Italy, Sicily, the Aeolian Islands and Sardinia in three days

 Well, well… a little over three days…. Similar to the organized trips of yesteryear, that trips abroad were a once-in-a-lifetime event. The organized trips promised "Europe in ten days." Endless journeys of endless travel (domestic flights were too expensive), skipping between the capital cities and the monuments not to be missed…
We are in a similar mode. For sailors, this is called delivery, and the intention is to transfer a boat by a hired crew, for grounded people who do not waste valuable time on sailing long distances. So we do this delivery ourselves. Destination, Gibraltar until early / mid-September to go out with the right winds for the Canaries. In our defense it has been said that we have sailed these areas for several seasons of sailing in recent years. Also, even when we wanted to stop and rest, we are in August and everything is crowded and disgusting…

Flying through Italy

Relaxing into the pace of the cruise and the division into shifts (about sailing at night I think I told in a previous post). Once you get into the routine it's really even fun, especially when the moon is shining.
We arrived in Italy after 50 hours sailing from Pilos, Greece. Anyone who has followed the blog so far, knows that we replaced batteries in Pilos before we left. Does this mean a calm cruise without worrying about power consumption? Absolutely not… An electronic meter that monitors battery filling and battery use drives us crazy. It seems that even when we are motorized, and are supposed to charge the batteries up to 100%, the batteries are running low. Breaking our heads, worried, trying to crack the mystery. To be sure, we stay on the engine even when the winds are blowing. Ochhh… Lucky Udi insisted on completely filling up the diesel tanks before we left Pilos.

The sunsets do not disappoint either,
especially when three small dolphins come to visit.

Moonrise

Overall sailing is comfortable, but the batteries disturb our rest…
The decision on where the first mooring will be in Italy (port of entry) was influenced by the corona - yes, even the location of entering Italy is affected by the bastard… Although we sail within Europe, each country has its own corona procedures. The fact that we are vaccinated is critical but not enough. At the entrance to each country you have to fill out unique forms, declare that we are good and vaccinated people, and of course show boating licenses and ownership of Ester. The Mediterranean sailing blog (which is why I opened Facebook for the first time in my life!), Is full of sailor fumes about the difficulty of entering Italy. Not that they have special requirements, they just do not like to work .. The classic places to enter Italy for boats coming to this area are cities in Sicily that we would be happy to return to. The sailors' reports were of waiting for hours to days in front of the towns, without getting off the boat, waiting for the long-awaited approval… The procedure is overall simple. Fill out a form, attach a vaccination certificate, send to the port's health department, and wait for approval. So why does it take days? To the Italian God Solutions…
We decided to be unconventional, and opt for a port of a forgotten city facing Sicily, hoping that they are less flooded with requests. Before we left Greece, when we were in cellular reception range, we sent an email to the Reggio di Calabria Health Department, a gamble that turned out to be successful. Within a few hours we received confirmation that we were kosher for entry!
All is well, except that the city is not something to write home about…

Reggio di Calabria

Nevertheless, three good things happened in the gloomy town. First, we found ourselves moored to a small pier, a total of 10 sailboats in the marina. Two boats next to us moor an Israeli family! First meeting with Israelis since we left, and even especially nice! Father Shai, mother Shir and four lovely children! Yael is 15, Maayan is 13 and twins are 10, Hadas and Ram. Each is more charming than the other. Sailing on their refurbished catamaran "Bazo" for three months. They returned a year ago from a two-year tour of the Caribbean. They had to shorten their journey because of…. True, Corona! 

