35 43.380N 021 18.460E At sea - about 300 miles west of Malta

Pipedream
Wed 20 Jul 2011 14:16
We started out of Crete with the meltemi blowing as high as 25 kts on our nose and no room to do a lot of tacking because of all the rocks and small islands surrounding the western end of Crete. There is also a live firing range at the end someplace that is a must miss! We had to wait and redock the boat to a special place to buy fuel from a tank truck, but I am sure glad we did. This is the first passage where I am concerned about running out. We finally got a brake today and even with the wind almost dead ahead there is enough elbow room here in the 'Ionian Abyssal Plain' to maneuver and tack so I have been able to turn the motor off and actually sail! I always wondered what all those big white things rolled up on deck were for?

When we were driving around Crete we saw a sign on the south side welcoming us to the Libyan Sea Taverna... gave me pause . There are announcements about the blockade of Libyan ports and I here US Navy ship etc. changeling other ships but as yet have seen none. We are about 180 miles away at the closest point. We are seeing quite a few jets overhead as well... just like before Cecile field closed in Jacksonville.

Crete was great. It was one of those places that we had not anticipated spending much time on. The food was some of the best we have had the pleasure to eat in Greece. I had my first real American style lamb chop! The wine was very good and we made lots of new friends everywhere we went. The two down sides are the heat (no hotter than Florida) and the difficulty of navigating going west from there.

I am almost reluctant to say that everything on the boat with the exception of the shaft seal which is leaking quite a bit now is working as well as it ever has... that's a qualifier.

Mary is reading up a storm. I swear she sometimes has two book going one in each hand.