Yassas Kypros (Cyprus)

Here we are again. John and Eva live in Macon, France when not on board Destiny.

We are enjoying a celebratory dinner. From left to right, John Bird, Jackie Vigil, Kathy Hoffman, me, Eva Bird and Jenée.

Jenée, Jackie and Kathy walked around Lanarca and toured St. Stephens Greek Orthodox church.

This M/Y Destiny and John and Eva Bird. Now here is a story for you, so please bear with me;

We arrived in Lemesos (Limassol) Cyprus and checked into the country. The next day we sailed for port city of Larnaca as we found availability in the Larnaca Marina. Jenée's good friends Kathy and Jackie were due to fly into Larnaca from London the next day. We were about 4 miles outside of Larnaca, under full sail and travelling at 7 knots. We hit bottom - HARD! Boat leaning to the side with sails under full power from the wind. All I could think of was Titanic (heavy Brit accent): "ICE! Dead Ahead! We immediately dropped sails (not easy at all under full wind) and attempted to move Jungle, first in reverse, then in forward - no movement. I called into the marina and asked for help. After about 5 minutes, I get a call back and I'm told 40 minutes and $1000 Euro fee ($1500). No choice, so I agreed. Jenée suggested I dive and check to see how bad it is in order to advise the rescue crew. When I checked it out I could see we had hit on a grass covered reef and we had plenty of clearance going in reverse, nothing forward. Back on board I put the engine in full reverse. Now I looked like the damn helmsman on the Titanic with water churning, waves slapping, wind blowing and I'm mouthing "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon ... Jenée is outside doing the same as we are both looking over the side at the reef, praying for movement. The waves keep hitting us broadside which can be a good thing when your stuck. Feels like we moved! No, No still stuck. More throttle, engine now screaming, more waves, more bumps - it moved! It moved again! We are moving in reverse! Back up a little more, shift into forward and head straight out.

YAY-F-ING-HOO!

I call the marina on cell phone and let them know we were free and to call off the troops. I also asked for the coordinates as I was concerned we had the wrong ones. They didn't understand my request:

Marina: "OK, so, you OK?"
Me: "Yes sir, can I have your coordinates please?"

Marina: "OK, you want condiminium?"

Me: "COO-ORD-IN-ATES please"

Marina "Coca Cola? OK? You OK?

Just then a British skipper of Destiny calls into the Larnaca Marina on VHF to let them know he was coming in. I immediately called him back and asked for the marina coordinates. I confirmed what I had was good. Still, I headed way out and circled in to avoid another grounding. Jenée and I had a nice dinner and crashed - long day.

The next morning, I'm checking into the marina office and this nice couple is doing the same. They hear me say Jungle and introduce themselves as John and Eva of Destiny. We met up later at their boat for a cocktail and here is where it get's interesting; Destiny is a sailing motor trawler (not an exotic dancer) called a Diesel Duck. It is built by the same shipyard, Seahorse Marine, that built Mandarin 52 - Jungle! This may be the only Diesel Duck in this hemisphere, and I'm positive Jungle is the only one of it's kind here - wow, what are the chances!

Here is where it get's wacky. John asked what I do and I explain that my career has been in the high tech field. Usually, 98% of the time the conversation stops there. Not so fast. "Oh yeah, me too, what field were you in?" I tell him the semiconductor field, and 99.99% of the time it stops there. "What field exactly?" Now I have to explain I was in the small, backwater niche industry of ATE, (Automatic Test Equipment). That's always my closer and even my wife and family stop there with, "Oh yeah, that's nice." John says, "Me too, I worked for Fairchild Test Systems for 10 years, Eva worked there as well."

I run into these folks in the middle of nowhere sailing on MY BOAT, doing MY JOB! Someone hold me! In the world of uncanny coincidences, this is what amounts to discovery of a parallel universe! Easy, Jimmy, easy. Don't hurt yourself. I'm telling you, my buddies from Teradyne and other friends in the industry will find this cool. Then again, maybe I'm just a geek! Oh well, I think it's cool.

We'll come back to this ancient island upon our return. Lot's of history.

About 6 hours from Symi we pass close to the northern point of Rhodos (Rhodes). We were so close, we could actually dive off Jungle and wade in to say Yassas! (hello)

One last shot of Nisos Symi on our way out. It will take us about 50 hours of straight sailing to make it to Lemesos, Cyprus.