Onward into the Agean

Since our last posting things have moved well on. While in Herzliya, Barry & Maryanne took off to Jordan and Petra, while the Skipper and First mate revisited the markets and sights in nearby Tel Aviv, at Carmel, and old Jaffa, a couple of our favourite places. We then had a three day/two night passage, by-passing Cyprus, back to Turkey arriving again at Finike. Inevitably, the winds were mostly "on the nose" so we tacked during the day and motored back to course during the calm hours overnight. From Finike Barry & Maryanne returned by bus to Marmaris to their own yacht, Toroa 111, and to prepare for a westward passage, planning to cross the Atlantic this Dec and the pacific next year. Meantime, Jack Tar has cruised westward via delightful anchorages and an unplanned stop at Marmaris for electrical repairs. The weather has continued hot and bikinis and budgie smugglers are the rig of the day, there being a lot of swimming to cool off. We are now in the high summer holiday period and so there are a lot of yachts about and the meltemi is in full swing. We have checked out of Turkey for a while and are in the eastern Greek isles having entered at Symi. Now we have come to Khalki, a small, beautiful island off the northwest coast of Rhodes. We are in a delightful little port and looking for a weather window for a crossing to Crete. We know it is meltemi time and we`ll have to shelter on occasions, and there will be a bit of lumpy stuff to cross, but the prospect of new territory is irresistable.