We went together to have ice cream in the best place in Calabria! The queue in front of her bodes well, indeed, excellent Italian ice cream!
From there we continued to a local museum, which to our surprise was open despite the late evening hour. I heard about the museum from Ofra, my sister, who came to this town because of her husband's conference, and was looking for how to pass the time until they crossed to tour Sicily. Even then she told me excitedly about unusual sculptures on display in the museum of this insignificant town. After visiting the museum, I felt grateful! In the remote museum, archeological finds taken from the sea, from the period when the area was ruled by the Greeks (about the fifth century BC). An impressive and special collection of pottery and marble sculptures. But the highlight, two bronze statues, twice the size of a man, are beautiful in a way that is hard to describe! So here are some pictures:

The story of their discovery is particularly interessting. In the early 1970s, a holiday maker from Rome went snorkeling for his enjoyment. At a distance of 200 meters from the shore, at a depth of about five meters, he saw a human hand peeking out of the sand. He was sure it was a body, and decided to dive and touch. To his surprise the touch was metallic. A few more free dives, and sand removal, and the guy unveiled these two amazing bronze sculptures, which have been waiting for exposure for over two thousand years! Of course archaeologists and restoration people came into the picture. The sculptures are beautifully preserved, are considered super rare. Really worth a special trip. We came out excited from the experience, even the young children. It was impossible not to be deeply impressed.
We rolled back into the boats, having a fluent conversation and fun with the whole family. They had planned to set off for Greece the next morning, but the "family" meeting and the Friday caused them to postpone their departure, and to invite us to dinner the next day, in their boat.
The whole next day, Udi and I spent trying to figure out how to deal with the battery problem, which even with real shore electricity refused to fully charge (at least according to the electronic gauge). How to explain to an electrician in fluent Italian, something we can not explain to ourselves. Suddenly enlightenment! I was reminded of Yaakov, the mechanic / electrician who took care of Esther A for several years while mooring in Jaffa. Not only did he take care of Esther, he also educated Udi with a basic understanding of the boat systems. Together they spent long evenings in Ester's treatments. Jacob was also our savior when we got into trouble on cruises on Esther A. He was our phone friend. No matter where we are and at what time, if there is cellular reception, Jacob will be on the other end of the line, and with endless patience, and super professionalism, will guide Udi and will not let go, until the problem is solved. I also wrote about Jacob, the greatest of them all, a post called "A Song of Praise to Jacob" in the previous blog. Feel free to open the link.
Friday, and our enlightenment costed Jacob six hours of conversation, including a video call, accompanying photos and tests and more tests. The end of the matter, Jacob gave us permission to continue on our way, with instructions to go ahead. His conclusion, at this point, the voltmeter and current is lying! maniac! How much sorrow and worries caused us! By the way we got a lesson in electricity on Esther B. Dear man I already said? But payment for the work he refuses to accept. Makes it difficult to call the next fault, which will surely come ...
The dinner on board BAZO with the Israeli family, challah that Udi prepared, kiddush, a song for Shabbat and children, brought with it a feeling of warmth of home and family and longing for children. The children in the house gathered to sit in our house, which is now Gili's house, which she moved to as soon as we left, to take care of Xabi (the cat), flower pots, and to be a living home for the brothers. And indeed fulfills the task with dignity and enjoyment. Everyone gathered for Friday with us, and we in continuous communication receive reports of preparing a joint dinner, in which everyone takes part, and Roni wins over the kitchen. Aside from the private conversations with each of them, there was also a short conversation live, with the table set and full of all goodies, and the company dressed especially festively for Shabbat, we get the whole show, saturated with contentment, and fly over them. There is nothing like them! The next day they also get a video of their visit to Grandma Ana. Paradoxically, the relationship with them is now more intense, in terms of telephones, and those who have been "released from the yoke of parents" have taken command and seem to be doing a lot of good for their togetherness. What a relief! Another worry has been removed from my heart, for now…
Photos from the dinner, sorry for the quality. Mainly as a sweet and warm memory:

On "Bazo"
Mom Shir below, Dad Shay with a hat to sit in honor of Kiddush

The next morning when we got up Bazo had already left, we waited for the laundry to return from the launderete, fragrant and folded. A little more shopping, and off we go.

