post before and after crossing the Atlantic), when we were still in the Canary Islands, when my beloved nephew Avner was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive cancer.

I threw myself into my sister’s heroic effort to understand this rare disease, hoping to find some path toward healing.

We used every tool we could: endless reading, consultations, and connections in the medical and research worlds.

Though I was often far away on Ester, I was deeply involved, both mentally and emotionally.

We were moved by the genuine commitment of so many people who turned over every stone trying to help.

Meanwhile, Avner kept living his life — between treatments and tests.

During these years, we came to Israel for longer visits, and I was lucky to have precious time with him. I knew we were on borrowed time.

Now, it’s been a year since he left us, after four months of unbearable suffering. He fought so hard — unwilling to give up a single lucid moment for the sake of easing the pain.

This personal shadow hung over the voyage, the distance, and my spirit.

But then came another blow — the events of October 7, 2023. The chaos, the grief, the helplessness. The feeling that the ground had disappeared beneath our feet, that what once was would never be again.

The news reached us just after we had returned to Trinidad from a visit to Israel, about to launch Ester back into the water. Within 24 hours, as the scale of the catastrophe became clear, we started looking for flights back. As everyone remembers, it wasn’t simple — few flights, only Israeli airlines.Within ten days, we were home again, joining civil efforts of aid and protest, and being close to family.

Personal pain and national trauma became one.

Our lives split between Ester and Israel, trying to preserve a dream while the familiar daily world, work, purpose, had vanished.

My heart wasn’t in the voyage, and certainly not in documenting it.

For me, writing is not just a record. When I write, my heart, emotions, and thoughts, become part of the journey.

The impossible combination of personal and national tragedy was crushing. The dissonance between the dreamlike life at sea and the nightmare at home was almost unbearable.

Now, two years after the war began and a year since Avner’s passing, with the war’s end and the hostages home, something about this convergence of events eases the constant sense of emergency.

It allows me to imagine returning to a full life aboard Ester, and to writing again.

These years will remain a black hole — in life and in our sailing log.

They’ve made the obvious painfully clear:

Life is unpredictable, our control minimal, and what remains is to steer through chaos and uncertainty, and to catch moments of light whenever we can.

We’ve returned to Ester after four months away.

The beauty around us, the quiet rhythm of life, they’ve come back to fill our days. Yes, there is such a thing as a calm, sane, good life outside the Israeli capsule. Writing helps me stay present, to capture moments that otherwise fade.I hope this time, I’ll manage to keep it up.

Just so we remember how we got here:

• August 2021: Set sail from the Peloponnese, Greece.

• September 2021: Through Gibraltar, farewell to the Mediterranean, onward to the Canary Islands.

• July 2022: From the Canaries to the Azores and Madeira.

• January 2023: From Madeira, via the Canaries, to Cape Verde.

• March 2023: Crossed the Atlantic to the Caribbean — a milestone and a thrill.

• September 2023: Returned from Israel to Trinidad — and then came October 7.

• February 2024: Back to Trinidad, then to Bonaire and Panama, meeting Tomer for a joint sail among the San Blas Islands.

• April 2024: Crossed the Panama Canal into a new ocean — the Pacific.

• May 2024: A month in the Galápagos — nature in its purest form.

• June 2024: The day before the long Pacific crossing, Avner’s condition worsened sharply. I flew home to Israel.

• Udi and Tomer made the crossing together — three weeks of ocean, father and son, an unforgettable passage. I was grateful that I could be with Avner and my family through his final days, moments that contained so much. After the crossing, Udi flew home too; Tomer stayed to explore the Marquesas.

• March 2025: After seven months, we returned for our first round among the Polynesian islands — with friends and family visiting from Israel.

• May 2025: Ester was hauled out in the Society Islands.

• September 2025: Back aboard for another chapter in Polynesia.

And because life never truly stops, there were also beautiful moments:

Avner got married, and I had the joy of meeting his wonderful wife, Nasrin.

Our first grandchild, Nur, daughter of Shye and Eliana, was born — now almost two, and objectively one of the world’s wonders. Her name, meaning light, has truly been that, our light and breath through these hard years.

And last but not least, Gili and Ohad’s wedding in September 2024 — and their first happy anniversary just recently.

Photos to follow — because these moments deserve to be seen.

To My Faithful Readers

If paradise exists, this must be the closest thing to it.

I’m aware of how vast the gap feels between the Israeli reality today, especially regarding the ware, and where I am now.

