Shakedown Summary

The photos from the Shakedown Cruise with appropriately themed music:

Thanksgiving (A Little Bit Early)

When we announced we were going sailing, the response from our UK relatives was, "But what about Thanksgiving?!" So we did what we've done every year and took a little liberty with the date, moving it back just a tad so we could have the big dinner before we left.

Seventeen people were around the table this year. This is the square table that Steve made last year which seats 18, 5 and 5, 4 and 4. It's great because you can have a big group like this and still talk to everyone at dinner. Attendees this year were Eileen, Julie, Andrew, Sue and Mark with Ellie and Louis, Sharon and Chris with George and Harry, and Kath and Jack.

There was a little panic over the turkey, when Steve and Jess went to a different market stall to pick it up than Eileen had ordered it from, but it all ended well with a 20+ pounder going into the oven. There was lots of stuffing, roasties and mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, and (of course!) sweet potatoes with marshmellows. That light meal was followed by three different kinds of pie, pumpkin (Julie's favourite), pecan and blueberry.

It was so nice to see the whole family before we head out sailing and no better excuse to do so than Thanksgiving!

The Whole Trip

Here are the photos from the trip. What a fantastic experience (even with the rain!)! Blackburn, Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. And back again!

Sailing in Italy

A week sailing off the coast of Italy! Jess and Matt joined us as we explored the Aeolian islands located 35 miles off the toe of the Italian boot (very close to Sicily).

We chartered a boat out of Tropea, a great little Italian town overlooking the sea and a new marina. The town itself is perched upon a cliff with sandy beaches down below.

After a night at a local hotel, dinner in the old town and provisioning the boat, we were ready to go. This was our first trip out of sight of land, although we were only going to be a little ways off the coast. The GPS went out half way across, but the trusty Blackberry came to the rescue with its GPS telling us we were on the right track. Our first stop was the island of Stromboli.

Stromboli is known for its volcano and its black sand beaches. The volcano was fantastic and the beaches were...HOT! Lovely sitting on the boat or swimming off the stern. Beautiful as the sun went down.

We visited several of the Aeolian islands in addition to Stromboli including Filicudi, Salina, and Vulcano. The crew was well fed, although it took me until the last day before I came up with a salad that they weren't able to devour in one meal. We did a lot of swimming. Jess did a lot of snorkeling. And because there wasn't a lot of wind, we did a lot of motoring - didn't matter though because the weather was beautiful and it was so easy to get from island to island.

Highpoints included dinners on deck, the pizza place on Vulcano, anchoring in a secluded cove on Vulcano, deck showers, a very nice restaurant on Stromboli and toasting the sunset every single night.

Even returning to Tropea was great. Dolphins joined us for a swim off our bow for a good 20 minutes as we were heading back and then we anchored for the afternoon off the beach in Tropea having lunch, swimming and snorkeling on our last afternoon.

Our last day consisted of shopping and a lovely dinner up on the cliff overlooking the marina and the Med.

Here's a few of the pictures:

Amalfi

For Girl's Weekend this year Jess and I headed out to Amalfi, Italy. This is our annual weekend away (although this year it was a 5-day weekend!) where we go and explore some place new while doing lots of shopping and reading in the sunshine.

We flew into Naples and were met by the driver at the airport. It was just about dark when we arrived so I was very glad we didn't have to mess around with a rental car and finding our way out of Naples in the dark. Actually, once I saw the roads (and the cliffs) I was very glad we weren't driving at all! We left Naples and headed up, up, up these winding switchback roads. The view of the city and the Naples Bay was very pretty with all of lights.

We went over the top and started heading down - slowly, slowly around switchback after switchback. It didn't seem too high because it was dark (it was very different the next morning!). Finally made it to the hotel. It was a bit late so dinner was done, but we were able to get cocktails and sandwiches in the bar - much needed after the trip! There was a singer and pianist. There was lots of singing and dancing. The best part was when they sang 'Volare' and everyone sang - very Italian!

The next morning (and every morning thereafter) we had breakfast on the patio overlooking the pool, Amalfi and the Mediterranian. After breakfast we walked down the hill (with many, many, many steps) to Amalfi for a little exploration, shopping and lunch. Amalfi is a wonderful little seaside Italian town with great shops, huge lemons (soccer ball size 'cedros'), and delicious restaurants.

We did two things while in Amalfi - relaxed reading books by the pool (on a terrace overlooking the Med) or had a wander around Amalfi town. One day we took a bus tour up the coast. And every night we took the bus down to the town to have a lovely outdoor dinner.

We loved the hotel where the view and the service (Michela, maitre'd, was wonderful). Would go back there and to Amalfi again in a minute!

A little 'snapshot' of our trip:

Italy Motorbike Tour

Annual motorbike tour across Europe and down into Italy! Belgium, Germany, Austria, the Alps, the Dolomites, Pisa, Assissi, the Adriatic Coast and Venice!

The photos from the trip:

Sailing Adventures with Beth and Mike

Day 5 – Time to head back (sigh). Since we had to motor anyway, we decided to head up the ICW to Tampa Bay rather than heading out to the Gulf and then up. The ICW is much harder (I think) because the channel is quite narrow. You constantly have to watch your depth or you can suddenly find yourself in 2 feet of water!

After the ‘boat shutdown’, we headed back to the house. Steve did the grocery shopping and the rest of us took naps – exhausted from all that lounging around the boat! Dinner at Catch 23. After dinner, a glimpse into the photos Beth and Mike had taken – they made us a CD of all the pictures! It was great fun having them come to visit!

Here's glimpse into the trip:

Sailing in Greece

An adventurous sailing trip in Greece! Flew into Athens and chartered a boat for a week's sail around the islands. We also hired a captain (George) for the first several days to guide us to where we were going and to help with anchoring.

After dinner in the old town, a rather interesting hotel and an adventure in provisioning we were ready to go! The first island was only 25 miles away and we were going to be there in time for dinner. Anchor was out and dinner with the requisite sundowner toast was had by all.

This trip was an interesting one, we now referring to it as 'careening around Greece'! We had an adventure every day - storms (3), anchoring incidents (2), losing the dingy (1) and experiencing the Meltemi (daily).

We also had fantastic times - breakfast overlooking the cove at our first island, watching the passers-by on the quayside as we were Med-moored, cocktails on a pirate ship, sailing downwind to anchor out in a secluded cove and anchoring out on our last night after a day of many adventures - what a relief!

Here are some of our favourite pictures from that trip: