Which is the trip?

In this trip I met the Great Oceanand its wondeful world,like the fables from Odyssean, to describe there is no word.
In this trip I met America too,both latin and north,I liked everyone of the twoand saw what does and does not worth.
I stayed more at the latin sidewhich I enjoyed a lot,cause everything happened rightlike I had won a lot.
But one thing I will remind how nice it is to be a human,with an integral soul and mindthat makes you a true man.
So, which is now the trip,this or the rest of the life? Someone needs to have both in gripto always stay at the edge of the knife.

===: END (of sailing)... ===:

If...

10 Oct - TODAY

If...

the waves of life were your stable ground,

sadness was felt the same as joy,

the world was you and you were the world,

you didn't recognize the sunrise from sunset,

you trusted your life to somebody for a moment,

nothing was missing you for a whole day,

God was in front of you and Devil behind,

you left earlier so that you wouldn't stay there forever,

it will follow you for the rest of your life,

and you cannot find words to describe it, except that "it was just a trip"

then... you have made such one too!

L.A. L.A. L.A. L.A.

3-9 Oct

The last week in Los Angeles was very relaxing. I passed the days between my 5 cousins in the city. We visited both Getty Museums, the Villa in Malibu and the Center, the Universal Studios, Hollywood and the Hollywood Boulevard. I bought a pair of Timberland shoes (3 times cheaper here than Europe). These days were exactly what was needed between the "dream of Ensenada" and the greek routine.

As I started this trip with joy I will finish it at the right time. On Saturday the 10th I fly with Swiss Airlines over Zurich back to Greece. All that time, I had enough of America and have missed a little bit Greece. The european history and tradition form the modern society, give the people a cultural quality and make the continent a unique place to live. A kind of "social experience" gathered from the past makes the europeans to have a unique identity and creates the "european dream". The recent financial and subsequent social crisis in the US, that seems to continue indefinitely, makes Europe the preferable place. Various parts of the way of life, like the better food quality, the public means of transportation, the more rational spending of money and the real social state are unbeatable european advantages. In the meantime, I still enjoy the hope, the size and the speed of the young New World.

What happens in VEGAS, stays in VEGAS

25 Sep-2 Oct

After having done some last preparations, I left the beautiful Ensenada and went to visit my relatives in Los Angeles. The cultural change was one more time enormous, as although the two regions are so close they are totaly different.

For practical purposes me and my cousin Michael decided to visit Las Vegas the next day I arrived. The experience I had is difficult to describe. I have never seen such Resorts in my life. Everyone of them was a world by itself, the one more amazing and beautiful than the other, producing a unique feeling to anyone who visits them. We stayed a couple of days at the Imperial Palace (Chinese-style) located at the center of Las Vegas Strip. It costed us a rediculously low price (20$ per night) and with a similar amount we ate at the famous World Buffet of Real Hotel which offered food from 8 countries. Such low prices are possible because of the "cross-financing" from the gambling, which we did a little with no success.

We started from south and walked all day long to the following resorts: MGM Grand, Mirage, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Bellagio, Ceasars Palace, the Venetian, Paris, New York-New York, Wynn Hotel and Circus Circus. Everyone is a masterpiece of its own but one is distinct for its special "deep" quality, architecture, the originality of its culture and the air of "THE Resort of resorts". It is the glorious, almost devine Bellagio Hotel. Its elegancy, not being a copy of any other culture, is unique. No other hotel can achieve its imperial character, making it like a palace of a modern emperor. Even the new Wynn Resort, which was the next I liked, lies far behind.

Finally, some technical information: the old "Sin City" controlled almost exclusively by Cosa Nostra has turned during the 70's to a new World Entertainment city, where 15 of 20 biggest hotels in the world are found. The most creative and efficient developers of the US are now owners of these structures, including Kirk Kerkorian, Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson. Only in VEGAS baby!

Viva Mexico! Viva America!

