VikingBlod Voyages

  Friday, July 26, 2024 This morning I am writing from an anchorage in Turkey, in a place called Knidos, which we have already visited once. It is a bay we have chosen for a couple of reasons; the winds are up for the next couple of days and it is well protected from the northwest swell, and because this is the site of some very extensive ruins that we are going to explore later today. Arriving yesterday afternoon after a fantastic sail, we were surprised to see that the bay was quite empty as compared to the last time we were here, leaving us ample room to set anchor. However, this did not stop us from having to move the boat this morning to allow a catamaran to pull anchor as it needed to manoeuvre quite close to us. All went well and we chose to reset the anchor to ensure we have enough room as the winds are expected to pick up this afternoon and throughout the evening. Hopefully, there will not be an influx of boats throughout the day. No one needs a crowded anchorage when the ...

When planning our trip prior to leaving Ontario, our goal was to make it to Turkey before our 90 Schengen days were over, which would be by July 3rd. However, the date we chose as our goal was June 27th so that we had a few extra EU days in case of emergency or unforeseen circumstances. More than two months later when in Kos, Greece, we were making final arrangements with our “agent”, who would help to check the boat and us into Turkey, and he told us he had our appointment scheduled for June 27th. We could not believe that after over 1500 nautical miles traveled, with 3 countries visited, we actually were entering Turkey on the exact day we had planned! Turkey has definitely provided us the opportunity to experience a change of pace from our trip beginning in France to Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, and Greece. We are no longer working towards moving the boat along while we enjoy some touring, but seem to be meandering along, choosing areas to visit as we go. Although we have some high lev...

In previous entries I have written about the requirements for sailing on a non-EU registered boat in Italy and Greece. This includes applying for and updating a travel log while sailing in each country. The process has been a bit exasperating at times, but doable. The frustration mainly comes from having to walk from one office to another in the heat, usually about one kilometre each way, and dealing with opening hours that are unpredictable and agents who seem to be uncertain about the requirements. For the most part, however, the port police, capitainerie du porto, and customs officials have been very friendly (but usually appear quite gruff and serious at first). One thing that both Neil and I feel has helped smooth the way is the presence of Finnegan. In every office we enter, the agents are all "official  business"  at first, but then part of the way through the process they, sometimes shyly, ask what his name is or if they can pet him. Finnegan, being hot and tired from...

 June 20th - 25th On the morning of June 20th, we leave our anchorage in Paros with a plan to sail to the small Greek island called Kato Koufanisi. This is certainly not one of the more popular islands one reads about in the travel magazines, but is a very small island off the southeast corner of Naxos. After looking at wind predictions and the necessity of getting Al and MP to an island from which they can catch a ferry or a flight back to Athens by June 25th, and our longer term goal of getting to Turkey by July 3rd, we make a plan for the next few days. Our original plan was to sail to Ios and Santorini, but with the high winds coming from the north, it makes it difficult to sail from those more southerly islands back north to our last Greek island stop of Kos. So, we decide to pass on that plan and look for more comfortable options. The route now is Kato Koufanisi, Amorgos, Levitha Islet, Pserimos Island, and then Kos. We really do not know what to expect, but we read about qua...