Crossing the Straits of Messina is a bit tricky. There is a crazy phenomenon there that may be typical of Straits in general. Expected and timed ocean currents. If you went out at the wrong time, with the current against you, you get to a point where the current velocity is almost at the speed of the boat, which means you are at full engine power and not advancing. If you caught him after he overturned, you're flying. In the middle of the strait, a strip of water collides with each other and a line of foam emerges on the water. Charming.

Immediately after the Straits a town called Scilla is especially cute. For those who are familiar with the phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" it is here. The first on the mainland, the second in front of it on Sicily. The meaning, "between the straits." In the old days it was considered a particularly dangerous strait, eddies, currents, and sunken boats. Some of the mythologies.

Here are some pictures:

Straits of Messina on the left Sicily and on the right Calabria

The beautiful Scilla

The boat with the tall tower is designed for fishing for swordfish in the strait.
Up the captain directs the driver, in the bow that comes far forward from the body of the boat, the fisherman with the ring. On a previous voyage we saw in action.

From here, after some deliberation, we decided to continue to a tiny island that is supposed to be beautiful called Ustica, north of Sicily, part of the Aeolian group right in front of the western tip of Sicily (see map).
Ahead is a night cruise, 24 hours from the Straits of Messina. This shift was particularly difficult in the transition between Sicily and Aeolians, a million fishing boats, tourists, sailboats and ships that run at night, mostly crossing our route. Many do not broadcast AIS. To our aid the radar that has become significant, and detects every object included a direction of displacement, and from it one can also request alerts. In short a pretty tense shift, no kitchen cleanings until about two hours pass and business calms down.
We arrived in Ustica before noon. madhouse! A million tiny motorboats running around you. The town is tiny, looks beautiful from the sea. There are almost no moorings, and cliffs from all directions. After turning it around and not finding a mooring place, we decided that in any case we did not feel like this end of August tarf and prefer to continue straight to Sardinia. Ester is equipped with food for about a year, tanks full and weather is expected to be with us. We continue for another 30 hours sailing until the first touch in Sardinia.

Bye Ustica

The captain

Many hours of quiet sailing. We love it!

There is nothing like jumping into the water in the middle of the sea

This time mullet fish that went in the oven stuffed with herbs

My first bread directed by Master Baking Udi

"The baker shouldn't comment on his dough" ... but it turned out delicious

In Sardinia the situation is already different. You can find calmer moorings, there are many options. Stopping twice in beautiful bays, dwindling moon sunrises, snorkeling in water in a crazy phosphorescent light blue color. And in general Sardinia, which we also used to taste on land, is worth a long visit of its own, when we return to the Mediterranean, in what we now call a "second pension."

In one of the moorings, the monkey boat ...

Look for them :-)

In the meantime we have not gotten off the boat to the beach for 5 days. Last night in Sardinia a tiny town called "Carloforte" the southwestern peak. Cute and beautiful here, I would be happy for more, but we are on a mission on the way to Gibraltar. Fill more Italy debt we promised ourselves, fine pizza! A little more shopping, a lot of parmesan for the coming months…
That's it, so we passed Italy (there is no doubt a crime against humanity) but we'll be back!
Now on the way to the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. Aimed at Minorca, but dependent on winds. If not Minorca then Majorca or Ibiza. Everything goes, just do not quarrel with the sea.
Carloforte:

Just because you pay 86 euros a night does not mean you get service. This is how it is in Italy.
Udi makes a quarter of an hour walk with a 100 liter tank of fuel, twice!

Next update from the first week in Spain.

60 hours of sailing to Italy - what do you do ??