17-24 Sep

The days in Ensenada passed so smoothly that I hardly remembered to update the blog. Some events we attented are:

1) the fantastic patriotic Anniversary of Mexican Independence Day from the spanish conquer on 16. September 1810. The Fiesta started the previous day with a gathering of people outside the governmental building. Traditional songs and dances were taken place, as well as many times of shouting: "Viva Mexico! Viva America!". Mexicans love their Nation without hating others. Similar events were taken place at city's clubs with exotic indian dances. The next day the shows continued till the night.

2) A nice Fishing Exposition (18-20. Sep) which included a competition of sport (recreational) fishing. Large and exotic fishes appeared on the Marina not beautiful in sight but delicious...

3) we traveled around and outside the city of Ensenada and saw some more views of the city. But as locals have said us, in order to experience the real Mexico you have to go far south, to Oaxaca, Veracruz or even Chiapas.

In the opposite, I decided to leave Mexico on Monday 28. Sep and visit my relatives at Los Angeles. Till then I have a few days to suck the last drop of life here...

Yo no soy marinero...

11-16 Sep

In the past week nothing important happened here except the relaxing sensation of the nice city of Ensenada. At this point I would like to make some comments about Latin America. It starts somewhere here, with just a straight line of border between USA and Mexico, and extends in a huge distance until Patagonia, Argentina. It covers over 20 million sq.km. and has about 600 million people.

The Latin American countries:
1) have a similar quality of life, the best being in Mexico and Argentina. These two countries with Brazil are the most powerful ones. The GDP per capita of most of them is almost half of Europe's with prices being the half too, so the people's quality of life is not so bad as it might seem!
2) speak almost totaly the spanish language, except Brazil which speaks the related portuguese one.
3) share a constant mixture of 3 kinds of people: Amerindians (the original inhabitants, mostly Azteks and Mayans), whites (the "Conquerors", mostly of spanish origin) and Mestizos (the mixture of these two groups). Every nation has a unique racial distribution, which varies a lot between the countries and is an important part of its distinct culture.
4) have a relatively well organized Social Welfare State. Despite they are developing nations they are able to keep a social health security system that only developed places like Europe and Japan can provide.
5) share a very sensual, joyful and "alegria" culture. The relaxing nature of Latin American way of life is wonderful. Music, dances and generaly the peaceful way of thinking are unique. Only people that have experienced them can have a real image.
6) a characteristic is the role of the woman. Although it is believed that the woman is depressed by the "macho" man, the truth is that the women are very mature and head the family. I suppose the same is all over the world...)

PS. On September 16th is the greatest anniversary of Mexico, the Independence from Spain in 1810. So we have a lot of festivals, dances and stuff to visit. Do not miss the next year's festivals, celebrating the 200 years: the Bicentenario. They are going to celebrate all over Latin America all the 2010 year!

So far in this trip, I have seen...

8-10 Sep

1) the world's largest Entertainment Theme Parks in Orlando, Florida
2) the world's largest "exit door" to the universe, the Kennedy Space Center
3) the legendary Miami city and beach
4) Vancouver, the city with the highest Quality of Living in north America and 3rd in the world
5) the preparations for the Winter Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver area
6) the life on a sailing boat and the its preparation for a trip to the ocean
5) a fantastic 15-day sailing trip in the Pacific Ocean where we covered 3000 km and underneath us passed about 150000 waves.
6) the everyday life of the relaxing city of Ensenada (still)

As it is usual, the greatest moments were not when I was in front of the above "fancy" events but instead the "little" ones...

PS. Just after the dancers' group that we met left Ensenada for Mexico City, another coincidence happened. While we were walking at the street, I saw a sign at a home writing the family name "Parasxidis". As I knew that only greek names in the world end in "-idis", I knocked the door. And ta-da, in a half a million city we found by chance the only greek inhabitant living a few hundred meters away from our boat!

