Agia Napa !

Kathy, Jenée and Jackie have been doing a lot of catching up. Syria is 100 miles behind.

That is Israel over Jenée's left shoulder, about 120 miles away. Lebanon is over her right shoulder, about 70 miles away. Both are great sailing destinations we may try later. We've run into many Lebonese and Israelis at our Larnaca Marina - all very nice folks. Turns out Larnaca is a favorite destination of both.

This is a little cove set up like a pool. We waded in and peed, just like a pool.

Jenée and I strolled around the beach at Agia Napa - very pretty.

Upon return to Agia Napa we were able to eat again! Demetris friend Linka from Abu Dhabi has joined us.

Such a night we had. Andreas loaned me his car to return to Jungle - a spent man! The next day I dropped the girls off at the beach at Agia Napa (I-ah napa) and took a bus back. Lovely bus route! I got to see all 50 stops on the way - winner!

This is the ultimate specialty called Kleftiko (clef-tee-ko) which translates into "stolen meat". Centuries ago, tribesman would steal a lamb and put it at the bottom of a pit. They would then build a fire over the top so it would look like a campfire - no meat! The result would be a wonderfully roasted lamb as shown above with potatoes. (Of course with bread and Greek salad) Only lamb and potatoes, nothing else in the pan. Andreas has a special made oven in his back yard to properly roast the meat, including mud used around the door to seal in the oven.

Barbeque man was in tears as he sampled the best tasting meat in his life! I hand my magic barbeque tongs to Andreas. There can be only one king!

Lovely dinner! Demetris parents, Artemas and Andreas invited us over for a home cooked specialty. This is souvla (soove-lah) roasted lamb on a skewer. The box keeps the wind from blowing the ashes on the meat. Barbeque Man got down on one knee and gave thanks.

Lovely ladies...

Time for the beach! First up is Proteras (pro-ter-ahs) at the southeastern tip of Cyprus. Lovely beach, lovely day ...

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.

Efharisto Nisos Symi

Poor Jenée doesn't have a cool T-shirt to show off. Oh well. We are on our way back for a 2 day sail to Cyprus. As I write this, we are in a cafe in Larnaca, Cyprus. We'll have more from here in a bit. Yassou.

Not only am I striking a cool pose. This is a tribute to my buddy Chuck Haddad and his restaurant in Brant Rock, MA - Haddad's Ocean Cafe. Best seafood anywhere! Hi Chuck and Cap'n Eddie B.

Jenée decided to hike up the hillside the next morning and took this shot of Symi. I, um, was busy working ... yeah working on the boat. I wasn't sleeping.

Symi was pretty happening at night. Unfortunately Jenée and I were not. Good night! (Kali Nihta)

Symi at night. That white stripe up the hill is a lit stairway that goes to the top and over to the next town of Pethi (Pete-hee).

Another view of Symi harbor.

Time for a spot of lunch.

Look how clean the water is in the harbor! The water people!

The trick to Med Mooring" is the need to drop the anchor well out into the middle of the harbor, then back the boat up to the wall. Piece of cake! Quite a challenge for Jungle's crew of two.

Jungle at rest. Now this is what I call getting immersed into the town life. Our spot was dead center.

Jungle pulls into the main village and harbor of Symi. We are about 8 miles from the Turkey coast - next to the island of Rhodes.

Here's a night time shot of Katie the wonder kitty.

Jenée took to this place like a fish to water! Speaking of which - it has been crystal clear water throughout the Mediterranean.

We made an early morning arrival into the Greek Island of Nisos Symi. We found this pretty little anchorage of Ay Marina.

Touring Turkey

We were able to grab lunch at this spot. There is a medieval castle built at the top of this hill. I have no idea how they got the material up there.

Well, we enjoyed or tour of the Turkish coast. Now we are off to the Greek island of Nisos Symi.

We're having a tour boat race back. We lost.

There's the happy couple with the tombs off over Jenée's head.

These tombs, built into the walls, are one of the main attractions.

Here I am coming out of the theater. Built originally by the Greeks, enlarged by the Romans.

Can you find Waldo (me) in this 5000 person theater?

The next day we sailed up to Dalyan where there are some interesting Greek and Roman ruins in the old city of Caunos. We on a tour boat up this river to see the sights.

Another of those all wood Gulets.

The trick here is to drop anchor, then back up close to shore and tie a stern line off to a tree, rock, mooring hook, whatever you can find. Easy in theory or with no wind. Tougher in practice with big wind. Jimmy didn't do so hot on the first try. Let's just say I learned some cool Turkish swear words. We finally got in.

We're on the road again to the bay of Skopea Limani.

You see many of these fancy all wood Turkish sailing vessels (Gulets) up and down the coast. They are typically chartered ships complete with captain and crew. Beautifully made.

That's more like it!

We did have a great dinner overlooking the harbor. We dinghied 3 miles to the harbor from the anchorage. Of course, Jenée was all dolled up.

We enjoyed the shops and different bars - just to look at, of course.

We made it to the former Greek village of Kalkan - very developed for tourists.

We sailed the next morning further west along the coast. We sail around this little island and that is Kastellorizon, a Greek Island with Turkey looming behind. Very close together. Our destination is the anchorage of Yesilkoy Limani and the village of Kalkan. It's about a seven hour sail.

If you look closely, you can see some of the above ground tombs - sarcophagi on the hillside.

Across from Kale Koy is the island of Kokva Adasi and this sunken city, also 2-3000 years old.

We made it to the top and into the castle. We're getting into areas where hirtorians differ on who the original inhabitants were and whether they date back 2000 or 3000 years. Take my word for it, it's old. The fasinating thing is the number of ancient civilizations that lived in these areas for centuries. Areas small as the Boston Common where life went on undisturbed for millenia up and down the coast.

We're almost there ...

We get to a ticket booth and find we do not have Turkish currency (Liras). We buy a drink at this hilltop bar with Euros so we can get Turkish change. Turkish cherry cola baby - my favorite!

From our anchorage we dinghied a few hundred yards to another historic village of Kale Koy. You walk up these impossibly steep stairs and further to the top to see an ancient castle and tombs scattered around (sarcophagus - there's a word you don't use every day.)

From Finike, we sail to an area called Kekova Roads and a historic village called Ucagiz (don't ask me how to pronounce, but it means "three mouths" referring to the bay). The whole of the Turkish coast in these parts was once Greek until the early 1920's, when the Turks took the land by force. Turkish land grabs - reason #102 why the Greeks are not fond of the Turks.

We originally planned to go to Turkey to find a suitable marina to haul Jungle out while we head back to California. As we are literally leaving the dock in Pafos, Cyprus I ran into a gentlemen from a marin e store we went to. He said he had a friend with a boatyard in Cyprus that would haul Jungle for a reasonable fee. We left, and Takis said he would check it out and email us the info. Long story short, we arrive Turkey (Finike Marina above) the next day and an email from Takis convinces us to leave the boat in Cyprus!

I immediately called in the great news to Demetris in Cyprus - we're coming back! To stay! Funny, the line went dead. Hello. I'll look into that.

But while we're in Turkey we might as well check it out, no?!