We can’t completely disconnect from the news; I try to control my obsession, to limit it. The reports of hell and heartbreak create a tension, a sense of guilt, to call this place paradise feels almost wrong.

But it’s also true.

If I can’t let go of that irrational guilt and write our story as it is,

I’ll never truly be able to write again.

Some may find this “too detached” and choose not to follow our journey.

That’s completely understandable.

For those who stay — maybe I can offer a small escape from the heavy reality, a glimpse of the beauty and hope that still exist in the world.

Because there is a beautiful world out there, waiting for when we’re ready to lift our heads from the mud.

Sending a hug from the middle of the sea. 🌊💙

End of crossing – Happy Passover (and Easter) from Martinique in the Caribbean Islands

The image below shows what our navigation plotter

is telling us …

 

The last sunset of our crossing has just ended. The sun set into the sea from a cloudy sky, lighting the edged of the dark grey clouds with a golden fringe. A sunset at sea is always beautiful. Sometimes clean large and orange, sometimes cloudy, dramatic and beautiful. A large full moon rose together with the sunset, the moon which will be at its fullest in two days, on Passover Eve. These are now the last 100 miles of an Atlantic crossing which was more wonderful than I had expected. The sea and the wind were in our favor, even when the waves reached 3 meters high, Ester glided over the waves . If one des not look back and see the mountain of water behind, it feels like a periodic and unending series of a rollercoaster up-and-down coupled with a soft and gentle sideways roll.

Our first destination in the Caribbean Islands is Martinique, one of several islands which are French territories. We are coordinated with Miguel, our partner in a month of sailing from the Canary Islands to Cape Verde and between the Cape Verdean Islands. Miguel left on a crossing 10 days before us, and arrived two days ago. We hope that he will greet us on the pier at Martinique.

I do not know how to sum up this Crossing experience. It lasted exactly two weeks in which life was ruled by sunrises, sunsets, wind and waves. We handled challenges - no crossing can be without challenges … gourmet cooking challenges in a swinging boat, uncomfortable sleeping by turn, in watches. Our crew was the best I could imagine. We had a harmonious atmosphere of two older parents and a world-conquering son as an equal and sometimes better-than-equal crew member. I am very happy and grateful that I could fulfil this dream and complete another chapter in our journey.

In the name of the Ester crew, descendants of Caribbean pirates, I wish you a Happy Passover.

 

Now for some pictures of the voyage:

Leaving Cape Verde

Roni’s Version

 

Two abridged video clips 

A plotter image upon leaving Cape Verde

We try, again, to fix our watermaker. This time we have with us a professional submarine mechanic

 

We also had a fisherman, who caught two large Doradas, which provided meals over eight days. On the right is one of the large Doradas, on the left is a fish which shall remain nameless.

 Celebrating mid-crossing.

Before jumping into the ocean for a makeshift “shower”, wearing all the safety required to stay safe, and somewhat modest

Raising a gin toast and finishing a bottle bought in the Azores Islands.

 Some sail work.

 

Tomer in a typical pose.

 

A carpet of algae on the last day.

 

Now that we have arrived, Tomer raises the local flag. 

Oops – have we reached France?

 

Happy Passover and Easter from Ester😀🥂

Tenerife - round one

   

It has been somewhat more than a week in Tenerife, and we feel that time is beginning to run out. In 4 days we shall leave for another round in mainland Spain and a holiday in Israel. This time our excuse is a visit to the police station near our “new residence”’ next to Ruth’s house. This calls for another shared fun period. The excuse for the Israel holiday is Gili’s 30th birthday and Passover … it is good that the Israel visits are more often than we had planned, they lower the level of homesickness and provide us a more constant attachment. The less-fun aspect is the preparation for each trip: finding a suitable time window, flights, having to stay near an airport, so that sailing weather does not prevent us from reaching the airport, finding a suitable marina to leave Ester safe, cleaning the boat and locking it up. All this takes up quite some time, but provides satisfaction and excitement.