The adventure keeps going

4-7 Sep

On Friday morning we took the local bus to visit Guadelupe Village which is about an hour away. The bus driver suggested a hotel and left us 4 km outside the village where there were only just a few small buildings. We walked for a while and entered a local restaurant. What a beauty! Inside the people kept a restaurant with delicous mexican tastes, local wine, bread and cheese production and a small souvenir shop all nicely decorated with mexican traditional paintings and beautiful wood constructions.

Well, we enjoyed our meal and relaxed ("siesta") as we were the only customers left. Suddenly "out of nowhere" 3 people entered the place and watched around. They turned out to be dancers from Mexico City who arrived in Ensenada for a show. We met ourselves and followed them to many places around the area: Baja's wine tasting (a bit sour and "heavy") and the world's second largest marine geyzer, called La Bufadora or La "Bufa".

The following day we had once more a special invitation for the week's festival! It is true, in Mexico you don't know what will happen to you!

Mexico is pronounced ME-hi-ko

31 Aug-3 Sep

The beautiful, touristic city Ensenada, located at the northwest coast of Mexico, hosts us after the ocean journey. I could not imagine a better place to rest, relax and enjoy hollidays with a sailing boat. The port is well protected with a huge mexican flag arising 60 meters above the ground. The people of the Marina were friendly and provided the boat a place in very good price. The city has about 500.000 people, situated in the state of Baja California near the US-mexican borders as well as near many touristic places. The weather is calm, the food is delicious comprising of fresh fish, pollo (chicken) and tortillas and the prices are convenient (the most expensive of them being about half the european ones).

The first place we visited after the immigrant offices was "Casa de la Cultura" where we were informed that a one-week festival is taking place at this time. So, on Tuesday we visited the "Theatro de la Ciudad" to watch a modern ballet show. The people at the reception told us there was no seat left but when they saw we were friends coming from Greece they provided us with spare tickets for free! The show was fantastic, 2 hours full of ballet choreography with some modern and ancient mexican influences, with 2o dancers in 5 episodes. It wan no different than the great productions of the european cities. That as well as their behavior puts Mexico among the most civilized countries of the world.

As for myself, I attend some "Folclor Danza", the first one originated from the center of Mexico. The school team is going to perform in Guadalachara this December, I suppose I will not follow them... No need to say we are the only foreigners coming so close to the local people. Is there a better feeling?

Lessons for sea by a land-man

15-30 August (3/3)

This post is mostly relevant for sailors as it explains some stuff about ocean sailing and contains some personal conclusions. In order to "go out to the ocean" one needs to know three things:
1) Natural Elements: weather forecasting, temperature and barometric systems, ocean currents and tides etc
2) Boat aero- and hydrodynamics and management of the sails and steering
3) Navigation: how to use the marine charts and the GPS and how to graph a direction from one point to another.

For the trip you will need a strong steel boat, with the minimum safety equipment: a VHF-radio, a Dinghy, a Life-raft, an EPIRB and emergency food and water. The size does not play much role. The optimal number of crew is 3 to 4, as less makes the night shifts hard and more becomes a burden. But above all the most necessary thing is strong psycological power, mood and courage to withstand the long lasting difficulties.

During the trip I made some thoughts about the sea, the main place of living of some people:

From the Sea you can see as much of the world as you can from the Land.
If in the Land comfort is an option, in the Sea it is a necessity.
Land is just the elevation of the Sea's depth that extends its surface.
The depth of the Sea is the mirror of the Land.
In the land there are only drivers but no Captains.
Sailing is only either an Olympic sport or a passionate hobby.
Sailing is a school in the school.
The most important spare part in a sailing boat is spare Crew.
The Sea has no watches.
The greatest danger in the Sea is that which you don't think about.
If God came to live in Earth he would build his pallace in the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean is the best place to study Spherical Trigonometry.
The Waves' dance is a two-stroke one with the boat being the woman.
In order to go to the Sea you must first trust the Captain, even if this is you.
A good Captain seems a crazy man to ordinary people.
The Sea is not an option, it is destiny.