 First night shift on this cruise. It has been 15 hours since we left Pilos, Greece, and we have another 35 hours to reach our destination in Italy. We do 4-hour shifts, one asleep, the other must be awake, and look around. I set a timer to remind me to scan the horizon every 10 minutes. It's easy to sink into an occupation and forget that I'm actually on duty… Our navigation device works, chart plotter in professional jargon. On it is displayed the AIS, one of the important aids, receives location transmissions of all the large ships around you (mandatory on large ships), as well as smaller vessels that have installed a transmitter. In preparation for the great journey, as part of the improvements we made to Esther, we replaced the system that only received transmissions with a system that also broadcasts. Honestly, we have no idea if we are really broadcasting, need a neighboring boat to approve. This is a huge upgrade in terms of sailing safety, especially at night. On the display you can see the direction of the boat, its name, the type of vessel (voyage / passengers / sailboat, etc.), identification of the connection, speed, distance from us, what time it will be at the point closest to us, port of departure and destination. Additionally it is possible to activate an alert system that beeps hysterically if it has detected a vessel in the range you define. The wonders of technology! Makes redundent all the theoretical knowledge of identifying boats and their direction of navigation by dim lights when part of the job is a wild guess as to whether the vessel you saw is approaching or receding. Allows the captain to sleep soundly and trust his wife, or rather the technology, to do the job (his wife he does not trust so much…). Apart from this system, we have also installed a radar that allows us to detect boats that do not broadcast or other objects (land, significant rocks, etc.). We installed this system also prior to the launch. In short, we have invested in Esther for the sake of safety and at the expense of inheritance for children….
So what do I do 4 hours alone in the middle of the sea?
Half moon, glowing stripe on the sea, humming engine (unfortunately we are not on a sail, wind is too weak and coming from the bow), automatic steering wheel keeps direction. Lets you do a lot and at ease.
Thorough cleaning of the kitchen after a pampering fish meal. Yes!
First day of sailing, Udi lowers a fishing rod, for the first time on this journey. A new rod he bought in Portoheli, near Kilada, with a Rapala (a plastic fish used as bait), which the seller promised was a fishing champion in the Mediterranean. He said and was right, after a few hours we caught an albacore tuna, one that we often caught on cruises far from the shore, weighing 5 kg. Comfortable size for a couple…
So this is what we ate for dinner:

Perfect tuna for a double meal

A type of Moroccan fish and rice

Before we left Greece we took to our deck a basil plant. It is not easy to maintain a flower pot on a boat.
That's why I call it the "baby", constantly needs supervision.
Very useful as part of the home menu!

Apart from the above, I read, write, ponder… constantly busy with pleasant occupations.

About 60 hours of sailing to Reggio di Calabria, Italy, just before the Straits of Messina, pass quite comfortably.

First and last week in our beloved Greece

 So what happened chronologically anyway:
We left Israel on Sunday, August 8th. After a night in Napfleon (a sweet town in the Peloponnese) for the boat administration, we continued to Kilada, Ester's shipyard location. In April 2021, due to the Corona closure, we spent quite a bit of time there taking care of the boat instead of sailing. The city itself is not that great, a little shabby. On the other hand, the view is amazing and the closed bay is protected on all sides and very beautiful. On land the temperatures were inhuman. The gauge in the car we rented reached up to 48 degrees (not in the shade) but felt like 50 .. The goal is to prepare the boat for going into the water as early as possible the next day, on the other hand not to work in the hot hours. We drove to Ermioni, a lovely town a 20 minute drive away, well worth a visit. This is the place we prefer to stay, while Ester is in Kiladas' shipyard. We decided to work towards sunset and early morning. The work we did in April allowed us to get organized relatively quickly which included installing sails, massive shopping, water refills, some cleaning, and haide! The next day at 10 a.m. Ester went down to the water. Always an exciting, happy and also stressful moment. Only after placing it in the water you can run the engine and check that it works. At this point we are still tied to the crane, throttle forward in neutral, 10 seconds of pushing a button, and ... there! The engine starts and the splashing of the engine cooling water in the happiest noise I have ever heard.
Trying for the first time to upload a video - Ester is led on a crane from the boat yard to the water.

