Summer 2023 Begins

End of April and I'm just now doing another post. Time flies and in the winter there truly isn't much to report on. We had a very mild winter compared to last years and were very happy about it. It didn't rain much which made life on the hook easy as we didn't go into a marina for the winter. However, it doesn't bode well for the approaching dry summer when wild fires where frequent after past winters of hard rains.

At the end of the winter we had Belvedere hauled out for her usual anti fouling and routine maintenance at Adakoy Marina. Ten days of hauling the dog up and down a 14 foot ladder twice a day and Jeff working his arse off getting it all done. I could have helped on weekends but alas he couldn't/wouldn't wait for my help so he soldiered on without me due to my work schedule. He did it all and it was a LOT of hard work but she looks ship shape again. He also replaced the bow thruster motor which had gone last summer after waiting 7-8 months to receive it. Luckily its not something we use often so we were able to live without it until a month ago. Below is a bit of video showing Belvedere in the cradle as she comes out onto the hard.

In April I took a trip 3.5 years in the making (thanks to Covid) to meet my BFF Elizabeth Corman in the Amalfi Coast for a week. It was an amazing trip and I fell in love with Italy, its food and its people. I ate too much cheese, something I didn't know possible, and despite the after effects I'd do it all again!! The pizza was unbelievable and the gelato plentiful, delicious and surprisingly quite affordable. My favourite thing, if I had to list one, was seeing the ruins of Pompeii. The frescos still present (because they were buried for centuries) were unbelievable in both their content and colour. Amazing to see such an old culture so obviously unaffected by the societal hang-ups of today. While I'm sure they had their own issues it looks like life was well lived until it wasn't. The end the people met must have been harrowing but it didn't look like they wanted for much until then. I could have spent days at that site and hope to go back someday if possible. We stayed in Ravello in a gorgeous and perfectly chosen AirBnB that was booked years before. Liz did an amazing job as our tour coordinator by researching our accommodations and outings. If you ever plan to visit the Amalfi Coast be sure to ask one of us for expert tips. We learned a lot about the pitfalls of location and planning—none of it stopping us—but there are things we'd have done differently due to the challenging terrain. All the photos you see online and postcards you may have received show such beautiful scenery, and it is all true, but it does make for some unbelievable logistical challenges. Another highlight: day drinking with Tyson Fury and his dad John and their friends Spencer and Michael. Surreal and fun with far too much Limoncello but while in Amalfi one must do these things! (Be sure to expand the below pictures to see the images full size.)

It is now late April (23rd to be exact) as I type this and we just had our first guests, Jill and Bev from England, for one week. This summer has us still in Turkey but we will host far fewer guests and are eager to make our way back to Europe in the fall. We truly do not have a plan which is always best on a sailboat. You never know when something will go wrong and require parts you can't get or what the geo political climate has in store you that will dictate your schedule, so it's best to only have a general idea and go with the flow. We've met many, many more awesome people and been reunited with some and said good-bye for now to others. It's always bittersweet but luckily Facebook and Instagram allows for easy contact. Many of our friends are headed back to enjoy their summer in Greece or other European Union ports of call for their 90 day Shengen visa allowance. I am now looking into the Digital Nomad visa for Spain whereby gainful, provable employment would allow up to a year stay and could be applied for each year.

As I finish this post today, May 8th, John Watts arrived for a month long visit and is ecstatic to be back aboard a sailboat. He used to race in the Chicago to Mackinaw sailboat race each summer—but has noticed that he isn't as agile as he used to be. LOL: who among us it, right? Until later, Ciao!