My favorite joke: an experienced old captain decided to retire in the land. So he took a boat paddle, went to a village high in the mountains and asked: "What is this?". "Of course, a paddle", asked the villagers. He then moved further on to another village, asked the same question and took the same answer. So, he moved further to other villages and finaly reached a last one. When he asked: "What is this?" the villagers answered "Of course, it is the stick to mix the butter". So he decided to reside there for the rest of his life...

In the Pacific I felt peace

15-30 August (2/3)

As the feeling of the Big Ocean starts to fade out I would like to express some thoughts I made during our trip "out there". The life on a boat while sailing is different from that in the land. Essentialy without walking, the body gets used to new needs. As even a simple function in land, like personal care, becomes a problem at the sea, you must adapt to new habits. For example, fresh food which cannot be conserved on-board is not appropriate anymore. Many such adaptions are made without noticing them.

A second thing relates to the heavy "sensory deprivation". Seeing only huge amounts of sea and sky even the slightest change in the landscape is a happening. Seeing the sun rising and bringing light, heat and dryness after a cold night is like seeing God, looking the albatros approaching the boat is like a friend's visit and... when dolphins appear the party begins. In general the slightest conveniency was felt as it is.

Lastly, the relaxing feeling without stress and thoughts of the everyday life is wonderful. You are so far from the land's problems that you can think everything with a clear mind, without subjective destractions. And as the captain was interested in philosophy we had enough to discuss about...

Me gusta mucho...

15-30 August (1/3)

"TO ALL STATIONS, TO ALL STATIONS, TO ALL STATIONS. THE SAILING YACHT 'O DADIS' HAS JUST ARRIVED IN ENSENADA. PLEASE BRING US 4 CERVECAS IMMEDIATELY. OVER."

After sailing along the Pacific Ocean for 15 consecutive days and nights, having seen the land for only a few hours after our departure and before our arrival we entered Ensenada, Mexico, on Sunday 30th August. I just cannot express in words the experience I had from this trip. As a conclusion it is the only trip that had a duration of 2 weeks, was felt like 2 hours and left experiences of 2 years.

We were four people on-board. I mentioned John before but not Bernd because he came inside the last time. Bernd is a lovely old experienced sailor that eased a lot many difficult tasks.

I would devide the whole journey in three 5-day long periods:

Days 1-5: hours after our departure I suffered from motion (sea) sickness. The first couple of days I was not being able to do nothing except a little steering. We headed SouthEast into the ocean and reached a distance of about 250 NM away from Cape Mondecino, Oregon. The reason for that path is a huge under-water mountain extending about 1000 km along the ocean that produces difficult sea conditions. Fortunately, no storm and no bad weather, only some waves of maximum 3 meters high. That was the most difficult and dangerous part of the trip because in case something happened we must have approached the hostile coast of Oregon.
Days 6-10: during that time we passed San Francisco and turned SouthWest to come closer to the coast. I was already feeling better and started to make long shifts on the steering wheel of about 12 hours a day! The others just kept on during the night and prepared food. The weather started to become milder, the sea turned from black to blue and the sun showed us its warmness and beauty.
Days 11-15: at that time that we started missing the land we felt it coming closer. We saw dolphins and segals and spoke to container ships. Unfortunately no one was greek, the greek ship owners have left the region because of the financial crisis. The busy coast of California Bay was only 100 NM away and the weather and sea became calmer. We continued down along the US's southeast "belly-coast" partly sailing and partly with the motor and entered Ensenada's Marina in 11.30 am, 30th August 2009.

A school in the school

13-14 August

We were supposed to leave Victoria in the morning of 13th but at the last time we were informed about a small local weather alert and decided to leave the next day. Instead of having a first difficult day, I had a few more hours to stay in beautiful Victoria. Sailing does not stop learning me things, that time being that nothing in the sea can be scheduled with certainty.

In the meantime we met a guy that had come with his motor boat from Vancouver and was speaking greek. He said he was originating from Instanbul (Konstantinoupolis), Turkey. The discussion of greek, byzantine, cypriot, turkish and roman history between us was inevitable and reminded me that:

"The history of Greece is the history of the western World."