Back to Tenerife –

We arrived in a wonderful sail from the south of Gran Canaria. Yet again we tried a new sail which we had not used before. The sail is called a “stay sail”, and it is a “front” sail similar to a standard “front” sail named “Jib” or “Genoa”. It can be used by itself or together with two others, the mainsail, which goes back from the main mast, and the jib sail. The stay sail’s advantage is being smaller, much smaller than the jib sail, and it is closer to the center of the boat. It is useful in side winds when they are relatively strong, when one does not want to go too fast, or challenge the boat too much, or lean too much. Furthermore, in suitable weather, when the wind is not too strong, the stay sail can add sail area to add speed. Mostly, and this is important when crossing oceans, it can provide safety in night sailing and in situations when it is not safe to use a larger “front” sail. In such a situation it is best to have a mainsail not fully spread to its full height, and a stay sail as a “front” sail. When it is clam, one can add the jib sail and adjust its size. That’s it, enough with the technical description for those interested and those concerned …

We left Puerto Mogan at first light, expecting a sail of 10 hours, during which the wind will blow from a convenient direction but change much in its force, which is common when hopping from island to island. The “channel” between the islands produces a funnel for the winds, which are weaker near the coast, and all of a sudden increase when one leaves shelter of an island and cross between. This is exactly the situation when the new sail should be used, it provides safety when the wind may become suddenly much stronger. We arrived in the late afternoon to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which is the main city of Tenerife, and one of the largest in the Canary Islands. Tenerife is known as one of the attractions for European tourists. Like all the islands we saw to date, the tourists typically choose the south of the islands, which is protected from winds, and choose to be on the beach. If we do not insist to stay just there, we can enjoy beautiful landscapes, cute villages, without experiencing tourist crowds.

A Three sails boat

The following day was Udi’s birthday! On the way I planned a surprise. I kept contact with French friends, with whom we celebrated the New Year, approximately two months ago in Fuerte Ventura (see a previous post …) which was an enchanting evening. Since then we have not met. When we travelled from the Canary Islands to Ruth and Israel and back, they continued south along the islands. A moment before we left the south of the island we decided to arrange a meeting. As we were sailing peacefully between the islands, when we had cellular reception, I coordinated with Karin and Manu a surprise for Udi. They should come next morning (the morning of Udi’s birthday) together with Manu’s daughter who came for a visit, and stay for a “Pajama party”! We prepared as for a military operation. We sent encrypted text messages, maps, tracking data and plans for invasion and takeover. Hmmm, in these days of real war, these descriptions take on a different meaning. Nevertheless I leave them, and hope you will be accepting.

Below are some pictures and descriptions of a little more than 24 hours of real surprise and great fun. Karin and Manu are really cute and fascinating, we have a close connection, and hope to preserve it. For those who want to know more about them see January’s post. They are really exceptional.

Before watching this video make sure your sound is working

as it is accompanied by an important soundtrack!

After they left we were rather tired. We had not yet recuperated from the sailing, we needed to restore sleep hours, and to buy food for the boat. It took us two restful days + a guided tour in the old part of the city, again one of the free tours. I found a web site which concentrates such tours all over the world. These are not the only such tours, but it is convenient to have such a concentration. Guru Walks

Our first visit in the main market with our French friends made it clear where we should eat at the end of the guided tour. On the bottom floor of the market is the fish and seafood section. A small shop is hidden in the corner there, with just two tables for diners. The owner loves what he does, smoking fish. On our first visit we bought one kind of smoked fish and tasted it on the boat. A heavenly taste! I know and like smoked fish, but this was a different league.  On our return we ordered a variety of smoked fish that came with a potato salad and some toasts. Not only were the fish exquisite, but so was the potato salad with an Indian seasoning and a meticulous serving. A conversation with the owner, who works alone, quietly and with love and patience, revealed the secret: In his past he worked for many years as a chef in fancy hotels around the world, responsible for dozens of workers and experiencing a lot of pressure. Then he decided it was enough, and went back to his old passion, smoking fish, an art that he studied and developed by himself. He buys the fish from his next door neighbour fish shop, and says they are as fresh and good as you can get. Then he smokes them using different methods and a variety of wood types. We were impressed by the patience with which he slices the fish, changing the knife between one kind and the other, organising them on the plate and creating a very esthetic dish!