Just in case it did not turn out well in the video, a picture of the crane

We part from the crane and sail to the heart of the bay. There is no shortage of additional tests before setting off. One of them, checking the dinghy engine, the rubber dinghy with which we go down to land, when we are not moored in the marina. We always try to be on anchor. Much more pleasant, calm, quiet and cheap :-) Plus, much less hot. A light breeze that blows most of the day and night, and lots of jumps into the water to revive the soul. From that moment on, our situation is much better. Even if there are glitches, and as I promised in the previous post there were, we are on the sea. And this is just the beginning ....

Sunset on Kilada, finally from the bay when we are in the water.
The kind of things you see from here and not from there. A bit reminiscent of India, no?

So here's a series of glitches that were discovered an hour after we went down into the water in Kilada Bay:

1. Dingy engine not working. We found a mechanic, repair took two days…

2. Water desalinator not working, chapeau to  Udi that diagnosed correctly a pump that broke down, found a replacement and repaired (not trivial, this is a complex system).

3. Water we filled in the shipyard is very salty, non-drinkable and difficult to remove salt from bathing with (will be treated with the help of the desalinator and the next mooring place).

I think this is the first series. Not a bad crop for the first hour ...

On Thursday we finally set out in the direction of Pilos, the point of departure from Greece. It is not necessary to sign passports but to sign boat documents. First cruise day after almost a year. Not a good start… We lifted sails and enjoyed a perfect cruise until a string burst, one that allows the main sail to roll back into the boom. Necessary, but not critical. You can lower a sail in a hurry and tie it. But, Udi  gets on board and replaces a torn rope with a new rope while sailing. Grandma and kids do not worry, Dad is tied in these situations with a harness to a strap that is stretched on the deck. We continue happily. Checking the desalinator, it works but not for drinking water level. Was expected, so we set up in advance a colon that waited for this moment. Will be addressed later. Then - if you look at the map you will see that before the first night mooring we surround the first finger of the Peloponnese. We knew in advance that the wind would increase in the "cape" area. Before we arrived, as we got closer the wind increased, and we greatly reduced the size of the sails. At some point a very strong gust came, and we realised we had to lower sails and take control of the steering wheel. The wind reached up to 40 knots! The is the strongest that we experienced (trying not to go out to sea in winds exceeding 20-25 knots), not recommended (family, not dangerous!). At the same time we received a live demonstration, what happens when you do not reduce sail in time. we saw a sailboat next to us that struggles with the wind with a sail that is probably torn / stuck in the open position. Not nice…

We went through this challenge whole and safe, and so we accumulated a second lesson, in a situation we had not yet been to.

End of day mooring on a tiny island called Alfonisos.

Added to the grocery list of faults, our batteries behave strangely and do not charge in the way we expected according to the voltmeter and current. A little worrying. We will follow tomorrow.

Friday, some rest from new mishaps, wonderful and calm sailing. The batteries are not right… a little worrying. It did not stop us from celebrating the first Friday of our trip in a charming restaurant where we picked up 9 years ago, in our six-month trip, Alon and Michal, dear friends from work, on Rosh Hashana (the Jewish new year). Documentation of the meeting and two weeks sailing together in the previous blog. We showered, got dressed, I in my best clothes (not anything really fancy…) and went down to the beach for a fine seafood meal! A fun opening to what I hope will become a tradition whenever possible, a good Friday dinner! During the afternoon and evening, conversations with the children and Shabbat Shalom wishes, to those who are available. Those who do not, receive a message and contact us when possible.

Circle the fingers of the Peloponnese from Kilada to Pilos.