There is no important philosophy, achievement and event that has no relation with the greek tradition. Ancient Greeks had already discovered the basis of human wisdom after which followed the roman, byzantine and christian traditions and eventually modern Europe and America emerged. It is in the greek territory where in a 100km distance you find 3 different religions, 4 different languages and a dozen types of culture. In America you travel 3000km and even the names of the people does not change. That is why it is called the "New World": many years must pass until a distinct culture is developed here.

So, we plan to leave tomorrow but I can't say Goodbye to you for sure...

A modern Victoria Queen

10-12 August

We left Vancouver which was realy beautiful and we reached Victoria City in Vancouver Island. It is known as the "Monaco of Canada", the most luxurious place in British Columbia! After two days of sailing, mostly with the engine, and a night in Ganges Port we entered the last station before the big journey. Everything gone well, it was an easy trip even with the rain we had the first day.

So far I have got a good taste of Canada. There are three things in huge abundancy here:
1) Space: every scenery you look at is huge, either at sea or land.
2) Wood: there are millions of trees here providing wood useful for anything except eating.
3) Berries: blackberries, strawberries, greenberries, blueberries etc and the people are obsessed with them.

I am going to collect a new "sailing wisdom" everyday during this 2-week trip. The ones for the first two days are:
1) In the land comfort is an option, in the sea it is a necessity.
2) The depth of the seas is the mirror of the land.

... sails UP and OFF we go!

6-9 August

This is really the last post before we start the trip. We called an expert on sailing boats to review the preparations we have done and he had absolutely no comment. Everything is perfectly built and prepared. The "subsystems" include:
1) the engine with its own battery system and full with 700 liters of petrol
2) the very strong rigging system and the 7 (4 plus 3 spares) sails
3) the navigation devices: 24-miles radar, GPS and depth-sounder as well as handheld GPS and of course VHF-radio
4) the safety subsystem: 3 safety boats (dinghy, inflatable boat and life-raft), EPIRB, man-over-board and emergency food and water
5) the internal electrical system, powered by the 170 Watts solar panel
6) the drinking water system: about 200 liters in 3 tanks and many other places
7) the food "subsystem": enough noodles, tuna, powder-milk and other stuff
8) the spare parts and tools: many enough to fix almost everything
9) the paper-work: the boat-diary, boat-papers, licences, flags and the stuff

Well that's it. During the trip I will just relax, discuss about Platonic Philosphy with the captain, learn some spanish and take looong naps.

Hasta la vista en Ensenada amigos!

Life is a Boat!

Fixιng people

3-5 August

If you have noticed there was a one-week delay from the scheduled time of departurte. I own you an explanation. The third crew member, Thanasis, that had been passionate for this trip in the last 4 years, left the boat and the mission just two days before our departure! Yes, that's true. Although he promised to follow us until Ensenada he drew back referring no serious reason. During the last weeks we had observed he found an unreliable part-time job as a plumber earning every now and then some money. When we asked him to pay his part for the food expenses (about 100 Euros) he denied. During his stay on the boat he could never focus enough on any task, he was always distracted and was moving here and there. These symptoms are characteristic of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which I believe he suffers from. In his age it is difficult to treat it as it has become embeded in his personality.

Anyway, the captain moved fast and found another more reliable and strong member: John. John is a tough guy, doing climbing and para-penting in mountains and practices Buddhism. He wants now to gain some experience with sailing and this trip is an opportunity. We have welcome him aboard and are now ready to leave on Sunday the 9th. The boat is in perfect condition, full of water, food and gas and everything is tightly bound. The electronic systems are functioning, the sails are open and...

Absolute relativity

1-2 August

On Sunday the 2nd we will go out for the first time just to make some tests and training. There is a huge island called Vancouver Island, which will be our last station before we open to the Big Ocean. Although it is very near, it will take us a couple of days to reach it. The rest 1200 miles until Ensenada (this is almost the length of Europe) will be sailed in only 12 consecutive days. We will not stop anywhere in the US, in order to avoid the unhospitable Customs, the high marina prices and mostly the "american temperament". Of course, in an emergency we will hurry there.

