Jeanneau – Page 10 – Life Four Point Zero

May 23, 2020February 17, 2020

Crashing Through the Cyclades, Ep. 122

As we departed Poros in the pre-dawn light, we would be leaving the Saronic Gulf and entering the greater Aegean Sea region. This part of the Aegean is best known for the Cyclades islands, with popular destinations like Santorini, Mykonos and Naxos. And popular with our friends, of which we had four groups joining us over the next five weeks. Karen and I had one more week by ourselves; seven days to cross the 100 miles to Mykonos, where we would pickup our good friends Bob and Lisa. The excitement of having guests after several weeks of being by ourselves was tempered by the reality check of the mid-Summer wind conditions in this area. We had been casually watching the weather forecasts in the Aegean since we had arrived in Greece a month ago. Boy, was this going to be interesting! July and August here are renowned for the Meltemi, a very forceful wind that blows down from the Black Sea and fans out over the Cyclades islands. It can ebb and flow, but when it really blows, it can carry on for five or more days, pinning you down in the closest south-facing harbor, trying to avoid the fetch of waves that start several hundred miles to the north.

A typical Meltemi wind forecast for the Cyclades islands, with red meaning 25 knots or greater

April 25, 2020February 16, 2020

Backwards Is the New Forwards, Ep. 120

“Rion Bridge, Rion Bridge, this is the sailing vessel Sea Rose, over!”

“Sea Rose, go ahead.”

“Yes, Rion Bridge, we are a 13 meter sailing vessel with a height of 19 meters, approaching the bridge heading East. We request permission to pass.”

“Sea Rose, you are clear to transit the bridge. You must use the north channel. Call again when you are one mile away.”

Our VHF radio conversation with the Rion Bridge Traffic Control office marks the early morning start to our passage into the Gulf of Corinth. This short cut to the Saronic Gulf and Aegean Sea – the ‘real’ Greece if you believe the travel brochures – was very intentional. There was no way we could round the big bulge south of us comprised of the Peloponnese peninsula without a serious hit to our time line. Karen and I were eager to see the eastern portion of Greece and re-discover the Cyclades Islands that we so fondly remembered from our honeymoon. And a sailing trip through Greece wouldn’t be complete without exploring these classic blue and white washed islands.

April 11, 2020February 15, 2020

Water, Water Everywhere, Ep. 119

The big news this post is that Tom got our water maker working! We carried all the components of this reverse osmosis desalination system from the states to Italy when we came over in May. Tom had worked on various aspects of the installation since launching, whenever he could find spare minutes. Now we were ready to flip the switch and see how everything had come together. We ran the system for 30 minutes, making water into a bucket at first. This is a recommended step to clean the system from any manufacturing or shipping particles before running the clean (or desalinated) water into your tanks. He found one leak that was quickly fixed by tightening a hose clamp. After testing the salinity and being comfortable with the level, we turned a valve which directed the flow into one of our two water storage tanks – how exciting! We could now check off one more factor that made us ready for long-term, self-sufficient cruising! Our solar panels supply the energy for electricity, our sails provide power for movement, our freezer enables “fresh” food storage for longer periods and now our water maker turns sea water into drinkable water. This gives us the freedom to stay in remote locations for as long as our food stores hold out!

March 28, 2020February 15, 2020

A Hol(e)y Experience, Ep. 118

After a long day of transatlantic travel, it felt great to be back onboard Sea Rose. During our trip back home to the States, she had managed just fine in her slip at the Gouvia Marina on Corfu. When your boat is your home and you put your blood, sweat, and tears into her care and feeding, it’s a little unnerving to leave her alone for ten days. In our favor, no sudden storms arose nor bumps from navigationally-challenged neighbors. She was just as we left her, plus a little growth on her waterline from the few days of idleness. It was time to get our pride and joy prepped and ready for more adventure. Our friends Steve and Julie would be arriving in two days and we had a full task list to complete before we started entertaining again.

March 14, 2020February 15, 2020

Second Helpings, Ep. 117

The day and the hour had arrived. It was time to exit Croatia once and for all. Six weeks ago, we had cleared into a country that we knew only through travel books and friend’s stories. This morning, we would trek back to the harbourmaster’s office to clear out, with a plethora of diverse experiences tucked away in heads, enough to fill a few storytelling sessions around a winter’s fireplace.

Our kids and Andrew were on their way to the airport, and we wasted no time shoving off from the Q dock to make progress south along the isolated last few miles of the Croatian coast before entering Montenegrin waters. This time around, we weren’t groggy from an overnight passage from Italy. We had slept well, and knew exactly where to go and how to clear in to Montenegro.

The well fortified entrance to the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

January 18, 2020January 12, 2020

The Land of Stunning Parks, Ep. 113

It was mid-June and by this time, we had been in Croatia for a little over two weeks and had spent a lot of time in the southern islands of this lovely country; however, as our next set of friends joined us, we were excited to be moving further northwest into an area abundant with national and nature parks! Tom wrote about our visit to Mljet National Park which occupies significant land and coastline on the island of the same name. Before we would leave Croatia, we will have visited Mljet two more times! This post will introduce two additional national parks and one equally special nature park. We’re lucky to be able to capture this beauty digitally today. I would hate to have had to ration my film use in these amazing places in the days of my youth. Prepare for a high number of photos!

December 21, 2019January 12, 2020

Birth Order Reversal, Ep. 111

I hope my parents can look down from the heavens this week with pride. Like all parents, they just wanted their children to be happy, but more than that, for them to get along. Maybe not as best friends, but at least cherish their company and care for each other’s well being. But this isn’t always easy in practice. Todd had the marching orders, whether desired or not, to break the trail, and through sheer luck of birth order I was allowed the time to observe his experiences, learn and adjust. In sailor speak, he was the first into an unknown harbor at night. I got to breeze into the same harbor with all the knowledge and confidence of a seasoned captain. Our divergent roles, and a 4 year age gap, didn’t help. But time is the greatest healer. And learning how to be adequate parents ourselves brought us further together. It was in this spirit that we found a week in our busy schedules to sail together in Croatia. Todd was joined by his wife Molly, and sons Richard and Peter. Unfortunately, their daughter Julia was halfway around the globe in New Zealand pursuing her own geographic adventures and couldn’t make this trip.

November 10, 2017October 27, 2022

Out with the Old, In with the New! Ep. 87

After owning and nurturing Thalia for 14 years, it is time to move on. Thalia is now up for sale at Navy Point Marine, in Sackets Harbor, NY, and we have bought a new boat! Our future adventures will now be onboard a brand new 2018 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440.

If you had asked me several months ago if we would ever sell Thalia, I would have told you an emphatic “NO”! She had taken us up and down the East Coast, to the Canadian Maritimes, and to the Caribbean. The year we spent with the kids onboard filled our family bank with priceless memories. And our most recent adventure this summer, breaking into new territory in the Great Lakes and the canals, was more beautiful and charming than we could have imagined. Thalia was at her finest sailing us across the waters of our choosing with ease and grace, and at the end of the day we could enjoy her new amenities, including this year’s new dodger and varnished mahogany cockpit.

But, alas, we ended up at the Annapolis boat show in October, walking the docks and the decks of as many new boats as we could manage during the show’s opening hours. Through it all, I remembered why we had not gone to a boat show in the last 14 years. Seeing all the shiny new boats, I knew the temptations would be too strong! The wheels had been set in motion when we listed our boat for sale with Navy Point Marine and realized they were a Jeanneau dealer. And conveniently, we hauled out a week before the Annapolis boat show. And, OK, I’ll come clean by admitting that there were a few days in the summer that I had been browsing the Jeanneau website and accidentally left a page open of a new beauty, as Karen was taking over the watch!

The Jeanneau 440 is their newest generation of cruising boat design and has some very appealing features, the most notable of which is an inclining side deck that leads around the helm into the cockpit, making the transition from cockpit to deck very smooth. Unlike a lot of sailors that keep getting bigger boats, we are downsizing with this new boat, but Jeanneau has done a fantastic job with the use of space, making it feel very similar to the size of Thalia.

With the Jeanneau plant in France, we opted to take delivery in the Mediterranean. If all goes as planned, she will be bobbing in the water in late Spring, ready for us to grab the reins and start exploring the Med. More news to come as it gets closer! In the meantime, if you want a fantastic long distance cruising boat, check out this listing! The wonderful folks at Navy Point will take good care of you.