Broken Silence

2013, Here We Go!

At last the time has come to book fares, buy (more) boat bits, pack bags and make nav plans for the year – dare I say our 6^th on the high seas…..  This year should be especially interesting as we plan to make a dash for Turkey.  So, one heck of a trip to look forward to!  Yes, it will involve more than a few over-nighters but we’ve planned plenty of day-sail hops to make best use of our allotted 3 months (90 days) Schengen time.  With expert timing, our itinerary has caught the high (tourist) season so anchoring will be the preferred “choice de jour”, unless we need to utilise a marina to replenish stocks of essentials such as water, fuel, wine and food.   Oh, and wash clothes, bathe etc.  So here you have it – 2013 in a (big) nutshell:

Stage 1: Splash-Lagos, Portugal

Having given the Cap’n & First Mate a few weeks to get over jetlag and a spot of touristico-ing in London and the Isle of Wight on the way over, a little boat & bottom polishing is in order to prep up WJ3 for her Lagos splash - about 1^st June.

Stage 2: Portugal to Gibraltar (1-2 weeks)

Our previous record for this trip was 3 (good weather) days, so we should have time to whip up the Guadiana, the river that borders Portugal and Spain, before hitting Morrisons in Gib to stock GS’s little freezer with lamb, steaks and all things British before heading back out into the deeper briny. 

(O H 237, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

End to end, it all adds up to a couple of thousand nautical miles....

Stage 3: Gibraltar to Mahon, Balearics (3 weeks)

We’ll skim up the Spanish Costa del Sol, anchor in the Mar Menor, find time to visit the Alhambra in Granada, admire antiquities in Cartagena and then, before heading from Valencia, sip (real) orange juice.  Afterwards, it’s out with the party clothes as we head for Ibiza, Mallorca and Minorca; quintessential Med, the Balearic Islands.  Marinas can be quite pricey here (€200-300 per night) and the big, fast ferries will be out in force, so I’m guessing we will work around the swell and bikinis.

Stage 4: Balearics to Sicily (2 weeks)

Into July by now, we’ll take our time to cross to Corsica then hop down the east coast of Sardinia, dodging the cool and famous in their cool and famous super yachts before launching off to Sicily.  (We’ll save the western coast of Italy for another year.)

Stage 5: Sicily to Greece (2 weeks)

Until we read the pilot, we won’t make any decisions on how we plan to do this trip.  Suffice to say that The Strait of Messina is rather tempting to see if we can sidle up close and personal to Scylla (six headed monster) and the Charybdis (whirlpool) of Greek legend.   Our next few stops will be along Italy’s big toe until we’re at a convenient jump-off for Greece.  First stop most likely Kalamata on the Peloponnese Peninsular – as close to Athens as we get this year. 

Lots of islands to keep us busy as we travel through Greece

Stage 6: Greece to Turkey (2 weeks)

It seems a shame to rush Greece but plenty of time for that next year.  For now, WJ3’s nose will be pointed in the direction of Rhodes, last Greek bolthole, before we cross into Turkish waters.  August is also peak, peak holiday season in this part of the world so we’ll try to find a road less travelled – if it exists?  (Tell ‘im he’s dreamin’…)

Stage 7: Turkey (2 months)

If all has gone to plan, we’ll arrive bang on our 90 day limit (Schengen limit) mid-August and then have almost 6 weeks to potter Turkish waters before, hauling out, cleaning WJ3 from head to toe then heading home.  Most likely we will stay in the vicinity of Marmaris and Bodrum, two popular places that offer haul out facilities.  (Visitors note: we need to fly to Istanbul to catch our flights home.  Also, GS is planning a little stop-over in Istanbul before we jet home, as she does.  The Cap’n is already limbering up his “no, we don’t need another carpet” comeback to enthusiastic vendors.  Tell ‘im ……)

Keep in touch by email if you’d like to catch up with us.  GS will endeavour to keep WJ3’s map and tracker updated regularly (hopefully) so that you can see where we are.  We will try to fit in with your plans but we are strictly “regulated” by our 90 day visa, so can’t wait anywhere for too long, or indeed change this itinerary too drastically.  Next year will be easier as we are thinking of sailing Greece (3 months) and maybe the Black Sea & more of the Turkish coast (3 months).  Notes on what to bring (and what not to bring) can be found here.