A few words about the city and our new neighbourhood:  The marina is at the center of the city, but does not suffer from city noise, except from some noise from the nearby commercial harbor, which sometimes see a cruise monster discharging hundreds of day tourists. Apart from that the marina is small and intimate, sheltered, with a beautiful view to the North of tall green mountains coming down almost to the sea. The city is mostly low buildings spread over a large area. There is a nice old quarter (less than that of Las Palmas) with nice gardens, a colorful market, and an impressive auditorium (concert hall) similar to that of Sidney Australia. The population is mostly local, few tourists, which concentrate at the south of the island. In all the marina is sympathetic, enables easy access to boat supplies, shopping of all sorts, restaurants (if you must) and most importantly some culture. We spent one evening in a jazz club (middling but cute) and one night in the impressive auditorium, jazz again, at a high level and amazing acoustics. I suddenly realized how much I crave such culture. Such culture as disappeared two years ago when the corona invaded our lives, and is now slowly coming back. In Israel culture is showing more of a comeback, here it appears to come back more slowly. It is hard to find music performances’ which are usually plentiful. Worse, the Carnival which is held here every year in February and March which is considered one of the largest and most impressive in the world, has not been held for two years, and this year was postponed to the summer, so apparently we missed it. But … one should always leave something for next time …

The Santa Cruz Auditorium
We found out  that the Architect, Santiago Calatrava, has also designed the Strings Bridge in Jerusalem. Both give an impression of construction impossibilities.

Under the auditorium, on the waterline, some street art.

The comedian that started the carnaval in Tenerife.

A documentation of the carnaval since 1962 through street art.

We had three days of significant rain which did not stop, together with winds up to 50 knots (almost hurricane force), which left us mostly confined to the boat. We managed one hike, on the hills north of the town. This peek was impressive’ we saw and ancient forest of laurels, a remnant of ancient times, together with cacti, of course, palm trees (also to be expected) and plenty of flowers. The hike, which was rather long, sometimes on a steep downhill, left me limping and miserable, with a knee which calls for treatment. Aside from limping I am a little worried in light of the fact that hikes are an essential part of our life. I am trying not to go too far with this (pun intended) and to hope that it is temporary, and a solution will be found. We shall have an expert look at this when we arrive in Israel soon.

So what does one do three days confined mostly to the boat?: work on the boat, cook, write, practice Spanish (me) and Greek (Udi) on Duolingo, get to know neighbors, put things in order, and discover treasures in various corners of the boat. This time we continued making the never-ending lists we started last April. We sort, organize by subject, and write down. Here is something that serves me after decades of science, Excel tables, gained after decades of advanced molecular biology research. 😅

A present for some rainy days: a double rainbow!

Today is Saturday, the sun has come back out. In two days we shall leave for another “voyage” on our way home. I am in a hurry to post. I have learned that once away from Ester, it does not happen.

On the last two days we discovered one of the treasures of this island. The town of San Cristobal de la Laguna. Such a long name for a small but especially enchanting place. We had a local guide through the Guru Walks, and saw small hidden treasures. There used to be a large lagoon of sweet water here, which explains the place name. This town used to be the capital of the island, a title which was transferred to Santa Cruz when Santa Cruz became an important port, and merchants and the rich had an interest to transfer the capital to the ocean’s edge. The town has 16th century structures standing intact, with plaster and volcanic rock combined, black and red, small lanes paved with cobblestones, small enchanting shops, some traditional and some modern, in good taste, and a University which maintains this place alive and rocking. The houses are expansive. Built like the Riads in Morocco, with two stories surrounding a well-cared-for inner courtyard, a fountain in the middle, and balconies all around, with beautiful woodwork. The place is especially well preserved, maybe thanks to UNESCO declaring the town a world heritage site. See the pictures, which unfortunately do not do justice to the bustling spirit of this town. Maybe I can provide more in a next visit.

Once this was a cigar factory, today a beautiful hotel that keeps the original spirit.

A local designer that is world famous. Crazy colorfulness, no two identical pairs of shoes. You can only buy in three shops in Europe or through the internet. I even tried some on.

An exhibition by a local artist that was created before the war in Ukraine. 

Almost a prophecy. Criticises Putin’s attitude to the LGBT community.

Notice the plants that grow on the balcony’s roof.
Seen on most balconies, and it is against the law to remove.

A taste of the local nightlife.
The main drinks here are the excellent local wines.

Besides the visit to la Laguna, we experienced another new experience, with Udi feeling that he must get some fresh air after days of confinement to the boat, and leaving to tour another town, whose crowning glory is the “balcony house”. I stayed to do my duty to god and country and write this post. It was refreshing to separate for the first time since we embarked on our way.

The balconies house

“Dragon tree” is the local name for this plant, which despite its huge size is botanically considered a bush.

That’s it, tomorrow we pack up and lock the boat, and you are up-to date up to this very day. 

We shall meet in the next post, after this coming Passover.

Have a happy and kosher holiday. 🌻.