After 10 days I am used to a new more "primitive" life. Combined with the experience in Florida, I observe that one needs a whole week till he gets used to a new environment. That means in order to "live holidays" you need to be away for more than a week, which is a priviledge of a few people. On the other side if you can leave for only a few days, only a privately owned house can offer an essential rest, which is still for a few ones. In conclusion, for the many real holidays still remains a dream, sorry guys.

The most of the hours pass with philosophical discussions. Because it is a huge story that is impossible to explain now, I only state that eventualy I agreed with captain's idealistic philosophy as:

"Absolute Realism is absolute Idealism."

Rich poor or poor rich?

31 July

I have almost no new experience in the last days so I enjoy the simple life on the boat. The only thing that there is here in adundance is Philosophy because captain Stefanos has a lot to discuss about. He is a pure Idealist, fan of Platon and against Aristoteles. Starting from the belief that the "Idea", ie. all the meanings, exists independent from their natural carrier, the Human, he accepts that in the world there is no stress, the good mixes up with the bad and both are disappeared, a harmony reigns in the universe and the utmost achievement is "the freedom of the freedom". That's at least what I catch from all his bla,bla...)

I am at the opposite: a Realist. Everything has to be recieved and is depended by us, there is nothing beyond human and science is the source of all knowledge. Any question that cannot be answered by the current knowledge simply is not stated, so there are no unanswered ones and so we don't need any superpower, "God" or "Idea" to solve them for us.

Anyway we speak about philosphy because, as ancient greeks had done, we have already fulfilled our needs on the boat while in the "normal" life hardly any need is really satisfied...

Pretty little things

29-30 July

Believe it or not, yesterday (29 July) was the hottest day here in Vancouver since 1853. 34 Celsius. Although such one is quite acceptable (Athens hits 40 C easily this period), it was inconvenient. For the locals it was not a big surprise either. In the last 100 years a slow and constant increase in temperature is observed in the area. Combined with the abrupt changes of the weather make the environmental damage obvious. This is even more clear in the northern parts of Canada where the people see the ice melting more and more with the years. From one side they like it (who likes cold weather?) but from the other a deadly phenomenon takes place.

Back to our boat. I would like to speak about the most heavy and difficult task: Safety. There are numerous levels of emergency, as well as thousand preventive measures for safety. The tools take about 60% of the boat's volume. For every little machinery the captain keeps a spare part to fix it if it is broken. There are additional water and gas tanks everywhere, except the huge barrels underneath. Three additional small boats equipped with food and water are ready to host us in case of emergency. Two electronic communication devices are ready to send our position over satellite to neaby stations. And lastly the are numerous tips and tricks to prevent any type of danger before it becomes... danger.

My company through all this trip is my Laptop. A Dell D410, bought second-hand for only 200 Euros, has proved a tough and reliable tool everywhere: from the convenient home of my relatives till the roof of the boat.

Keep going ...

27-28 July

During the last couple of days we were saying goodbye to friends all over the city. We drove to the "skyscrapered" down-town, the below-the-sea-level south, the rich north and the sea-side west. Every restaurant is of foreign origin. Almost all good ones are either chinese or japanese, so the most important thing to do before coming here is to know how to eat with chopsticks, either you will stay hungry...

Almost all "external" tasks are done so we have to deal with some preparing inside the boat. I have mentioned it is a home but is a car too, so it has a whole engine to move and to care about. Do not forget that is has to become a hospital too, so we took some emergency drugs. The first impression of mine is that doctors here dont know their job very well. Except that there is a dangerous lack of them so if you colleagues cant find a job in Greece, come to Canada.

It is useless to write down all the experiences I gain and the trip has not just yet began! I will just say that:

The best things are those that you dont care when they will be repeated again.