The right finger is decorated with lines - the area of the crazy winds

Another day of fine sailing brought us on Saturday evening to Pilos, a city we remember very well thanks to the beautiful bay, sweet city, and Babbis, the man and the legend… I wrote almost an entire post on Babbis in the previous blog, welcome to read, a lovely story. In short (for the sake of the lazy / too busy to switch between blogs), we found Babis in a dark store of "all kinds of items for farmers" in a big mess, in our search for a rubber sealer. We had a conversation that lasted several hours during which we heard his family story, among other things, and learned that he was the captain of huge cargo ships, and had to retire for family reasons. But the longing and love for the sea remained deep inside. Relieving longing and boredom during the long hours in the store, he became an obsessive collector of classical Greek music, from all sorts of eras and styles, including rare recordings. Everything is stored neatly on the computer in a collection of folders. A small portion transferred to us via USB, from which we acquired knowledge and familiarity with our favorite music. This time another crazy detail was added to the story, Babis set up an acoustic room in his house full of radios and systems that allow him to follow the ships he commanded during his years at sea .... Maybe I stimulated you enough to open the link to the relevant post from 9 years ago ...
In the previous round we reached Pilos in early September, out of season in torrential rain, and stayed 3 nights until the rage passed. We were two boats in a small port, made contact with a lovely Spanish couple (men). The town was quite sleepy then. This time it looks completely different. Turns out we fell on a holiday weekend in August, and the Greeks are celebrating as if there is no tomorrow and no Corona. The town square is crowded, children are running around, taverns are packed to capacity, the small port, the city pier and the bay are crowded. There is no chance of finding an electritian that will check the batteries until Monday. We enjoy the charming bay, the bustling square and life and evening and another evening of gyros.
This bay became famous thanks to a fascinating war story, which took place here in 1827 between the British navy and a combined navy of Turks and Egyptians, one of the highlights of the naval struggle for control of the Mediterranean, known to lovers of maritime history. In the Gulf there were 89 warships of the Egyptians and Turks, arranged in a circle. The British Admiral, under cover of darkness, entered the circle of enemy ships with 26 ships, and within four hours managed to sink the entire Turkish / Egyptian fleet in this "innocent" bay.
Some pictures from Pilos:

Stunning sunset in the Bay of Pilos

Towards sunset in the bay of Pilos
 against the backdrop of perforated cliffs
 that close the key of the bay to the open sea

Going for a visit at the town with the dinghy, the motorized rubber boat

Sunset from the fort that dominates the bay


Where is Udi?
A cool shop in a small alley that sells dolls
At noon, owners went for a traditional Greek nap
And the puppets shown remain outside
(Udi is not for sale!)

The end of the matter, an electrician arrived at Monday morning, said that the batteries needed to be replaced, drove an hour to Kalamata and an hour back. Vigorously took out and put in new batteries, and promised 10 years of battery life…

All that is left, is to make a bureaucratic exit from Greece and fill diesel tanks towards the crossing to Italy.
Diesel for the boat, also not a simple matter. Many places do not have a gas station and at best you can order a refueling truck. Here the business was not simple. For two days we tried to coordinate a truck. We did not need much, only 80 liters, but for a long voyage we wanted to set out with full tanks, being ready for all the trouble and wind that might not come. When we docked at the municipal pier to change batteries, a diesel tanker arrived at the neighbors' boat…

They ordered 20,000 liters !! I did not make a mistake with zeros. The truck came from Athens, especially for them. To be sure about the quality of diesel, they order from a specific gas station in Athens, and from there send trucks around Greece to meet them. So what's the problem with lending us 80 liters? The fuel pump fires at a rate of 250 liters per minute, just think how long it takes to fill 80 liters, and what would happen to the little Ester....
The amount of wealth reserved for certain people in the world is unbelievable…
Eventually, we were refueled at 7pm, returned to our spot in the bay, happy and kind-hearted, with full tanks and new batteries. Complete shopping and also ...
A quite large basil plant in a pot called the "baby" because it requires supervision and care, joined the journey. Hopefully we will find a mint friend.
Tomorrow early morning away to Italy :-)

Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places

 The first week can be summed up in two sentences:
Two days of getting Ester ready to go into the water, and the famous saying of sailors all over the world: "Cruising is fixing you boat in exotic places". A long cruise is basically repairing the boat in exotic places…. No matter what type or age of boat, how experienced you are. Boat mishaps are part of sea life, take it or leave it! We have learned this in all  our previous cruises. I remember a moment of Udi's breaking on Ester A., ​​on a six-month journey, when we arrived in Corfu and found that the refrigerator had broken down. And this was not the first glitch on that journey. There were quite a few, as expected, but then we did not fully internalize the cruising facts of life. Before our half year cruise the cruises were relatively short (up to a month) and with less time less glitches. Makes sense, doesn't it? When Udi reacted nervously, I already internalized, sailing = faults. If you are not willing to accept it with love, it is not for you ... a moment of enlightenment, and since then we practice containing and curiosity, psychologists are supposed to be experts at it 😉. Hopefully you learn fast and the number of glitches is final ... nice that we both also enjoy the technical issues (some would say a kind of masochism): we think together, try to get insights, sometimes right, many times not… sometimes manage to handle alone, important !, quite a few times need Professionals, parts, etc. These are not ubiquitous, and sometimes are difficult to obtain. The technicians are either busy towards the sailing season, or the end of the sailing season, or it's August, the peak of the sailing season, Europe is closed, everyone is on vacation. So make do with who you are, not always the most professional. Parts is also a story. The standard ones (ropes, etc.) can be found within a reasonable radius. Others, more specific to the boat / engine or any system that is not common in all boats, have to wait until it is ordered and arrives. There are critical glitches, so there is no choice but to wait. Others, either fixing and improvising, or finding in catalogs, and ordering so that it reaches the next destination. The fact that we are not limited in time is critical. In general, being on a time frame while sailing, is a recipe for stress and much less fun. Pressure could result from destinations that must be reached at a certain time to pick up / unload joiners, or weather that allows for a long cruise in a set time window. Right now the only pressure we have is crossing from Gibraltar to the Canary Islands, whose recommended window ends around mid-September, or you wait a year for the next opportunity. This means that we are not under pressure, so as to sail in bad weather or with a breakdown, on the other hand we pretty much run the Mediterranean, the pond we have been sailing around for the last 18 years, and getting to know the coastline including significant walks or car rides. We also hope, that after the voyage out of the Mediterranean will end in ??? Years, we will return to it and continue to enjoy it for a few more ??? Years.

Udi replaces a column for a water desalinator

In the next post, however, we promise to share our experiences beyond faults 😍

Farewell from Greece on the way to Italy

 

Leaving Greece behind

We left this morning from the beautiful bay of Pylos, one last point in Greece, one last gyros in the evening in the bustling square.

Last bite of gyrus

We love Greece very much, wandered its' length and breadth, and the stunning islands. We have visited over 55 islands over the years, some more than once. Udi, who has been working on his Greek for the past three years, saw a blessing in his labors, began to fiddle freely, and even "saved" us several times. Celebrates today 600 consecutive days in his duo-lingo… 👏👏👏💪💪
We have been very busy all these last few days, so I did not have time to summarize our experiences. I hope the cruise ahead of us will be relaxed, and I can write without a fight with the boat swaying.
Hopefully the winds will be on our back, or by our side. Headwinds do not really advance us. On the other hand, I pray that the westerly winds that rage and burn the Judean mountains (and endanger our homes) will weaken and calm down during the day. An apocalyptic feeling of being here in the peace of God and talking to the children at home about what to prepare for abandonment. We have an "abandonment bag (grab bag)" on Ester. Maybe one should be made at home. Hope none of them will be used… 😥
And hey, kids! No need to burn the country to get us back home. Once upon a time the joke at home was that "parents are not woken up unless the house is on fire." It was a joke!! 😂
Great love to you all 💜, we will meet in the next post that will summarise the first week in Greece.

Esther points her nose at the passage "between the straits."

Sunrise over Leveling, the cliffs behind us, we face west, Italy

Some "technical" information for those interested:

~280 miles ahead (multiply by 1.8 for miles ~ 500 km)
The blue arrow we are, to our right Greece and the Peloponnese
The "Go To" Marks where we are headed - Messina strait between Sicily and Italian boot

Expected wind map that includes intensity (weak green strong brown)
Wind direction forecast by time windows a few days ahead